Slovenia

Slovenian NBO is organized by Association for Technical Culture of Slovenia (ZOTKS) with cooperation of Department of Biology (Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana) and in 2021 Faculty of Education (University of Ljubljana).

www.httpzotks.si/

The national level competition is divided in 2 categories:

a. 1st & 2nd year students with focus on a specific topic 

• one round of competitions
• competition takes place in January/February

b. 3rd &4th year students covering whole biology curriculum

• three rounds of competitions
• competitions take place in January/February, March and May
• There are around 3000 students entering the competition, pre-selected by school level competitions. The first 10 winners (maximum) of national level competition are then invited to IBO training and final selection of the for IBO competitors. 

The second category (3rd & 4th year students level) exams consist of 3 stages, covering the whole 4-year curriculum:

1. School Level competition

• takes place at the students' respective Upper Secondary School
• theoretical exam
• multiple choice questions and true/false statements 
• approx. 3000 competitors 

2. National Level Competition

• takes place at a selected host Upper Secondary School or University (2021: Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana)
• theoretical exam
• multiple choice questions, structured questions and true/false statements 
• approx. 200 competitors

3. Final Selection Competition

• takes place at the Department of Biology (2021: Biotechnical faculty, University of Ljubljana)
• theoretical and practical exam
• multiple choice questions, structured questions, true/false statements and 3-4 practical tasks
• 10 competitors (maximum)

The NBO guidelines/rules on execution of the NBO can be found at: https://www.zotks.si/biologija/pravila

There are approximately 3000 students from all Slovenian high schools entering the competition in the first round.

The first category (1st &2nd year students) of the NBO test consists of structured tasks of a specific topic (e.g. Wild game - wolf, bear and lynx; Life in the sea; Diversity in the soil; Secret forest; Nightlife - bats and moths). The aim of the competitions to raise awareness among younger students about the existence of Biology competition and increase the popularity of Biology as a science among the younger population. The exams take place at the students' respective Upper Secondary Schools. Example tests can be found on the following page: https://www.zotks.si/naloge/biologija/SS. The topic for 2022 is "Salterns - biological diversity and life forms' adaptation".

The students can train for the competition by self-study of the following materials:

• upper secondary school biology textbooks
• Campbell textbook
• ZOTKS web page: https://www.zotks.si/biologija/razpis#
• suggested literature covering IBO examination syllabus

Every year the online syllabus (provided on ZOTKS internet page) is updated and expanded, where students are provided with newest available IBO tasks for practice purposes (as per IBO guidelines).

Practical training for IBO:

• the one to two-week IBO preparation period is executed at the Department of Biology (Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana)

The students can train for the competition by self-study of the following materials:

• upper secondary school biology textbooks
• Campbell textbook
• ZOTKS web page: https://www.zotks.si/biologija/razpis#
• suggested literature covering IBO examination syllabus

Additional literature is provided by the NBO mentors, the content is updated yearly.

At the national competition, students receive certificates according to the following scheme:

• gold for more then 90% of total score at national level competition, 
• silver for 80 - 90% of total score at national level competition,
• bronze for at least 66% of total score at school level competition.

Students receive no monetary rewards for their efforts, other than a possibility for gold medalists to join an educational Biology excursion. Top three competitiors are able to join an educational Biology training camp.

The students entering the NBO competition are 3rd&4th year students from high schools across Slovenia.

Standard school year lasts from September to July, with the maximum of 8 lessons / day.

At minimum, the students have 2 Biology hours/week, at maximum 3 Biology hours/week.

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NBO and IBO are promoted on individual school's internet pages and on social media.

Notes about the NBO and IBO results are published in general newspapers, educational periodicals and TV.

An official ceremony Zotkini talenti (engl. ZOTKA's talents) takes place every year after finalization of the Olympiad to honor the competing students, their parents and students' mentors and present students' achievements to the broader public. 

ZOTKS

• 2022: 1623 students from 61 schools (33.7% of eligible schools)

Total No. of high schools:181. 33.7% of schools participated at the first competition level/round (16230students). 31.5% of schools participated in the second round (251 students).

Notes about the NBO and IBO results are published in general newspapers and educational periodicals and on the national TV.