Day Two. Theoretical Round

The main event of the second day of the Olympiad was the theoretical round. It included two stages: individual and team rounds.

The authors of the tasks focused not on memorising individual facts but on the ability to apply geographic knowledge. The participants found the necessary data in the task formulations: they had to analyze the causes of phenomena, compare factors and in some cases predict the consequences of the proposed solutions. This approach develops the analytical and forecasting skills needed to solve pressing geographical and climatic problems.

"The tasks of the theoretical round covered a wide range of topics and reflected the interdisciplinary nature of modern geography: from the features of a territory’s geographical location and resource supply to its cultural traits, economic specialisation and geoecological characteristics. The tasks were practice-oriented and often referred to various everyday phenomena. For example, one of them was devoted to jet lag — a condition familiar to everyone who travels between time zones. So, we tried to make the tasks practice-oriented and understandable for the children in everyday life," noted Tatiana Kridenko, PhD in Geographical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Regional Economics and Geography at RUDN University, and one of the developers of the MY-GEO 2026 tasks.

Many tasks required an integrated approach and knowledge from several areas of geography at once. For example, while analyzing the terrain, the participants assessed the possibilities for economic activity and explained why territories with similar natural conditions can evolve differently.

"Within the individual track we had a computer test — it contained 15 questions devoted to the geographical features of different countries. At the end of the test there were tasks where you had to not just choose an answer option but write a detailed commentary. For instance, one of the questions was about lithium mining in the "lithium triangle". We had to describe the problems associated with this, propose ways to solve them and explain how exactly these measures would help cope with the difficulties," participant Viktor Franolić from Serbia gives an example of a task.

The team stage included applied tasks for which the participants had to jointly develop concrete solutions. For example, one of the tasks was devoted to logistics: the participants had to organize product deliveries to Krasnaya Polyana taking into account geographical and spatial factors.

An important part of the theoretical round was working with satellite images. The participants learnt not only to ‘read' images but also to explain what they saw: why the territory looks exactly this way from space and what causes the differences between geographical objects. The tasks provided for two types of comparison: analysis of changes in the same area from images of different years and comparison of the same phenomenon at different geographical locations.

David Ivanov from South Ossetia admitted that he hadn’t fallen in love with geography right away. Everything had changed thanks to a school teacher who had managed to show the beauty of the subject and awaken an interest in studying it. Now David wants to develop in geography and dreams of going on an expedition on an icebreaker to the North Pole.

"The tasks of the theoretical round included a huge number of topics in world geography. We all seemed to look in on different continents: from Africa to Eurasia and Australia. We also discussed the BRICS topic in detail: which countries are members, which are not, what this abbreviation actually means and everything connected with it. For me, participating in such an international Olympiad is a chance to learn something new, to look at science more broadly, and to meet children from other countries. It is nice to just have a friendly talk — not even about geography, but about anything. And of course, we also discussed professional topics a lot," said David.

Haydar Alhoussein Elouaer from Tunisia emphasized that the difficulties Olympiad were beneficial to the participants: without them there would be no moving forward.

"It was quite difficult, as we had to take many details into account. But I even like it: if a task is not difficult, it is no longer an Olympiad. It was very interesting to work through every detail to find the correct answer — it was fascinating. The most important thing is to learn more about various world problems, to better understand how the world works and what difficulties and issues people face. I have reconsidered a lot — both in terms of my own perception of problems and in general," emphasized the participant.