The AI Competition for Primary and Secondary School Students in Yantai Kicks Off, with 20,000 Students Participating in the Grand Tech Event

Jellyfish News, April 11, 2025 (Reporter: Zhang Yi, Correspondent: Liu Kai)  On April 11, 2025, the highly anticipated Yantai Primary and Secondary School Information Literacy Improvement Practical Activities and Yantai AI Innovation Design Competition for Primary and Secondary School Students officially launched at Shandong Business Institute.

The competition has been carefully planned with nine major categories, covering 43 competition items in cutting-edge fields of technology, such as creative programming, drones, robotics, 3D creative design, and science popularization drama performances. These projects not only showcase the wide application of information technology in education but also provide a broad platform for students to showcase themselves and exchange ideas, allowing each participant to fully immerse themselves in the ocean of science and technology.

At the scene of the Hand-thrown Paper Airplane Distance Competition, the atmosphere was tense yet filled with anticipation. Participants lined up in neat rows, their eyes gleaming with a desire for victory. “One, two, three, fly!” With the referee’s command, the participants adjusted their breathing, took their positions, and threw their paper airplanes with all their might toward the distance. Yu Kunting, a second-grade student from Putaoshan Primary School in Zhifu District, achieved an impressive result of 31.54 meters, more than ten meters further than in his usual practice. “To prepare for this competition, I started making and practicing with paper airplanes a month in advance and broke three paper airplanes,” Yu Kunting said happily upon seeing his excellent result. Through making paper airplanes, he learned that different types of wings and tails are suitable for different airplanes, and there are differences in resistance and speed. For example, canard wings are suitable for fighter jets.

Meanwhile, outside the programming competition venue, parents were eagerly waiting with great anticipation. Ms. Li was one of them, and she excitedly said, “My son started learning programming from kindergarten. At first, he was just interested in LEGO bricks, but after giving it a try, he fell in love with programming. Now, he is only a second-grade student, but he can already independently create pictures, animations, and small games.”

This competition, sponsored by the Yantai Municipal Education Bureau, lasts for three days. Over 20,000 primary and secondary school students from the whole city registered to participate, and more than 8,300 teams successfully reached the finals on-site, setting a new record for the scale of the participation. The competition is of great significance in promoting the development of artificial intelligence education in primary and secondary schools in our city and enhancing students’ information literacy. It is also an important step for our city to advance the National Science Education Experimental Zone for Primary and Secondary Schools.