The Pupils' Competition for the Federal President's German History Prize is one of the many youth competitions held every year in West Germany and sponsored by government offices, industries, common interest groups, and foundations. In this competition, which draws over 1,000 entries from all age groups, participants are expected to make an original relevant contribution to German history. Prizes are awarded in the form of large and small sums of money, books, and trips. The primary objective of the series is to promote democratic traditions and political participation among young people by encouraging them to explore German history, particularly from local and regional perspectives. Focusing on a different topic or question each time, the competition stresses exploratory learning, or learning by discovery, and demands a higher level of autonomy on the part of participants. Participants develop individual or group projects often under the guidance of teachers or other adult experts who act as tutors. Competitors conduct on-site research, interview people, find newspaper articles, documents, publications, old photos, family papers, and use other archival materials in their projects. The final presentations are in a variety of forms including books, collages, exhibitions, and video documentations. Entries are judged by jury, prizes are awarded, and resumes of the prize winning projects published for each competition are distributed throughout the country. The competitions are valuable not only in developing historical skills and understanding in young people, but also in preparing the way for future studies by historians. (AS)