SciFest Ezine, Volume 3, Number 3, January 2012

SciFest Ezine SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: •

V O L U M E

The closing date for receipt of entries to SciFest@College is FRIDAY 2 MARCH

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N U M B E R

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F E B R U A R Y

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Are YOU ready for SciFest 2012?

Entry forms are now downloadable from the SciFest website www.scifest.ie

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New Awards for 2012 1. Sustainability and Outreach Award

The dates are set and the entry forms for SciFest@College 2012 are now downloadable from the website.

2. SEAI Energy Award

www.scifest.ie

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

SciFest@College is a nationwide series of science fairs, held in the 14 Institutes of Technology and the University of Ulster, where students can exhibit their science projects and win prizes.

SciFest encourages students to develop a love of science through active, collaborative, inquiry-based learning, through fun and engaging science talks and demonstrations at the SciFest fairs.

learning experience for the students involved and helps promote an interest in science in a school. More than 9000 students have exhibited since SciFest was launched nationwide in 2008.

The overall winners from each SciFest event will be invited to exhibit their projects at SciFest@Intel, a national event where one project will be chosen to represent Ireland at the International Science and Engineering Fair taking place in Phoenix, Arizona in May 2013.

Sustainability and Outreach Award

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SciFest Special Awards 2012

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Hints for Teachers

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Participation in SciFest is a valuable

Building on Success St David’s CBS, Dublin

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SciFest@College 2012—Dates and Venues

SciFest@School

Selecting a Topic

Venue/IT

Exhibition Date

Venue/IT

Exhibition Date

Venue/IT

Exhibition Date

DIT

29 March

LIT

2 May

DkIT

9 May

GMIT

18 April

AIT

3 May

IT Blanchardstown

9 May

CIT

20 April

IT Sligo

4 May

LIT Tipperary

10 May

WIT

25 April

IT Tralee

8 May

LYIT

11 May

IT Carlow

26 April

ITT

9 May

North-West

15 June

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The closing date for receipt of entries to SciFest@College 2012 is 2 March.

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SciFest 2012 Announces New Award

SciFest 2012 Sustainability and Outreach Award

Intel Sustainability and Outreach Award “I am delighted to work with Intel and their SciFest

Award Criteria 1. The project must have an outreach element •

exhibition to bring together young Tanzania and Irish scientists and show that Science is truly a subject without borders. These projects will compete at our exhibition here in Tanzania and I wish the participants the best of luck!”

The director of Young Scientists Tanzania,

The student/s submitting the project must have connected with a similar group of students in Africa and have worked together on the same investigation.

(This can be carried out through Skype, email and other social media.)

• The report must include data collected in Ireland and in Africa 2. The project must focus on a sustainability issue, e.g. food, water, energy security, climate change, sanitation, soil fertility, fishery, gender, equality, access to education, access to health, access to ICT, etc.

Award Details At each Institute of Technology the projects which are eligible for this award will be collected and passed on to a SciFest Judging panel. The panel will review all the projects from the 15 venues and will select one overall winner. The winner will be presented with a trophy and a cash prize of €300 at the Celebration of Excellence in Science and Launch of SciFest 2013 to be held in Intel Ireland in October 2012.

An opportunity to link up with students from Tanzania Calling all International Scientists!

Young Scientists in Tanzania are looking for global partners for their upcoming Young Scientists Tanzania exhibition which takes place in Dar es Salaam on 24 and 25 October. This is an opportunity to work with Tanzanian students on projects with a global perspective from climate change to sustainable living and renewable energy. Using Skype and other social media the teams can share the results of their experiments.

Kamugisha Gozibert For more information see: www.scifest.ie www.youngscientiststanzania.co.tz Or email: kamugisha@youngscientists.co.tz

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NEW AWARD 2012 SEAI Energy Award

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SciFest Special Awards 2012 For more information log on to www.scifest.ie Discover Discover Sensors Sensors Awards Award

Dicover Space Award

PharmaChemical

Chemistry Award

Excellent venue for SciFest, central to all

Intel Best Project Award

Discover Space Awards

facilities.

Schedule, presentations very well run

Abbott Runner-up Best Project Award

BT Brest Communicator Award

and NCE-MSTL Maths

appropriate for

Award

student engagement.

Science show

Mentoring Projects for SciFest - Some Hints for Teachers ◊

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Be organised. Ask for the application forms to be completed a week before the final date of entry. This gives you plenty of time to check that the entry form has been filled out correctly and that all the signatures have been collected.

Post a list of the project titles and student names up on the staffroom notice board. This encourages other teachers to ask the students about their projects and how they

was a big hit

dents to participate the following year and gives the exhibitors a welldeserved bit of praise from other students and teachers.

are progressing. ◊ ◊

Be available for advice. Meet with the students regularly.

Check that the work is actually being done. Insist that students keep a folder recording each step of the investigation.

Regularly check this folder.

and demonstrated the fun and curiosity of science.

Fantastic work.

Teacher SciFest@CIT

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Take five minutes at the beginning of a class and allow a group to present their findings to date to the class.

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2011 Take photographs during the exhibition and post them on the school website after the event.

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When the exhibition is over have a mini exhibition in the school. This encourages stu-

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Get one of the students to write a short piece for the school website and newsletter.

Building on Success - by Jennifer Dixon, Science Teacher, St David’s CBS, Artane, D 5 One of the school’s outstanding successes is a team of students who are currently in sixth year, Shane Boylan, Carl Burke and Cathal Fagan.

Three years ago, while just in third year these energetic students bounced into my lab saying they’d an idea and would like to enter SciFest. After presenting judges with ducks, a maze and findings supporting ducks possessing a memory, they received a highly recommended certificate. The came back again the next year, this time determined to compete at a higher level. They all of a sudden became confident and articulate in com-

municating in the language of science and presenting findings to judges and self reflecting upon tasks and performances. It was amazing to see this growth in such a short space of time. They were awarded INTEL project of the year 2011 at DIT Kevin Street for their extension into correlating brain size to memory function in rodents and linking it with Alzheimer’s disease. They were also placed first in the senior biology category and represented DIT at the SciFest@Intel finals Jennifer with Shane, Cathal and Carl last October.

SciFest@School Second-level schools host their own in-house SciFest science fair.

Support for the event, including resources and BKMs on the SciFest website, www.scifest.ie, is provided by SciFest.

www.scifest.ie Contact Details: Sheila Porter SciFest Project Manager IR6-2-C15 Leixlip Tel: 01 606 8949 / 086 3796143 Email: sheilax.m.porter@intel.com SciFest is jointly funded by Intel Ireland and Discover Science and Engineering as project partners

SciFest@College Fourteen ITs and the University of Ulster, Magee Campus, Derry host one-day SciFest science fairs which are open to all secondlevel students. Each fair includes a project exhibition and competition, a science talk, hands-on activities in the IT laboratories, career advice and a prize-giving ceremony.

SciFest@Intel The Intel Best Project Award winners from each SciFest@College event are invited to exhibit at a SciFest science fair for finalists in Intel in October. The projects are evaluated by an expert panel of judges from academia, enterprise and government. One project is selected to represent Ireland at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) which is held annually in May in the USA. If you are interested in running your own in-school science fair please email Sheila Porter, SciFest Project Manager at sheilax.m.porter@intel.com.

The Most Difficult Part—Selecting a Topic Selecting a suitable topic may take some time and thought as the idea has to workable, and if possible original. It is often one of the most difficult things about doing a science project.

Selecting a Topic—Some hints for students ◊

Think about your hobbies, your skills and interests (extracurricular and academic). Sometimes the most interesting projects come from things that you like to do in your spare time or maybe some course you took over the summer holidays.

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Check that all the materials you need are available and that you have enough time to do the project.

Is the idea workable?

Make sure that your idea is workable. There is nothing more discouraging than starting a project and discovering that it cannot be done. ◊

Make out a list of all the things you will need. Are all the items on the list readily available?

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Check that all the experiments you are proposing are safe and that harmful chemicals are not needed.

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Talk to your parents, teachers, and friends.

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Is there enough time to complete the project?

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Use all available resources, e.g. science books, science-based TV programmes, the Internet and science magazines.

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Get a large sheet of paper and brainstorm with your team.

Is there a mentor, i.e. someone from a company, a hospital or a third level college who might be a source of information and/or resources?

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Make a shortlist of ‘3 best ideas’ .

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Select your favourite idea and go to the library and the Internet and learn everything you can about the topic.

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Talk to professionals in the field, write or email companies for specific information.

Useful websites ◊ http://www.scifest.ie - Science

by Inquiry module, resources, project ideas and lots more. ◊

http://www.sciencebuddies.com

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http://www.ipl.org/div/ projectguide

Robert Gabriel, Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál, Cork