SciFest Ezine, Volume 3, Number 4, April 2012

SciFest Ezine V O L U M E

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N U M B E R

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A P R I L

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Dublin students take science to the next level at

SciFest 2012 @ DIT

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

The first SciFest@College of 2012 took place in the Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street on Record numbers expected to

29 March. It was a resounding success and a great start to SciFest@College 2012. Congratulations to 2

the organizing team in DIT. DIT SciFest regional co-ordinator Dr Denis O’Shea said;

participate in SciFest @College 2012

“SciFest@DIT encourages students of varying abilities to develop an interest in science through the investigation of interests and activities from their everyday lives. Students are given an opportunity to develop research skills such as problem solving, critical

SciFest @School A Teacher’s

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thinking, presentation and teamwork. While doing so they also are given an insight into the excellent facilities and courses avail-

Experience

able to them in Dublin Institute of Technology.”

Dr Graham Love, Discover Science & Engineering Programme,

Contact Details

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ISEF 2012

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Science Foundation Ireland said; “The increasing level of interest in science subjects at second level is very positive as this really is the path to a sustainable future. SciFest allows students to become actively engaged in a hands-on manner and seeing the projects here today highlights the exceptional talent and skills that our future generation has.”

‘Enthusiasm for science in St David’s, thanks to

The SciFest@DIT 2012 Intel Best Project Award was won by

SciFest, has grown

Secondary School, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.

and grown.’

Lorna Mooney, Julie O'Connor and Shannon Scott from Loreto The project, entitled "Is there a genetic supertaster component controlling the Irish choice of tea?", identified two test groups of tea drinkers - supertasters and non-supertasters - each comprised of 50 pairs of parents and children. Lorna, Julie and Shannon then

Jennifer Dixon, St David’s CBS Artane Dublin 5

conducted taste tests on each group and found there exists a clear genetic link among supertasters and also found a preference for certain tea blends among supertasters.

The girls were mentored by their teacher, Niamh McNally, and were advised on their research method by researchers at Cornell University

SciFest 2012@DIT

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Record numbers expected to participate in SciFest@College 2012

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‘SciFest is a fun

ited at SciFest events. The

ing Intel, Discover Science

and exciting way

rapid increase in partici-

and Engineering, BT, Abbott

to encourage an

pation in the competition is

Ireland,

interest in science

a clear indication of the

Ireland, SEAI, ESERO Ire-

at

interest

enthusiasm

land, NCE-MSTL, the Uni-

among students and teach-

versity of Ulster and all the

celebrate

ers in the investigative

Institutes

achievement and a job well

approach to teaching and

Without their support, none

done but also an opportunity to

learning science. I would

of this would be possible.”

encourage active and collabo-

like to thank the participat-

rative learning. This year over

ing teachers and students,

4000 students will have exhib-

all of the partners includ-

school

level,

providing not only SciFest is an example of a successful collaboration between industry, government and academia.

an

occasion

to

and

PharmaChemical

of

Technology.

Sheila Porter SciFest Project Manager April 2012

Photograph: Sheila Porter, (SciFest Project Manager), Stephanie O’Neill (Discover Science & Engineering), Dr Padraig O’Murchú (Intel) and Blathnaid Sheridan (DIT)

SciFest@School 2012-A Teacher’s Experience Scifest@School Santa Sabina

By Aine Woods, Science Teacher Santa Sabina, Sutton, Co. Dublin

We took a bit of a leap into the dark in organising this event, as we had never had anything similar.

Aine Woods Science Teacher Santa Sabina, Sutton, Co. Dublin

SCIFEST

Having visited the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2012 with all our first years we were anxious, on returning to school, to harness their enthusiasm.

We met as a department and decided that it would be a good idea if all first years had to carry out an investigation/project as part of their end of year assessment. Then we discovered SciFest@School and a whole new initiative for our school began.

The most important aspect of SciFest@School is that you set the agenda for your own school. Using the resources provided by Sheila

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Porter of SciFest, we were able to plan an event that suited our students and teachers. Three classes carried out investigations and one class participated in a safety poster competition. In our school each teacher allocated one single science lesson a week for three weeks to get the students started and gave them the following criteria: 1. You must have a question you want to answer.

2. You must outline how you went about answering that question.

3. You must show your results.

4. You must relate your results to your question The students were given four weeks, including midterm break, to complete their investigations.

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On February 29th our inaugural SciFest@School event took place and was a tremendous success.

120 students were involved, with 40 investigation projects, and 24 safety posters on display on the notice boards and corridors. SciFest provided two judges, and we invited two retired teachers from the school to come back as judges for the morning. Using the SciFest resources we designed our own judging rubric, which placed emphasis on the aspects we felt were important and relevant to our students. We held quizzes and competitions throughout the morning to keep the participants entertained while judging took place. We invited parents to come in to view the projects for one hour of the morning, and the time flew by. Sheila Porter brought some prizes and freebies for spot prizes, and we had organised some prizes from the school principal, Catherine Cavanagh. In addition every child received a SciFest@School certificate of participation, and every group was visited by a judge who discussed their investigation with them. The response from students, parents and teachers has been very positive.

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What do we see as the benefits of running a Scifest@School event? 

The students got to present their investigations in their own school, and so were not intimidated by the process. This was facilitated in no small way by our judges, who showed interest and enthusiasm for every project and left every group feeling that they had done a great job. It is this inclusivity aspect of SciFest that makes it stand out from other competitions.

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We set the agenda, and designed the event in the way we felt would best suit the teachers and students in our school.

The event was given status because SciFest provided judges. In addition this helped to foster student/teacher relations, as the students saw us as their allies in this process.

First years participating in this event had to carry out an investigation, and as such were exposed to the idea of fair testing, variables etc. This will serve as preparation for the Course Work B component of their junior cert. For this reason we could justify spending a small amount of class time assisting the students.

Students learned from each other by reading other projects.

It resulted in very positive exposure for science in the school, as all other year groups also got to see the event, as they passed by on their way to and from classes.

However the enthusiasm of the staff and students, and the support of Sheila Porter of SciFest, resulted in the staging of an event which we were all proud to be part of. We are already thinking of next year ....bigger and better!

We are definitely hooked on SciFest@School.

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SciFest 2012 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.

Ruairi O’Neill and Eoghan Flynn from Blackwater Community School, Lismore Co. Waterford will represent SciFest and Ireland at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in May Ruairí O’Neill and Eoghan Flynn from Blackwater Community School, Lismore, Co. Waterford picked up the top prize at SciFest@Intel 2011 for their technology project, ‘Polyfuel – a novel solution to fuel shortages and disposal of ELPs’. Minister of State for Training and Skills, Ciarán Cannon, TD presented the winners with their prize - a trip to ISEF 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 13-18 May, where they will represent SciFest and Ireland.

You could be travelling with your students to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, May 2013 In October 2012 the overall winners from each of the regional SciFest@College 2012 fairs will travel to Intel in Leixlip to compete in SciFest@Intel. The students will present their projects to a team of

Ruairi and Eoghan exhibiting at SciFest@intel in October 2011

judges and one project will be selected to represent Ireland at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, 12-17 May 2013.