SciFest Ezine, National Final Special Edition, Volume 13, Number 2, December 2021

VOLUME 13, NUMBER 2, DECEMBER 2021

SCIFEST EZINE SciFest National Final 2021 Special Edition

Athlone student’s innovative research into radiation protection wins SciFest 2021

Clare Reidy will represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2022 in the United States

A sixth year student from Our Lady's Bower Secondary School in Athlone, Co. Westmeath was named SciFest STEM Champion 2021 having claimed top prize at this year’s SciFest National Final which took place online on 26 and 27 November. Clare received the award for her innovative research project which explored Cosmic Radiation Protection, investigating effective building materials for future exploration of Mars. Clare’s victory will see her represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Atlanta, Georgia next May. Cosmic radiation consists of high-energy particles travelling through space.

Clare’s project investigated whether bricks made from Martian soil (regolith) could be used to block cosmic radiation. She discovered that these bricks could offer effective protection against cosmic radiation and constructed an optimum brick using Martian regolith simulant as a primary component. Her discovery supports the use of Martian regolith bricks to protect future inhabitants of Mars.

The SciFest National Final 2021 Awards Ceremony took place at 4.00 pm on Saturday 27 November. The ceremony was streamed live on YouTube and may be viewed here.

For details of the finalists' projects, award winners, speakers and playback please visit www.scifestfinal2021.ie.

In This Issue: SciFest National Final 2021 Award Winners New Award for SciFest@School 2022 SciFest@School Awards 2022

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SciFest Project Ideas

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SciFest@College 2022 Thank you to all those who support SciFest

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A Christmas Crossword for Students

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'SciFest Gives Cause for Optimism' Speaking at the National Final Norma Foley TD, Minister for Education said: “SciFest continues to bring together some of the best and brightest minds of future generations and I am delighted to see so many young people who are passionate about STEM fields. These subjects are crucial for equipping the young people of today with the problem-solving and critical thinking–skills needed to meet the challenges of tomorrow. The level of innovation gives great cause for optimism now and into the future. I’d like to congratulate Clare for winning this award and applaud all those students who have participated in this year’s competition. I’d also like to commend the parents, teachers and mentors who have helped students throughout the process.”

Scifest National Final 2021 Award Winners SciFest STEM Champion 2021 Runner-Up Award

Caoimhe Walsh St Brogan's College, Bandon, Co. Cork

Berlin Long Night of Science Award

Niamh Carolan and Líle Hensey Ursuline College Sligo, Finisklin, Sligo

Boston Scientific Medical Devices Grand Award

'Our Goal is to Encourage a Love for STEM Subjects From an Early Age' Speaking at the National Final Sheila Porter, SciFest founder and CEO, said: “We’d like to extend a huge congratulations to Clare for winning this year’s SciFest National Final. We received a tremendous number of entries this year and the standard was as high as we’ve come to expect from SciFest participants. At SciFest, our goal is to encourage a love for STEM subjects from an early age so it is really heartening to receive so many high-quality entries. The challenges posed by climate change and COVID-19 show the fundamental importance of science and that’s why it is vital that we continue to foster inquiry-based learning amongst students. In that vein I’d like to offer a sincere thanks and congratulations to all SciFest participants, their teachers and parents for all their hard work and continued enthusiasm for STEM.”

Anna Smyth St Andrew's College, Blackrock, Co. Dublin

Boston Scientific Medical Devices Grand Award Runner-up

Evan Wynne Sutton Park School,, Sutton, Dublin 13

Intel Technology Award l to R Anne Beades, Principal, Clare Reidy, SciFest STEM Champion 2021, Sheila Porter, SciFest Founder and CEO and Julie-Anne Greaney SciFest 2021 Teacher of Excellence Award winner

Hari Pranavam St Eunan's College, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

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Scifest National Final 2021 Award Winners

New Award for SciFest@School 2021/2022

SciFest STEM Outreach Award

SciFest is delighted to welcome EirGrid as a Silver Sponsor of the SciFest@School Programme 2021/2022, with the inclusion of the EirGrid Climate and Delivering a Cleaner Energy Future Award.

This brings the total number of awards available to schools hosting a SciFest@School to six.

SciFest@School Awards 2021/2022

Anna Cooper Presentation College, Headford, Co. Galway

SciFest Social Sciences Award

The six SciFest@School awards provided by SciFest for suitable projects include: SciFest Best Project Award - rosette plus €20 One4all token to each winner SciFest Runner-up Best Project Award - rosette plus €15 One4all token to each winner AbbVie Young Innovator Award – rosette for each winner Bristol-Myers Squibb Passion for STEM Award – rosette for each winner

Katie Harlow Meánscoil Muire gan Smál, Convent of Mercy, Roscommon Town

SciFest Life Sciences Award

EirGrid Climate and Delivering a Cleaner Energy Future Award - rosette for each winner Society of Irish Foresters (SOIF) Award – rosette for each winner Note: Maximum of 3 per group for each award

We are delighted to see that to date 34 schools have registered to host a SciFest@School STEM fair during the current academic year, see link for list.

SciFest@School is free to participate in and supported by SciFest in the form of a teacher's pack (for schools and teachers new to the programme), awards, certificates and freebies for participating students, and online resources.

Unfortunately until the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, it is not possible for SciFest representatives and external judges to visit schools but hopefully this will change in the near future. A SciFest@School fair can be as big or as small as suits the individual school and can take place throughout the school year at times which suit the individual schools, see Information for Teachers.

Ethan Kirwan and Jack Kelly Desmond College, Co. Limerick

THEA Award

Maeve Stillman St Mary's College, Derry

ISTA Award SciFest@School, AbbVie Young Innovator Award, St Raphaela's Secondary School, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin

SciFest@School, Bristol Mryers Squibb Passion for STEM Award St Mary's CBS, Portlaoise, Co. Laois

Caleb Kiely and Binh Hanratty Coláiste Dún an Rí, Kingscourt, Co. Cavan

SciFest Scientist of the Future Award

SciFest@School, Transition Year Loreto College, St Stephen's Green, D2 SciFest@School,, Society of Irish Foresters (SOIF) Award Sandymount Park ETSS, Co. Dublin

SciFest@School, EirGrid Award St Mary's CBS, Portlaoise, Co. Laois

Lucy Teape and Kate Lehane St Brogan's College, Bandon, Co. Cork

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SciFest -The Start Of A New Journey

SciFest Project Ideas Do you and your students need a challenge for the New Year? Let 2022 be the year to do something different. Even if science is not a student's favourite subject at the moment they might just find that when they participate in SciFest that they are actually quite good at it. Doing a SciFest project is not just about science, it involves presentation skills, art, design, computer skills, being able to plan ahead, observation and research skills. If doing a group project the student learns how to collaborate and work with others. Almost any passion can be turned into a SciFest project. Encourage your students to take some time over the Christmas break to think about something they enjoy and are interested in.

Check out how Charlie, Kerry and Joshua from St Joseph's Secondary School in Rush combined their interest in techology and sport to come up with a great project on covid and social distancing which qualified them for the SciFest National Final 2021.

Click here to view Charlie, Kerry and Joshua's project.

Niamh and Líle, sixth year students from the Ursuline College in Sligo are both very interested in physics. They hypothesized that the emission of electromagnetic radiation from common electrical devices in a domestic environment negatively affects the focus and concentration of those working in proximity to them by impacting the neural oscillations of the individuals in question. They conducted over 100 tests analyzing this hypothesis in relation to three main appliances, mobile phones, WIFI, and microwaves. Click here to view Niamh and Líle's project.

Jonathan from the Presentation College, Headford, Co. Galway loves woodwork at school and decided to use his woodwork skills and his interest in physics to successfully build a digital spectrometer. He is only in third year but qualified to compete at the National final. Click here to view Jonathan's project.

Caoimhe is in third year in St Brogan's College, Bandon, Co. Cork. Her interest in healthy eating led her to investigate the current attitudes and nutritional knowledge of her peers with regards to school canteen meals. As a result she developed a website on adolescent nutrition and introduced a number of healthy eating meal options into her school canteen. Click here to view Caoimhe's project.

There are lots of resources on the SciFest website to help students select a suitable SciFest project including a 'SciFest Science by Inquiry' TY module', 'A Beginners Guide to Doing a Science Project' and a booklet of 'Project Ideas'.

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SCIFEST@COLLEGE 2022 SciFest@College ran very successfully online in both 2020 and 2021. However, a virtual event cannot capture the excitement and atmosphere of a 'real' SciFest@College STEM fair in a third-level college. We therefore hope that SciFest@College will be back to normal in 2022. Dates of the fairs in the 16 venues are currently being posted here on the SciFest website as they become available.

SciFest@College is open to all second-level students and is free to enter. There is a range of awards available at each of the SciFest@College venues; a list of the awards currently available at each venue may be viewed here.

The closing date for receipt of completed entry forms to SciFest@College 2022 is Friday 11 March 2022. A sample entry form may be viewed here.

More information for teachers on SciFest@College 2022 can be found here.

SCIFEST JUDGES Judging at SciFest is on a purely voluntary basis.

Judges at SciFest@School are recruited by the organising teacher usually from local industry and retired science teachers; in normal circumstances SciFest also provides a judge. SciFest@College judging panels normally consist of college staff, professionals from industry and local hospitals, etc.

Judges for the National Final are recruited by SciFest and represent academia, industry and the Department of Education. Many of these judges, as at SciFest@College, have been judging for a number of years.

Without the expertise and commitment to the SciFest Programme of all these people at local, regional and national level SciFest would simply not exist. Thank you.

THE REGIONAL COORDINATORS Thank you to the coordinators and their SciFest teams who for the past 16 years have been coordinating the SciFest@College regional STEM fairs in their colleges. This is in addition to their normal work and completely voluntary

SCIFEST PARTNERS AND SPONSORS Our vision at SciFest would not have become reality without the huge commitment and active contribution from our partners and Read sponsors.

More Thanks to their support we continue to fulfill our mission of promoting a love of STEM and providing all second-level students, no matter their background , circumstance or gender with the opportunity to participate in a STEM fair.

A full list of SciFest's partners and sponsors can be viewed here.

NATIONAL FINAL PRESENTERS

STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND PARENTS/GUARDIANS A big thank you to all the students who participated in SciFest 2021 and to all the teachers, parents/guardians who supported them. You have demonstrated resilience through the last 18 months and proven that once barriers are removed, and ideas encouraged, innovation will soon follow and the once seemingly impossible, becomes possible. Well done.

The SciFest National Final programme included a series of talks from national and international speakers. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the presenters for their contribution to the success of the National Final. A full list of speakers and their presentations may be viewed here. The presentations continue to be available on the National Final website, scifestfinal2021.ie.

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A CHRISTMAS CROSSWORD FOR STUDENTS

Best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year

Across

Contact Details: Email: info@scifest.ie Mobile: 0863796143 Website: www.scifest.ie

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