Experiment and Explore during Science Week 2012

Some 5,000 visitors are expected to attend the annual Science Fair at IT Sligo, which takes place on Sunday November 11, marking the beginning of Science Week 2012.

The Institute will also host nightly public lectures during the week on subjects ranging from Amateur Rocketry and the Northern Lights, to Septic Tanks and Bird Watching

Science Week is celebrated throughout the country from November 11 to 18 with the aim of promoting the relevance of science, technology, engineering and maths in our everyday lives and to demonstrate their importance to the future development of Irish society and to the economy. The theme of this year’s Science Week is ‘Everyday Experimenting’.

IT Sligo’s annual Science Fair is the largest free event for families in the North West and boasts an action-packed programme where discovering the science behind the magic will be a key theme for all age groups. You can make your own prehistoric necklaces, build an Xbox game, or examine the chemistry behind hip hop dancing. There will be events to suit very young children as well as those with some understanding of science.

The nightly lecture series features guest lectures on the Northern Lights (Monday, November 12), an evening of Science, Poetry and Music and the Lives of Sligo Scientists (Tuesday, November 13), an information lecture on Septic Tanks (Wednesday, November 14), the Irish Amateur Rocketry Association lecture ‘From Donegal to Space’ (Thursday, November 15) and a lecture from Bird Watch Ireland (Friday, November 16).

Dr Jeremy Bird Head of the School of Science at IT Sligo says that Science Week is an opportunity to encourage people of all ages to think about the importance of science in our everyday lives.

“The Science Fair is a great day out for families— we have found that even people who think they have no interest in science are fascinated by the experience,” he said. “Last year we had packed lecture theatres every night for the nightly public lecture series and we expect this year’s series to be just as popular. Science is all around us and we use the opportunity of Science Week every year to invite members of the public in to the Institute to learn more about how the subject applies to them and their everyday lives.”

The Science Fair takes place at IT Sligo from 12noon to 6pm on Sunday, November 11. The nightly lectures all take place at 7.30pm in IT Sligo with the exception of Tuesday Night’s event, which is being held in the Canis Major in the Clarion Hotel. Admission to all events is free and open to all members of the public to attend.

Click the following link to read the full Science Fair Programme:   ScienceFairProgramme.

Image caption above right:  Triplets Eoin, Mairead and Seamus Connolly, and their sister Roisin, getting ready for some mad science experiments at the 2011 Science Fair.

  

 

 

Students Eva Acheson and Eadaoin Ni Cheallaigh, Gaelscoil Chnoc Na Re, Sligo taking part in an experiment with static electricity.

Teacher Lisa Quinn from Realt Na Mara NS, demonstrating how sound travels through a pipe, where student Isabella Murray tries to find a ticking clock.

In his Science Week lecture “From Donegal to Space: Amateur Rocketry in Ireland” on November 15th, Colin Fitzsimons from the Irish Rocketry Society will explain how critical the space programme has been to human development. And he will also outline the pleasure Irish rocketry enthusiasts get from constructing, launching and recovering their creations.

Is it possible to predict a display of the Northern Lights? Expert Dave Gradwell will answer this and other questions at a Science Week lecture at IT Sligo on Monday, November 11th. Dave, who has observatory at Birr Co Offaly, has been observing the sky for 20 years and for the last decade has focussed particularly on the sun. With the help of a magnetometer, which helps measures the effect of solar flares on the earth’s magnetic field, he has accurately predicted when displays of the Northern Lights or Aurora Boreallis will occur.

 

Science Week Lectures

Click the following link to see the full Science Week lecture series: ScienceWeekLectureSeries 

Date	Speaker	Title	Location	Time
Monday November 12th	David Gradwell	“Searching for The Northern Lights in Ireland 2012-2013“	A0004	7.30pm
Tuesday November 13th	Brian Leyden, Gerry Harrington and the Staff from the School of Science, IT Sligo	“An evening of Science, Poetry, Music and the Lives of Sligo Scientists”	Canis Major @ The Clarion Hotel	7.30pm
Wednesday November 14th	Michael Casey, Eamon Gaughan & Michael Bell	“Nature Walk” by Birdwatch Ireland (Sligo Branch)	IT Sligo Grounds (convene at The Fish monument)	1pm
Wednesday November 14th	Seamus O’Brien & Noel Connaughton	“The concerns about septic tanks and what should or could happen in 2013”	A0006	7.30pm
Thursday November 15th	Colin Fitzsimons of the Irish Rocketry Society	“From Donegal to Space:  Amateur Rocketry in Ireland”	A0004	7.30pm
Friday November 16th	Don Cotton	“Sligo’s Estuaries and their Wildlife”	A0005	8pm