BUYING SWEETS HYGIENICALLY!
Students from St Clare’s Comprehensive School in Co. Leitrim were today announced as overall winners of SciFest 2010 which took place in IT Sligo. Their project was titled: ‘Investigation of bacteria on Pic n’ Mix Facilities and Developing an improved Method of Distribution of these sweets’. SciFest is a national festival of science organised regionally in collaboration with the Institutes of Technology and is open to all second level students. SciFest was created to provide an additional forum for students to present and display the results of their scientific investigations, following the success of the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition which has been running very successfully for over forty years. The SciFest initiative is jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science and Engineering as project partners.
Zoe Fox, Orlaith Fox and Shannan Feely won the award for their project ‘Investigation of Bacteria on Pic ‘n Mix Facilities and Developing an Improved Method of Distribution of these sweets. Other prizes on the day included the Abbott Runner Up Best Project Award, won by Orla Nicolson of Mercy College Sligo, the BT Best Communicator Award, which was won by Rachel Fairbanks, Nicole Carolan and Kate Fahlen from Coola Post Primary School, Sligo and the Discover Sensors Award, which went to Tracey Ni Mhorain and Callum Bashford from Colaiste Chomain, Ballina Co Mayo.
Professor Terri Scott, President IT Sligo, complimented all participants for the ‘fantastic range of projects’. She went on to say that the huge interest in science displayed at the event augurs well for the future of Science in Ireland.
Commenting at SciFest in IT Sligo, Sheila Porter, SciFest National Coordinator, said, “SciFest is a fun and exciting way to encourage an interest in science at school level, providing not only an occasion to celebrate achievement and a job well done but also an opportunity to encourage active and collaborative learning. This helps stimulate students’ interest in science and enables then to apply scientific concepts to real-life scenarios.”
“SciFest continues to go from strength to strength with a record number of entries this year. The rapid increase in participation in the competition is a clear indication of the interest and enthusiasm among students and teachers in the investigative approach to teaching and learning science. I would like to thank all of our partners including Intel, Discover Science and Engineering, BT, Dairymaster, Abbott Ireland and all the Institutes of Technology. Without their support, none of this would be possible,” Porter added.
Peter Brabazon, Programme Director, Discover Science and Engineering, said, “It is exciting to see the creativity and enthusiasm for science among Irish second-level students at SciFest 2010. The competition epitomises the skills we seek to instil in students across the country in terms of collaborative learning and critical thinking. It is also an effective model linking education and industry, with the participation of IT Sligo and the support of Intel and other sponsors.”
As part of each SciFest ceremony taking place in the Institutes of Technology there is an additional Discover Sensors award. This is given to a student science project which demonstrates a high level of application of investigative science methodologies that include the innovative use of one or more digital sensors for recording of experimental data. Visit
www.scifest.ie for further information.
The winning SciFest 2010 team from St Clare’s Comprehensive School Manorhamilton, receive their prize at IT Sligo. Sheila Porter, SciFest National Coordinator (l), Shannan Feely, Orlaith Fox, Zoe Fox and their teacher Edel McPhelim
Winners of the Discover Sensors Award, Tracey Ni Mhorain and Callum Bashford from Colaiste Chomain, Ballina Co Mayo with their teacher Colette Bean Ui Liaim ( r) and Ann Fitzpatrick of Discover Sensors (l) at the 2010 SciFest hosted by IT Sligo.