SCIFEST EZINE

“SciFest has given us many

great experiences and an op-

portunity to delve into the

world of science. We would

strongly encourage students to

take part in SciFest to develop

their skills and fulfil their true

potential.”

Ellen Fitzgerald, Aoife Dolan and Niamh Nyhan,

Sacred Heart Secondary School,

Clonakilty, Co. Cork

SEAI INESPO Award winners

SciFest 2014

GET READY FOR SCIFEST Welcome to the 2015/2016 SciFest science fair programme. We hope you

had a good summer and we look forward to working with you throughout

the current school year.

What is SciFest? The SciFest programme was launched nationwide in 2008. It was set up to promote

a love of STEM and to give all students an equal opportunity to experience the ex-

citement of participating in a science fair. Entry to SciFest is free and the fairs take

place at local (SciFest@School), regional (SciFest@College) and national

(SciFest@SFI Discover) level. Winners from the national final go on to compete at

international fairs, including Intel ISEF in America and INESPO in the Netherlands.

Over 32,000 students have participated since 2008.

SciFest 2015 was the biggest and best ever with:

7,200 Students : 3050 Projects : 426 Teachers : 258 Schools

56 SciFest science fairs nationwide : SciFest national award winners all went

on to win top awards at Intel ISEF in America and INESPO in Amsterdam.

SciFest Ezine, Volume 7, Number 1 September 2015

In This Issue

Page

SciFest@School 2015/2016

SciFest@College 2016, DCU

The SciFest 2015 STEM Superstars

INESPO and Boston Scientific Awards

International Acclaim for SciFest Winners

Amsterdam

5. SciFest Winners Visit Berlin

TY EXPO and Frontiers of Physics

Let’s Investigate

8. Contacts, Sponsors and Activities

SFI Discover Best Project Award winner Sophie Sheehan, SciFest@College ITB

2

SciFest@School 2015/16

Let this year be the year to organize a

SciFest@School science fair in your school

SciFest@School was introduced in 2011 and there has been strong de-

mand from schools to participate - 40 schools participated in 2014/2015.

SciFest@School is where a second-level school hosts their own

in-house SciFest science fair. Resource materials to support the or-

ganisation of a SciFest@School event are available in the SciFest STEM

fairs toolkit that is part of the resources section of the SciFest website. In

addition to the materials in the toolkit support from SciFest is also availa-

ble in the form of advice on the organisation of a SciFest@School sci-

ence fair, certificates for participating students, a number of prizes for

winning projects, 'freebies' and support on the day of the event - contact

us for details.

Note.

SciFest@School science fairs can be held at any time during the

school year.

We support SciFest@School science fairs of all sizes from one class

group to a number of year groups. No fair is too small.

You should hold your fair before 11 March if you wish to select pro-

jects to go forward to a SciFest@College 2016 science fair.

DCU to host a

regional

SciFest@College

science fair in 2016

The inaugural SciFest@College

science fair was held in t he

Institute of Technology, Tallaght

in 2006. It was such a resound-

ing success that the programme

was launched nationwide in

2008 with the support of Discover

Science and Engineering and

Intel Ireland.

Participation in SciFest has

grown at a phenomenal rate over

the years, with more than 7,000

second-level students participat-

ing in 2015. Traditionally there

have been three venues in Dub-

lin: ITT, DIT and ITB. To cater for

the ever-growing demand DCU

has agreed to run a

SciFest@College in 2016.

We are delighted to welcome

DCU on board and look forward

to their FIRST EVER SCIFEST.

Inaugural SciFest@College, ITT 2006

SciFest@School 2015, Coláiste Chraobh Abhann, Kilcole, Co. Wicklow

3

INESPO

Award 2015

Winners of the SEAI

award at each of the

SciFest@College 2015

science fairs have been

invited to submit their pro-

ject report books to

SciFest by 2 Oct. A panel

of judges representing

SciFest and SEAI will as-

sess the projects, based

on the report books, and

will select the projects to

go forward to compete for

the INESPO Award at the

national final.

Boston Scientific

Award 2015

Winners of the Boston Sci-

entific Medical Devices

award at each of the

SciFest@College 2015

science fairs have been

invited to submit their pro-

ject report books to

SciFest by 2 Oct. A panel

of judges representing

SciFest and Boston Scien-

tific will assess the pro-

jects, based on the report

books, and will select the

projects to go forward to

compete for the Boston

Scientific Medical Devices

Award at the national final.

The SciFest 2015 STEM Superstars

The overall winner/s from each of the 15 SciFest@College 2015 regional science fairs

have been invited to exhibit at a national final, SciFest@SFI Discover 2015, in the Ma-

rino Conference Centre on 6 November. The projects will be evaluated by an expert

panel of judges from academia, enterprise and government. Each of the exhibitors will

be presented with an Excellence in STEM award in recognition of their success at the

regional fairs and the overall winner/s will receive an all-expenses-paid trip along with

their teacher to represent Ireland at the Intel International Science and Engineering

Exhibition (ISEF) in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in May.

Venue School Teacher Student/s Project Title

AIT Lanesboro Community College, Co. Longford

Michael Lyons

Mark Lyons The price of profit - a statistical analysis of the effects of the GMS charge

CIT Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál, Blarney, Co.Cork

Sean Foley Sarah Sweeney Maths behind music

DIT Scoil Chaitriona, Glasnevin, Dublin 9

Brian Gallagher

Oran O’Donnabháin

Cost effective sound localisation sensor arrays for autonomous mobile platforms

DkIT Saint Macartan's Col-lege, Co. Monaghan

Raymond Mc Hugh

Louis Madden The possibilities of home genomics for phylogenetics research

GMIT Yeats College Galway, College Road, Galway

Corinna Mahoney

Conall McCabe Research into the Fundamental Princi-ples of Chaos Theory and its Extent of Application in the Physical Sciences

ITB Skerries CC, Co. Dublin

Dr. Kate Corbett

Sophie Sheahan Adam Mc Grane

Exploring the use of Halophytes as Carbon Sinks

ITC St. Leos, Dublin Road, Carlow

Julie Egan Eve McGlinchey Voice controlled home automation system utilising the Raspberry Pi

ITS Drumshanbo VS, Co. Leitrim,

Pauline McBarron

Anna Corcoran Niamh McNamara Áine Kelly

Decibels of DVS

ITT Sutton Park School Sutton, D13

Catherine Tattersall

Claire Nichols Correlation or coincidence: solar flares, lunar phases, and stock market activity

IT Tral

John the Baptist CS, Hospital, Co. Limerick

Michelle Buckley

Liam Passmore

A statistical analysis of whether segregating males and females in PE will increase participation and physical activity levels

LIT Coláiste Charáin, Croom, Co. Limerick

Edel Farrell

Eoin Hayes Adam Burke

The handy guide to sign language

LIT Thurles

Scoil Chríost Rí, Portlaoise, Co. Laois

Breege Masterson

Isabel Dwyer Clodagh Howe Ciara Burke

Is Your Phone a Danger to You?

LyIT Crana College, Buncrana, Co. Donegal

Philip Mc Guinness

Hannah Dominguez McLaughlin Conor Gildea Claire Barron

Classroom or Class doom - an in depth analysis of the effects of using google classroom

WIT CBS Kilkenny Lisa Cosgrove

Conor Cantwell Conor Flynn

Functional movement training in young GAA players

NW Derry

St Mary's College, Derry,

Ann Blank-ing

Laura McLaughlin Áine Gillespie

Investigating the ability of egg-shell membrane to absorb carbon dioxide

4

What started out as an idea, developed into a worldwide success for West Cork students Ellen

Fitzgerald, Aoife Dolan and Niamh Nyhan from the Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty,

Co. Cork. Their project entitled 'Non-Integrated LED Bulb' involved an LED bulb which they de-

signed to integrate into existing street lamp fittings without affecting the performance with regard to

lux levels and uniformity. They estimated that their innovative solution would provide an 80% sav-

ing on cost per annum and up to a 50% reduction in Ireland’s annual carbon footprint.

Ellen Aoife and Niamh tell their story:

‘Our project was first presented to SciFest judges in CIT, April 2014 at one of the fifteen regional SciFest@College sci-

ence fairs. We were awarded first place in the Technology category and also the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland

(SEAI) Award. In October we were selected to compete at the SciFest 2014 National Final (SciFest@SFI Discover) which

took place in Dublin in November. Our winning streak continued and we were delighted to come away with the SEAI

INESPO award. This granted us and our teacher, Ms Holland, an opportunity to represent Ireland in Amsterdam at the

International Environment and Sustainability Project Olympiad (INESPO) in June 2015.

We received a warm welcome at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. A reception committee presented us with tulips and muf-

fins. The following morning we set up our project. We presented our project to a total of 13 judges at the Olympiad, and

competed with over 300 students from 47 countries. After two rigorous days of judging, we had a two-day break. Day trips

were organised by INESPO and we visited The Hague and toured around Amsterdam. We visited the Dutch parliament,

the Rijskmuseum and Zaanse Schans. We were also lucky enough to go on a boat tour through Amsterdam. After spend-

ing five days in the beautiful city, we were all invited to the awards ceremony in Het Koninklijk Concertgebouw. It was

here where we won first prize representing Ireland for our project. We received a trophy, a gold medal each and award

money for our hard work and dedication. The following day included talking to Irish radio stations and national newspa-

pers reporters while spending the award money in the shops of Amsterdam.

International Acclaim for

SciFest Winners

Aoife, Ellen and Niamh celebrate their success in Amsterdam

‘The experience was life changing and rewarding.

Our months of hard work had paid off as we represented

our country and won. Without the constant support and

help from those at Garrabridge, CAPPA, SEAI, CIT and

SciFest, our trip would not have been a success. We

came away from our week in Amsterdam with not only

pride and a sense of accomplishment, but with life

long memories and friends from all around the world.

SciFest has given us many great experiences and an

opportunity to delve into the world of science. We

would strongly encourage students to take part in

SciFest to develop their skills and fulfil their true poten-

5

‘Overall it was an amazing experience and one I feel

quite lucky to have been given the opportunity to go on.

We got to see the city of Berlin and also all of the sci-

ence that is currently going on in Berlin. It was a fantas-

tic and very enjoyable trip and I really appreciate

SciFest for giving me the opportunity and also Julie

Deering-Kraft, DFA for being so kind and facilitating to

us during our visit. I would also like to thank Mr and Mrs

White, the Irish embassy staff for looking after us during

our stay in Berlin and the Department of Foreign Affairs

for sponsoring the award. ‘

Rachel Ní Dhonnachadha

June 2015

Rachel and Ciara at the Long Night of Science in Berlin

Rachel and Shannon Ní Dhonnachadha from St Vincent’s Secondary School, Dundalk won the

Runner-up Best Project Award at the SciFest National Final (SciFest@SFI Discover 2014) last

November. Their prize was an all-expenses-paid trip for them and their teacher, John White, to attend the Berlin

Long Night of Science 2015 in May. Unfortunately Shannon couldn’t travel as she was sitting her Leaving Certifi-

cate but Ciara McLoughlin, a SciFest@College DkIT 2015 award winner and a student at St Vincent’s travelled

with Rachael. The travel award is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

A report by Rachel:

We arrived in Berlin on Thursday the 11th of June. It was around 6.30pm by the time we reached our hotel so we

spent the remainder of the evening just walking around Berlin and soaking up the atmosphere.

On Day 2 we had quite a busy day. At 10:30 we met with Prof. Axel Hoffmann, Academic Director, Institute of Solid

State Physics, Technische Universität. He told us about his interest in Physics and his career. He showed us

around the University pointing out the many different pieces of equipment which are used in the making of LEDs.

After that we went to the Irish Embassy building in Berlin and met with Julie Deering-Kraft who showed us around

the building before we went off for lunch with Julie and her colleague Sarah Callanan. The conversation turned to

my project and SciFest which both of them took quite an interest in. Afterwards it was time for shopping. We includ-

ed a tour of the TV Tower which was amazing. At each point around the TV tower it had how many degrees you

were facing in the direction towards a certain city.

On Day 3 we had a visit to the German parliament (Reichstag building). It was a breath-taking sight. The architec-

ture was incredible. Afterwards we walked around the city and saw famous sights like the Brandenburg gates. We

were both quite excited as then we were going to the Long Night of Science. Julie kindly offered to be our translator

for the VIP tour and after listening to a number of very interesting talks we walked around the university and saw

many different devices such as the Bionic Robot Arm. This was modelled as an elephants trunk and could feel your

SciFest Winners Visit Berlin

6

SciFest Winners Visit Berlin

Continued from page 5

touch and also detect where your

hand was to drop an apple into it.

Next we looked at Using Eye

Movement to Control Computers

which was quite a simple proto-

type at the moment but nonethe-

less it still worked and was an

incredible experience and then

you got to choose what chocolate

bar you wanted for completing

the test.

On Day 4 it was the day to return

home to Ireland but we managed

to squeeze in some time to see

the technology museum and also

the Science centre spectrum.

Both were incredible and well

worth going to. I found the sci-

ence centre quite enjoyable as it

had quite a lot of interactive de-

vices. In the technology museum

it focused on the developments in

the transport industry and the

technology sector. We then got

onto the train to the airport and

flew home. Overall it was an

amazing experience and one I

feel quite lucky to have been giv-

en the opportunity to go on. We

got to see the city of Berlin and

also all of the science that is cur-

rently going on in Berlin. It was a

fantastic and very enjoyable trip

and I really appreciate SciFest for

giving me the opportunity. I would

also like to thank, Julie Deering-

Kraft DFA, Mr and Mrs White

and the Department of Foreign

Affairs for sponsoring the award.

The IOPI’s Frontiers of Physics Teachers Conference was held in NUI

Galway on 19 September. The conference takes place each year and is

a must for all physics teachers.

SciFest@Frontiers of Physics 2015

The TY EXPO was held in the Hub, Kilkenny on 16/ 17 September. With

over 100 exhibition stands and nearly 7000 students passing through,

SciFest had a very busy couple of days.

SciFest@TY EXPO 2015

7

Let’s Investigate: A simple investigation your students can carry out to help them understand the idea of a hypothesis, research, fair test, data collection, conclusions and recommendations

Hypothesis An object that is streamlined will move faster through water than an object that is not streamlined.

Materials Blu-Tack, Tall measuring cylinder, Stopwatch

Student instructions

Use the above materials to test the hypothesis.

Before you begin discuss the hypothesis with the other members of your

team.

Draw up an experimental plan.

Design a chart on which to record the data you collect.

Remember you may have to modify your plan.

Write an account of your experiment into your copybook, explaining your method and describing your results and conclusions.

If you require any other materials or equipment please ask.

Fair Test: Have you carried out a fair test?

Sample chart of results:

Questions

1. Some fish have fusiform (streamlined) bodies, e.g., salmon, while others are laterally compressed (flattened from side to

side), e.g., sole. The shape of the fish’s body tells us a lot about its lifestyle. Comment on this statement.

2. In what way might the results be useful if you were designing swimwear?

3. What problems did you come across in your experiment and how did you overcome them?

Independent Variable Shape

Dependent Variable Time taken to travel distance/speed

Controlled or Fixed Variables 1. Mass of object

2. Distance/Height of water

3. Height of drop

Replicates (Number of times each of the levels of the Independent Variable was tested)

Three

Sample Shapes

Trial 1

Time (s)

Trial 2

Time (s)

Trial 3

Time (s)

Average

Time (s)

Distance

mm

Speed

mm/s

1

2

3

Other Activities There is a wide range of STEM activities and competitions available guaranteed to excite students.

These include:

ICI Chemistry Newsletter Competition 2015—2016

IUCr Crystal growing competition

Boole2School Lesson plans and interactive classroom resources

One Good Idea An opportunity to inspire people to make small lifestyle changes that will use energy more efficiently and help tackle climate change

Apps4Gaps: all-Ireland competition aimed at encouraging young people to provide concepts and create applications utilising Open Data freely available

Visit the ISTA website for a list of events and competitions.

A wide range of resources may be found on the SciFest website

These include:

A SciFest STEM Fairs Toolkit to support teachers and students in develop-

ing projects and to support schools in organising a SciFest@School sci-

ence fair

2 student modules:

‘A Beginner’s Guide to doing a

SciFest Project’ and a

‘Transition Year module - Sci-

ence by Inquiry’

SciFest - Why Get Involved

SciFest Support Panel

SciFest Testimonials

SciFest National Finals 2011 -

2014 project abstracts

Science Fairs in Ireland - Information for Teachers - all you need to know

about participating in a science fair in Ireland

Like SciFest on Facebook

Follow SciFest on Twitter

Watch SciFest on YouTube

Contact Us

e: sheila.porter@scifest.ie

e: george.porter@scifest.ie

m: 086 379 6143

w: www.scifest.ie

Please check the website

regularly for updates

Closing date for receipt of

entries to SciFest@College

2016 is:

Friday 11 March 2016

SciFest is supported by Institutes of Technology

St Mary’s College, Derry