Toby O’Brien is crowned Creagh
Young scientist Toby O’Brien was the overall winner at Creagh College’s fourth annual SciFest@School competition.
Toby combined two of his passions, skateboarding and science, and the investigations along with the detailed analysis impressed the judges the most.
Second prize went to Natalia Liskowska and Kamile Piezyte who researched the difference between teacher led and independent study, while Ribh Walsh and Saoirse Moloney came in third with their project on the effects of exercise on ability to study.
Judge Dr Tony Keene, a lecturer in Chemistry in UCD, said he really enjoyed seeing all the very interesting projects. He was so impressed that he found it very hard to pick only three winners. George Porter of SciFest Ireland recommended that quite a few of the projects go on to enter the regional finals in May.
Declan O’Toole, acting principal of Creagh College, said they are delighted to host SciFest@School in the school because it allows students to develop their study of science, technology, engineering and maths outside of the classroom and apply it to everyday life.
‘All of the students have worked hard on their projects and should be very proud of their achievements,’ said Mr O’Toole.
Creagh College was extremely busy during Science Week as they had many young scientist participating in many activities.
The five labs in the school were busy each lunch time as many of the teachers carried out numerous demonstrations. Activities included flame tests, forensic science, hair raising Van De Graaf generator, dissections, blazing methane bubbles, screaming jellybabies and lots more.
The transition year students participated in a DNA Profiling Module where they carried out Gel Electrophoresis to run real DNA and create a number of unique DNA fingerprints in order to solve a crime, courtesy of Amgen Biotech. The students thoroughly enjoyed the workshop.
During one of the days, the school held an ‘egg parachute’ competition where first years had the opportunity to design, build and conduct a test flight of a parachute which would safely deliver eggs from the top floor of the school down to the ground.
Lastly, to conclude the week, the young innovators showcased their impressive scientific projects at SciFest@School. Over 100 students exhibited projects.