OUR YOUNG SCIENTISTS

FROM THE PRACTICAL TO THE SOCIALLY AWARE, STUDENTS FROM BUSH POST PRIMARY SCHOOL HAVE BEEN USING THEIR SCIENTIFIC SKILLS TO DESIGN A RANGE OF PROJECTS WHICH WILL COME BEFORE THE JUDGES AT THE BT YOUNG SCIENTIST AND TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION BEING HELD IN THE

HREE bright young men with sparkling futures are Peter Suresh, Oliver McGuin - ness and Barr y Dunne from Bush Po s t Primary School in Cooley who have invented a new produc t called ‘ Ultra Clean Caps’ for the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition.

The talented trio explained that it is essentially a cooler bag that sterilises sports bottles, preventing the spread of unwanted pathogens from player to player.

Having successfully built the device, they tested the product on sports bottles from a football game and found that all germs were eradicated.

The boys had the opportunity to work in the labs in DKIT and shockingly found that the untreated bottle caps harboured such bacteria as streptococcus and E.coli.

They added that they are ‘very excited to share their results with the judges and the public’ in January at the RDS.

The effects of health tracking devices and wearable technology on the rates of peoples exercise is the title of the project carried out by scientists and students of Bush Post Primary, Gary Murphy, Brendan Woods and Ciaran Murphy.

These sport enthusiasts are monitoring the effects of health Apps found on phones and devices such as Fit-bits, which are all hugely popular at the moment, to see if they really do make a difference to people’s health and their motivation towards healthy living.

The results of this experiment will tell if a device, that can cost anything up to €300, will actually improve someone’s health or if it is just a waste of money.

Another fascinating project is ‘Are Ireland’s Children Stuck in The Mud?’ led by Stefan Breen, Eoghan O’Connor and Shane McAvinney, of Bush Post Primary School’s TY Programme.

The group carried out an investigation to find out if there is a link between nature deficit and obesity in Ireland’s children.

Stefan explained: ‘Nature deficit can result in a disorder, whereby children who have not been spending enough time outdoors can develop a wide range of behavioural issues.’ Through surveying Louth’s parents and developing a game used to detect ‘ nature deficit’ in their focus group of children, this team of aspiring social scientists are answering the question as to whether children who spend most of their free-play time indoors vs. outdoors are at a higher risk of obesity.

From Sugar Rush to Cigarette Crush

With their project, Oisín Arthurs and Doire Mullen are tackling the issue of “gateway drugs” – but in a way that has previously been overlooked.