Science whizzkids!
DUNDALK Institute of Technology opened its laboratories to more than 1,200 primary school children from across the North Leinster-South Ulster region as part of Science Week, the annual festival of learning and discovery.
Students from third to sixth class took part in a variety of interactive demonstrations and lab classes aimed at encouraging them to explore science in their everyday lives, ask questions and find out how science explains the world around us.
The Science Week programme was coordinated by the Department of Applied Sciences at DkIT and other researchers from within the Institute.
The week began with a ‘Fantastic DNA’ Cell Explorers, a hands-on lab class which uncovers the themes of cellular and molecular biology. Budding explorers discovered DNA by building a DNA double helix and extracting DNA from a banana to take home.
DkIT is a partner of the SFI-funded Cell EXPLORERS Programme, a nationwide science outreach and public engagement programme based in the School of Natural Sciences in NUI, Galway.
This was followed by a series of Pollinator masterclasses where second and third class students were introduced to the amazing world of bees and pollination.
Students learned that in Ireland one third of the bee species is threatened with extinction, due to the drastically reduced amount of food (flowers) and safe nesting sites in our landscapes.
Fifth and sixth class students were also treated to a series of interactive demonstrations organised by Science Foundation Ireland, who fund oriented basic and applied research in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The session by James Soper was entitled ‘Your big beautiful biased brain’ and explored the theme of how your brain interprets the information it receives in complex and sometimes surprising ways.’