It’s all about appliance of science for St Mary’s pupils
WE were all excited about the opportunities in fourth year when we came into Transition Year, one of them being the prospect of taking part in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in January.
Our excitement stemmed from last January, when we were in third year and had gone to visit the exhibition in the RDS in Dublin. We had seen all the fantastic projects – including the girls’ work from our own school – and were determined to do our best when the opportunity arose in fourth year.
In September, the whole year group had a meeting about the BT Exhibition. Our Science teachers told us what was involved and what we would have to do to enter. The fifth years told us about their experiences last year and how much they enjoyed it, saying it was one of the highlights of their year.
Our work began with brainstorming ideas for our projects. This was a challenging job, as it is very important to have original ideas. Then we had to register our projects, by giving reasons for our choice of project and what our plan was for the project.
The deadline was the last day in September and after that, we waited in hope that our project would be chosen. The results were announced in October with four groups getting through to the exhibition from our school. This was a great achievement since only 500 projects are chosen out of 2,500 projects entered. Our work began in earnest. Surveys were compiled and sent out and experiments were put into action. At the moment, we are preparing a board for display purposes, as well as writing a project report book which the judges will look at. The progress of our work is entered in a diary on a daily basis.
We are working very hard on our projects, so that they will be the best they can be, and are thoroughly looking forward to going up to the exhibition.
The exhibition is on from January 11-14, so make sure to visit us up there and look at our projects, if you attend!