KERRY’S YOUNG SCIENTISTS

EVER felt like the topic of your phone conservation suddenly appears as a ‘suggested post’ when you log onto Facebook? Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? Are nursey rhymes really appropriate for the 21st Century?

This is just a sample of the research projects that Kerry pupils will be putting on display at this year’s BT Young Scientists & Technology Exhibition which runs from January 9-12. A total of 15 projects from Kerry schools will head to the capital this year.

Killorglin Community College and Mercy Mounthawk Tralee both have four projects each. Among the list of projects in the former’s, is whether or not there is use of personal devices as listening apparatuses for ‘data harvesting’ for target advertising.

“Long before we decided it would be a project, my friends and family said they kept noticing ads on their Facebook or Instagram feeds to do with stuff they had just been talking about. It seems it’s inescapable,” said Killorglin Community College pupil, Donal Brennan.

“Our experiment doesn’t definitively prove whether they’re listening our not, but we did have a number of various findings that suggested that they were. It’s enough to raise our suspicions,” he added.

Students have been busy over the past few months preparing and quantifying the various stages of research which they hope will make an impression on the judges. The projects also shed light on some very interesting interrogations of science, technology, biology, ecology, mathematics and social behaviour.

Some of the remaining projects include an investigation into the economic advantages of employing a plastic reformer to recycle plastic farm waste into sustainable farm products – by the pupils at Tarbert Comprehensive School.

Pupils from Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine ask whether it’s possible to create a mathematical model to predict photo-pollution based on population density in Munster.

There is an interesting examination of racist attitudes among teenagers in Ireland by the pupils of Meanscoil Phadraig Naofa.

The presence of microplastics in freshwater lakes surrounding Killarney is the project pitch of St Brigid’s Secondary School.

CBS Secondary School in Tralee will present evidence on the effectiveness of teaching farm safety to young children, Coláiste na Sceilge ask if an apple a day does keep the doctor away, while Gaelcholáiste Chiarrai study the tidal patterns in sailing designing.

Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin (right) Killorglin Community College pupils Grace Lynch and Donal Brennan with their project ‘Are Facebook listening - An investigation into the use of Mobile devices as listening apparatuses for use in data harvesting and targeted advertising’, with fellow student Natasha Myers with her project ‘Are Nursery Rhymes appropriate for the 21st Century?’

Photo by Domnick Walsh BELOW: Mercy Mounthawk students Nicola Moriarty, Patrick Nolan , Sean Fitzgibbon and Samuel Abubakar are all set for the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2019 .