The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
KERRY SCIENCE STUDENTS IMPRESS
MICHAEL Carroll, Michael Kirby and Pádraig Crean are the toast of Tralee CBS School this week after they took first place in the Senior Category of the ‘Social and Behavioural Sciences’ section at the BT Young Scientist competition at the RDS in Dublin.
Their project explored the effectiveness of teaching farm safety skills to young children by integrating different teachings into a children’s storybook. The most important thing to note is that the research has been proven to make young children safer on farms.
The project caught the eye for its detail and alternative approach to spreading the farm safety message, which generally tends to target older age groups.
As part of their project, the pupils proved that a child’s safety book they designed can make children behave more safely on farms. The project attracted huge interest from the judges and managed to overcome stiff competition over the three days.
Prior to their trip to Dublin, the Tralee students set up a pilot group and designed and distributed over 100 questionnaires, in person, to four primary schools in the county. They set up a farm experiment with eight children on a working dairy farm and collected ‘near miss’ data involving children on farms.
The pupils prepared a farm safety teacher resource pack, which they then presented to the teachers in each of the primary school’s they visited: Listellick NS, Ardfert NS, Gaelscoil Mhic Easmainn, and Aughacasla NS.
‘We’re incredibly proud of our three students,” said Máire Fitzgerald, science teacher and mentor of CBS The Green team.
“To have the hard work and determination of these three wonderful young men rewarded in such a way is a dream come through. All of the school community have such respect for the work ethic, passion and intelligence of these innovative young men who are advocating for a greater awareness of children’s safety on farms,” she added.
Kerry schools in general were well-represented throughout the three-day event. A broad range of projects encapsulating science, technology, biology, ecology, mathematics and social behaviour manged to catch the judges’ attention. Senior Individual third place went to Timothy McGrath of Killorglin Community College for his study on halophyte species and their ability to develop a nutrient treatment biofilter to combat oceanic deadzones.
In the Intermediate Group, third place went to Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine’s Conor Casey and Hannah Coombs. They asked whether it is possible to create a mathematical model to predict photopollution based on population density in Munster.
This project also picked up ‘The Central Statistics Office (CSO) Open Data Award’.
‘Highly Commended’ honours went to Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, as pupils Leah Ní Sheanacháin, and Sarah Nic Gearailt looked at tidal patterns in sailing design. It was a double in the ‘Highly Commended’ category for Mercy Mounthawk pupils. Nicola Moriarty, Patrick Nolan and Sean Fitzgibbon, examined the usefulness of a safety sensor and camera for bicycles; while fellow pupils Sean Hennessy and John McCrohan looked at the benefits of the posture pad.