There was success for a number of students from Mary Immaculate Secondary School Lisdoonvarna who took part in the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition which was held at the RDS Dublin in January. The school was represented by six projects. The school was delighted with the success of the students.
Sarah McNamara with a project entitled “Using Earthworms as an Indicator of Soil Health in North Clare” was awarded third place in the senior individual Biological and Ecological category. Her project looked at the health of the soil on farms throughout the Burren using earthworms as a soil health indicator.
Dylan Egan was awarded Highly Commended for his project entitled “Teachers and Technology: Breaking Down the Barriers”. His project was in the senior individual Social and Behavioural category. His project was an Investigation into the main factors preventing post-primary teachers from integrating Information and Communications Technology (ICT) into their routine in the classroom.
Alice Davoren and Emily Cullinan were awarded a Highly Commended in the junior group Biological and Ecological category for their project entitled “The Grey Area within Greywater”. In this project they looked at the effect greywater has on the level of nutrients in the soil, on plant growth and earthworm population.
The other three projects that represented the school were:
Jack Rush and Matthew Irwin with their project entitled “The heads up on headphones, are they damaging teenagers hearing?” In the project, they looked at whether the type of headphones and earbuds used by teenagers to listen of music with affects the risk to their hearing. The advice they would give is that at higher volumes all types of earphone can damage your hearing, so turn down the volume.
Shauna O’Kane had a busy time on her stand talking to the public. She was featured in a number of newspapers. Her project got great attention from visitors to the exhibition. The title of her project was “Bits or bitless, that is the question?” In the project she looked at whether horses display discomfort when using a bit as against using a hackamore and if their performance is affected by it.
Cindy O’Leary had a project entitled “Is there more in your mackerel than meets the eye?”
In her project she looked at the occurrence of microplastics in mackerel and classifying the microplastics found in the mackerel by size and type.
A former participant from Mary Immaculate Secondary School, Dr. Patricia Cusack visited this years projects. It was 14 years ago she successfully represented the school at the young scientist competition.
The students were great ambassadors for our school. They were treated to lunch at school for representing the school so well.
First year students visited the exhibition on the Friday of the exhibition. Some of them are already planning projects for next year’s event. The projects were mentored by John Sims. This was the 31st year he attended the exhibition with projects. The management and staff thanked him for his hard work and dedication to helping students participate in this event every year (and they had some cake for him!).
Dr. Patricia Cusack, with Alice Davoren and Emily Cullinan at the BTYS
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First year students visiting the BTYS
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Jack Rush, Mona Hynes (Principal) & Matthew Irwin at BTYS
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John Sims with Dylan Egan at the BTYS
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Lisa O’Doherty (Deputy Principal) with Shauna O’Kane at BTYS
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Principal, Mona Hynes with Cindy O’Leary at the BTYS
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Principal, Mona Hynes with Sarah McNamara at the BTYS
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