Bouncing cells delight Galway pupils for Science Week

The molecular composition of a cell isn’t something that would normally distract Niamh Tully (8) or Luke Carr (8) or any of their fellow classmates in Collinamuck National School,Co Galway, from playtime.

However, such was the level of excitement about nuclei and membranes and suchlike in their classroom on Friday that no one wanted to break for lunch.

“It can bounce!” exclaimed several of the eight and nine year-olds as they discovered the malleable magic of “jumping clay” while busy making cells.

Tutor for the Galway Science and Technology festival school session was Jim Daly, an advocate of the clay-based educational programme devised by the South Korean Institute of Art.

Teachers love to see Jim coming, for the clay substance he uses is mess-free, non-toxic and classified as “food” - though no one was broadcasting that to the happy but hungry pupils.

“Now make your nucleus!” Jim directed, as he explained how the green noses on round pink faces constituted the cell “brains”.

“And do you remember what the blue and white bits are?” he asked, to very momentary silence.

“That’t the energy in the cell,which takes in food, energy and nutrients and sends it out as carbon dioxide,”he explained.

“I just don’t think I am going to remember all this,” one of the young scientists responded, to a big sigh.

For Michael Melia (9), Daniel Walsh (9) and Fiachna O’Halloran, the best part was the “gooey, stretchy bit”, where they mixed clay colours and stretched out black rims to make the cell membranes.

Within minutes, Jim Daly was handing around metal bases, to which the pupils could attach their “cells” to create badges. “Now you can tell your parents that you’ve just made a unit of life,”he said.

For the 59-pupil three-teacher Connemara school, close to the narrows of Lough Corrib, the travelling workshop is invaluable.

As principal Marie Gibbons and teacher Derval Cotter explained, rural schools have to consider costs if transporting pupils into the city for science events.

The fortnight-long Galway Science and Technology festival's outreach programme extends to primary and secondary schools the length and breadth of the county, and booking is already brisk for workshops at its final day exhibition at NUI Galway on Sunday week, November 24th from 10am to 6pm.

Over 20,000 people attended the event last year. Some 70 per cent of workshop places can be booked in advance on www.galwayscience.eventbrite.ie