Primary pupils have their day at the fair

Having a large hat size does not mean you also enjoy a high IQ. There is no connection between the size of your head and the scale of your intelligence, pupils from Scoil Mhuire Lourdes in Carrigaline, Co Cork, have confirmed.

The fourth class pupils put together an outstanding project on display in the RDS Primary Science Fair which runs parallel to the Young Scientist exhibition under way in the RDS Main Hall.

There is nothing to beat the energy and enthusiasm of the young participants in classes four through six who bring their projects and are ready to tell the world about their discoveries.

Teacher Joyce Lynch allowed the 13-strong pupil team to vote on the research question to be answered. They then shared out the work and began conducting their studies, starting off with contacting experts based at University College Dublin, Ms Lynch says.

“It was fun and not so much work,” says Barry Kelliher (10), who was the media spokesman for the group. “Your head size does not tell you about your intelligence,” he declared.

On a nearby stand pupils from St Joseph's National School, Glenealy, Co Wicklow, decided to determine whether girls or boys had better peripheral vision.

This group involved 29 young scientists in fifth and sixth class who developed methods to allow them to test this in pupils in a range of classes.

Within her class it was very tight. “The girls had better peripheral vision but the boys and girls were very close,” said Jenna Smyth (12), the spokeswoman for her group.

Peripheral vision varied depending on the class tested however, with younger boys in first year doing better than girls, but the girls then coming out on top in subsequent years.

Whatever the differences, Jenna says it is very important to have good peripheral vision for activities such as sports, driving and keeping an eye on younger children.

The RDS is committed to encouraging students of all ages to become involved in science, says Karen Sheeran, science and technology programme executive at the RDS.

It was about encouraging “curiosity and imagination” in these young students, something that supports science, wider society and the pupils themselves, she says.