Fighting fit

Ireland's brightest sparks entered the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition last week. Gráinne Faller asked some transition-year entrants about their projects

Mind your manners

Have you ever thought that people are becoming ruder as the years go by? Enda Hession  of the Catholic University School in Dublin thought so, which is why he decided to explore the theory with a project called Manners, Please.

Why did you decide on this project?

I realised that I was seeing a lot of things on the streets. You'd see old ladies standing on the Luas the whole time instead of being offered seats. When the Luas stops, people barge on without waiting for others to get off. In sport, players seem to be getting badly injured because people are so aggressive. It seems nobody cares about anybody else.

What was involved?

First I gave out a survey to a group of old people, a group of adults, and then I gave it out to students in an all-girls school and in an all-boys school. It was multiple-choice. It gave situations like, "If there was an old woman standing on a crowded Luas, what would you do?" The responses were pretty good. People were saying that they'd have pretty good manners. But then I went about trying to see if what they were saying was true. I tripped and fell on Grafton Street, to see if anyone would help me. I did it five times, and only once did someone ask me if I was all right.

Any surprising results?

I have a bag that, if it's open just a bit, will spill books all over the place. I went on to Grafton Street again, to see if people would help me if I dropped loads of books on a busy street. I was pretty surprised. People walked straight past me. I would have thought someone would pick up just one book. In the survey I gave a situation about a lost wallet and asked people what they'd do if they found one. A lot of teens said they'd spend the contents, which I was surprised at. I asked the Garda, and they said that about a third of lost wallets reported to them are handed in, so spending the contents must be what happens to the other two-thirds.

How's transition year going in general? What's been your favourite bit so far?

Transition year is pretty busy for me. Normally I'd be playing a lot of sport, but I've been injured for the past six months, so I've had time to get involved. I'm doing Young Social Innovators, mini-company, St Vincent de Paul and the Green Team. Work experience was pretty good. I was in a solicitor's office, so it was interesting.

What's in store this year?

We have this idea of podcasting for our mini-company - getting unsigned bands in for interviews and music - so that will be good if it works. We're going to France as well.

We'll be staying with families to improve our French.

How healthy do you think you are?

Saidhbhe Bannon, Jennifer McCourt and Siobhán Jordan of St Vincent's Secondary School in Dundalk, Co Louth, used data logging to measure the heart recovery rate of their classmates after exercise. Heart recovery rate is an excellent way to measure fitness.

Why did you decide on this project?

Saidhbhe: We were looking for a project that covered an area that was topical, and our teacher Mr White showed us how data logging could be used to measure fitness.

Siobhán: A lot of girls these days are quite concerned with their weight. You give up a lot of sports and things during Junior Cert, so we wanted to see how fit people were.

Jennifer: Teenage obesity is such a big thing in the media. We're in a girls' school, so people are constantly thinking about their weight, and fitness is a big part of preventing obesity.

What was involved?

Siobhán: We got girls to stand on a stepper, then asked them to relax for 100 seconds, because a lot of people were nervous, and their heart rates were higher than they would be normally. After that we measured their heart rate, then they exercised and we measured their recovery rate.

Saidhbhe: We used probes to measure people's heart rates accurately. You can use the probes to measure lots of things, like the respiration rate of yeast and so on.

Any surprising results?

Jennifer: Girls who did certain kinds of exercise were fitter than others who exercised as well. For example, girls who did Irish dancing, running or badminton were fitter than girls who kept fit by walking.

How's transition year going in general? What's been your favourite bit so far?

Saidhbhe: It's been brilliant. We've had so many opportunities. I love the science. Because it's transition year we get to go through the different subjects, like chemistry, biology and physics, which is really interesting.

Jennifer: I loved the Navan Barn. We went there and learned how to ice cakes.

Siobhán: We do bridge in school, and the Warren Buffet Cup was being played in Dublin. People come from all over the world to play, and we got to go. That was brilliant.

What's in store this year?

Siobhán: I'm looking forward to the school musical.

Saidhbhe: I'll be stage manager.

Jennifer: We'll be making a film in art. It's a short detective story; it should be really good.

A cheap way to capture the sun's energy

As conservation and renewable energy are becoming more important, Adrian Walsh and Fintan O'Hea of Kinsale Community School, in Co Cork, decided to build a solar-powered water heater. Adrian spoke to Transition Times about the project.

Why did you decide on this project?

My father wanted to put a solar panel on our house a while back, and it turned out that it was going to cost him €8,000, which means it would have taken 12 years before it paid for itself. Fintan and I decided to see if it could be done without spending so much.

What was involved?

To start off, we built seven small panels with different kinds of glass, to see which one worked best. Glass changes UV light to heat, and low-emissivity double glazing, which has a metallic coating on one side, was the best, as it absorbs the energy but doesn't let it bounce back out. Once that was decided we built a full-scale one. One thing we've done is to put it on a stand. Most solar panels are designed to be fixed to a roof, but the stand means you can tilt it in the winter, for example, when the sun is low in the sky.

Any surprising results?

We have heated water to 37 degrees so far, which is about the temperature you'd need for a shower. We've managed to do it for much less than €8,000, too. So far we've spent about €250.

How's transition year going in general? What's been your favourite bit so far?

It's a brilliant year. We went on a trip to Killary adventure centre, in Co Clare. The best bit was the Killary challenge, which took place in a big bog. It was raining that day, and we got really mucky.

What's in store this year?

I've got a couple of things going on. I'm going up to Dublin City University, where they're choosing the team for the International Mathematical Olympiad, which is probably what I'm most looking forward to.

Examining the driver theory test

Road safety is particularly relevant for young people, as they're the group most likely to be hurt or killed on the roads. In 2001 the Government introduced the driver theory test as part of the requirement for obtaining a provisional licence. Caitrín O'Leary, Harriet Ryan and Aiveen Finn of Alexandra College, in Dublin, asked if the theory test works.

Why did you decide on this project?

Aiveen: We decided on it because there are so many road accidents in Ireland. It's very topical.

Harriet: We're doing the theory test soon, so we thought it would be good to find out if it works.

Caitrín: It's important to know whether the theory test is effective.

What was involved?

Caitrín: We contacted different organisations to find out who would be able to give us accident figures for before and after the theory test.

Aiveen: The National Roads Authority publishes accident facts each year. The Garda collects the information and passes it on.

Harriet: We put the information into different tables and compared male with female and looked at the different age groups.

Any surprising results?

Caitrín: We only have figures for two years before and after the introduction of the theory test, so you can't judge the effect yet with any certainty. The biggest difference was a drop in accidents in the 18-24 age group - the group who did the test, so that's promising. But it will be a while before we can say the test is working.

How's transition year going in general? What's been your favourite bit so far?

Harriet: It's really busy. The whole year went to Delphi, in Greece, for a week. It was really good. I liked canoeing and abseiling best.

Aiveen: I really enjoyed the rock climbing. We've also had trips to Croke Park and City Hall.

What's in store for this year?

Aiveen: I'm going to Pompeii and Herculaneum, in Italy, on a classics trip over Easter. We're also spending a month in Vietnam in June. We'll be doing voluntary work and trekking.

Caitrín: We'll have teachers with us, but you have to be self-reliant. We'll have a budget, and we'll have to decide what to spend money on.

Harriet: We're fundraising for it. We've been bag-packing and saving up.