Science Week 2012 got under way yesterday with up to 6,000 visitors attending the annual Science Fair at IT Sligo.
The institute will host nightly public lectures this week on subjects ranging from amateur rocketry to the northern lights, septic tanks and bird watching.
Science Week is celebrated around the country with the aim of demonstrating the relevance of science, technology, engineering and maths in people’s lives, and their importance to future development.
The 70-acre IT Sligo campus was a hive of activity as families along with groups of pupils, scouts and community groups arrived, eager to be involved in the vast range of demonstrations on offer which exposed the science behind the magic of many experiments.
Turnout
Jeremy Bird, head of the School of Science at IT Sligo was delighted with the turnout. He said Science Week was an opportunity to encourage people of all ages to think about the importance of science in our everyday lives.
He was also proud to show off a three-storey science wing currently being constructed as part of an €18 million development at the institute and scheduled to open in April 2014.
“The Science Fair is a great day out for families,” said Dr Bird. “But on a more serious note it gives the visiting children a real insight into the third-level courses open to them. In Sligo the large amount of scientific companies in the region look to the student body here as a vital component in their own future development. It is therefore important that we continue to produce high quality graduates.”
Early exposure
John Nugent, regional manager of the IDA, said it was “important for young people to be exposed to science, engineering, maths and technology so that, as a nation, we can produce graduates that are industry relevant. So the earlier they become involved with days like this, the better”.
“I have four children here today, all involved in various experiments and lectures. It is great for them to get hands on experience.”
One of the participating schools, Gaelscoil Chnoc na Ré, had 30 pupils demonstrating their experiments for the public. Teacher Cathríona Uí Chiaragáin explained that “once the children become part of the day it increases their curiosity, which is one of the main driving forces behind wanting to learn. In trying to create an interest in science it works wonders”.
Mayor of Sligo David Cawley said: “It really brings children closer to science and makes it much more enjoyable. It also allows them to interact with others and develop their social skills, as opposed to communicating only through websites.”
Science Week: 'Everyday Experimenting'
Building a better athlete, the science of fashion and how best to track down the northern lights all come up for discussion over the coming days as Science Week 2012 gets under way.
Last year more than 120,000 people young and old participated in the talks, shows and science fairs that took place at venues across the country. The coming week will see similar numbers participating in the more than 500 events to be staged between now and next weekend.
Sligo had its science fair yesterday and Cork’s annual science festival, Discovery 2012, is under way at City Hall.
Galway’s science fair, the single largest Science Week event is already underway and has plenty to tempt the curious and entertain with science.
The Science Week theme this year is “Everyday Experimenting”, which aims to show that science plays a central role to our everyday lives. We conduct more experiments than one might think, taking a new route to work or school, trying an untested recipe, moving up a level on a computer game.
The week is a national initiative to encourage more students to take an interest in science, said Minister of State for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock. Science Week is a fun and interactive way to give students and the wider public a chance to see what science is all about, said Dr Graham Love, director of policy and communications at Science Foundation Ireland with responsibility for Discover Science and Engineering.
For more information about events taking place near you see: scienceweek.ie DICK AHLSTROM
What's on? Today
Searching for the Northern Lights, talk, no charge, Institute of Technology Sligo, 7.30pm.
"Science Magic by W5", shows, primary school level, free, November 12th and 13th at 10am, 11.30am and 1pm at the Aura Leisure Centre, Sallaghagrane, Letterkenny, Co Donegal. On-line booking at lyit.ie/scienceweekbooking/