Marybeth Doyle and Nicola O’Driscoll from St Marys Secondary School Mallow with the DNA phone charms they made at the UCD Science stand.
Over one thousand students competed last week with 500 projects from across Ireland in the BT Young Scientist exhibition which was held in the RDS from January 10 - 12. Thousands attended the event and UCD Science set up an interactive stand so visitors could learn more about the mysteries of the universe.
Kicking off the UCD Science experiments was a dice challenge from the UCD School of Mathematical Sciences. Then researchers from the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science brought along their new thermal imaging camera and visitors got to try out this new equipment which is used to study warm blooded animals and to monitor plants.
“I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many keen young scientists at the UCD Science stand" explained Luke Mander, a first year PhD student with the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science. “I brought along some fossilized plants for students to examine. The fossils were 300 - 340 million years old, from the Carboniferous Period, which allowed people to see how the Earth might have looked before the time of the dinosaurs. I was extremely impressed by the students' energy, enthusiasm and knowledge of geological time.”
Secondary school students queued to build DNA phone charms with Professor Geraldine Butler from the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science and UCD Conway Institute while primary school students raced to build a DNA helix using K’Nex. Students generated electricity with Physicists from the UCD School of Physics and were amazed to witness a magnet levitate. They also learned about tsunamis and earthquakes with Geologists from the UCD School of Geological Sciences.
“It’s a great experience for children to be able to meet researchers at the UCD Science stand and ask them questions about science,” said Dr Rhona Hutchinson, a parent and UCD Science graduate, who visited the BT Young Scientist exhibition with her three children. “They were fascinated to examine the ammonite fossils and see superconductors in action.”
