Success at Young Scientist Competition

Our Lady's were represented by two teams in this  Young Scientist's Competition January 2011

Congratulations were the order of the day at Our Lady's Secondary School when Transition year students, Rachael McCann, Kerri Mc Ardle, Donna Duffy and Gemma Mulligan returned from the BT Young Scientist Exhibition with both projects receiving accolades.

Rachael McCann's project "Photosynthesis and Respiration Amplified" was a look at increasing the rate of photosynthesis in plants by feeding them carbonated water and carbonated glucose water. This would result in an increase in the amount of oxygen the plant could produce. This project had an environmental impact as the carbon dioxide could be harvested from factories that would have emitted it into the atmosphere. Rachael received a great deal of interest in her project during the Young Scientist with lecturers and botanists giving her advice on how to progress the project to the next level. She has been invited to be an ambassador for Trinity College Science Museum.

Kerri Mc Ardle, Donna Duffy and Gemma Mulligan were Highly Commended for their project in the Social and Behavioural Sciences Category and it was entitled "Why Not learn it from the book?"  The three girls found their inspiration in the success of this year's Junior Certificate class which saw a phenomenal 35 students attaining 10 honours.  The girls looked at the ways our student population were taught and how they study themselves. This involved surveying both students and teachers in the school.  From this survey it was quite obvious that active learning techniques were prominent inside the classroom in Our Lady's so they decided to study active versus passive teaching methods.  They found, on average, that students obtain 20% higher grades in a classroom that employs active learning methods and this could account for the excellent results.

Special thanks to Dr. John O Reilly University of Limerick for his tutorials and advice.

 Both projects were done under the guidance of Science Teacher, Ms Alicia McManus and were the culmination of many months of scientific analysis and investigation.  Speaking at the school during the week, Ms McManus complimented the students on their dedication and commitment.  "They were a pleasure to work with, their enthusiasm and interest was evident in the time they gave to the project, to the presentation and analysis.  I am delighted with their success and I know this will encourage them to build on what they have started.  They really enjoyed the whole experience of the Young Scientist and I am very proud of them."

 Well done to all concerned and no doubt we will see Our Lady's in the winning enclosure at the Young Scientist Exhibition 2012!

Science Olympiad

Ms Higgins pictured with Emer McEneaney and Emma Mooney who due to their excellent A Grades achieved in both Maths and Science at honours level in their Junior Cert 2010, were invited to take part in the Science Olympiad in Dublin