Athea National School 5th & 6th Class Students Exhibit at the BT Young Scientist & Technology

Exhibition in the RDS

Congratulations to the Fifth and Sixth Class pupils of Athea National School (pictured right) who exhibited their Science project at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS on Thursday, January 10th. This Science Exhibition is widely famed for its triumphs in the promotion of Science and Maths for Primary and Secondary level students. It gives abstract ideas relevance in the children’s daily lives.

Discovery and learning is a really fun experience at this event. It is for this reason that the pupils of Athea N.S., along with their teacher, Ms. Emer Prendiville, and their principal, Mrs. Margaret Watters were delighted to be given the opportunity to exhibit their display at the RDS Primary Science Fair.

The project title, “Investigating the odds of Planet Earth being struck by a large asteroid in the future”, was pitched to the organisers in early October and  it was with great delight that acceptance of the school’s proposal was confirmed soon after. Preparations began almost immediately. The development of skills, hypotheses, understanding, enjoyment and community spirit through which the pupils predicted, observed, questioned and investigated was palpable, according to the school’s project co-ordinators. Children actively researched, designed and created the data and models used to attain their result and draw their own conclusions. Mr. Tom Moran, of Bewley’s Hotel Group, kindly covered the cost of the transport for the pupils and treated them to an evening meal before their journey home. 

Overall, the children have noted that some astronomers adopt a pessimistic outlook, as international research has suggested that 60% of larger asteroids remain undiscovered. The children’s findings, however, have put our minds at rest for the foreseeable future, as they have informed us that, even though numerous asteroids will be passing by Earth in the near future, thankfully none of them are aiming directly at us! Consequently, motivation for future exploration was achieved.

The classes pictured with Tommy Moran of Bewley’s Hotel Group who looked after them very well and supplied transport and food

The exhibition as it was presented in the RDS