February 2012 No. 30
Glowing Praise for Young Scientist
From 10-14 January the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition took place in the RDS. Newpark had two entries this year. Fifth Years Madison Porter, Maggie Gevers and Sian Demery presented a project on testing saliva for hormone levels. First Year Anna Porter had an individual project on ‘Glowing chemicals’ and came first in her category (Junior Individual—Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences).
The BT Young Scientist was great fun; we came in and met up with friends. Each morning contestants got a judging card and waited for their judge to come. I was very nervous showing the judges my project. My first judge was Tony Scott, one of the founders of the Young Scientist, who was really nice. On Thursday I had two judges. I wasn’t too sure how well these had gone but they both left a good comment in my report book. In the afternoons you mostly talk to the public about your project. I met two TDs at my stand: Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Eamonn Gilmore.
My project was about whether the rate of a chemical reaction is affected by temperature. I used glow sticks to support my theory because there is a chemical reaction that makes them glow. The hardest part was probably writing up—especially the conclusion as it was the last part and so it was the farthest away from my experiments. I decided to do this project because I knew nothing about Glow Sticks but they sounded like a very interesting topic! There were great things on for the participating students and for the public: Robot Wars (which included the Daleks), Circus of Science and Amoeba to Zebra. There were also interesting stands by companies like Intel, who sponsor the Young Scientist (in return for what is basically a giant ad...). There was also a primary schools’ section with different projects exhibited each day. I met loads of students but hardly any other First Years. I saw some other really good projects including one on the Fibonacci Sequence by a Second Year in my category. We made friends with each other and she told me about her project. She came second in our category—for the second time in a row! All the projects were very good but some of them got more publicity than others. I think that anyone who is willing to do the work for the Young Scientist, should give it a go. It is an amazing experience with a practical application to life—and it looks great on your CV!! Doing an individual project gives you freedom to make decisions without having to ask other people but it definitely means more work too. It was a great week and well worth having to catch up with the work I had missed! Anna Porter 1SFH
[Read about the Fifth Years’ Young Scientist project and upcoming Sci-Fest on page 10]
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