Science Projects
Contact us at: science@stjohnboscocc.com
First Year Experiment 05
Click here to view the Red Cabbage Indicator experiment
Biology Trip to Birr 05
Leaving Cert students pictured on the annual trip to the Birr Outdoor Activity Centre with Teacher Mrs O'Brien Kelly.
"Young Scientist" - 2004
Latest News: Alan Marrinan, a 2nd year student, received 3rd prize at the ESAT BT Young Scientist held at the RDS recently. His project in the physical, chemical and mathematical sciences was called the "Effect of frequency on the droplet patterns of liquids". In it he studied twelve frequencies from 88hz to 512hz and the droplet patterns produced by each. Further on mapping the droplets, he studied whether they were random or clumped. He also studied the vertical spatial distribution of droplets. His project was critically acclaimed by the judging panel.
The involvement of St. John Bosco Community College at the Annual Young Scientists competition stretches back for twelve years. The first student involved was Kevin Malone form Labasheeda and Kevin set the standard by winning both a First prize in his category and a display award.
Since then the college has had many successes and won two major awards, namely the Statistical Association of Ireland Award and the Biological Institute of Ireland Award.
The students hold an annual Christmas Draw and this, with the aid of sponsorship, helps to defray the financial implications of this involvement. Roche Irl. in Clarecastle is the main sponsor over the years but recently the ESB at Moneypoint is also involved.
The Kildysart school is noted for doing innovative Social and Behavioural Science projects. Amongst them was a project about the Social Effects of Clare's triumph in the '95 all Ireland Hurling Championship. This project under the direction of Flan Ginnane received National media coverage both in the Print Media and Visual Media.
In 2002, Yvonne Hehir from Cranny presented a very topical project entitled "A Study of Quality of Life in South West Clare". This project researched the "Quality of Life" in the school catchment area and with the aid of medical scales developed a "Quality of Life" index average raging from O (poor) to L (Very Good) for the study cohort.
Previously a project in the Biological area dealt with the effectiveness of the Parachute of Dandelion seeds as a dispersal mechanism. A seed with a similar mechanism from Colombia in South America was also studied. This project was shortlisted for the top four at the 99 "Esat Young Scientist".
Lastly, the students stay at Jury's Hotel, Dublin as a reward for their hard work - they often do not have a Christmas holiday and indeed the Name Kildysart/Cahercon is now a well-established and respected name among the schools that participate in the Young Scientist.
2003's project is on "TXT culture" - a study into the use of Text Language used in the mobile phone revolution. If you have any ideas for projects please make contact with the school at the above address. The teacher who co-ordinates Young Scientist Project is Leo O' Donoghue.
Other Extra Curricular Work at Kildysart, Community College.
Agri - Aware Biotechnology Challenge 2000.
Three Transition Year students Orla Shannon, Linda McMahon and Aoife Coffey were placed second at an awards ceremony at the Royal Irish Academy for their research on Biotechnology. They did a SWOT and Pest analysis of scientific papers and won Sony Play-stations sponsored by Monsanto Irl. Ltd. As a result of their win, their science teacher was a guest at the American Federation of Science Teachers National Convention held at St Louis Missouri last year.
Limerick University - National Science Week.
Rang Chait, a First Year group won a 'Dell Computer' for their school at this year's show at University of Limerick. Indeed the Kildysart Poster depicting 'Science in our World' created a stir at the show because it was an interactive one. Many of the 25,000 who visited the show were impressed by the standard of the Kildysart Entry which won First Prize in the Secondary School category.