Smoke, lasers and mock minefields provided a volatile mix for primary pupils in Waterford this week. Dick Ahlstrom reports.
Two lecturers at the Waterford Institute of Technology have come up with a winning formula to help convince primary school pupils that science can be fun. The programme offers a taste of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, James Bond and mystery, all rolled into a package that includes gadgets, codes and of course a little bit of science.
"They are not actually doing a lot of science, but they think they are," says Eoin Gill, a lecturer in engineering at WIT, and co-developer with colleague Dr Shiela Donegan of the Institute's primary school "Chamber of Challenges" event, held earlier this week.
"Its aim is to promote an interest in science with primary kids and to support the introduction of the new primary science curriculum," says Gill. "We want them going into secondary with a positive attitude to science."
The Chamber of Challenges, now in its second year, involves 10 scientific challenges one each in five chambers connected by five passageways. It was open to fourth, fifth and sixth class pupils from six local schools and about 180 took part, says Gill.
WIT has a very active programme of events meant to help encourage a love of science in primary children. It stages lectures and presentations each autumn during the annual national science week, which is put together by the Science, Technology and Innovation Awareness Programme within Forfas.
It holds events in support of national Primary Science Day and also hosts 10 local schools for the Primary Science Clubs initiative, again promoted by the STI Awareness Programme. This took place at WIT late last month. And last week the institute invited in children from a nearby school in a disadvantaged area, giving them a chance to learn about science and try out a few experiments.
The Chambers event is one of the most innovative and certainly has an impact. "All the lecturers give their time voluntarily," says Gill.
"The things we are doing are working very well. The lecturers and the kids enjoy it, there is a real buzz about it," he says.
"What we do is bring the kids into an anteroom and give them half an hour demonstration of lasers, circuits, sound and mechanics experiments, exciting things that they will need for the challenges," says Gill.
They then enter a chamber and can't progress until they overcome the problem presented. "There is a challenge in each chamber and a WIT person to prompt them along."
One involved the students weighing metal objects and trying to guess their composition on the basis of weight.
Another required the use of a robot to retrieve a "radioactive" source.
If successful the group is then given a code that will help them negotiate the next challenge while trying to get through a passageway to the next chamber. One was a "minefield" with electric buzzers underfoot and a string maze, again with buzzers if you go the wrong way. If the buzzer sounds, you have to go back.
The idea is that everyone will get through, says Gill, so there are no disappointed participants. While the event is meant to be at least as much about fun as about science, the pupils still take away a view that perhaps science isn't really so bad.
Science teachers face two real difficulties, says Gill, the student assumption that science is both boring and difficult. The Chambers event shows them it can be fun and enjoyably difficult.
Clearly WIT has not had enough yet, because it plans to develop its involvement in primary science programmes. "We are going into it big time," says Gill, with new plans to be announced in September.