The Minister for Education and Science has inaugurated an annual primary-school science fair, an initiative meant to encourage children to take part in science studies.
Dr Woods toured the fair yesterday at the Esat Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the RDS.
The fair provides a showcase for the children to display their science skills and knowledge.
Projects from five schools were on display yesterday and Dr Woods was more than willing to participate in the science lessons.
He blew through a straw to keep a ping-pong ball floating on air, used a hairdryer to push model land yachts across a table and underwent a nerve test.
He carefully manoeuvred a metal ring along a crooked wire and completed the challenge with only one mistake. He expressed surprise with his success, saying he currently had "plenty to be nervous about". The fair will become part of the annual Esat Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition and this year it is sponsored by Riverdeep.
Dr Woods praised the initiative, saying that it was particularly important to encourage young people to become involved in the sciences, maths and engineering.
He said that 1,500 primary schools had taken on the new primary science curriculum on a voluntary basis. The curriculum was also being piloted on a formal basis in a number of primary schools.
The Minister referred to the falling numbers of secondary students taking the sciences and said primary-school initiatives could help bring students back into the subjects.
All EU countries were experiencing a fall in the numbers taking the sciences, he added. The EU Council of Education Ministers would meet in Stockholm in March to discuss how to overcome this situation.
The five schools involved in the Primary Science Fair were Kill of the Grange NS, Deansgrange, Dublin; St Peter's Boys NS, Monasterevin, Co Kildare; St Patrick's NS, Grey stones, Co Wicklow; St Patrick's Girls School, Holly Park, Foxrock Avenue, Dublin; and St Cronin's NS, Brackenstown, Swords.
Each student who took part received a certificate of participation from Esat.