For Primary Schools

Investigate solar and hydro energy through hands-on outdoor activities and even generate electricity yourself! Explore energy concepts like food webs, insulation and conduction. Learn how you can take climate action in your own school and at home.

TO BOOK: email: hedda@brigitsgarden.ie

Understanding climate change can be a difficult task and knowing what you can do to help can be even harder.

To celebrate this year’s Galway Science and Technology Festival, Galway Atlantaquaria are running their One Small Change Workshop, where students will be introduced to the basics of what Climate Change is all about.

They will examine several common materials which are used in daily life, such as plastic packaging, wet wipes and synthetic clothes and are asked to explore their life cycles from creation to end of life.

They will discuss the sources and impacts of marine litter and discuss simple solutions to the problem.

The class will play our climate change game, where they will see the effects that small positive and negative actions have on our ocean.

Finally, each student will choose one small change they feel they could make to have a positive effect.

This workshop is suitable for primary school students from 3rd-6thclass and secondary school students.

It looks to provide knowledge and content to your class to empower them with one realistic action they can make to help combat climate change.

TO BOOK: email: info@nationalaquarium.ie

What gives a rocket it’s incredible power? Can a rocket be powered by just one person? How high can a make-it-yourself rocket soar? These are the questions we’ll be exploring in this hands-on STEAM workshop for primary students.

Together with children and their teachers, we’ll get our hands dirty experimenting and making in this practical workshop. Participants’ brains will be firing on all cylinders as we bring their excitement for science, engineering and design to great heights!

Galway Science & Technology Festival at Galway City Museum

Suitable for 2^nd to 6^th classes (primary school)

One class per timeslot, split into two groups of c. 15 pupils – 25mins workshop in the Education Room with Toodlelou and 25mins self-guided tour, and then a swap over. There must be a teacher/leader to accompany each group.

TO BOOK: phone Galway City Museum on: 091 532460

Become an electronics engineer for the day and learn how to use a soldering iron. In this hands-on workshop you will learn how electronic circuits and components work, and you’ll then build your own working electronic gadget to take home!

Find out if your classmates are telling the truth with a Lie Detector; play a musical tune with Bagpipes; protect your secret stash of chocolate with Stop Thief; or use ‘Decisions Decisions’ to decide whether to do your homework or play with your Xbox!

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

In this workshop we will discuss the similarities between the scientist and the artist. You’ll learn how science, maths and engineering can be used as part of the work of an artist/designer (using printmaking, photography and maths/engineering examples).

You’ll examine the work of Leonardo da Vinci as scientist/artist/inventor and, specifically, his self-supporting bridge.

Finally, you’ll step up to the engineering challenge of constructing your own da Vinci’s bridge using wooden models and lollipop sticks.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

Young explorers will learn all about DNA in this one-hour interactive session. You’ll extract DNA from a banana and can even take it home! And, you’ll build a DNA double helix. The session is delivered in the classroom by the NUI Galway Cell EXPLORERS team. ‘Fantastic DNA’ is supported by Science Foundation Ireland, through a ‘Discover’ award.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

Using visual and tactile accessories, as well as interactive games, children discover that our body is made of cells, the smallest unit of life and that it contains many different types of cells. In the last part of the session, the children will create their very own type of cell from jumping clay and will be able to take it home. The session is delivered in the classroom by the NUI Galway Cell EXPLORERS team. ‘Little Cells’ is supported by Science Foundation Ireland, through a ‘Discover’ award.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

Dynamic Earth, the audience dives below the ocean surface and into a swarm of microscopic organisms that hold the key to our climate: DIATOMS, RADIOLARIANS, COPEPODS, and colourful OCTUPUS LARVAE: all rendered in exquisite detail for giant screens. As these creatures fade into the background, the audience finds itself in the middle of schools of JACKFISH and HAMMERHEAD SHARKS, before rubbing shoulders with an enormous HUMPBACK WHALE.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

Introduce students to the art of Origami and raise awareness of Origami as not only a STEM related activity but also an art form, and put the A in STEAM. This workshop will cover elements of the school curriculum including learning simple paper folding techniques and terminology and discover how Origami is used in the field of science and engineering.  Students will discover the math hidden in origami; find lengths, angles, shapes, and solids found during or after folding various origami diagrams; use origami as a way to get students excited to learn through the creation of art.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

K’nex sets are designed to maximize student engagement in today’s busy classroom. The innovative range brings to life key science, technology, engineering and math concepts by constructing 3D models for hands on, minds on learning.  A colourful, fun engineering workshop focussing on spatial building systems for all to enjoy.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

What is pollution?

What causes pollution?

The effects of oil pollution on marine life

Oil pollution & chemical pollution

Cleaning up an oil spill

Making an oil slick

(Note: The children make the oil slick in a pot & can take it home. It is actually made of black slime.)

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

The Eccentric Energy Show is as eccentric and amazing as it sounds. There will be balls shooting, sticks leaping, fireworks popping and toilet rolls flying all over the place.

You’ll see things you never thought were possible, but it’s not magic… its SCIENCE!

This is an interactive show, keen to get the audience as hands-on as possible while they learn about all the different types of energy, what wacky things we can do with them and have they are transferred.

There is also a strong emphasis on renewable energy, with purpose built experiments and challenges included in the workshop.

And to finish it all off you can watch Dr. How’s  set her custom built Eccentric Energy Machine in motion and see how many different types of energy will be used to pop one single balloon.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

Learn it Workshops are designed to inspire and develop the skills of tomorrow’s engineers. Our workshops are engaging, fun and most of all educational with children taking time to discuss, plan, design and develop their projects. They will learn about basic engineering concepts and see the results of their work through experimenting and testing with their project.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

Fun Science workshops in your classroom.   Come and join Jane for a hands-on, fun-filled workshops for primary school students of all classes using recycled items and easy-to-source supermarket supplies.

Simple, practical investigations during the workshops are guaranteed to stimulate your students’ interest in the world around them.

Primary school teacher and science demonstrator Jane McLoughlin will work with students and teachers to enhance scientific skills and knowledge in a fun and relaxed environment.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

See and experience the magic of radio with a school tour for your class to the headquarters of Galway Bay FM, Galway’s No.1 radio station.  Learn how to make advertisements and experience the technology involved in producing a live radio programme.

TO BOOK: please use school booking form.

To kick off the 2019 Galway Science & Technology Festival Climate Action theme, we are calling on all schools in Galway city and county to join our Tree Planting initiative on Monday 11^th November at 11am and post your tree planting photos on social media of your newly planted trees. The GSTF have been allocated 2,000 native sapling trees and we will be making four trees available for each primary and secondary school to collect.

First, we need you to register for the trees on our school booking form – this is a separate request to booking a workshop to visit your school.  Date to be confirmed when trees will be available from Dangan House Nurseries, Lower Dangan,  H91 VN53) Then on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month we ask you to plant your trees either on school grounds or in the local community and share your photo on social media and tag @galwayscience and @aerogen with the hastags #galwayscience  #scienceweek #coillte and the best three photos will win a €200 voucher for Dangan Nurseries sponsored by Aerogen. Details on tree planting and care will be posted shortly.

We would like to extend our gratitude to Aerogen and Coillte for this initiative and to Science Foundation Ireland for the allocation.

Please use the School Booking Form to request your trees.

Appropriate use of antibiotics is key to halting the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Understanding what antibiotics are and when it is appropriate to use them will help to protect these important drugs for future generations. The aim of the workshop is to help children understand the differences between microorganisms, to appreciate the importance of hand hygiene in preventing the spread of infection, and to understand when it is appropriate to use antibiotics and how to dispose of them correctly.

TO BOOK: email: galwayscience.events@gmail.com

Join our medical scientists for a jam-packed workshop making blood from sweets. Students will learn the importance of the various components of blood including platelets and red and white blood cells in a fun interactive way.

Booking:  Contact GMIT Science Office at scienceoffice@gmit.ie

Join our team of scientists and engineers who carry out research into blood and its circulation in the body. See how it flows around the brain and other organs, and how we can treat patients when things go wrong.

Booking:  Contact GMIT Science Office at scienceoffice@gmit.ie

Students will learn about cells and DNA. The students will extract DNA from a banana and build a DNA double helix model. The students experience working as a scientist whilst wearing a lab coat and using real science equipment. They get to bring a small tube containing the DNA they extracted home to show their families.
Every participant practices all activities during an hour-long interactive session. The session is delivered in a Science lab in GMIT by the GMIT Cell EXPLORERS team. Fantastic DNA is supported by a SFI Discover award

Booking:  Contact GMIT Science Office at scienceoffice@gmit.ie

The workshop will consist of a short 10-15 min talk introducing the topic of microplastic pollution in marine and freshwater environments and why there is a need to understand more about our local river.

Following this, laboratory equipment will be introduced to the students and methodologies for their work will be demonstrated (10-15mins). Students will then have the opportunity to take a water sample collected from the R Corrib and process it for microplastics. A tally of results will be updated by the students on the whiteboard. Once all samples are complete, the results will be discussed in the context of the samples taken, how they were processed and more broadly on what it might mean for microplastic pollution levels in the River Corrib.

Booking:  Contact GMIT Science Office at scienceoffice@gmit.ie

Explore the world of taste, smell, touch, hearing and sight and how they can influence  what you eat.  Also learn about the food pyramid and how your food choices can have an impact on your health.

Booking:  Contact GMIT Science Office at scienceoffice@gmit.ie

The ‘Twomey in a bottle’ workshop seeks to give an overview to students about atmospheric physics concerned in radioactive warming or cooling of the planet. Through demonstrations of cloud formations in a bottle and why the sky is blue, we showcase atmospheric physics and how it relates to climate change and cloud formation. This will cover concepts of global warming, climate change, and how we study these things at Mace Head Research Station.

To book: School Booking Form

Want to learn about what you breathe? Then you’ve come to the right place! In this workshop, we will discuss everything from climate change and air pollution to sources of pollutants and indoor air. Do you really know what you inhale? We’ll help you see what you breathe every day and what you could be exposed to.   Main learning objectives: Learn

• how the respiratory system works
• What we breathe every day
• If we are exposed to air pollution, where does it go and how does it affect our lungs?
• Different sources and types of exposure
• Will use a model of the respiratory system to show students where the pollution goes depending on particle size.
• Use interactive breathing equipment to test people’s lungs

Want to learn about what you breathe? Then you’ve come to the right place! In this workshop, we will discuss everything from climate change and air pollution to sources of pollutants and indoor air. Do you really know what you inhale? We’ll help you see what you breathe every day and what you could be exposed to.

To book:  School Booking Form

Explore the magic of the 3D world! Build shapes with paper and plastic, and break them down again, to discover the amazing things that can happen.

To book:  School Booking Form

This workshop will teach you about the effects of exercise on the brain, and current research in Ireland to treat diseases of the brain. You will also get the chance to strengthen your brain by trying out some circus performance skills!  

Summary of topics covered: ? What a neuron is. ? How a neuron sends and receives a message. ? The general function of neurotransmitters. ? The cause of Parkinson’s disease (lack of dopamine). ? Exercises that require greater mental focus create new neural pathways in the brain. ? A brain with a more complex and varied neural network is stronger and may age more slowly later in life

To Book:  School Booking Form