BT Young Scientists
by Bridget Lehane
Colaiste Muire was represented by seven students at this year's BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. Karen Cotter & Liam O’Leary (second year) along with Alex Phelan Collins, Ella McCarthy O’Neill, Rhea Itty, Ava Long & Niamh Nash (transition year) represented Colaiste Muire this year mentored by their teachers Ms Mc Mahon, Ms Lehane & Mr Kavanagh.
While participation and judging was held virtually this year the students did trojan work in completing their projects and representing themselves exceptionally well in the virtual judging taking some notable prizes.
Niamh Nash received 1st place in the Social & Behavioural Sciences Intermediate Individual section for her project titled “Giving Inequality the Red Card - An Investigation into how ingrained the lack of status for female athletes is in comparison to male athletes and to what extent is this a cognitive bias”.
Ava Long received 2nd place in the Biological & Ecological Sciences Intermediate Individual section for her project titled “Beach closure exposure”. In addition to this Ava also received the Met Eireann Special Award for her research.
Ella McCarthy O’Neill & Rhea Itty received Highly Commended in the Biological & Ecological Sciences Intermediate Group section for their project “Lobsteristic - an investigation of the size distribution of lobster landings in Cork Harbour”.
Well done to all students and teachers for representing Coláiste Muire virtually this year.
All Ireland Coding Competition
by Matilda Manussi
The ability to code is an important skill in today’s society. ‘Scratch’ is a free programming language which supports students in developing these important skills while creating interactive stories, games and animations.
The Scratch National Competition is one of the major events organised by the Irish Computer Society during TechWeek and is an excellent opportunity for students to show their creativity and to develop their interest in technology even further.
This year three students from Colaiste Muire worked very hard during the lockdown to submit their projects in time. We were delighted to hear that Alexandre Marchal reached the final with his project ‘3D citizen’.
This game has three different scenarios, Covid, Save the Environment and Zoos and the player has to find two hidden items each time to pass to the next level while trying to find the exit of the maze.
Each scenario has 6 levels which progressively become more difficult to complete.
In preparation for the finals, Alexandre prepared his own website illustrating his project and the main features of it, showing his creativity and displaying his excellent coding skills.
On the 21st of April, Alexandre presented his project to two judges remotely. After showing his work, the judges were very enthusiastic and praised Alexandre for his high standard of work, his problem solving skills and his distinguished level of understanding. The final ceremony took place that afternoon where Alexandre was announced the winner of the 4th-6th year category. This is a huge achievement for Alexandre Marchal and Coláiste Muire, Crosshaven.