Munster Maths and Science Fair
For many years we have participated in the Munster Maths & Science Fair. This event takes place every year in Mallow and is supported by Cork County Council and the Irish American Partnership. The fair is designed to stimulate curiosity and excite school children about Science.
The children love coming up with a fun experiment to showcase at their event in Carraigoon. It is general 5th and 6th class who participate, they come up with an experiment, look into the scientific background of it. They also create posters to share information about the experiment to have on display at the fair. The children showcase their experiment to the whole school before the big day and it is always a big hit with the other classes.
On the day of the fair, students and teachers have an allocated slot where they will be at their stand to show visitors their experiment. They are free to spend the rest of the day visiting other stands and learning loads more in the area of STEM.
This year our 5th and 6th did a experiment involving rockets and which angle is best when launching them and how many fins was best to have.
After trying out angles from 10°-90° they narrowed their range and tested 30°, 35° and 40° and concluded that 35° was best. As for the fins, they tested a range of rockets varying in number of fins, all rockets were launched at the same angle and using the same force to insure the most accurate result. It was determined that 4 fins was the best. A great day was had by all and we look forward to next years project.