An interactive learning tool can help students to develop knowledge and understanding of the important principles, core concepts, theories and facts relating to electricity and their application and impact in their everyday lives.
Yvonne Cooney
Yvonne Cooney outlines EirGrid’s plans to improve pupils’ understanding of electricity, from power station to Playstation©...During 2012, EirGrid plc, the state-owned transmission system operator on the island of Ireland, and System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI) are holding a number of interactive science shows titled:
Understanding Electricity, From Power Station to PlayStation©. This educational initiative is part of the company’s sponsorship programme for Dublin City of Science 2012. The objective of this programme is to assist junior cycle and GCSE science students to develop an appreciation of the impact that electricity has on their lives and environment. The show itself, which is based on experiments from both the Irish and UK curricula, is interactive with an emphasis on practical experience. This unique, hands-on approach to learning engages young people and allows them the opportunity to learn in an unconventional and fun way. To date, over 1,000 students have attended shows in locations across the island of Ireland.
In recent years, there has been a noted increase in the amount of Irish students applying for third level courses in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths. EirGrid is keen to build on this increasing interest and further encourage students to consider a career in these areas. The EirGrid Schools Science Programme demonstrates to young people that engineering is a viable, important and exciting career that could ultimately play an enormous part in Ireland’s future economic growth.
Electricity can sometimes be a difficult concept to grasp. An interactive learning tool can help students to develop knowledge and understanding of the important principles, core concepts, theories and facts relating to electricity and their application and impact in their everyday lives. They will also learn about various forms of energy and how they are used to generate electricity. The show will help students understand the need to develop economical uses of energy sources as well as the underlying electricity principles applied to industry, business and daily life at local, national and international levels.
EirGrid Chief Executive Dermot Byrne and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny talk to a local student at the programme launch
The theme of this show is Ireland’s economic dependence on electricity and the drive to exploit our renewable resources. The
Lobby Lab and the interactive shows are presented by EirGrid engineers and scientists, enabling students to clearly visualise the real-life application of all learnings. Experiments demonstrate topics such as magnetism, renewable energy, batteries and voltage. It can be difficult to explain the concept of electricity within a classroom setting and so these shows provide another forum in which to explore this subject. Through interactive games, experiments and demonstrations, students can see for themselves just how electricity works and how it impacts our daily lives and environment.
Speaking at the launch of this programme, EirGrid Chief Executive Dermot Byrne said "As a company with a strong engineering focus, EirGrid is fully supportive of the government’s commitment to investing in science, technology and maths and we hope that our initiative will complement the enormous work that is already under way to encourage our young people to consider a career in these areas. EirGrid is proud to have some of the best and brightest young engineering minds in the country working in our organisation and hopes that our initiative will complement the enormous work that is already under way to encourage our young people to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and maths."
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said: "I welcome this programme by EirGrid to raise awareness of science among secondary level students in support of Dublin City of Science 2012. Science and technology have a vital role to play in our economic recovery. Initiatives like this are key to inspiring our young people towards a career in science."
The next show will take place on 16
th October at the Intel Auditorium, County Kildare, followed by Waterford and Kilkenny in November.
As we are not nocturnal animals by nature, then we must benefit from sunlight, in several ways. It then follows that we can deal with sunlight - maybe we need to be more in touch with how to deal with exposure. This research shows that we do not know all the ways that we use sunlight naturally, which is probably true of other environmental factors. I will be very interested in outcomes of further research. Is there any research about sunlight and cognition?
