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	*iSCAN* Newsletter Vol. 6 October 1998 iSCAN's New President Professor Dervilla Donnelly has graciously agreed to accept the iSCAN Committee's invitation to become the first president of iSCAN. We congratulate her and wish her an enjoyable presidency. Launch at the RDS On 28 May 1998 at the RDS, Mr Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce launched two documents: a blueprint for a national science centre and the proceedings of the 1996 conference Science Centres for Ireland. Professor Dervilla Donnelly introduced the Minister and Dr Joost Douma who both spoke. The Blueprint for a National Irish Science Centre, commissioned by the RDS and funded through Forfás, was compiled by Dr Joost Douma, the former Executive Director of newMetropolis, the Dutch National Science Centre. The Blueprint affirms that the establishment of a national science centre is important to safeguard the long-term employment prospects of the Irish work-force in a world increasingly dominated by high technology industries. Science centres are remarkably effective in raising awareness of scientific issues and in motivating people to take up scientific careers. The National Science Centre would employ the most up-to-date techniques to convey the message that science and technology are exciting and enjoyable. It would encourage visitors to question, to explore and to gain understanding through interaction with 'hands-on' exhibits, demonstrations, theatre and multimedia shows. Five main themes would be covered initially: The Universe, Matter, The Living Planet, Man as a Species, and Man as an Interactor. Information technology would be used to provide outreach on a nation-wide basis to individuals, educational institutions and regional science centres. The Blueprint recommends a £30.5 million, purpose-built structure with a total area of 10,000 sq. metres to cater for an estimated attendance of 300,000 visitors annually. The Centre would have hands-on exhibits, demonstrations, a science theatre, a film theatre, a planetarium, a shop and restaurants. Dr Douma recommends that the Centre should be situated in the Dublin Docklands within easy walking distance of the city centre. He believes that the Centre would become as well known to tourists as the Long Room of Trinity College or as popular with Dubliners as the Zoo. It would promote Ireland as the 'brain-park' of Europe. Ideally the Centre would be funded equally by government, by local authorities and by the private sector; such an arrangement has worked well elsewhere in Europe. Strategic partners of the centre would include the universities, R&D laboratories, government ministries and associations of teachers and scientists as well as the leaders of industry and commerce. The Conference Science Centres for Ireland was held at the RDS from 19 to 21 June 1996. The Proceedings include the introductory addresses of John Travers, head of Forfás and Danny O'Hare, President of DCU. The overseas contributors were Alan Friedman, Per-Edvin Persson, Melanie Quin, Joost Douma and Tin-Swe Thant. Other sessions dealt with seven Irish developments, the discussion workshops, science in schools and a masterly summing-up by Dr Alan Friedman. Copies of the Blueprint and the Proceedings are available from Ms Carol Power, RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 at £10.00 each plus £2.50 for postage. New Exhibition Centre for EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established an exhibition centre at its headquarters in Johnstown Castle Estate, Co. Wexford. The exhibition was opened on Friday 31 July, 1998 by environmentalist Eanna ni Lamhna who is best known for the popular radio wildlife programme Mooney goes Wild on One and has appeared on PM Live and The Late Late Show. The purpose of the exhibition is to provide information about the environment for the public in an interesting and lively way. It will include a wide range of exhibits using different media and will be changing on a regular basis, as parts are sent for exhibition to the different regions. There will be models and information on computers that can be easily accessed by the visitor. Also included will be photographs, audio and video material. The initial display will portray issues of current interest to the public including clean water, air, the hole in the ozone, climate change, waste and recycling. There will practical suggestions and examples of what can be done such as turning waste into art, or into useful objects. The exhibition is open to the public Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm all year round. From June to September the exhibition centre will also be open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm. Admission to the exhibition is free of charge. Further Information: John Feehan Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters PO Box 3000 Johnstown Castle Estate Co. Wexford Tel: 053-60600 Fax: 053-60699 Email: j.feehan at epa.ie Website: http://www.epa.ie Science Bus Dublin City University has recently received substantial funding from Pfizer Inc, the world wide health care organisation, to put a Science Bus on the road. The Bus is intended as a mobile, interactive science facility for schools around the country. It will be aimed at children aged 10-14 years and will provide an opportunity for youngsters to carry out actual experiments in areas such as chemistry, biology and physics. It is clear that there is a decline in both the numbers of students taking science to leaving cert. standard and in those studying it at third level. Research has shown that frequently young people develop negative attitudes towards to science at a very early age and that such attitudes can have a huge impact on course choices at a later date. This project hopes to address such attitudes by giving children the chance to experience science in an exciting and dynamic fashion. The Bus is currently in the design stage and will venture out in March 1999.....more details to follow. Dr Sheila Gilheany, Dublin City University Congratulations! John Daly is a member of the iSCAN Committee and he teaches science in Blackrock College in Dublin. Three of his pupils entered a competition in the spring called Sea and Space which was organised jointly by ESA (European Space Agency), ESO (European Southern Observatory) and EAAE (European Association for Astronomy Education). The EAAE was set up a few years ago to promote the teaching of astronomy in the school curricula of EU member countries. The three boys, Stephen Kearney, Eamonn McKeogh and Cian Wilson were just completing Transition Year and they set out to produce a newspaper on the theme Sea and Space. Their paper was in broadsheet form and was equivalent to six pages of the Irish Times; it was called "INFINITUS". In June the boys were notified by EAAE that they were Irish National winners. With their teacher they were invited to Lisbon for five days at the end of August to put the paper on display with the winners from fourteen other countries and to make a presentation in a further competition for a 'Super Prize'. On the final day of the visit the Dublin Boys were judged top of the fourteen national entries and were declared to be the European winners of the "Super Prize". Next year John Daly and the organiser of the event in Lisbon, Felisabella Martins, will accompany the boys to South America. They will visit the European Space Port at Kourou in French Guyana where it is hoped their visit will coincide with a launch. They will also travel to Chile to visit the ESO Observatory at La Silla, 2400 m up in the Atacama Desert. The highlight of this visit will be a close-up view of the European VLT array (Very Large Telescope) which is to be fully operational in the year 2000. This is a new type of optical telescope where a computer controlled interferometer will create the effect of a giant telescope mirror with a polished surface area of 200 square metres by combining starlight from seven new telescopes erected on the site. It is claimed that the next time there is a person on the moon they will be clearly visible through this telescope. This is a wonderful prize and it all came about as a result of one of the students exploring the World Wide Web. Birr Booklet The restoration of the Great Telescope at Birr is a notable achievement which is now documented in an attractive 42-page booklet by Michael Tubridy, the engineer chiefly responsible. The booklet was launched at Birr Castle on 11 August last by Sir Bernard Lovell who has long supported the project. Copies of the booklet at £5 including postage may be obtained from Ireland's Historic Science Centre, Birr Castle, Co. Offaly. IASTE - Ireland's Virtual Science Museum by Shane Harte IASTE is a virtual Irish science museum concept available for viewing on the Internet at http://pages.prodigy.com/IASTE The acronym IASTE is derived from the somewhat pretentious formal name, the Institute for the Advancement of Science, Technology and Economics. IASTE started off as an attempt to fill a significant gap in Irish culture. There remains to this day, no national science centre. Ireland has conspicuously promoted its cultural, musical, literary and political past. This has unfortunately been at the expense of ignoring a rich scientific heritage. IASTE therefore set out with the intention of redressing the imbalance by creating a virtual environment that would celebrate science, its roles in society and the heroes (both current and past, famous and obscure) who bring to life. The IASTE concept has slowly expanded from being an objective commentary on the development of science in Ireland to become a subjective social tool. Many of the elements of IASTE stem from direct personal experience. For instance, as a student I used to wonder at times if certain subject materials had any justifiable importance. As an engineer in industry I can now fully appreciate the importance of what I learned. There is no current method for me to share that experience. Only occasionally was I made aware of important Irish scientists or engineers as there simply was no forum that celebrated their achievements. Many, many visitors to the Hall of Fame at IASTE have expressed their surprise at the amazing diversity of world famous Irish born scientists. I have learned about many myself from visitors to the museum (in one case from a great-grandson of a renowned scientist who complained that his great-grandfather wasn't included on the list). As a student I had no idea what I would actually be doing when I left school. My career choice was based on some broad generalisations. As an engineer in industry I would be more than willing to share my experience and advice but there is no way to allow me to do this. Other aspects of the IASTE project come from nothing more than sheer curiosity. When I pass a factory, a hospital, a quarry or an office I am interested in knowing how many work there, what they do, what their skills are, how they make their final product and where they get their raw materials. While these are all personal experiences, they should not differ substantially from the norm. By harnessing these energies and knowledge through the IASTE format, an invigorating environment can be created to promote the sciences in Ireland. Tremendous synergy in Ireland has yet to be realised by meshing the industrial source of knowledge with the educational sink. IASTE is currently investigating the economic potential for the concept. In early 1999 the intention is to pursue the project professionally. Various potential sponsorships are being investigated such as Forbairt, industrial companies and the Schools IT 2000 program. *iSCAN* members can participate in several ways, either by providing material, helping to find sponsorship, or more simply by visiting the web-site and telling friends about it. About the curator: Shane Harte has a B.E. Mech. Eng. From U.C.D., and a Ph.D. in thermodynamics from T.C.D. He is currently residing in the U.S. as a product design engineer at Ford Motor Co. He is an award winning author, having written several technical conference and journal papers on the design of air conditioning compressors. He has also several patents pending on compressor and electromagnetic clutch designs. Calcutta Congress The 2nd Science Centre World Congress will take place in Calcutta from 11 to 15 January 1999. The general theme is 'Science Centres - Catalysts for a Better Tomorrow'. The sub-themes are: Making exhibits to remember Demonstrations to remember How to set up a science centre Exhibition exchange Research and training in science centres Regional networking - knowing each other The public connection - In-reach and out-reach programmes Appropriate technology Museum development Social Change (Role of Catalyst) through science centres The keynote address will be given by Prof. Philip Morrison and Mrs. Phylis Morrison on 'Science is Inexact! Good Questions Help More than Quick Answers!' Information is available at: www: http://www.ncsm.org email: ncsmin. at giascl01.vsnl.net.in Books The 'Flora of County Dublin' will be published by the Dublin Naturalists Field Club in November 1998 at a price of £25. A special limited edition, quarter bound in leather with a slipcase, will also be published at a price of £150. The book of some 560 pages will include introductory chapters on topography, climate, geology, soils, the main plant habitats, the history of the Botanical exploration of the country over 300 years together with detailed descriptions of all the plants in Co. Dublin together with detailed descriptions of the detailed distributions of all plants in Co. Dublin. The book will also include 16 colour plates of plants habitats and 6 china ink drawings of selected plants by Mrs Wendy Walsh, the well-known botanical artist. An innovative feature will be the inclusion of selected extracts from the 1904 'Flora of County Dublin' to enable direct comparisons to be made. Enquiries to the DNFC, 35 Nutley park, Dublin 4. The kids are on to us from Timothy Barshinger graduate student in Science Education at Perdue University I am in the process of examining some student interviews conducted as part of a graduate research project and noticed that Derin, a fifth grade student, had a keen insight as to the nature of informal learning environments. When asked to respond to why he thought teachers enjoyed taking students on field trips (such as science and environmental centres) he replied... "Uhm, well, because they [the teachers] don't have to teach much. They just have to show us around and we're usually being pretty nice. We're not really talking too much. And they probably have fun going there too. Just to see it, like we do." And we educators believe we're soooo clever hiding these trips under the guise of "academic enrichment". This kid has us all figured out! [ vol.1 ] [ vol.2 ] [ vol.3 ] [ vol.4 ] [ vol.5 ] [ vol.6 ] [ vol.7 ] [ vol.8 ] [ vol.9 ] [ vol.10 ] [ vol.11 ] [ vol.12 ] [ vol.13 ]