Over 1,000 primary school pupils along with their teachers from across Northern Ireland celebrated the sixth year of ESB Science Blast at the ICC in Belfast.
ESB Science Blast, delivered by the RDS, is a free, all-Island non-competitive educational programme for primary schools, which involves the whole class investigating the science behind a range of everyday simple questions.
Each class is paired with a STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering & Maths) expert who meets them at the showcase to hear about their project and share positive feedback with them.
Similar events are staged in Dublin and Limerick as part of the drive to enhance the profile of STEM subject choices in education.
Niamh De Loughry, Deputy Chief Executive – Foundation, from RDS, said: “ESB Science Blast encourages the positive exploration of science, technology and engineering in primary schools and RDS is proud to work with the ESB on this unique initiative.
“The energy, excitement and celebration of curiosity during ESB Science Blast Belfast at the ICC was so inspiring. We would like to commend all the young people who have participated in this year’s event along with the teachers and expert mentors who have been so generous with their time and encouragement.”
There were 40 projects from over 30 primary schools including Belfast, Portstewart, Ballygowan, Crumlin and Derry-Londonderry examining a range of projects from How clean is our local river? to Why do dogs see things differently to humans? Strong themes emerging from schools this year centred on biodiversity, wellbeing, and questions focusing on sports and exercise.
Paddy Hayes, Chief Executive from ESB, said local schools fully embraced the opportunity to engage: “Once again we have had a truly inspiring event with the next generation of scientists and engineers from across Northern Ireland. The buzz of excitement and fun around the various displays was inspiring as was the level of ingenuity and creativity the young people applied to their projects so from our perspective the event has been once again a resounding success.”
In addition to the participating schools, a number of local organisations and businesses also attended the event to showcase their support for the development of STEM subjects in education including NI Fire & Rescue Service, Tesla, Kainos and NI Water.
