Hazelwood College is the Overall Winner at Scifest 2010.
Hazelwood College is celebrating this week with the news that one of its entries has been awarded with the accolade of ‘Best Overall Project’ at Scifest 2010 held in Limerick Institute of Technology on April 27th. The project entitled, ‘An Investigative Study on the use of Seaweed and Commercial Fertilisers in Growing Winter Density Lettuce Variety’ was carried out by Second Year students, Bridann Cronin and Clare Fehin. On the day this project also won First Prize in the Junior Life Sciences category. The aim of the project was to investigate the use of seaweed as a fertiliser for Winter Density lettuce variety, compared with the use of a commercial fertiliser and the effect of both on germination and development of the lettuce plants. From the results gained through extensive experimentation the girls concluded that seaweed is the better fertiliser for aiding germination, seedlings development and lettuce plant foliage growth over the commercial fertilser used and over water. Concern for health and food sourcing is a worldwide issue and being more aware of the possibilities of using organic sources of soil and plant nutrition is important in advancing and caring for the health of the community. The girls worked laboriously to complete their investigation and congratulations are due in recognising their hard work and dedication to scientific research. Well Done girls from your science teacher Ms. O’ Connor. Bridann and Clare will now travel with Ms. O’ Connor to the National Finals of Scifest.
More news to celebrate came in the form of another award for two Transition Year girls Aideen O’ Flynn and Katie Lordan. Their project entitled ‘An Investigative Study on the Lichen Biodiversity in Limerick City and County as an Indicator of Air Quality’ was awarded Second Place in the Senior Life Sciences category. The aim of their project was to investigate the variety of lichens growing in Limerick City and an outward radius toward West Limerick as an indicator of locational air quality and potential changes in air quality.
As a result of their investigation it was concluded that Limerick City and County show complex biodiversity in lichen species found on trees. There are a wide range of species from ‘semi-tolerant’ to ‘very-sensitive’ species found throughout City and County locations drawing the conclusion that Limerick City and County has good air quality as indicated by the lichen biodiversity. A lot of hard work went into this project and the girls should be very proud of themselves. Congratulations from Ms. O’ Connor.
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