Cork Science Festival is back with a bang this year, with events set to take place this November in venues all across Cork.
Grab your lab coats and prepare for incredibly fun free public events including science experiments, expert talks, open days, lab visits, workshops and much, much more! This will be the first time these events have taken place in person in years so it’s not to be missed!
From November 13- 20, the Cork Science Festival will be held in venues and schools all around Cork to increase engagement and interest in science subjects from a young age, with an extra focus on hands-on learning.
Cork Science Festival is a main partner of Science Week Ireland and is one of the largest STEAM engagement events in the Irish science calendar, showcasing the best Cork has to offer across science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
Centres of science including UCC, MTU and Tyndall will also open their doors to the public to showcase their amazing scientific endeavours.
A highlight of the festival is the live family science shows, which will take place as part of this year’s ‘Celebrate Science’ family fun day on Sunday November 13 at the Western Gateway Building in UCC. There will be juggling and circus tricks, the chance to build and program a Lego Robot, dry ice experiments and lots more. See here for full details on sessions, times and locations.
The school engagement programme will see the Animal Roadshow and Dinosaurs Down Under visit schools around Cork for interactive sessions where children will get to discover cool facts about incredible creatures. Wonderstruck will show 3rd and 6th class students how to make Compressed Air Rockets or Fan Powered Cars. Senior Infants, 1st and 2nd class students will also get to enjoy a Junior Science Workshop given by the Lismore Heritage Centre mobile science team.
Schools can still enter the Lifetime Lab Primary Science Quiz, with the closing date being Friday October 21, so get your entries in now! The quiz will take place at Devere Hall in UCC on November 16.
If you’d rather enjoy learning all about science from the comfort of your own home, families can sign up to participate in at-home activities from the APC Microbiome Ireland. During this remote activity, you’ll create a paper Microbe-Teller, like a paper fortune-teller, who reveals answers to your questions about bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Another project to get stuck into is the Micro Museum online project which guides you on how to dive deep into the world around you and build your very own museum exhibit using items you already have at home.
Programme co-ordinator Mervyn Horgan said: “Cork Science Festival is looking forward to bringing the wonder of discovery, exploration, and invention to the fore during Cork Science Week. We know it just takes one spark to ignite curiosity and creativity in the STEAM subjects so that is our goal again this year!”.
“We hope to inspire future astronauts, astrologers, chemists, physicists, biologists, engineers, and researchers! Through our diverse programme we invite everyone, young and old to come and experience science.”
Cork Science Festival events must be booked in advance as spaces are limited. For full details on the festival and bookings for free public events see here. Additional events are being added to the calendar over coming days and the option to make a booking will follow.
Feature images: Darragh Kane Photographer
