Leading energy provider SSE Airtricity and W5, Northern Ireland’s award-winning family science and discovery centre, have come together to bring the Science Magic, the Trouble with the Titanic and Technology Trials interactive shows to pupils from Glendermott, Drumahoe and St. Brigid’s primary schools in Co. Derry~Londonderry and Co. Tyrone.
SSE Airtricity is Northern Ireland’s second largest energy utility and the official partner of Education at W5.
The W5 team brought their interactive shows to the schools where they performed fun and educational experiments for pupils. Science Magic showed some of the most exciting elements of science, while in the Trouble with the Titanic, pupils found out what went wrong on the ship’s maiden voyage.
Vicky Boden from SSE Airtricity, said: “SSE Airtricity’s support of Education at W5 is designed to help raise the profile of science and technology for children. As well as supporting Education at W5 itself, we are also working with the W5 team to bring their exciting Education Outreach Programme to local schools.
With the wonderful shows from W5, and the projects the children are working on to learn more about renewable energy, hopefully we will inspire a new generation to get more involved in science and technology.”
Judith Harvey from W5, said: “W5’s mission is to fire the spirit of discovery, and our Education and Outreach programmes, supported by SSE Airtricity, enable us to bring science and technology to life for children through our hands-on, curriculum-linked workshops. The enthusiasm of the children is clear as they explore how the theory of the classroom is relevant to their everyday lives. It looks like we could have a few science stars of the future!”
Shirley McKenna, Principal at Glendermott Primary School, said: “We were delighted that SSE Airtricity chose Glendermott for the Outreach programme through their W5 education sponsorship. The interactive shows clearly had an impact on our pupils, and there was certainly no shortage of volunteers for the experiments. It is important that pupils learn about science and technology and this show made the subject exciting and stimulating.”
Sinéad Gormley, Principal at St Brigid’s Primary School, said: “Both pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed the shows and agreed that the children learned a lot about gravity, inertia, forces and energy as well as having lots and lots of fun! The workshops and practical activities matched well with our curriculum and the children were able to make connections with other areas of learning too. It was a pleasure to have the W5 team and SSE Airtricity at our school. We would like to take this opportunity to thank SSE Airtricity for funding this enriching learning experience for our children in Altamuskin and look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Orlaith Mullan, a pupil in P2 at St. Brigid’s, said: “I thought it was awesome because we got to see an explosion! Now I know what happens when you put Vitamin C inside a closed container.”
Zara Montague in P4 added: “My favourite part was during the H2O workshop when the water disappeared out of the cup… it was like magic! I learned that water can evaporate!”