No bird brains as young scientists test their theories

Students wonder whether social networking promotes narcissism; whether anxiety affects examination performance; and if they can save an endangered bird.

Imagination and curiosity are abundant at the 50th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS.

Judges will have sifted through the 550 projects on display four times before the overall winner is announced tonight.

Among the young scientists was Christine Marron, 15, a transition-year student at Kinsale Community School, Co Cork, who found that people who use social networking sites have higher narcissistic tendencies.

However, her statistical study was inconclusive as to whether people who used social networking could be defined as narcissistic.

Christine surveyed 92 people who used social networking and most thought they were good at influencing people.

“I carried out another test to determine people’s self-esteem and I found that although people agreed with positive comments about themselves, they disagreed with negative ones.”

Lee Warner, 16, a transition-year student at Scoil Ruain, Killenaule, Co Tipperary, wants to play a part in saving the hen harrier.

His project looked how the native bird of prey, now reduced to an estimated 344, can be saved from extinction.

Lee said the increase in forestry had caused the bird population to drop to a precarious level.

“The hen harrier is a ground-nesting bird. It prefers to nest in outland farming areas so it can see predators from a safe distance,” he said.

“A forestry area quickly becomes a predatory trap for the nesting hen harrier because they are more open to attack by a stoat, magpie, crow, or fox.”

Lee is concerned that forestry is expanding. He believes the bird could be saved if more thought was given to preserving its preferred nesting ground.

“We could save the hen harrier if we kept farming land as it is; reduced forestry in certain areas and increased it in others.”

A study of satisfaction by students at Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co Cork, found that people like surprise gifts best.

Transition-year students Roisín MacArtain and Shauna Walsh, both 15, used a jar of lollipops and heart-rate and blood-pressure monitors to measure satisfaction rates among 20 students. Just 33% who expected a lollipop were happy when they got one, compared to 67% who got one as a surprise.

Anne-Marie O’Donovan and Ruth Kingston, transition-year students at Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, Co Cork, who looked at exam anxiety, found a link between high anxiety and low performance levels.

Both 16-year-olds surveyed more than 100 students, asking 10 questions and measuring their body’s response to them by taking their blood pressure and heart rate. They also found a link between teacher stress and students.

There was a high entry from Cork this year, with 111 projects, compared to 117 from Dublin.

They were followed by Limerick with 41 projects and Donegal with 25.