6th class of Timoleague NS, along with their teacher Mrs. Anne McCarthy, presented their project “Growing Smelly Grass” at the Primary Science Fair @ The 2020 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition Thursday January 9th 2020 in the RDS, Dublin. Their 3-month project primarily looked at how well grass grows using the following organic fertilizers - locally sourced comfrey, seaweed, cow manure and horse manure compared to purchased organic tomato fertilizer. They set up a grass growing station in the classroom. They monitored the height, thickness, colour, weight and dry matter. This was a controlled experiment and each day they were checking the soil for moisture and feeding the grass at different rates. They chose this project as it highlights what is going on in our locality with grass growth. After studying their findings and checking their results, they prepared their project to exhibit in the RDS. Their project was very well received by the judges and visitors to the stand.
Through the process of remote learning, the school community of Timoleague NS was very much still hard at work. The Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) recognises and rewards young people aged 10-18 who have taken environmental action and created projects that will help solve environmental issues. They held their virtual award ceremony on Thursday May 21st. Out of 500 applications, 152 made it to the award ceremony. The Super Junior Gold Winners were 6th class & their teacher Mrs. Anne McCarthy from Timoleague NS with a passion for turning local products into organic fertilizers that can be used for grass growth in their locality. You can buy organic tomato fertilizer in the shop. But this isn’t local, and the group was curious about what locally sourced products could be used instead. They decided to test comfrey, seaweed, and manure on grass and compare the results to the organic tomato fertilizer you buy in the shop. They started with the science, and then spread the results with their schoolmates, community and farmers across the nation! Principal Norma Harte said, “It is a wonderful occasion for the school. I am thrilled that the class and their teacher got the recognition that they deserve. This is a whole school celebration as everyone was involved and supported the project. A very proud day for our school to be Gold winners in the UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards”.
