Happy New Year everyone. We hope you had a nice break and are looking forward to great things in 2016!
Today, we are excited to announce the launch of the ‘ReelLIFE SCIENCE Video Library‘, where you can watch more than 100 of the short science videos made by primary and secondary school students over the past number of years for ReelLIFE SCIENCE.
The videos are divided into four broad categories, to try to reflect the school science curriculum and also the range of competition topics since 2013.
Habitats and The Environment (26 videos covering topics like Science in the Garden, Our Marine World and The Soil is Alive!);
Our Healthy Bodies (39 videos covering a huge range of topics from Medicines, Keeping Healthy, The Food we Eat, Cells, The Digestive System, Vision, Evolution and much, much more!)
Science Heroes and The Power of Science (21 videos Featuring Marie Curie, Alexander Fleming, Lise Meitner, and lots of fun science experiments for the classroom).
Locations of 178 schools participating in ReelLIFE SCIENCE since 2013. (Red = primary school, green = secondary school, yellow = shortlisted school)
Our hope is that both teachers and students alike will find this a useful resource when teaching or learning about these topics, or just an good place to browse some entertaining and educational videos made by some of the best science communicators in Ireland!
We’d like to thank the more than 5,000 students and teachers from 178 schools all around Ireland, who have made videos for ReelLIFE SCIENCE over the years. This fantastic resource would not be possible without all of their efforts and enthusiasm.
ReelLIFE SCIENCE will be back in the new academic year, with some more great topics, judges and prizes, so watch this space!
The ReelLife Science team and Special Guest Judges are delighted to announce the inaugural ReelLife Science Schools Science Video Competition Winners.
SECONDARY SCHOOL WINNERS
In first place at Secondary school level, under the “Astrobiology” category, we have a stunning video called “Life in Space” created by the multi-talented St. Enda’s College Transition Year student Michael McAndrew, under the direction of Mr. Fahey and Mr. Conroy. This remarkable film combines a fantastic concept and animation style with an intelligent script, wonderful delivery and original score. The film describes the fascinating field of Astrobiology, encompassing the origin and future of life on earth and the search for extraterrestrial life in other “Goldilocks Zones”. The simple yet effective cartoon style could conceivably be used to explain a range of different scientific topics, and the ReelLife Science team can’t wait to see more of Michael’s excellent work. In Michael’s own words “it is very exciting what the future might bring us“.
In third place, under the category “The Environment”, we have a video about “Littering” made by Claregalway College First Year student Natasha Feery Byrne, under the guidance of her teacher Ms. Nolan. In the words of Special Guest Judge Prof. Rhodri Ceredig “the video has a very commendable and engaging cartoon style presentation, with a nice message“. Like ReelLife Science, Claregalway College is in its very first year of existence, but they have really engaged with the competition and we look forward to receiving more videos from them in the future! Natasha will receive over €100 worth of scientific equipment and resources for her school’s Science program.
In second place, under the “Stem Cells” category, we have a video produced by St. Mary’s College Second Year students Mark Gilligan, Josh Pyne, Alan Duggan and Shane Hastings and Leaving Certificate student Colm Barry, with the help of their teacher Mr. Carey. This well-acted and imaginative film sees two young “stem cells” who haven’t yet decided on a career path, meet their knowledgeable Careers Officer, who briefs them on the options available to multipotent, pluripotent and even induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
Both Special Guest Judge Professors Ceredig and Brand work in the field of Stem Cell Biology, as does ReelLife Science team member and REMEDI PhD student Dave Browe, and all three scientists were extremely impressed with the level of detail communicated in this short movie. The guys will receive over €150 worth of scientific equipment and resources for their school’s Science program.
Finally, in first place, under the “Astrobiology” category, we have a stunning video called “Life in Space” created by the multi-talented St. Enda’s College Transition Year student Michael McAndrew, under the direction of Mr. Fahey and Mr. Conroy. This remarkable film combines a fantastic concept and animation style with an intelligent script, wonderful delivery and original score. The film describes the fascinating field of Astrobiology, encompassing the origin and future of life on earth and the search for extraterrestrial life in other “Goldilocks Zones”. The simple yet effective cartoon style could conceivably be used to explain a range of different scientific topics, and the ReelLife Science team can’t wait to see more of Michael’s excellent work. In Michael’s own words “it is very exciting what the future might bring us“.
Overall, this outstanding production proved a worthy winner of the inaugural ReelLife Science Secondary school competition. We hope Michael and his fellow Transition Year students in St. Enda’s College enjoy spending their €250 on promoting science and science communication.
ReelLIFE SCIENCE 