DISCOVER PRIMARY SCIENCE @ Birr Castle Demesne

Location: Birr Castle Demesne is in the centre of Birr, Co. Offaly. About 1½ hrs from Galway and Limerick and Kildare.
Cost of Tour: €5 per child, this includes entrance, worksheets and full guide from trained educational officer throughout. Teachers accompanying children are free. Payment must be made on arrival.
Length of Tour: 75 minutes.
Facilities at Birr: There is a tea room where sandwiches/picnic can be pre-ordered and taken to eat in the gardens, alternatively there is a Supermacs in Birr within walking distance.
Booking of Tour: All groups must be pre-booked at least a week in advance.
Call on +353 5791-20336 or email mail@birrcastle.com
Please quote DPS on booking

You can download © Primery Science Brochure (561 KB in size) in PDF format by clicking on the provided hyperlink.

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You can also visit www.primaryscience.ie website for further information

Format of the DPS Tour

Familiarisation:
Before we begin the tour we generally start with the NAME GAME. This is a fun interactive game which allows us, the guides, to become familiar with the children and the children become familiar with us. It will also help focus their attention.

Following this we like the children to get a SENSE OF PLACE. We’ll show them a map of Ireland with Birr clearly shown and ask them to show us where they’ve come from. We’ll then distribute the tailor made work sheets along with clip-boards and magnifying glasses.

At the end of each paragraph you’ll find some experiments which will tie in with what’s just been covered. There is also a rough guide to how long each section will last.

The Tour Begins:
We begin our tour in the first gallery in the Science Centre. Once here we’ll ask a few simple questions about the castle and the telescope to gage the children’s level of knowledge. Questions like ‘Why is Birr Castle so famous?’ and ‘What would you use a telescope for?’ are usually a good place to start.

We then move into the second gallery. Here we explain what materials were needed to build it, how it was built and how it works. We can show them the scale model of the 1.2m mirror. We can explain to them that the Birr Telescope isn’t like any telescope they may have at home. It’s so big that the 18m wooden tube and massive support walls are constructed in the grounds of the castle which we will show them shortly.

The weight of the telescope had to be counterbalances as seen in Acrobatic Clown experiment

TIME TAKEN: 15 MINUTES

Movin’ On Up:
After we’ve given them some basic information about the telescope we’ll move upstairs into the third gallery. Up here they can see a scale replica of one of the telescope’s viewing galleries. After they’ve had a chance to look through the replica eyepiece we head into the fourth gallery.

The Earl used his DOMINENT EYE for all observing and drawing – as seen in EXPERIMENT: Myself – Fingerprints, Dominant Eye, Blind Spot

It’s here (using our motorised orrery) that we show them the neighbourhood that they may not have know they lived in – The Solar System! Our system of 9 planets – M.V.E.M.J.S.U.N.P. We’ll ask them why we couldn’t live on another planet and if there is life on any of them.

TIME TAKEN: 8 MINUTES

Lights, Camera, Action!
Mary Rosse, the third Earl’s wife, was a pioneer photographer. Lens and mirrors have many uses in the modern world around us, here we ask the children to give us some examples. Depending on the age of the group we can explain how the lens camera worked.

Developing colour in photographs – EXPERIMENT: Creeping Colours

Working with mirrors – EXPERIMENT: Mirror Writing

TIME TAKEN: 5 MINUTES

Turbine Talk:
Charles Parsons developed the steam turbine still in use today. What other ways are there of generating power? Here we talk about different types of energy (Wind, wave, solar, nuclear, turf, oil, etc.) and explain the difference between RENEWABLE AND NON-RENEWABLE sources of energy. We can also talk about the ADVANTAGES AND DISSADVANTAGES of both. This helps the children understand the importance of energy conservation and how they can do their part.

The third Earl built his very own helicopter! – EXPERIMENT: Paper Helicopters

Electricity in everyday life – EXPERIMENT: Make an Electric Quiz

TIME TAKEN: 5 MINUTES

Down To Earth:
Now we take the children back downstairs into the final gallery. We use this time to recap on what they’ve just seen and heard. Down here we also have a small pond with which we can explain SURFACE TENSION.

EXPERIMENT: Surface Tension and Bubbles & Design a Boat

TIME TAKEN: 6 MINUTES

The Not So Secret Garden:
Now we’re ready to set forth into the 120 acre garden. It’s filled with exotic plants and trees from all over the planet. If it happens to be raining our guides are still happy to brave the elements in the name of science but, if you’d prefer, this section can always be completed indoors.

We take the children to a very famous Oak Tree in the grounds – The O’Carroll Oak (it’s older than the telescope!). Once there they can employ their magnifying glasses to take a closer look at the tree’s bark then draw it. Once this is done the children will be given a patch of grass and soil to take a closer look at. Using their powers of observation the children can search for anything unusual in their patch. If they do find anything we can all take a closer look at it.

We’re then ready to head over to the telescope. En route we can show the children various types of trees in the gardens and explain how some trees prefer different soil types and climates.

How things grow – EXPERIMENT: Growing Tomatoes

TIME TAKEN: 16 MINUTES

Talking Telescopes:
We’ll show the children the giant telescope and how the Earl needed a head for heights when using it!

The movements of the telescope had to be controlled and smooth – EXPERIMENT: Friction – Slip or Stick?

The telescope was a ground breaking design for its time – EXPERIMENT: Motors & Vehicles

TIME TAKEN: 10 MINUTES

Bridge Over Camcor Waters:
No trouble here! Our final stop is the suspension bridge – one of the oldest in the world. We’ll tell the children briefly about it then have some questions and answers time, and no they can’t cross it!

EXPERIEMENT: Design a Bridge

TIME TAKEN: 10 MINUTES

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