RECORD NUMBER OF ENTRIES FOR SECOND ANNUAL SCHOOLS PE XPO.

A record 140 projects from schools all over the country have been received for this year's second annual PE Expo, to be hosted by Trinity Comprehensive College in Dublin's Ballymun on Friday March 11.

Projects already submitted include a sports-related app, diet for different levels of activity, social groups and their involvement in sport, fitness test results analysis, and a comparison of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems of smokers and non-smokers.

Categories for projects are Components of Fitness, Games Development, Health Promotion and Physical Activity, ICT and Photography, Social and Culture in Sport, Nutrition, and Psychology in Sport. Projects are divided into two age groups - senior and junior.

A prize goes to the best project in each category and a bursary of €250 to the winning project overall. Professor Niall Moyna of DCU's sports science department will lead the panel of judges. The winning school will have the opportunity to present its project at the annual Physical Education Association of Ireland Conference in Cork later this year with all expenses paid.

Activities on the day will include football, judo, snooker and gym tests. Tweakel.com (School Radio trainers ) will attend the PE Expo with their mobile recording studio and all schools will have the option of recording a piece on their project. This will subsequently be sent to their schools.

Winners of the inaugural PE Expo last year were the girls of St Patrick's Comprehensive in Shannon who examined the perfect angle for a punted ball in rugby using applied maths. Among the other prize-winning schools were St Oliver's Drogheda, DLS Waterford, Merlin College, St Dominic's Cabra and Loreto Mullingar.

Supporting the PE Expo are the Physical Education Association of Ireland, Dublin City Council, Trinity College Sports, Celtic Sports Academy and DCU. Among those offering category prizes are Inpho, Clubapp, and Active Flag.