A team from Co Monaghan features in the first episode of a new science adventure series for young people called The Mountain which starts this Friday January 21^st at 5pm on RTÉ Two.

Kate Doherty (12), Jessica Connelly (12) and Alannah Cuddy (12) from Co Monaghan take on a team from West Cork as their skills are put to the test in science-based challenges around an adventures style course. Who will have the brains, brawn, and stamina to be first to The Mountain summit?

The Mountain was recorded in Carlingford Adventure Centre, Co Louth. In each episode, two teams make use of scientific knowledge given to them to complete tasks in the rounds: Basecamp Experiment, The Big Predication and CSWhy? Crime Solving. The action culminates with the Final Assault obstacle course race to the summit.

Check out The Mountain website, www.rte.ie/themountain, for experiments, a gallery and resource links.

The Mountain is RTÉ Two’s new 12 part science and adventure series which sees two teams complete science-based challenges around an adventure style course. It takes brains, brawn, and stamina to be first to The Mountain summit.   

The teams, of three young people aged between 10-12, must make use of scientific knowledge given to them to complete tasks in the rounds: Basecamp Experiment, The Big Predication and CSWhy? Crime Solving. 

After each round, the victors can select an opponent to send to the ‘Pit’ or can bring back a team member from the ‘Pit’. At the end of round three, those in the ‘Pit’ are given a chance to break out if they crack The Mountain cipher. 

The action culminates with the Final Assault obstacle course race to the summit.

To begin their ascent of The Mountain each team must complete a Basecamp Experiment. Here they are provided with scientific facts or principles and are asked to complete tasks such as; create a natural fire extinguisher, build a periscope and use it to hit a target, use the principles of force to adjust a catapult and hit a target, identify and collect non-Newtonian fluids, select magnetic materials to move a car around a maze, make water rockets, use sound waves to knock over materials, carry eggs like an Emperor Penguin and connect a circuit to generate electricity from energy.

Often working against a clock, the winning team can choose to send one of the other team to the Pit.

The Big Prediction is where the teams predict the outcome of chemical reactions. The consequence of failing to use their scientific knowledge correctly includes being soaked by water, causing a teddy to explode or getting covered in foam, along with ultimately being sent to the Pit.

The science facts the teams discover in this round include what materials create enough static electricity to trigger a fuse setting off an explosion, if nappy crystals totally absorb water, what chemicals can create snow, what substance mixed with vinegar makes lots of foam, if wool is more flammable than viscose, what gas can blow up a microwave, do eggs really make microwaves explode, how strong interlaced paper can be, the type of music that can make flames dance and what liquids allow electricity to flow through them.

CSWhy? Crime Solving sees the teams using forensic science to solve crimes. From evidence collected at the scene of a crime - such as finger prints, vomit, tyre tracks, white powder, writing material, blood splatter and toe prints - the team who identifies the culprit in the fastest time wins the round and chooses who goes or is released from the Pit.

The teams, selected through extensive auditions from entries around the island of Ireland, come from Armagh, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Laois, Limerick, Monaghan, Offaly, Sligo, Waterford and Wexford.

Check out The Mountain website, www.rte.ie/themountain, for experiments, a gallery and resource links.