We have been working really hard up in sixth class on our science blast project! Our question was ‘Does the loss of one of your senses impact the information you take in?’ We have done loads of experiments to find out the answer.
We held a science fair in the hall yesterday and every class came to see our stands.
Stand 1: Optical Illusions- we had loads of different optical illusions and asked every child what they could see. This is all about the brain tricking our eyes to see multiple things.
Stand 2: We did an eating experiment where we blocked certain senses to see if food tasted different, and it definitely did!
Stand 3: We filmed videos and did a ‘spot the difference’ (infants were brilliant at finding the differences)
Stand 4: The science of the brain, eyes and ears.
6th had such a lovely day showing off all the hard work they’ve done. We hope all the classes enjoyed too ☺️
We were learning about our senses recently in Junior Infant and discovered we have 5 senses which help us understand the world around us – sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Firstly we discussed our senses before watching a short video about each.
Next we decided to test out our various senses with a senses walk around the school. We discovered lots of things we could touch which gave us lots of new vocabulary for how things feel.
Then we sat out in the back yard and closed our eye to see what we could hear and smell before having a look around. We were surprised at all the different noises each person could hear when we all sat quietly – birds, planes, cars, classes working with windows open and more. One house nearby had a fire lighting and we could smell the smoke.
Finally we conducted a senses experiment to see if we could use all our senses while making popcorn. We got to touch, see and smell the kernels of corn. We could feel the heat of the popcorn maker, hear the swirling and popping as they started to heat and explode and got very excited as the smell started to fill the classroom.
Finally we got to use our most important sense for this experiment…….taste. We also noticed that a lot of our STEM activities end with us eating like our melting chocolate and candy cane experiments!
Lastly we recorded the findings of our senses walk and popcorn experiment under each of the senses headings.
We are going to see what senses we use while we are learning in the classroom from now on!
In 4th Class we
have spent some time learning about Renewable Energy and the different types of
renewable materials.
We read the story ‘The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind’ by William Kamkwamba which is a true story based on William saving his town by constructing a windmill to provide electricity. To learn more about wind energy, we made our own wind turbines.
Wind Powered STEM challenge
As class we discussed the different materials we could use to build our wind turbines. We tried and tested different types of paper and card for the windmill blades, along with different shapes and lengths.
We worked together in groups to find the best combination of materials that we thought would be best for capturing the wind. We decided to use card, paper cups, paper drinking straws and string to build our wind turbines.
Testing
We used a hairdryer as our ‘wind’ to test our design.
On a walk around the local area, we noticed that many things are made from concrete, for example buildings, walls and footpaths. So we decided to make our own concrete blocks to investigate how concrete is made and how it can be used in construction.
Our ingredients: sand, cement, stones, water Mixing the ingredients together. We used a ratio of 1:2:3 which meant 1 cup of cement, 2 cups of sand and 3 cups of stones mixed together with some water. Mixing was tough so we took it in turns!Each group made a batch of concrete and everyone made their own individual block.We used recycled takeaway boxes as moulds for our concrete blocks. When we poured the wet mixture into each box, we gave the box a little shake to help the concrete to settle and we saw bubbles of air rise to the surface.We left the concrete blocks to dry over the long weekend. We placed a wooden knife in each mould to help remove the concrete once it had set.
When the blocks were dry they were quite easy to remove from the boxes. They had a lovely smooth surface!
When all the blocks were ready, we spent some time investigating different ways they could be stacked to build a wall.
We have been learning all about different types of homes and how people live in SESE. The children’s challenge was to create a ‘free – standing’ structure using marshmallows and spaghetti.
We have been learning all about plants in 5th class. We learned that plants need water, light and the right temperature in order to grow. We decideded to investigate this.
First, we labelled four pots to show the conditions that we would leave this plant in. We looked at sunlight and water.
This plant would be watered daily and left in the sunlight.
This plant would be left in the sunlight but would receive no water.
This plant would be watered, but left in the cupboard so it would not receive any sunlight.
This plant would not be watered and would be left in the cupboard so that it would also get no sunlight.
We predicted how our plants would grow.
We planted cress seeds in each pot and then we were ready to put our plants in their places.
We checked our cress seeds each day and watered the plants that required water. After two days we started to notice some changes!
We noticed growth in two of the plant pots!
Water and no sunlight.
Water and sunlight.
The plant that was watered but got no sunlight had grown! We looked closer and noticed that the plant was not green, but yellow! We compared this too the plant that has sunlight and water and saw that this plant was much greener. We predicted that plants need sunlight in order to grow a green colour!
The other two plants showed no signs of growth.
Three days later, we noticed more changes in our plants!
Lots of growth!
The plant with sunlight and water had grown much taller!
The plant with water and no sunlight had grown too, but it was still yellow!
The plant with sunlight but no water did not show any signs of growth.
The plants with no sunligt and no water also did not show any signs of growth.
Our investigation showed that plants need both sunlight and water for healthy growth!
As part of our research into the Winter Olympics and the various sports that are included in the games, we decided we wanted to find out more about bobsledding!
We found out that bobsledding is a team sport, which involves riding on iced tracks in a sled. These modern tracks are made from concrete and are coated with ice. The aim of the race is to reach the finish line in the fastest time possible!
Bobsledding was originally developed in the 1800s in Switzerland. We watched some old videos of the first bobsled (4 man) event in the inaugural Winter Olympic Games in 1924 and were shocked at how dangerous it looked! The two man event first appeared in the Winter Olympics in 1932 and the first women’s event was added in 2002.
After watching some interesting videos and learning some important information regarding how the bobsled works, we decided to try to make our own bobsleds that we could race!
First things first, we needed to plan! With any design and make activity we take part in, we know we have to make a plan first to take into account what we know about the subject and what we’re trying to find out or do. Planning allows us to develop our teamwork and problem solving skills too.
We know the bobsledders rely on gravity to move at the fastest possible pace down the track, with the pilot pulling on rings to steer the sled and improve track position. Bobsleds can reach speeds of 150km/h and the tracks are usually 1,200 – 1,300 long (the brakeman has a very important job!). We also learned that the bobsleds are nowadays made from fibreglass and are designed so as to not allow too much air get trapped in them. Bobsledders also wear full bodysuits to reduce friction and allow for a seamless entry into the bobsled from their running starting position. All of these factors were considered in our designs.
Using toilet roll holders, straws, tape and scissors, we began to design our bobsleds.
Teamwork!
Initial designs.
How long should the sled be? Does the width matter?
Making sure to consult our planning template.
An important consideration we had to take into account is what we would use to weigh down the sleds. We needed to do this to take into account that bobsleds have maximum amounts they can weigh in total in order to compete. The heavier the bobsled the faster it will travel downhill.
The maximum weights are as follows:
With crew and equipment for a 2-man bobsled is 860 pounds (390 kg). For a 4-man bobsled, the maximum weight with crew and equipment is 1,389 pounds (630 kg).
For 2-woman bobsled, the maximum weight with crew and equipment is 750 pounds (340 kg).
Adding weight.
Measuring.
Adjustments being made.
Team A chose to weight their bobsled down with dice and Team B chose to weigh their bobsled down with €2 coins (4 in total). It was time to test our designs!
Our makeshift track!
Time to test…
Our testing and results were interesting and best of all, lots of fun! We used school benches to act as the bobsled track and noted that they were positioned at acute angles.
We counted down and 3, 2, 1….race! After 3 races, we noted that the €2 coins were heavier than the 3 dice and so acted as a better weight and made the bobsled travel faster. After we determined this piece of information we decided to make sure both sleds we were weighed down with €8 in €2 coins and raced again 3 times. Again, Team B, who originally chose to race with the coins won. We discussed why this might be?
Our conclusion was that Team B’s bobsled was narrower (the toilet roll had been pushed in so that there was only a small space for any sledders to enter the sled) and this meant not as much air was getting trapped. This appeared to be the thing that was slowing down Team A’s sled. We noted that the sled must be constructed carefully, with enough room to allow sledders to jump in while running at top speeds and not too big that would allow air to be trapped, thus slowing down the travel time and speed. We also found it very interesting to learn that whatever speed the sledders initially push the sled at, determines how fast the team will travel!
Our classroom door display!
We loved learning about the Winter Olympics and specifically the bobsled event. We celebrated everything we learned by decorating our classroom door and watching the famous film ‘Cool Runnings’! We really enjoyed it and loved that we knew how the sled worked while watching 😁
Senior Infants were learning all about food and the café in Aistear for the month of February.
For Science this month, we learned all about the journey of milk and how it gets from the cows to our fridges. We watched a video which showed all about how the milk’s journey starts with the cow eating lots of grass. Next, the cows are milked – this can be done by hand or by a special machine! Then, the milk is heated, this gets rid of any bacteria. After, the milk is kept cold and stored. After this, the milk is put into bottles. These bottles are taken to the supermarkets and put on the shelves. Finally, the milk is bought at the shop and makes its way to your fridge.
Senior Infants loved watching the video which was voiced by a little girl the same age as the boys and girls in our class. After they watched the video, we sequenced the the journey of milk on cards as a whole class, and after we did it in pairs and told each other the story.
We also talked about food items that can be made from milk, one of them being butter. The class watched a video showing how butter used to be made a long time ago using a process called ‘churning’. This is where people used to move cream very quickly in a big bucket until it hardened and turned to butter. Senior Infants then wanted to test if they could turn cream from a liquid into a solid – creating butter.
Step 1: Pour the cream into the jar. The jar should be about half full. Add a pinch of salt.
Step 2. Put the lid on the jar and make sure it’s on tightly.
Step 3. Now for the hard work! Shake the jar lots until you see a lump form in the jar. This could take a long time – maybe even ten minutes!
Step 4. Eventually, you will see a lump and some liquid. The lump is butter and the liquid is buttermilk, an ingredient that can be used in lots of different things.
Step 5. Put the sieve over a bowl. Open the jar and tip the contents into the sieve.
Step 6. You now have separate butter and buttermilk.
We loved how we were able to see how the liquid cream turned into a harder solid and formed butter. We learned that cream is made up of tiny pieces of fat surrounded by water. When you shake the cream, the fat pierces start to clump together in a lump.
After, we tested the butter by putting it on crackers and eating them – they were delicious and tasted just like the butter in the supermarkets!!
Senior Infants began learning all about procedural writing. We decided we wanted to write about how to make a cup of hot chocolate. We learned to write a procedure we had to include a title and bossy verbs.
We wrote our procedure together as a class. Then, we tried it out by copying out procedure to make a hot chocolate – They turned out delicious!!
We learned all about The Café in Aistear this month. We practiced ordering a starter, main course and a dessert.
We built small cafés in our construction area and write menus for our own restaurants in our literacy station. We had great fun!
We also celebrated Valentines Day this month. We made lots of Art including an I love you to pieces heart and love birds. We coloured in Valentines jars as well.
