Evidence of Herbertstown National School’s commitment to achieving an award for STEM Excellence.
Step 1 – Science
Step 2 – Technology
Step 3 – Engineering
Step 4 – Maths
Step 5 – STEM Show & Tell
The question they were asked was ‘Should the school week be shortened to 4 days per week? (summer holidays would be shorter as a result)’.
Votes were checked, tallied and then the pupils made graphs to show the results.
2 gummy bears were placed in water; 1 in a container with fresh water, the other in a container with salt water.
After a few days it was clear that the gummy bear in the fresh water had started to swell while the gummy bear in the salt water had generally kept its shape.
This experiment helped to show the class the effects that fresh water would have on some sea creatures like sharks if they were to leave the sea/ocean and enter a river.
Experiment 1: Which substance cleans money best; washing up liquid, lemon, vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil or baking powder? Lemon was the winner!
Experiment 2: Which material is the best insulator of heat; paper, tin foil or a woolly sock? The sock was the winner!
Juniors & Seniors then got some time using the school’s iPads to complete some activities.
The pupils got to view many different areas of the station as well as being shown how the plant produces electricity. Their guides explained how the different parts of the scheme were constructed and the pupils really enjoyed learning about how fish travel through Ardnacrusha.
It was a very memorable day for all.
A few weeks ago we got caterpillars in the post from England. The caterpillars were very small but after a few days they got very fat.
The caterpillars soon went into their chrysalides. They were in their chrysalides for a few days. In those few days one fell down.
After they formed into butterflies (Painted Ladies) we let them go into the school garden. We saw them fly away. We enjoyed the butterflies.
Jocelyn, Sadhbh, Sophie & Saoirse.
Sixth class had a wonderful day at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick exhibiting their project and getting to experience all that the ESB Science Blast had to offer.
This included taking part in science based demonstrations and activities and also moving around the venue to view other schools’ projects.
Congratulations to them and their teacher, Mrs Kennedy, for a job well done with their project.
After a few cancellations due to the busy nature of the helicopter’s role, loud cheers went up from the school’s pupils as the helicopter came into view coming from Lough Gur’s direction. After circling Anthony Baggott Park, the huge machine landed. The crew were enormously generous with their time as they allowed all the children present to board the helicopter and answered the many questions they had. They also explained the important jobs the helicopter is tasked with on an almost daily basis and gave the children tips about staying safe when in the outdoors. One of the four crew was Bruff native and winchman Robbie Moloney. To add to what was an already spectacular experience for the children, before departure, the helicopter took off and winched Robbie from the ground before it sped off into the distance. A day that will live long in the memory for all present.
This visit was secured through the Heritage in Schools programme.
