Tag: science

Busy Times in 3rd & 4th Class

Staff

3rd and 4th have been busy on many fronts in recent times, here are two of the activities they have been working on.

Pumpkins

Last October, the class harvested seeds from the classroom Jack o’Lantern. In the last few weeks they have planted the seeds and watched them sprout into shoots and grow leaves. Today, they moved the plants into bigger pots to give them more room.

 

The Normans

They also continued their study of the Normans and castles through their artwork. They used a foam/glue/paint combination to create a 3D effect castle.

This followed a previous art activity where they created a Norman knight. The excitement now builds ahead of their school tour to King John’s Castle next week!

SESE Studies in Second/Third

Staff

The pupils in Miss O’ Dwyer’s room have been busy learning about different history, geography and science topics. The pupils have worked hard writing reports on ‘The Antarctic’ and ‘Mount Everest’. They also created lovely art displays about the Antarctic and the Bronze Age.

LEGO Robotics

Staff

On the 9th of January Mrs.Heelan told us that she was going to enter us into an Analogue Devices, Learn-it LEGO robotics class .There were only 30 available spaces through out the whole of Limerick and the lines opened at 10 o’clock with a first come, first served system so we had to be quick. We were one of the lucky schools to successfully apply.

On the 25th of January two people called Fergal and Marvee came to our school to show us how to build and program robots which were made of LEGO. At the start Mrs.Heelan put us all into groups of 3.Then we were set to build our robots with a manual on the computer screen. When we were all done building our robots Fergal showed us how to program our robots to go forwards and backwards. the he set us a series of challenges. Then he showed us how to turn and rotate the robot. After that he put down a maze mat and we had to program our robots to go around the maze mat. It was quite difficult!! Team 9 got the furthest on the maze and then we had to say goodbye and dismantle our robots. Now it was time for Fergal to announce the winner which was … team 7! (Jack,Ella and Eva ) with an extra edition of Ava O’Connell. We had a great day

 

Ella O’Toole

Jack Gleeson

Ava O’Connell

Eva Murnane

Space Week 2017

Staff

Space Week 2017 was marked in Herbertstown NS with the launch of six bottle rockets.

 

The pupils of third and fourth class designed and constructed the rockets using a variety of materials. Their designs were inspired by prior study of The Space Race and the International Space Station.  Each rocket was graded in terms of appearance/design and its performance in flight. These scores were provided by the pupils of fifth and six class. The winning group was group 3!

 

 

Herbertstown NS receives Science & Maths Award

Staff

Herbertstown N.S. has achieved a Science Foundation Ireland Discover Science and Maths Plaque of STEM Excellence for the 2016/17 academic year.

 

The plaque recognises schools who foster interest in science, technology, engineering and maths.  Well done to all our pupils and staff who worked hard to achieve this prestigious award.

Marine Biologist Lucy Hunt Helps Pupils Explore Ireland’s Seas & Oceans

Staff

Marine Biologist Lucy Hunt delivered a fascinating workshop with 5th & 6th class today in Herbertstown NS. Lucy has worked on numerous different projects studying marine life all over the world. Pupils had an opportunity to see and examine plankton, crabs, starfish and other creatures.

 

Lucy also gave an excellent talk on marine life around Ireland which included some fantastic first hand accounts of encounters with orcas, blue whales, humpback whales and dolphins.

 

Caoimhe, 6th Class:

Today a woman called Lucy Hunt came to our school. She is a Marine Biologist 

She brought in crabs, anemone,  seaweed and plankton.

Here are some facts she told us:

  • Crabs hiss or scream because they have air in them.
  • There are more mammals in the sea then on the land.
  • Two Otters sleep “holding” paws so they don’t float away.
  • There are 25 species of whales and dolphins in Irish waters.
  • Gannets are the largest sea birds in the Northern Hemisphere.
  • A cetacean is a Greek word that means whales and dolphins.
  • A Bowhead whale ended up in Irish waters last summer when it normally lives in the Arctic.
  • In 2007 a Bowhead was caught with a Harpoon in its head dating back to the 1890’s.
  • Common Dolphins form a Super Pod of 1,000 animals.
  • Bottlenose Dolphins may live up to 50 years and many grow up to 4m.
  • Orcas may grow up to 9.5 metres and may live up to 90 years.
  • Baleen is made of the same material as your hair and nails.
  • Fin whales are large whales and the blow from its blowhole may reach up to 10m.
  • Blue whales are very rare and there are only 500 left in the Northern Hemisphere.
  • In the Mediterranean Sea a humpback whale launched out of the water and landed on a small yacht.
  • In 2016 13 Sperm whales were found dead with stomachs full of plastic.
  • Currently, 70 whales are using Irish waters.

 

To finish, Lucy brought the class outside and had them draw out different marine mammals to get an idea of their size.

 

The workshop was secured as a prize for a drawing of Lough Gur by Nathan back in the autumn. The drawing secured third place in a competition run by Limerick City and County Council.

Science Foundation Ireland – Discover Science & Maths

Staff

Evidence of Herbertstown National School’s commitment to achieving an award for STEM Excellence.

Step 1 – Science

Science Investigations:

Living Things– Plants & Animals – observing and identifying a variety of living things in the environment.

https://www.herbertstownns.ie/2016/09/28/detectives-work-herbertstown-ns/

Living Things – Plants & animals -Senior infants & first-   becoming aware of life cycle of common animals

Farm Visit

Living Things – Plant & Animal life – 5th & 6th class – investigating the factors which contribute to plant growth – Sow &Grow project; growing runner beans and baby carrots.

Energy & Forces – Magnetism & Electricity- 3rd & 4th class – investigating current electricity by constructing simple circuits.

https://www.herbertstownns.ie/2017/03/10/bright-sparks-3rd-4th-class/

Materials – Properties and characteristics of materials – identify which materials are useful for absorbing water.

Senior Infants & 1st Class experiment with mixing colours.

Energy & Forces – Sound – 5th & 6th class – explore how sound travels through materials – using a metal clothes hanger, pupils tested how sound travelled through timber vs metal.

Energy & Forces – Forces – Floating and Sinking (Junior Infants investigate which objects will float in water and which will sink)

Materials – Materials & Change – 5th & 6th class investigate how two materials react when mixed together. Creation of cornflour slime.

Environmental Awareness & Care– 5th & 6th class – Study of Water Cycle – investigation of condensation, evaporation, precipitation, collection, water vapour. 

 

Materials – Materials & Change – 5th & 6th class – investigation into the effects of water on metals – rusting. Identifying areas in the school environment where rust is an issue.

Green Flag – Water – Whole school effort in conserving water both at home and in school.

Green Schools Committee 2016

Water Forum Day

https://www.herbertstownns.ie/2017/03/22/world-water-day/

Lough Gur Clean Up

 

Guest Speaker:

Pilot Barry Cason Visits Herbertstown NS

Step 2 – Technology

Accelerated Reader Programme – The school purchased a suite of Microsoft Surface computers to aid learning in the school. One of the most successful applications of these tablet computers has been their use to aid the implementation of the Accelerated Reader programme in the school. Pupils read books (from the school library or books at home) and use the tablet computers to visit the Accelerated Reader website and complete quizzes on the books they have read. They can also access information on their previous results in quizzes, the amount of words they have read and view suggested titles.

Graphing results:

In order to present the findings of their survey of tea habits in Herbertstown, the pupils of 5th class used Microsoft Excel to create graphs. These graphs were then in posters which were on display at the Fair.

 

Step 3 – Engineering

Design & make – Construction of bottle rockets.

Space Week!

Investigate engineering in local area – water tower. Pupils undertook a field trip to the local water tower where an engineer explained how the tower worked.

Water Tower Trip & Barry the Water Barrel

Step 4 – Maths

Tally Charts – Tally charts were used by the pupils of 5th and 6th class when compiling information on their projects for the RDS Science Fair. The 5th class surveyed parents on their tea preferences and the 6th class surveyed pupils on their attitudes towards hurling helmets. (the tallies of the tea survey were then used to create graphs using Microsoft Excel).

Math Trail – 5th & 6th class – Maths trail on school grounds with an emphasis on 2D & 3D shapes, symmetry, counting & numeration, fractions & decimals and data collection.

Investigation of symmetry – 3rd &  4th class – exploration of symmetry in the school environment.

Symmetry All Around Us

Step 5 – STEM Show & Tell

RDS Primary Science Fair

Pilot Barry Cason Visits Herbertstown NS

Staff

The sky’s the limit for Herbertstown NS pupils after the visit of Captain Barry Cason.

Cpt. Cason, who flies freight for Cargojet and is based in Canada, paid an hour long visit to 5th & 6th class. Having previously worked as a pilot on a commercial airline he was able to talk to the children about all aspects of the job. There was an opportunity for the pupils to quiz Cpt. Cason on what it’s like to be a pilot and he was very impressed with the questions being posed. He fielded questions on topics like taking off, landing, turbulence, weather systems and much much more. One story the children found particularly interesting involved the transport of a polar bear from a zoo in Australia to another in Canada.

 

It was a very memorable experience for all present and perhaps a future pilot or two may emerge from the group in years to come!

Cpt. Cason shows the children the aircraft he is currently flying.

 

Cpt. Cason points out his home city of Toronto, Canada.

 

Cpt. Cason explains how pilots use the curvature of the Earth and its rotation when they fly.

Cpt. Cason shows the children a video of a landing he performed and discusses risks like wind, snow and birds.

Cpt. Cason shows the children the onboard computer.

Cpt. Cason shows the children a weather map and explains why it is so important to pilots.