On this page you will find information about the work we have completed as a school towards achieving an SFI Curious Minds Gold Award (previously knows as the SFI Plaque of STEM Award). We have already achieved five SFI Gold/Plaque of STEM awards and we also participated in the SFI Badge of Excellence for STEM Awareness pilot programme, achieving a Badge of Excellence for our work. The gallery below is just a snapshot of some of the work taking place under the STEM umbrella in our school this year (2023/2024).
2022-2023 Application
Step 1: SCIENCE
1. LIVING things
To investigate the conditions needed for grass to grow Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants have created their very own grass heads! They are giving their grass heads both water and light to help the grass seeds to grow. They have one grass head that will get light but no water and another grass head that will get water but no light because they also want to see if grass can grow without light/water.
Ms. Lynch-Frahill's 3rd Class explored our natural environment. They went on a nature walk to search for flora and fauna in the local area.
Ms. Barry's and Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants were very lucky as they all got to plant their very own daffodils at the front of our school. Cathal our caretaker dug a small hole for each pupil. Mrs. Howard gave everyone daffodil bulbs. Mrs. Howard explained to them how important it was to put the bulb in right. They were very careful and made sure the roots were going down and the stem was standing up.
Ms. Crowley's 2nd Class investigated the most common eye colour and hair colour in their class (blue eyes and brown hair). In Art, they drew their eyes and put in their likes and interests.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class went on an autumn walk and collected leaves and objects of interest to them. They identified the names, leaves and fruits of five common trees on their walk. They made trays from clay using imprints from leaves they collected. Check out their beautiful autumn leave trays below.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class harvested kale, cabbage and parsnips from the school garden and brought them home. They used them in a variety of ways - they made soup, had salads and they had some well fed pets also. They also brought the classroom indoors and dried out sunflower seeds to plant, as well as poppy stems for decoration.
On their autumn walk Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants saw many signs of autumn. They found acorns, conkers, fallen leaves, blackberries, helicopter seeds and spider webs! When they came back to school they enjoyed using their magnifying glasses to look at the items they had collected because they could see them in better detail. They also had great fun trying to get their helicopter seeds to spin! When they had finished exploring their items they used the leaves they had collected to make leaf lanterns.
2. ENergy and FORCES
Ms Crowley's Junior Infants were exploring the Strand Unit 'Heat' in the Strand, 'Energy and Forces'. We had explored a lot of sources of heat and identified things that are hot/cold in our homes and in our classroom. We wanted to investigate which part of the classroom was the hottest so we did an ice-cube experiment. We looked at lots of different areas in the classroom where it was likely that an ice-cube would melt and these are the three places we said we would experiment with: radiator, inside a coat, under the hot tap. Everybody made predictions and placed their own bag of ice-cubes in the location they thought would be the hottest. The hot tap had the best results as it melted the ice-cubes the fastest. We filled out our predictions and results on our SESE booklet.
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants learned about sounds in the environment as well as loud/soft sounds and high/low sounds. They decided to create their own musical instruments using plastic bottles. They tested 4 different materials (pasta, rice, beans and salt) inside a bottle to hear the sound each one would make. They then each picked their favourite material to fill the bottle. Afterwards they used their maracas to make loud and soft sounds and watched Ms. Murphy carefully to know when to make a soft sound and when to make a loud sound. They were excellent at this as you can see in their video below. They had a lot of fun making and using their own maracas!
Newton's Disc and the Spectrum of Light
Ms. Cashman's 6th Class learned about light energy. They studied the work of Sir Isaac Newton and how he discovered that light is made up of seven colours. They made Newton's Discs which proves that the seven colours of the rainbow blend together to make white light. A rainbow works in the opposite way- droplets of water act as prisms and split the white light into the seven colours.
Ms. Cashman's 6th Class learned about light energy. They studied the work of Sir Isaac Newton and how he discovered that light is made up of seven colours. They made Newton's Discs which proves that the seven colours of the rainbow blend together to make white light. A rainbow works in the opposite way- droplets of water act as prisms and split the white light into the seven colours.
Ms. Bermingham's 1st Class investigated what materials were 'transparent' and what materials and objects were 'opaque'. They tested out a variety of different objects from the classroom and made their predictions first before testing each one. They enjoyed their investigating with the torches!
Ms. Barry's Junior Infants and their 5th Class buddies discovered objects that were magnetic. They made predictions first and then they each got a magnet and found the objects in the classroom.
3: Materials
Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class learned what a chemical reaction is. They added bread soda, a base, to a cut lemon, which is acidic. The acid and the base reacted causing lots of foam and fizz to form as carbon dioxide was released. They also added vinegar and a few drops of food colouring for extra fizz. Thankfully their predictions at the beginning didn't play out and there were no explosions!!
During Science Week Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class learned all about floating and sinking. In History they read the story about The Titanic. They did experiments to understand how floating and sinking works and they built rafts. They had a great week!
FLOATING ORANGE EXPERIMENT
They were surprised when the orange floated with its peel on but sank with its peel off! They discovered orange peel is full of tiny pockets of air which give it buoyancy.
They were surprised when the orange floated with its peel on but sank with its peel off! They discovered orange peel is full of tiny pockets of air which give it buoyancy.
WHAT MATERIALS FLOAT BEST?
They learned that objects that are more dense than water sink and objects less dense than water float!
They learned that objects that are more dense than water sink and objects less dense than water float!
DESIGN AND MAKE
They had fun designing and building rafts made of lollipop sticks!
They had fun designing and building rafts made of lollipop sticks!
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants and their buddies in 5th Class tested materials to see if they were waterproof.
4. Environmental AwARENESS
4th Class have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to work as part of the STEM DePuy (Johnson & Johnson) school programme over the past few weeks. The children learned about renewable energy and the many ways using renewable energy sources can help the environment. During the programme, members of the team visited the school and the children made their own house and attached a wind turbine to it in order to generate electricity to light up the houses.
The highlight of the programme was their visit to the site to see a real wind turbine and take part in STEM activities with the staff. It was an amazing learning experience for Ms. Dorgan's and Ms. Noonan's 4th classes, inspiring many of the children to consider a career in engineering in the future!
The highlight of the programme was their visit to the site to see a real wind turbine and take part in STEM activities with the staff. It was an amazing learning experience for Ms. Dorgan's and Ms. Noonan's 4th classes, inspiring many of the children to consider a career in engineering in the future!
Ms. Lynch-Frahill's 3rd Class learned about Air Pollution. They carried out an experiment to explore what particles are in the air around us. First, they came up with a hypothesis. They put petroleum jelly on paper plates and hung them in different places around our school. They will collect the paper plates in a couple of weeks and investigate them using magnifying glasses. They are interested to find out which paper plate will have the most particles.
5. SCIENCE Week
To celebrate Science Week, Ms. Hynes' 3rd Class had a Zoom call with Frances from the Blackrock Observatory. She talked all about radio waves and space. The class also took part in an energy workshop where they talked about climate change and even made electricity from lemons! They also completed an experiment to see whether sugar or carbohydrates are absorbed quicker in our blood and they got the chance to be engineers, using marshmallows and spaghetti to create the tallest structure they could.
Ms. Crowley's 2nd Class investigated what would make a good ramp in groups...
...and made stars using tooth picks, water and pipettes.
Ms. Barry's Junior Infants made bubble snakes and used baking soda and vinegar in warm water to make raisins dance.
For Science Week Ms. Hogan's 5th Class set themselves the task of designing and making a flying object. They thoroughly enjoyed this task - it was frustrating and fun in equal measure! 😁
They had to assess themselves using the following criteria:
1. Is my design streamlined?
2. Did I test my design (considering distance, speed and height)?
3. Does it fly?
4. Did I change or alter my original design?
Take a look at their designs below...
They had to assess themselves using the following criteria:
1. Is my design streamlined?
2. Did I test my design (considering distance, speed and height)?
3. Does it fly?
4. Did I change or alter my original design?
Take a look at their designs below...
They also flew a rocket! And.....
Hannah taught the class all about how batteries work and did a demo of how to make one!
Take a look at their videos below!
Hannah taught the class all about how batteries work and did a demo of how to make one!
Take a look at their videos below!
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Ms. Lynch-Frahill's 3rd Class took part in a variety of activities as part of Science Week 2022!
- They were excited to have a visit from the Lifetime Lab to learn about Energy. In this workshop, the class learned about energy sources, climate change, CO2 and what we can do to reduce the amount of energy we waste. They also enjoyed an interesting energy experiment - did you know you can make a battery out of a lemon? The workshop finished with a fun quiz!
- In groups, the children were challenged to work together to create a strong tower using only spaghetti and marshmallows! They had to work like engineers and put their scientific knowledge into practice and it was wonderful to see problem-solving and team work in abundance!
- As part of their learning on the topic of Nutrition, 3rd Class created Powerpoints with lots of facts about Healthy Eating and the importance of keeping fit.
- Sugar rush! - The children carried out an experiment to show how fast sugar absorbs into our blood. Using maple syrup and red food colouring to represent blood, they added sugar to one cup, and flour to the other to represent carbohydrates. The children observed that the sugar dissolved much faster than the flour.
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants had great fun during Science Week. They made predictions and then used magnets to investigate if different objects were magnetic or not and then they went on a hunt around the classroom to find more magnetic objects...
...they loved watching their dancing raisins...
...and they made rainbows using skittles and warm water.
6. GLOBE PROJECTS - SPRING WATCH & SURFACE TEMPERatures
Spring watch green up campaign
Trees are beautiful when they wake up each spring. Ms. Hogan's 5th Class are observing our Oak tree on the school grounds from buds to leaves and sharing their measurements in the GLOBE database. They are also exploring how important the role of trees are in the carbon cycle and cooling our cities and urban areas.
1. Identify a south facing branch and mark four buds for observation.
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2. Position the thermometer on the north facing aspect of the tree trunk. Observe and record daily.
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3. Measure the circumference of the trunk to complete a carbon study on your chosen tree!
They are excited to observe the "green up" changes on our Oak tree at the front of out school. They predicted that the bud burst will take place after Easter on buds 2 - 4 and possibly over Easter on bud 1 as this one is already swelling!
SURface temperature
The purpose of this investigation is to discover how the land cover of the ground affects its surface temperature. The main research question is, "How does surface cover affect surface temperature?" Ms. Hogan's 5th Class set up research studies at sites on our school - astroturf, bare soil, grass, tarmac and concrete. They are busy taking measurements on five assigned dates in March across five different surface types to compare with schools in Ireland, Malta and Israel. They will be learning about cooling solutions for our school to tie in with our school garden.
7. SPACE WEEK
During Space Week, Ms. Lynch-Frahill's 3rd Class learned about Apollo 11 and the first moon landing. They imagined they were news reporters and wrote recounts about this historic event. On the Chromebooks, the class researched and recorded information about various planets. In Art, they made fantastic rocket art to finish off a fun Space themed week!
Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class really enjoyed Space Week. They learned about night and day, the first moon landing and the Solar System. They constructed very cool solar systems using polystyrene balls, paint and barbeque sticks! They showed fantastic teamworking skills during this project.
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants thoroughly enjoyed Space Week! They listened to the story 'Aliens Love Underpants' and then used clay to make aliens. They looked at videos made by astronaut Chris Hadfield that showed how astronauts eat, sleep and brush their teeth in space. They learned that in space you float because there is no gravity. They then made pictures of themselves as astronauts in space! They watched a video of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 Mission launch to the International Space Station (5/10/22) and then made their very own rockets. They also learned about why we have night and day, sorted activities into day/night activities (while also working on their cutting and colouring skills) and they listened to the stories 'Back to Earth with a Bump' and 'Night Monkey, Day Monkey'. Finally they learned about Neil Armstrong and watched a video of the first moon landing.
STEP 2: Technology
Ms. Lynch-Frahill's 3rd Class were fascinated to learn about life in Stone Age Ireland. They learned about what they ate and what their beliefs and burial customs were. The class used the Chromebooks to research and record interesting facts about the Stone Age. They created beautiful dolmen sunrise silhouettes in Art.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class participated in the Designer Minds "Introduction to Computer Science Workshop" sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. The students were thrilled with the workshop delivered by Michael at Designer Minds and proved they were very capable by designing, creating and coding an interactive game in their very first session! They are looking forward to continuing their work on Scratch and have even set up their own accounts and online class already so we can share our designs and learn from each other.
Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class enjoyed using the Chromebooks to research facts about Germany.
Ms. Barry's and Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants used the school iPads to revise some of their work so far this year. They learned how to open the camera app on the iPad and scan a QR code on the whiteboard. They played some phonics and counting games.
The boys and girls in Ms. Crowley's 2nd Class designed Christmas jumpers, completed Christmas jigsaws and decorated their own Christmas trees using the Chromebooks.
step 3: engineering
The boys and girls in 2nd Class (Ms. Crowley's, Ms. Feeney's and Ms. Shinnick's) were hard at work as engineers for Engineers Week. They learned about what engineers do and they planned, designed and made their own marble mazes. They wanted to share their creations with all of the other 2nd Class pupils so they visited each other and tried out everyone's marble maze. Here is how they turned out!
For Engineers Week Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants set up stations with 4 different challenges and over the course of the week each group got an opportunity to try each station. 3 of our stations were inspired by fairy tales and the final station was a Lego activity on the iPads. The children came up with amazingly creative solutions to the challenges posed at each station and it is clear there are lots of budding engineers in Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants! Have a look at some of the brilliant ideas the boys and girls came up with below.
Station 1: Help the pigs create a house that the wolf cannot blow down! The wolf (Ms. Murphy's hair dryer!!!) came to try blow down each of the houses but they were all too strong and we can confirm that all the pigs managed to stay safe from the wolf as a result!
Station 2: Help Rapunzel escape from her tower! Some of the ideas at this station over the course of the week included stairs, slides, steps, trampolines, planes, helicopters and bouncy castles!
Station 3: Help the Gingerbread Man cross the river. Some of the ideas at this station over the course of the week included bridges, stepping stones, tunnels and boats!
For Engineers Week Ms. Hogan's class set themselves the task of designing and making a prosthesis for their toys. They thoroughly enjoyed this task - it was challenging and funny in equal measure! 😁 The feedback was unanimous, everybody had great fun doing it.
They had to assess themselves using the following criteria:
1. Does the prosthesis fit?
2. Do you think it feels comfortable for your toy?
3. Does it improve mobility (movement) for the user (toy)?
4. Is it suitable e.g. is it balanced?
Take a look at their designs below...
They had to assess themselves using the following criteria:
1. Does the prosthesis fit?
2. Do you think it feels comfortable for your toy?
3. Does it improve mobility (movement) for the user (toy)?
4. Is it suitable e.g. is it balanced?
Take a look at their designs below...
Step 4: Maths
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants used their Lego Six Bricks to explore length and the concepts of more and less. They also used their Six Bricks to help them learn about pattern. They picked two of their bricks and marched around the classroom chanting their pattern! They repeated this lots of times with their different coloured bricks. They then used coloured paper to create patterns.
Ms. Kelleher's Senior Infants enjoyed making patterns with their 6th Class buddies during Maths Week.
Ms. Barry's Junior Infants used 5 frames to help them with their visual recognition of the components of the number. They partitioned sets of 5 using 2 different counters and they thought of some very creative maths stories as to how they made 5.
Ms. Bermingham's 1st Class enjoyed playing fun Maths games during Maths Week.
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants learned how to partition numbers using concrete materials.
Ms. Shinnick's Rang a 2 enjoyed working together to solve riddles and play different maths games to celebrate Maths Week.
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants went on a number hunt around the school to see if they could find any of the numbers they had been learning about. They spotted numbers everywhere!
In Maths Ms. Lynch-Frahill's 3rd Class have been exploring Length and had fun measuring lot of things in their classroom.
Ms. McCarthy's Senior Infants enjoyed some fun Maths activities with their 6th Class buddies during Maths Week.
In Maths Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants were learning about 2-D shapes and in Art they used circles, squares, triangles and rectangles to create shape robots. They even named their shape robots and decided what jobs they would do for them!
STEP 5: STEM SHOW AND TELL
At Assembly Ms. Shinnick's Rang a 2 showed all that they had learned about the Ash Tree, Autumn and healthy eating. The children were fantastic at presenting their beautiful work and spoke so well on the microphone!
GLOBE Clean Air Survey Results
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class completed the GLOBE Clean Air Survey at our school in October 2022. The experiment measured Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels at three different locations (Sheltered, Car Park and Near Main Road) on our school grounds. Nitrogen Dioxide is an air pollutant mainly associated with traffic.
They were delighted to discover that we fell within the low range for all three readings.
See their poster below which they submitted to Globe and their presentation that they presented at our school assembly.
They were delighted to discover that we fell within the low range for all three readings.
See their poster below which they submitted to Globe and their presentation that they presented at our school assembly.
On this page you will find information about the work we have completed as a school towards achieving an SFI Plaque of STEM award. We have already achieved three SFI Plaque of STEM awards and we participated in the SFI Badge of Excellence for STEM Awareness pilot programme and achieved a Badge of Excellence for our work. The gallery below is just a snapshot of some of the work taking place under the STEM umbrella in our school this year (2021/2022).
Step 1: Science
Living Things
Autumn Walk
Ms. Barry's Junior Infants went on their Autumn nature walk to the 'Hugging Tree' in Rathcormac. The pupils brought a bag with them and found lots of different leaves on the way. They even found some conkers on the ground at the horse chestnut tree!
After many wet days Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants were finally able to go on their nature walk to look for signs of autumn. On their walk they saw many signs of autumn. They saw dew, conkers, fallen leaves, helicopter seeds and spider webs! On their nature walk they also visited the magical Hugging Tree. Legend has it that the Hugging Tree can grant wishes if you give it a hug so they all gave the Hugging Tree a hug and made a wish. They had a great time exploring autumn on their nature walk and their bags were full by the time they returned to school! Back in class they explored what they had in their bags and they discovered they had found horse chestnut, sycamore, beech and oak leaves as well as conkers and their husks, beech nuts and their cupules and sycamore seedlings (helicopters). They could see some conkers that were almost ready to come out of their husks and they had some beech nuts almost ready to come out of their cupules too. They made their sycamore seedlings (helicopters) spin and they enjoyed looking at their collections through their magnifying glasses so that they could see them in better detail! They also used the leaves they had collected to make leaf lanterns.
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Ms. Bermingham's 1st Class really enjoyed going on their Autumn walk to see the many different signs of Autumn in the world around us! They looked for the different types of trees - oak, horse chestnut, beech, holly, sycamore and their fruit - acorns, horse chestnuts, beech nuts and helicopter seeds. They enjoyed their walk in the nice weather and explored what they found back in the classroom after. They also gave the great 'hugging tree' a hug!
The Life Cycle of an Oak Tree In their science and geography work, they also learned about the life cycle of an oak tree. It was very interesting to see how the tree grows through the four stages from a little acorn to a sprout, then a sapling and then after many years in to a big oak tree. They also really enjoyed their story 'Little Acorns' which was about the story of an oak tree which showed great pictures of each stage. Then they went to see a young sapling of an oak tree in our own school grounds which was great to see! |
In Mr. Neville's first class, the boys and girls were learning all about the different signs of Autumn. On a sunny day in September, they went on a nature walk to explore the different signs of Autumn close to the school. They saw lots of conkers, acorns, beech nuts, pine cones, colourful leaves and lots more. The boys and girls gave the 'famous' Hugging Tree a big hug and made a wish. In their groups, they collected some signs of Autumn that they explored further back in the classroom. They had also been learning about the different types of trees that are common in Ireland so they were looking out for oak, sycamore, beech and horse chestnut trees on their walk. Back in the classroom, they learned about the lifecycle of an oak tree. The boys and girls were very interested in hearing about how a little acorn can, after many years, grow into a mighty oak tree.
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Tasting Day
In Science, Ms. Barry's and Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants have been learning about keeping healthy. They learned that we can take care of ourselves by eating a balanced diet, exercising, having good personal hygiene, dressing appropriately for the weather, talking about our feelings and getting enough rest and sleep. In class they tasted pears, peppers, cucumbers, nectarines, tomatoes and watermelon. They were very brave and tried all the different fruits 😊 They also recorded their preferences on their recording sheets.
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Ms. Hogan's 5th Class completed experiments while exploring the lungs in Science. They made model lungs to investigate breathing in our bodies and labelled all the different parts involved.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class conducted two experiments and were surprised by how well they worked, especially making their mini fire extinguishers! See below.
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Ms. Hogan's 5th Class went on an autumn walk and made beautiful trays out of clay using the print from the leaves they collected.
Energy and Forces
Sound
Junior Infants and 5th class met in the school halla and the pupils made their own phones using paper cups and string.
Junior Infants and 5th class met in the school halla and the pupils made their own phones using paper cups and string.
Heat
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants carried out an experiment to find the hottest place in their classroom. They placed ice cubes in 3 different locations in their room (on the worktop, by the whiteboard and on the radiator) and they checked the ice cubes every 5 minutes. The ice cubes on the radiator melted quickest. This let them know that the radiator was the hottest place in their room.
Light
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants have been learning about colours. They went on a colour hunt around the school and then they experimented with paint to create different shades of colours, using white paint to make their shades lighter. They also ordered shades of yellow, red, green and blue from darkest to lightest.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Cass investigated light in Science. They looked at refraction and reflection of light and how light travels. They conducted experiments to explore it further.
Materials
The girls and boys in Ms. McCarthy's Senior Infants tested what would happen when certain items were heated. They had lots of fun testing ice, chocolate, butter and ice-cream.
They also had lots of fun mixing vinegar and baking powder together. They predicted the outcome and were very excited to see that the gas caused the balloons to inflate. They love science!
Environmental Awareness and Care
Ms. Kearney's 3rd Class and Ms. Hynes' 3rd Class organised a litter pick of the local area. Well done 3rd Class!
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class have begun work on our school garden. They have planted potatoes, onions and spinach in the garden to date. They are also bringing the garden indoors to their classroom and have beetroot, tomatoes and lettuce growing on their windowsills.
Science Week
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants really enjoyed Science Week and had lots of fun carrying out experiments each day!
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Skittles Experiment
Investigating Waterproof Materials
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Dancing Raisins
Exploring the effect of heating and cooling on chocolate
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The boys and girls in Ms. Kelleher's Senior Infants participated in lots of different experiments during Science Week. They had so much fun during these experiments. Well done to all our little scientists.
During Science week Ms. Bermingham's 1st Class did experiments each day. They made 'fireworks in a glass', a 'skittles experiment', learned about static electricity and also about heart rate and exercise. See some pictures below!
Mr. Neville's 1st Class had lots of fun during Science Week investigating different experiments. They explored the affect of hot water on Skittles and made lots of rainbows in their classroom. The boys and girls loved watching the different colours merge together. They also investigated the effect of water on Gummy Bears. They left them soaking in water over a few days and they grew into giant Gummy Bears. It was very interesting comparing the size of the jellies afterwards.
They learned all about static electricity and the effect it can have on materials. They investigated what happens when you charge a balloon with static electricity by rubbing it against their jumpers. They saw the balloon was able to pick up materials, such as crepe paper and tissue paper, off the table. When the balloon was charged with static electricity, it was also able to make their hair stand up which gave them lots of new, funny hairstyles!
They learned all about static electricity and the effect it can have on materials. They investigated what happens when you charge a balloon with static electricity by rubbing it against their jumpers. They saw the balloon was able to pick up materials, such as crepe paper and tissue paper, off the table. When the balloon was charged with static electricity, it was also able to make their hair stand up which gave them lots of new, funny hairstyles!
Below are photos from Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class. They made Lemon & Lime Volcanoes which they created using lemons & limes, bread soda, food colouring and some vinegar at the end for extra fizz! Lemons and limes are acidic and baking soda is basic and when they are combined they cause a chemical reaction creating lots of foam and fizziness as carbon dioxide is released!
Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class also carried out the 'pepper and soap' and 'magic milk' experiments. They gave them a great understanding of how soap can shift away germs! The magic milk experiment came out on top for the coolest effects!
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Ms. Dorgan's 4th Class put up a display in the hallway to share some of their Science Week work with other classes.
Investigating the Vitruvian Theory in Ms. Barry's 5th Class!
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class conducted an experiment to examine the importance of hand hygiene. The results were generally as expected with one surprise, their santised hands performed best of all! They do admit however, that a lot of hand sanitiser was used in conducting this experiment! 😁
For Science Week Ms. Hogan's 5th Class also set themselves the task of designing and making a prosthesis for their toys. They thoroughly enjoyed this task - it was challenging and funny in equal measure! 😁 The feedback was unanimous, everybody had great fun doing it.
They had to assess themselves using the following criteria:
1. Does the prosthesis fit?
2. Do you think it feels comfortable for your toy?
3. Does it improve mobility (movement) for the user (toy)?
4. Is it suitable e.g. is it balanced?
Take a look at their designs below...
They had to assess themselves using the following criteria:
1. Does the prosthesis fit?
2. Do you think it feels comfortable for your toy?
3. Does it improve mobility (movement) for the user (toy)?
4. Is it suitable e.g. is it balanced?
Take a look at their designs below...
Guest Speakers
Visit from the Heritage Council
We were very lucky to receive a visit from the Heritage Council. We found out about some of the birds that can be found in Ireland, we learned how to draw a bird and we even got to see and touch a bird's nest and some birds too. Below you can see photos from Junior Infants and 1st Class.
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Ms. Hynes' 3rd Class are really enjoying their Lego workshops with Bricks4kidz.
Space Week
For Space Week Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants learned about the sun, the moon, the stars and planet Earth. They watched some videos from astronaut Chris Hadfield showing how people sleep, eat and brush their teeth in space. They also learned about Neil Armstrong and watched a video of him walking on the moon. They created pictures of themselves as astronauts in space, they made their very own rockets and after listening to the story 'Aliens Love Underpants' they made aliens out of clay! They really enjoyed Space Week!
For Space Week, Mr. Neville's 1st Class had so much fun learning about our Solar System and what astronauts get up to while they are in space. They learned cool facts about astronauts as they were reading Adventures of an Astronaut, such as what they eat, how they exercise and what they do in their free time in space. They also read a book The Darkest Dark, which is written by the famous astronaut Chris Hadfield. They got creative and made rockets that they used to blast off at the end of their poem 'Climb Aboard the Spaceship!'. They also made funny aliens and spaceships out of their playdough. The boys and girls learned new facts about the eight planets in our Solar System. They watched videos of astronauts blasting off from N.A.S.A. in their rockets and discussed if they would like to travel to the moon someday.
Ms. Crowley's 2nd Class learned how to do marbling in Art and then used the finished sheets to create the planets in the solar system for Space Week!
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Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class really enjoyed Space Week. They learned about night and day, the first moon landing, the Space Race and they created very cool solar systems using polystyrene balls, paint and barbeque sticks! They showed fantastic teamworking skills during this project.
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Ms. Kearney's 3rd Class had a great week over Space Week. The children learned about Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon in English. They looked at the Space Race and filled in a timeline of the events in History. The children learned about the sun and the planets. The children learned the correct order of the planets from the sun. They made their own solar system by placing the planets in the correct order.They were also extremely lucky to have their first workshop from Bricks4kidz this month.They had so much fun and can't wait
for them to return to do the 2nd session in November!
for them to return to do the 2nd session in November!
Bricks4Kidz also came to visit Ms. Hynes' 3rd Class. The class got to learn about being an engineer, design their own rockets and even make a rocket that moved! Have a look below for some pictures of the engineers at work.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class really enjoyed learning about planet Earth in space, our solar system and how it all works together. They learned about day and night, the seasons and why we have them here on Earth and why some planets do not. They used the chromebooks and iPads to find out more interesting facts about our solar system and created a 3D model using papier mache below. It was a messy task but they were very happy with how it turned out! 😊
Step 2: Technology
There was great excitement when Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants used the school iPads for the first time! They used them to work on patterns, puzzles and their sounds. Look at the concentration on their faces!
Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants used their interactive whiteboard to create graphs on different topics. Each child moved their vote into place on the graph and they could then easily see the most/least popular items in each graph. You can see 2 of their graphs below.
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Bee Bots
Working in small groups, Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class loved designing and playing Bee Bot games!
Working in small groups, Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class loved designing and playing Bee Bot games!
Ms. Kearney's 3rd Class had so much fun when Emer from Bricks4Kidz came to visit them. She gave them the challenge to become engineers and problem solvers and make a speed bot. They all worked so well on building their speed bots! Then the fun began when they got to race their speed bots against each other.
Ms. McGrath's 4th Class were delighted to take part in the Johnson and Johnson STEM Academy Energy Program. They learned that energy is what makes things move, change or carry out work and that work is done when you push or pull something over a distance. They also learned that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be converted from one type to another. They looked at electrical, light, sound, thermal and kinetic energy over the course of their work. They had great fun working with electrical circuits, building lighthouses and racing cars. Thank you to all in Johnson & Johnson for facilitating such an enjoyable program!
The 2 Cool 4 School Podcast!
Students in Scoil Bhríde have been hard at work over the past few weeks, preparing and recording their very first whole school podcast! Hosted by Sixth Class students, Nicole and Isabelle, the podcast is packed with jokes, music, quiz questions and more. Tune in and listen carefully for your chance to win a mystery bag!
Click on the link below to listen!
Click on the link below to listen!
Step 3: Engineering
For Engineers Week Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants had 4 stations and each group tried a different station each day. The stations were: 1. Design a way for the Gingerbread Man to cross the river. 2. Design a way for Rapunzel to escape from her tower. 3. Construction station. 4. Working on Maths and designing Lego trains on the iPads. On the last day they were delighted that their buddies from 5th Class came to work with them. You can see some of their wonderful work below. We definitely have lots of budding engineers in Junior Infants!
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The boys and girls in Ms. Kelleher's Senior Infants had lots of fun creating buildings during Engineers Week. They particularly enjoyed designing and creating their own playgrounds! Well done boys and girls!
Ms. McCarthy's Senior Infants designed playgrounds for Engineers Week. There are lots of budding engineers in Senior Infants!
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Ms. Bermingham's 1st class enjoyed taking part in the 'Design a Playground' challenge. Lots of engineers in this class!
The children in Ms. Crowley's 2nd Class were very busy planning, designing and creating their Marble Mazes! Didn't they do a great job?
Take a look at the marble mazes from Ms. Feeney's 2nd Class. They learned about the different phases of engineering including design, build, testing and improvement. Their favourite part of the process was getting to try out each others mazes at the end!
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On Wednesday 9th March, Ms. Kearney's 3rd Class were so lucky to have a zoom call with Michael from Designer Minds which was sponsored by Johnson and Johnson. They learned about the various types of engineers before becoming engineers themselves. They had to design a zipline using various recycled items they found at home. They then went one step further by making a zipline with a slope!! They came up with some wonderful creations, don't you think?
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Ms. Kearney's 3rd Class were learning about sustainability in urban areas. As part of this the children learned about the engineering design process. They decided to put it to the test by designing something that they would love in the park. The children were put in groups and they discussed together what they would like. They then decided on materials they would use to make their models. The children had to use some problem solving during their constructions just like engineers on a daily basis. Their final creations turned out amazingly!
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Ms. Hynes' 3rd Class used recyclable materials to create new items for the local playground. Have a look at their amazing creations.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class really enjoyed Engineers Week! They had great fun learning about the different types of engineers in our lives and what their jobs involve. They interviewed engineers they know, conducted experiments at school, completed an engineering task and presented it to the class.
Engineer's Week is always a highlight of our SESE curriculum in Scoil Bhride, and this year was no different. Ms. Cashman's 6th Class learned lots about engineering and engineers over the course of the week, and even had a go at some hands-on engineering themselves. They divided into groups, and their task was to design and build a free-standing tower with a hanging bucket. Well done to Philip, Sian, Charlie, Angelica and Evan who won the challenge with their 'Bermuda Triangle' tower.
Step 4: Maths
Maths
Ms. Barry's Junior Infants have been sorting and grouping materials based on different attributes.
Ms. Barry's Junior Infants have been sorting and grouping materials based on different attributes.
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Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants have been learning the numbers 1-5 and they went on a number hunt around the school to see if they could spot any of their numbers!
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In Maths Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants have also been learning about Data. They created their own graphs using hands on materials and they also created graphs together on the interactive whiteboard.
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Ms. Hogan's 5th Class made clinometers in class during Science Week. They had great fun testing them out around school. Making the clinometers wasn't the hardest part, using them proved a little trickier! They had to work in pairs and help each other to get an accurate reading, it took a few attempts. They measured the height of basketball posts, lamp posts, trees and the highest peak in our school building. They used a trundle wheel to complete their calculations and recorded them in their SESE copies.
Step 5: STEM Show and Tell
Ella & Róisín presented their wonderful Intel Mini Scientist Competition entry "What is the best way to tie your shoelaces?" We were so impressed by the standard of their project and all the hard work and effort they put in. Well done Ella and Róisín.
Ms. Hogan's 5th Class were so lucky to be able to take part in the Johnson and Johnson STEM Academy. They learned and completed the 3D Printing process from start to finish!
They decided to print name keychains. They created their designs in Tinkercad, sliced them for printing using the Dremel Digilab and printed them in class using the 3D printer! Some of of their designs took time and had to be reworked a couple of times before printing but they were delighted with the finished product!
They learned so many new skills along the way such as: engineering a design that could be printed easily and experimenting to find the most efficient way to print it; designing and making their product unique by adding different details; and problem solving the technical issues they encountered using Tinkercad and Digilab. They all worked together as a team to help each other out and to share what they had learned with each other. See below the presentation they put together to explain the process and some of the class presenting the project.
They decided to print name keychains. They created their designs in Tinkercad, sliced them for printing using the Dremel Digilab and printed them in class using the 3D printer! Some of of their designs took time and had to be reworked a couple of times before printing but they were delighted with the finished product!
They learned so many new skills along the way such as: engineering a design that could be printed easily and experimenting to find the most efficient way to print it; designing and making their product unique by adding different details; and problem solving the technical issues they encountered using Tinkercad and Digilab. They all worked together as a team to help each other out and to share what they had learned with each other. See below the presentation they put together to explain the process and some of the class presenting the project.
2020 - 2021
LIVING THINGS
We have planted bulbs and seeds, explored plant life cycles and conducted experiments!
ENERGY & FORCES
We explored energy and forces through tornado designing, raft building, balloon boarding and magnetism!
Magnetism Experiment - Investigating how to make a compass...
In 5th class we did an experiment in Science to test two different ways to make a compass. Both methods involved magnetising a needle but we used two different ways to test it...
Method 1: We placed the needle on a leaf floating in water.
Method 2: We suspended the needle from a pencil in a wide glass.
Results: Method 1 was the most effective, the needle floating on the leaf pointed North 100% of the times it was tested in each pod! Method 2 was far less successful, only pointing North 50% of the time in some pods and not at all in others!
Conclusion: After much discussion, we think it is because method 2 was quite tricky. It was difficult getting the needle to stay on the thread when magnetising and then suspending it from the pencil also. Method 1 was very simple and there was very little interference with the magnetised needle, so it held it's charge better.
In 5th class we did an experiment in Science to test two different ways to make a compass. Both methods involved magnetising a needle but we used two different ways to test it...
Method 1: We placed the needle on a leaf floating in water.
Method 2: We suspended the needle from a pencil in a wide glass.
Results: Method 1 was the most effective, the needle floating on the leaf pointed North 100% of the times it was tested in each pod! Method 2 was far less successful, only pointing North 50% of the time in some pods and not at all in others!
Conclusion: After much discussion, we think it is because method 2 was quite tricky. It was difficult getting the needle to stay on the thread when magnetising and then suspending it from the pencil also. Method 1 was very simple and there was very little interference with the magnetised needle, so it held it's charge better.
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MATERIALS
In Second Class we are using different materials for printing in Art and decided to learn more about each one. The bubble-wrap was our favourite! We learned why it is used to protect objects that might be fragile.
TECHNOLOGY
Miss Mc Grath's 4th Class were incredibly lucky to be chosen to take part in Johnson and Johnson's STEM Academy this year. The students learned about Depuy Synthes and the products they make, how to design 3D models, how to use a 3D printer and the positive applications of 3D printing in the world. Using TinkerCAD 3D modelling software, the students designed their own keyring and experimented with designing characters, houses and play areas. Thank you to Johnson and Johnson for the opportunity and kind gifts for the students!
ENGINEERING
We designed and created windmills. Take a look at our creations!
For Engineers Week Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants had 4 different activities to try during the week: free construction, designing a way for the Gingerbread Man to cross the river, problem solving/designing using a Lego app on the iPads and designing a way for Rapunzel to escape from her tower. Ms. Murphy's Junior Infants are wonderful engineers!
Rapunzel station: help Rapunzel escape from her tower. We had lots of great ideas to help Rapunzel escape. We designed ladders, slides, stairs, trampolines and poles to name just a few! Have a look at our ideas below:
Rapunzel station: help Rapunzel escape from her tower. We had lots of great ideas to help Rapunzel escape. We designed ladders, slides, stairs, trampolines and poles to name just a few! Have a look at our ideas below:
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The Gingerbread Man station: Design a way for the Gingerbread Man to cross the river. We made boats, jet-skis, planes, robots, bridges, stepping stones, tunnels and speed boats to name just a few. Have a look at our ideas below:
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MATHS
5th class made and learned how to use Clinometers and investigated if the Vitruvian theory is true...
CLINOMETERS
In 5th Class we made clinometers in class during Science Week. We had great fun testing them out around school. Making the clinometers wasn't so bad but using them proved a little trickier! We had to work in pairs and help each other to get an accurate reading, it took a few attempts. We measured the height of basketball posts, lamp posts, trees and the highest peak in our school building. We used a trundle wheel to complete our calculations and recorded them in our Maths copies.
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THE VITRUVIAN THEORY
