It was an obvious choice that our art for this week would be linked to symmetry! We created symmetrical robots and characters using grid paper. First, we figured out where the vertical line of symmetry would be. Then we created our pictures step-by-step, making sure that they were symmetrical. The final step was to add colour. What do you think?
This week, we studied symmetry in maths. We discussed things in the natural world that have symmetry (or near symmetry) and spoke about reflections and mirror images. We drew lines of symmetry in shapes and discovered that the number of sides of a regular polygon also tells us the number of lines of symmetry it has, for example, a regular hexagon has six sides, therefore it has six lines of symmetry. We also practised reflecting mirror images using grid paper and shading in the appropriate boxes with pencil.
It was an obvious choice that our art for this week would be linked to symmetry! We created symmetrical robots and characters using grid paper. First, we figured out where the vertical line of symmetry would be. Then we created our pictures step-by-step, making sure that they were symmetrical. The final step was to add colour. What do you think?
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On Monday, we brought our Space project to an end with another very exciting Skype conversation with an astronomy expert. This time, we were lucky enough to speak to Dr. Joseph Roche, an astrophysics lecturer in Trinity College Dublin. He worked in NASA's Space Flight Centre where spacecraft, instruments and technology are developed to help us study Earth, the sun, the solar system and our universe. Joseph Roche has been short-listed for the Mars One Project, which hopes to establish a human colony on the Red Planet on a one-way trip that will take seven months before landing on Mars. We were very excited to speak to Dr. Roche and were grateful that he would take the time out of his busy schedule to answer all of our questions. We had practised what we were going to say in advance. Darren recorded the Skype on a video and Hannah took photos. Joseph was very patient and gave us detailed and fascinating answers to the following questions:
- Were you interested in astronomy when you were younger? (Amara) - What made you interested in Mars and why do you want to go there? (Darragh R) - How are the interviews going? How many people will be going and do you think you'll make the squad? (Aoibhínn) - How long will it take to get to Mars? How much fuel will it take to get the rocket there? (Darragh H) - What kind of training, preparation and planning would you have to do before going to Mars? (Amy) - Have you any doubts about going on the mission? How do you feel about saying goodbye to family and friends and what do they think? (Laura B) - Do you think there is going to be any advanced life on Mars? (Éabha) - How will food be grown on board? What would happen if you ran out of food or water? (Adam) - Would you be living on Mars or in the rocket? What kind of things would you do on Mars when you arrive? (Ben) - How many of your own things would you be able to bring with you, and what would you bring? What would you miss most? (Aidan) We all learned a lot from Joseph and we thank him for taking time to Skype us - we hope he enjoyed it as much as we did! Can you believe our space project is almost finished? We’ve learned so much and are all experts on space now! We wrote questions, worked in groups on different project topics, researched planets using books and the internet, watched videos, saw a real telescope, created rockets and solar systems, Skyped a space expert and much more! It’s been a busy few weeks. We have one more exciting Skype planned next week – keep watching here for more information soon!
Recently, all of the groups got a chance to present their projects to the class and share all the information they had learned. The presentations were excellent. The groups had used posters, models, pictures, PowerPoint presentations, Photostory presentations and diary entries to represent all the facts they had found out. As well as the group projects, everyone in the class made their own booklet featuring some of the work completed individually on space. These are all on display in the classroom now. Now that the cold weather is well and truly here, we’ve been getting in the spirit with some winter inspired art in the class. Recently, we had great fun creating these pictures of children catching snowflakes on their tongues! First, we sketched the person on light blue paper with a pencil. Then, we added the colour with vibrant oil pastels and outlined our drawings. The final step involved a sprinkling of glitter on the snowflakes falling around our children. I wonder if we’ll be getting any real snow this winter?!
Sense poems involve describing something using all of the five senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. We wrote sense poems based on winter. We worked in pairs at first to brainstorm some ideas, then we shared our ideas with the class and added more adjectives to make our descriptions exciting and interesting. We wrote draft one in our copies and after some editing, draft two was presented on a wintry shape of our choice. They are now proudly displayed in our classroom. Come in and have a read!
Linked to our space project, we recently created mixed media solar system collages. The first step involved creating the Milky Way galaxy on a black background. Using watered down white paint, we spatter-painted lots of stars and constellations. It was great fun and quite messy! Then we built and decorated the eight planets that orbit the sun using lots of different materials (such as crepe paper, tin foil, felt, card, wool etc.). Finally, we assembled the solar system with the planets in order. They turned out great! What do you think?
On Friday November 7th, fourth class took part in their very first Skype call in the classroom. The Project Approach that Ms. Kirby has been trying out involves inviting experts into the class to speak about the topic being explored, however this was a little difficult as we chose space as our focus! Instead of inviting in a guest speaker, Ms. Kirby contacted a man called Professor Paul Roche who works in the University of South Wales to see if he would Skype us and answer some of the questions we had about space. Paul studied astrophysics, massive stars and black holes in university, and his main role now is as a space ambassador promoting space education all over the UK. He is also very interested in telescopes and suing them in education. He really is an expert in this field! We were so excited to find out that he had agreed to take time out of his busy schedule and speak to us on Skype. The date was set for Friday morning at 11.15am. We couldn't wait! During the week, we planned out some interesting questions that we would ask Paul, and drew names out of a hat to decide who would get to speak during the call. Laura B recorded the Skype on Ms. Kirby's camera and Isabella took photos. At 11.15am, we called Paul on the laptop and began our questions. We could see him on the interactive whiteboard, and the people who had questions asked them at the laptop screen. Everyone else took notes while he spoke so that we would remember his answers later. These were the questions we asked: Caoilainn: Were your family interested in space growing up, or how did you get interested in space? Joseph: We have heard stories about the Mars Yeti. Do you think life exists on other planets? If so, how and where? Caoimhe: Have you ever been to space? If not, would you like to work as an astronaut and travel into space? Patrick: Can you explain what black holes are and how they work? Morgan: What do you think of the one-way mission to Mars? Would you like to go on it? Ross: What does your job as a space ambassador involve, and what is the best part of your job? Aoife: What exactly are asteroids and how fast do they travel? Millie: Have you ever seen anything unusual through a satellite or telescope? Hannah H: How can a rocket go through the sound barrier? Do you think that NASA will ever develop a rocket that can travel at the speed of light? Anna: How are rockets launched in space so astronauts can come back down to earth? Paul gave us excellent and detailed answers to all of our questions. He was very good at explaining things and everyone learned a lot, including Ms. Kirby! After about twenty-five minutes, we thanked Paul and said goodbye. Later in the day, Róisín and Darragh R typed an email to Paul to thank him again for his kindness. In his reply, he said that he had really enjoyed the Skype and had never got such a wide range of interesting questions from children before! We are looking forward to using Skype in the classroom again soon, as it really is a brilliant way to find out new information and make a topic more exciting. Thanks again to Paul for his help and time.
We have been learning to write non-chronological reports in English recently. The purpose of a non-chronological report is to provide detailed information about a topic. In this type of report, the structure is very important. We learned about writing an introduction, detailed paragraphs and a conclusion. Reports are written in the third person and the present tense. They include lots of facts and information to inform the reader about a topic.
Because we have been learning about space, we decided to write our reports on the planets. Everyone picked a planet they would like to research and looked up information using the internet and books from the library. Then we wrote our reports into our copies, edited them and finally wrote another draft onto a sheet. The reports are now on display in our classroom, and a photocopy will also be included in our space project booklets (which are now almost finished!). On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to get a chance to look at a real telescope! Thank you to Hannah H for bringing it in from home. Even though we couldn't use the telescope to look at the stars, as it was too bright and also very cloudy, it was interesting to examine it and see the different parts. We spoke about the tripod legs which would allow stargazers to set up the telescope on an uneven surface or hill. There were three different lenses which had different levels of magnification. Hannah showed us how to fit the lenses into the telescope. The eyepiece was at an angle so we figured out that there were mirrors inside to reflect the image. Some of us got a chance to draw sketches of the telescope and included great detail. On Friday, we have some very exciting plans... We are going to be connecting with Professor Paul Roche, a space expert on Skype! We have planned our questions to ask him. Can't wait!
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