The first step in creating these masterpieces was drawing our maps onto large sheets of card (which was kindly donated by lots of parents - thanks so much to all!). We used a map with a grid over the top and then divided our card into nine squares with careful measurement and maths skills. Then, each pair drew the map square by square.
Every now and again, we take on a big project for art - something that involves lots of effort, is linked with other subjects that we study, and takes more than a single class. These 3D maps of Co. Clare were an example of this! We started working on these maps last week as we had been learning about our home county of Clare and researching its history, geography, famous people, tourist attractions etc. The first step in creating these masterpieces was drawing our maps onto large sheets of card (which was kindly donated by lots of parents - thanks so much to all!). We used a map with a grid over the top and then divided our card into nine squares with careful measurement and maths skills. Then, each pair drew the map square by square. The next step was to make our salt dough...the messy part! We used a simple recipe, mixing together 4 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt and 1-2 cups of water. We stirred until a stiff dough formed, using our hands to bring it together. We then filled in our maps carefully with the salt dough, making sure we filled every inlet and headland. We then examined a physical map of Clare to see where the highland and mountainous areas are. We made sure to build up the dough into peaks at these areas. Then it was a matter of patience, as we left our maps for a week to dry in the classroom. Finally, we worked on finishing our maps. We painted them according to the colours of physical maps and included a legend to explain the colour coding. We labelled the neighbouring counties and other details, and the maps were complete. They are amazing! It was a fun way to mix Geography and Art together. Come and have a look at them in our classroom if you'd like to see!
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Recently, we have been learning about Arranmore Island (Árainn Mhór) off the coast of Co. Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. Arranmore is a Gaeltacht island and is only 15km squared in size. It has a population of less than 500 people. It is a scenic paradise with lots to do and see for locals and visitors alike. We read about the island in our Geography books and answered questions. Then, to give us a better idea of what life is like on Arranmore, Ms. Kirby contacted her sister's friend Niamh, who is from the Donegal Island. Niamh was born and grew up on Arranmore, though she is currently living in Galway as she is a student in NUIG. We brainstormed some questions we could ask her and Ms. Kirby sent them to her in an email. She replied with excellent and very detailed answers, which we read and discussed in class. We all learned a lot and would love to visit Arranmore some day! We really appreciate Niamh taking time out of her busy schedule to answer our questions. Have a look at Niamh's answers below: 1. What was it like as a child growing up on Arranmore? Was your primary school very small and is there a secondary school on the island? Growing up on Arranmore was really fun – there are a lot of beaches and fields that we used to play in all day. During the summer, sometimes we would go to the beach to go swimming in the morning, and we wouldn’t go home until the evening! Arranmore is a very safe place – everybody looks out for everybody and there isn’t a lot of traffic or anything, so when we were children we were allowed to go off and play wherever we wanted to, and not come back until quite late. Everybody knows each other on Arranmore, so all of us who were around the same age used to all play together in a big group. There are two primary schools on the island – when I was in school there were about 30 people in my school, and only about 10 in the other school! Because the schools are so small, everybody knows everyone else and everybody plays together. There is a secondary school on the island – when I was in school there were about 50-60 pupils in the school, and now it has grown to about 80. The reason there are more pupils there now is because a lot of students have started to come to our school from the mainland, because our school has a reputation as a very good school! (probably to do with the small class sizes – there were only 10 people in my class). Arranmore is a Gaeltacht, so we get students come here every summer to go to the Irish college – there are about 200-300 students every summer. 2. Are there more children or adults living on Arranmore? There are more adults living on Arranmore. There are a lot of older people living on Arranmore, and not a lot of younger people with children. This is because a lot of younger people have to leave Arranmore after they’re finished with school, because there aren’t many job options on the island. 3. When did electricity come to Arranmore? Electricity came to Arranmore in 1957 – it was the first island in Ireland to get electricity! 4. If the power goes out on Arranmore, does it take a long time to come back? It can take a long time sometimes. Usually when the electricity goes out, it’s because the weather is very bad, and when the weather is very bad on Arranmore, we don’t have any ferry boats! So that means that the ESB can’t come to the island to fix the electricity until the weather gets a bit better. We’ve gone days without electricity before! 5. How often did you go to the mainland when you were younger? We went to the mainland quite often. There are only small newsagents in Arranmore, so anytime we need to do a shop for a lot of groceries, or clothes or appliances, we have to go to the mainland. The ferry boat runs every hour from 9am till 6pm, so it’s not too difficult to get to the mainland. 6. What do you miss most about Arranmore when you're in college? I miss the sea! My house is only across the road from the beach so I’m used to a lovely sea view every day from my house – it took a while to get used to not having that anymore when I moved to college. I also miss my family and friends – I don’t get to go home very often as it would take me a very long time to get home from Galway. 7. What is the weather like in Arranmore? Is the sea very rough? The weather does get very bad sometimes and the sea does get very stormy. When the sea is very stormy the ferry doesn’t run, so we can be stranded sometimes! But we do get some lovely sunny days during the summer, and the beaches and the sights are lovely when it’s sunny. 8. What are the facilities for young people like on the island? There is a community centre on the island where children can go to play sports, play computer games, read books, or just hang out. There’s also a playground, a tennis court, basketball court, and a soccer pitch. And if the weather’s nice, most young people spend the day swimming at the beach! Finally, we created brochures for Arranmore with some of the interesting information we learned from our book and from Niamh's answers. Have a look at some of them above!
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. 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 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!
While learning about space for our class project, some children expressed an interest in finding out more about stars and constellations. We found out that stars are huge balls of gas. The sun is our closest star and light from the sun takes about eight minutes to reach earth. However, there are many stars that are much bigger than the sun. We discussed the fact that stars are easier to see on a dark, clear night in an unpolluted area. Often stars cannot be seen at all in cities and towns. Most constellations can be seen with the naked eye, but they can be seen even better if you have a telescope. The Ancient Greeks invented pictures and patterns to help them recognise the stars - some of them need a little more imagination to see than others! These are called constellations. Many of the constellations give their names to the star signs of the zodiac. We looked up our own star signs online. We also watched a video about the constellations which you can find here, and Ms. Kirby showed us the Night Sky app on her phone, which you can download on your Apple or Android tablet or smartphone. It helps you to recognise the constellations (as well as planets, satellites and more!) when you point it at the sky at night. One of our aims for the lessons was to know the names of three constellations, and how better to remember them than to create them...with marshmallows! We used mini marshmallows (each one representing a star) and cocktail sticks to create the constellation of our choice, using the information and pictures from this site to help us. Of course, we also got to eat some of the marshmallows - yummy! Maybe next time it's a dark clear night, you might spot some of these constellations in the sky...
Recently, we have been learning about Italy in Geography and Ancient Rome in History. We read about the boot-shaped country and the islands that are close to its coast, such as Sicily and Sardinia. Some of us had been on holidays to various places in Italy, including Sorrento, Venice, Bari, Sardinia and Rome. Ms. Kirby showed us her holiday photos from Italy! We found these places on the map. We learned about the delicious Italian food and drink, and created Italian menus featuring pasta, pizza, bruschetta, lasagne, cappuccino and gelato - yum! We explored some of the things Italy is famous for, such as fashion, cars, architecture and art. We also learned about the Ancient Roman Empire. We read the story of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. We found out about the powerful Roman army with its clever tactics and well-trained soldiers. Did you know that a century of soldiers in Roman times only meant 80 men? We compared the life of rich Romans living in villas to poorer citizens crammed into apartment blocks. We also read about Roman entertainment, from the bloody gladiator battles in the Colosseum to the relaxing public baths. Having learned about Roman mosaic art, we decided to create some mosaics of our own. We drew pictures that were representative of Italy and used 'tiles' of coloured card to fill them in. There were some amazing results, from pizza to Roman soldiers and shields, gelato and many more. What do you think? |
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