Tying in with our project on health and fitness for life, we have been learning a lot about healthy eating recently. As a treat, we got to make fruit salad on Friday. We used a variety of fruit to prepare the salad, and then added orange juice before digging in! Delicious! Afterwards, we took the chance to revise procedural writing by writing out the recipe.
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We were recently learning about materials and change in science. We started off by discussing the three different states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. Our first experiment then involved trying to identify different solids using the senses of touch and smell alone. We tested cous cous, talcum powder, flour and sugar to identify them. Next, we learned about how materials can change states, such as water changing to ice and steam. We discovered that applying force, pressure or heat to a material can cause it to change. Some changes are reversible (such as stretching an elastic band), while others are not (such as baking dough into bread). Our next experiment sought to find out what applying force to cream would do. We placed cream in a jar and shook it vigorously for two minutes at a time, checking the changes at regular intervals. The cream transformed from runny and milky, to thick and whipped, to lumpy and finally... We created butter! It was a very exciting moment! The butter comes together in a lump and the liquid surrounding it is buttermilk (which is used for baking). Ms. Kirby drained, washed and salted the butter, and today we enjoyed it spread on crackers. Yum! We all really enjoyed it!
Later this week, we will be learning about other materials called insulators and experimenting to find out how they work. We will also discuss materials known as acids and bases, and how they react to one another. Last week, we learned about forces. We discovered that humans have used simple machines such as wheels, levers and pulleys for many years to help increase the pushing or pulling force they can exert. We read about engineers who design machines to do jobs that humans can't do on their own. We learned that forces are measured in Newtons (after the famous scientist Isaac Newton) and the amount of Newtons needed to move something can be measured using a force meter.
We also learned about friction. Friction is an invisible force that slows down a moving object. The smoother the surface, the less friction we experience. This is why cars slip on icy roads and special trucks have to grit the surface to increase friction. We talked about situations we might want to increase and decrease friction... Some examples we came up with were oiling a bicycle chain to reduce friction, putting water on a bouncy castle slide in the summer to reduce friction and help us go down faster, ridged tyres on 4x4s and trucks to increase friction. Then, we conducted an experiment using a toy car and a ramp. We tested how far a car would travel having come down from a ramp on different surfaces: carpet, lino, the hallway, tarmac and grass. We also had to use maths as we measured the distance travelled in cm using a metre stick. Finally, we discovered that the grass had most friction (with cars travelling an average of only 4cm) while the smooth surface of the hallway had very little friction and most cars travelled more than 1m. On February 10th, two men from Intel in Shannon named Robin and Pat came into 4th and 5th class to talk about engineering. They talked to us about electronics and things like how your phone works. There is a chip inside it to tell all the stuff it goes through. It first goes to an electric tower and it then goes to an office, then it goes through the electric wires and then it goes to another office where then it will be transported to the other person's phone. We also made rockets out of bottles and they had to have an engine, a place to store fuel and finally, we decorated them with colourful pieces of paper. They also told us what it is like to work in Intel. Then finally they talked about how the computer chips are made. You have to go through a lots of doors and into a room where they spray you with special stuff to make you all clean and they also have to wear this special suit called the bunny suit. It was great fun and we all had a good time!
By Joseph and Laura C 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. 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.
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...
On Thursday October 23rd, the Intel Mini Scientist Competition was held in the school. Fourth, fifth and sixth classes participated. After about six weeks of experimenting, writing, researching, building and creating, we were very excited to present our projects to the judges from Intel in Shannon, as well as parents, friends and children. There were twelve amazing projects in fourth class this year: The Exploding Volcano, by Aoibhínn and Róisín Should First Aid be Taught in Schools?, by Hannah H Electric Circuit Lighthouse, by Ronan, Morgan, Jack and Darragh R Cleaning Dirty Water, by Ben, Joseph and Patrick Electromagnet, by Laura C and Amy The Barrage in Clarecastle, by Éabha and Emma Is Your Lightbulb Efficient if it Gives Off Heat?, by Isabella The Kaleidoscope, by Ciarán, Darragh H, Brendan and Ross The Mushy Egg, by Darren, Aidan and Adam Foam Rocket, by Laura B, Phoenix, Millie and Ella Which Body Would You Choose?, by Caoilainn and Hannah D Glowing Water, by Anna, Amara, Caoimhe and Aoife Before lunch, we set up our classroom with posters and booklets to show the visitors all our hard work. The judges came to see every project, asked us questions about it and we demonstrated how it worked. Everyone did a great job of presenting their projects confidently and explaining the scientific meaning behind it. After a long and patient wait, Mr. Curran came into the classroom and informed us that the judges had made their decision. We were so nervous! All of the children, parents and teachers went outside to the yard to hear the verdict. The Intel judges praised the excellent standard of projects and explained that they had a very difficult job. They mentioned some projects which really impressed them from each class, including the Barrage, Kaleidoscope and First Aid projects from fourth. Finally, it was time to announce the winners. In second place was the impressive 'Coin Launderette' project from fifth class, well done! The overall winners were... Éabha and Emma from our class with their project 'The Barrage in Clarecastle'! Well done girls! We are all so proud of you.
Emma and Éabha both received a cool science goody bag and will go on to represent Knockanaean N.S. in the regional finals in December. Congratulations! |
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