Last week 3rd class had the tricky STEM challenge of designing and building a model that represented a rule that they follow at home! This included any chores they may have. They had to plan it out first, design it, make it and test that it worked. Then, make any changes to the model before sending it to me. As usual, I was blown away by their imaginative and creative ideas. Check out the pictures below to see what some of 3rd class do at home for their parents 😁 Well done 3rd class, brilliant ideas! This model explains that homework must be completed everyday at the table...
20 Dec
Our questions were –Which liquid will cause our candy cane to disappear the fastest? To conduct our experiment, we needed: 3 plastic cups, 3 candy canes, vinegar, warm water and cold water. We labelled our 3 clear cups and then filled the cups with warm water, cold water and vinegar. Then, we made predictions. We thought the vinegar would make the candy cane disappear because it was smelly! We voted to put the “hook” side of the candy cane down so that more of the candy was in the liquid. We put one candy cane in each cup and watched to see what would happen. Within...
19 Nov
In celebration of Science Week 2019 we decided to carry out another STEM activity! We love designing and making and wasted no time in deciding what STEM activity to try this time. We have been learning about World War 2 this month and last week we watched some footage of the D – Day parachute landings in Normandy in 1944. We wanted to learn some more about how the parachutes that the soldiers used worked and what they were made from. We looked at various video clips and found out that the parachutes were often made from silk and nylon. We were surprised as we thought silk was a soft material...
17 Oct
Earlier this month we decided it could be interesting to learn more about the force and nature of hurricanes as the news was covering a lot on Hurricane/Storm Lorenzo. We decided undertaking a STEM challenge might be a fun way to do this! Firstly, we needed to carry out some research! We looked online for some footage of hurricanes and also read some helpful articles that advised people what to do in the event of a hurricane landing near them. We learned that hurricane winds can travel up to 200 miles per hour and that hurricanes form in the sea. They also tend to have heavy rain. The centre of...
9 Oct
STEM for Fun with the junior classes started a couple of weeks ago. Here Junior Infants, Senior Infants and 1st Class were brought to the hall each week to work with teachers and parents to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths games and challenges. This is a way for the children to engage in STEM skills in a fun and less formal way. We have been running STEM for Fun in the school for the last 4 year now and is always a favourite with pupils. Throughout the year each class will get a 5 week block of STEM for Fun with thanks to our HSCL, School Completion, teachers and...
1 May
5th class have been learning all about how energy can be transferred from one object or medium to another. We were particularly interested in radiation – energy that is transferred from the sun in waves. After taking part in a Department of the Environment course, we wanted to find out more about how effective the sun is as a renewable source of energy. As the world we live in continues to grow and change, we think it’s important to use natural resources as a source of energy. Caring for the environment is hugely important and very topical at the moment, given the worldwide school strikes for...
29 Apr
We all know that chocolate is delicious when it’s melted to make chocolate brownies, Easter eggs or chocolate sauce 😋. Fourth class decided to try to find out at what temperature chocolate melts at. The question we asked ourselves was: Do all types of chocolate melt at the same temperature? Step 1: To investigate our question we chose to use white, milk and dark chocolate and placed them into tin foil trays. Step 2: We then made our predictions and estimates as to what temperature we thought each type of chocolate would melt at. Step 3: We then carefully added warm...
13 Oct
First Class completed their first STEM activity this week. We have been learning all about houses and homes in SESE and completed a STEM activity based on that. We read the story of the three little pigs and talked about the different materials used in each house. The class were then presented with a challenge. Their challenge question was: ‘Can your team design and build a house that the big, bad wolf cannot blow down?’ The children split into six teams. Two teams made a house from straw (plastic straws), two teams made a house from wood (lollipop sticks) and two teams made a house from...
26 Apr
In Senior Infants we were learning all about what happens to the flowers and plants in Spring time. We decided to grow our very own little seed pots in our classroom. First we had a class discussion on: What does a plant need to grow? Are any of these things more important than the others? What happens if a plant doesn’t get enough water, heat, light or food? Can a plant get too much of a good thing? What might happen if it does? How similar are plants to people? What do we need if we’re going to grow up strong? YOU WILL NEED: Seeds Plant pots A bag of compost Water Our Instructions Place...
19 Apr
5th class conducted an experiment this week using the strand energy and forces and the strand unit heat. The objective of the experiment was to measure and record temperature using a thermometer. The children had to compare the heat insulation properties of different materials. These materials included, aluminium foil, fabric and tissue paper. Each group had to ‘insulate’ their cups using the materials provided. Each group was given a recording sheet and the children had to check the temperature of each cup throughout the day. When the children had finished their experiments, they wrote a short...
