Science Week in Seniors Infants and 1st Class

The children had a great week during Science week. On Monday, they made towers from spaghetti and playdoh and lots of clever ideas led to some very tall structures! On Tuesday, the children learned about ways to save energy in a workshop by the SEAI and already they have begun to become more aware of energy saving in the classroom. On Thursday, we made slime using glue, water and salt - the children were amazed at the results! The class were also inspired by listening to the stories of Stephen Hawking, Marie Curie, Rachel Carson and Alexander Graham Bell. Anything is possible once you put your mind to it! On Friday, we shared science experiments that the children prepared at home. It was a great end to Science Week 2019!

Science Experiments Galore!

All this week, in celebration of science week, all children were working hard all week on a science experiment of their choice. The children got a chance at the end of the week to share their experiments with their friends. There were some explosions, including some unexpected ones, a few accidental spillages and numerous broken eggs throughout the day but the children did a great job at demonstrating their scientific knowledge! Well done to all the children for all their hard work and to all the teachers for their help with all the experiments throughout the day!

Eggy Experimentation

5th and 6th class were given the challenge of designing and making parachutes to take their boiled eggs to the ground safely. Before embarking on this challenge, we made sure all of eggs were boiled and we set the parameters for success and fair testing. We decided we all needed to drop the egg parachutes from the same height. This was agreed to be the classroom window - which is on the second floor.

We also decided to be kind for ourselves and agreed on the rule that successful completion of this task would result in homework passes being given to all members of successful teams. Eggs were carefully inspected at the beginning of the challenge and any cracks were noted.

Students worked in pairs to complete this challenge and 30 minutes were given to the students. We used a variety of junk art materials which were kindly given by parents of the students. Take a look at some of the action ….

The anticipation was immense.

We quickly scrambled downstairs to check for survivors …

In a number of cases casualties were noted.

However not all attempts were in vain.

Science week in 4th class

This week in 4th class the students were given the challenge to design and make a magnetic boat that could float. We investigated and proved that magnets could attract certain materials through other materials such as water. We had great fun designing the boats and all our designs turned out so different.

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SEAI Workshops

The children from 1st-6th class had a visit from the SEAI this week and got to take part in some very interesting workshops.

The children talked about the ways in which energy is used and the different things they can do to save energy. They were introduced to Guzzler the puppet who wasn't very good at saving energy and desperately needed them to teach him, for example, by turning off the light when he leaves a room or turning off the television when he is not using it.

Individual children took turns to mime some of the different ways in which we use energy while the others guessed what they were doing for example, brushing their teeth, ballet dancing and playing sports. Some children were involved in a clothes dressing race where they were encouraged to put on an outfit over their own clothes, as quickly as possible, while the other children cheered them on. They then discussed how they had used energy, which generated heat and that this had warmed up their bodies. Guzzler then told the children that he 'ate sunshine'.

There were many puzzled faces at first but some children then demonstrated how the sun shines on plants and that when we eat plants, we harvest energy from the plants, that begun as sunlight. Guzzler had therefore 'eaten sunshine' because he had eaten the corn that had grown after being exposed to sunlight.

The children enjoyed the workshop and had great fun. There were smiles all round.

Glendalough Outreach Visit

On Tuesday 3rd class had a visit from Glendalough Outreach. Anne-Marie taught us about some of the mammals living in the local area.

We learned lots of facts and even got to see some of the wildlife up close. We stroked a badger, a stoat, rabbit and a red squirrel.

We also tried to avoid being pricked by a hedgehogs quills (they are as sharp as they look). We really enjoyed the visit and would be delighted to have another visit in the future.

Science Week so far in Nuns Cross NS

This week we have been learning about famous scientists who made an enormous contribution to the world we live in. Our understanding of the world and so many of the items we take for granted have been hugely influenced by the world of science. Take a look at some of the scientists whose lives and work we have studied. Can you guess their contribution to the world?

Big Bear Planetarium

We were so lucky to have a visit from the Big Bear Planetarium. It took up the whole multipurpose room!! Each class got a session inside the planetarium and we learned so much about space, the planets and the stars. It was really dark inside and it felt like we were really in space!

Many thanks to Mike Fry who completed the Three Peak Challenge to raise funds for this and to all who sponsored him last year.

5th and 6th class October Project Showcase

Today 5th and 6th class showcased our October projects. These were based on our SESE topics from October which included space, climate change and natural disasters. It is clear from the projects on display that Space Week had a big influence on project topic choice. We invited some classes to come and view our projects and our parents were also invited in at the end of the school day. Take a look at some of our great work below…

More pictures to follow shortly!

Climate Action Week in Nuns Cross

Over the past couple of weeks our Green Schools Committee have been promoting Climate Action Week in our school. As part of this, students were tasked with writing some climate action poems which were read out at assembly this morning. Take a look at our class winners below…

I think it is fair to say that the world and our futures are in great hands!

Maths stories by 4th class

4th class wrote fantastic stories as part of their maths week celebrations and the rest of the classes got to enjoy a story session with them. Well done 4th class, your stories were fantastic!

Blast off into outer space!

The Junior Infants have begun the very exciting topic of Space for the month of October. They are exploring the concepts of light and dark, shadows, colours, planets stars and even aliens! We are working hard on working together and our space jigsaws are the perfect activity to encourage team work. We are creating some very creative space pictures. Our imagination knows no bounds in our moon setting small world area and we forget we are not really in space when we dress up as astronauts in our role play area. Take a look at some of the very exciting Aistear activities so far!

10 Ways to help pollinators

All classes were visited by two very responsible students who attended the Bee Festival in Ashford this weekend. They took some information leaflets for our school and gave a very informative talk on how we can all do our bit to help pollinators in our environment. There are some very easy ways in which we can all do our bit to help - how will you help?

Green Schools

STEM Paper Challenge Number 1 in 5th and 6th class

Every Friday this year in 5th and 6th class we will complete a STEM challenge. This week, we took on the challenge of designing and making basketball stand which will hold a basketball as high off the ground as possible, using only paper and sticky tape. A fair test was designed where stands would be placed on the even floor at the front of the classroom. We also agreed that a 5 second holding rule applied for entries to be validated as fitting their purpose. Groups were given 20 minutes to complete this challenge.

Take a look at some of the interesting creations below…

In our classroom, our early finishers area contains an extension of this activity for the coming week. Alternative STEM challenges will also be provided in this area to challenge students who wish to take on additional challenges without having other models to base their designs off.