Category Archives: Eólaíocht~Science

22nd-26th February 2021

The boys and girls in the Middle Room had another brilliant and final week of their distance learning. There were two birthdays celebrated this week Rhían was 9 and Chris was 8. A BIG Happy Birthday boys!!

The children got to make their name from their favourite things for our STEM project making sure it was the same length as themselves. They had lots of stories telling why and how they used what they did to make their name.

Some children decorated potatoes for creative art. Have a look at the creations below. On mindful Monday the children drew circles and thought of the different ways that circles show around us. Have a look what some of the boys and girls thought of.

There was lots of sight seeing and nature walks around the local beaches, trails and forests during the week with lots of signs of spring around including the longer evenings and the daffodils growing.

Everyone had a brilliant time on the MFitness whole school Zoom workout this afternoon. Well done to all.

We are all really excited about going back to school on Monday to see friends and learn from the classroom again.

See you all on Monday.

Planting in the Middle Room

In November, the middle room carried out an experiment with runner bean seeds.

Pot 1: no soil, water or light- just seeds

Pot 2: no water-just seeds and soil

Pot 3: no light-just soil, water and seeds

Pot 4: the control. This pot contains all the ingredients necessary for growth-soil, water, light and seeds.

The following photos show the progress of the seeds to date

 

22nd November 2019:

09th December 2019

13th December 2019

16th December 2019

 

20th December 2019

 

06th January 2020

Will we post further updates soon!

Science Week 2019-Middle Room

We had great fun throughout the week.  The children were involved in various experiments as well as attending a show in Belmullet on Thursday.  Throughout the week the children carried out the following experiments:

 

  1. Make an Egg Float in Salt Water
Equipment:

  • An egg
  • Water
  • Salt
  • 2 plastic glasses

 

Method:

  1. Pour water into one glass
  2. Drop an egg into it.  What happens? The egg will sink.
  3. Pour water into the other glass
  4. Stir in lots of salt
  5. Gently lower the egg into this glass.  What happens this time? The egg will float
What’s happening?

Salt water is denser than ordinary tap water, therefore it is much easier for the egg to float in the salt water.

The children also investigated how static electricity on a balloon can pick up pieces of paper

Equipment:

Balloon

Small pieces of paper

Woolly jumper

 

Method:

  1. Tear the paper into small pieces
  2. Blow up a balloon
  3. Rub the balloon on a woolly jumper for a few minutes
  4. Place the balloon close to the small pieces of paper and watch carefully what happens….

What is happening?

When you bring the balloon near a little piece of paper, the negative balloon repels the electrons in the paper so part of the paper near the balloon is positive.  Since positive and negative attract, the paper moves toward the balloon.  The negatively charged balloon attracts the paper.

 

 

The children also made lava lamps.

Materials:

  • A clean plastic bottle
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Alka Seltzer tablets
  • Food Coloring

Instructions:

  1. Fill the bottle up about 1/4th (1 quarter) with water.
  2. Pour the vegetable oil in the bottle until is almost full.
  3. The oil and water will begin to separate.
  4. Add a few drops of food coloring. Watch as the color sinks through the oil.
  5. Break your fizzy tablet in half and drop part of it into the bottle. What happens…..????

How it Works:

The oil floats on top of the water because it is less dense than water. The food coloring has the same density as the water so it sinks through the oil and mixes with the water. When you add the tablet it sinks to the bottom then starts to dissolve. As it dissolves it makes gas, carbon dioxide. The in turn creates bubbles.  This will continue until the tablet is completely dissolved.  The end- product clearly shows the separation of oil and water.

Butterfly Goodbyes

We had great fun watching our little caterpillars transform into beautiful painted lady butterflies. Alas, it was time to say goodbye to Sky, Mary, Little flower, Missy and Frederick. We released them and waved goodbye, as we know they have such an important job to do now. Butterflies play a huge role in pollination, as do bees and wasps. So we need to look after them all, as best we can!
Our little friends will live for approximately 5 more weeks(max), laying their own little eggs elsewhere, for the cycle of life to start all over again.

Our first born BUTTERFLY

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Our very first Painted Lady Butterfly has emerged from its Chrysalis. It is just getting used to its habitat right now. It will stay here for 3 days before being released with its friends. In the mean time we will feed it nectar and leave fruit and flowers for it to explore.

Caterpillars – Our fuzzy friends!

It has been really interesting so far, observing the changes that have occurred in our caterpillars, in one week! They started off so tiny and look at them now. They have been feeding so well and alot of waste, called frass, is evident in the jars. They have shed their exoskeleton a few times also! Some of the caterpillars are making attempts to hang in their ‘j’ shape, which means that very soon they will have to be transferred to their butterfly habitat! Exciting! Before transferring, they will form a chrysalis and while in the butterfly habitat, the last stage of metamorphosis will occur over time , resulting in,fingers crossed, our beautiful painted lady butterfly’s emerging soon after! We will keep you posted!