Aoife from Lismore heritage centre did LOADS of experiments with us today!!

We learned all about Acids and bases!

We made volcanoes by pouring a base (baking soda) into an acid (vinegar)

We blew up a balloon and a glove using the chemical reaction of adding a base to an acid.

We completed a circuit by holding hands in a circle, this caused a special noisy bulb to light up!

We made static electricity by rubbing a blown up balloon to our hair and then used this static electricity to make rice krispies dance.

We made a super fast rocket using a balloon taped to a straw on a string, when Aoife released the opening of the balloon to release the air the balloon and straw flew up the string!

Lastly Aoife made a cool film canister rocket using alka seltzer, it hit the roof!

Using baking soda, vinegar and food colouring the pupils in Seomra Alice experimented making a chemical reaction! With some droppers each pupil poured some coloured vinegar onto some baking soda and watched their volcano erupt! 🌋

This week we had Lismore Heritage Centre as part of our STEM showcase for the primary science and maths  award. Aoife did lots of wonderful experiments with us. We learned all about chemical reactions and acids and bases. We loved the volcano experiment🌋 and making our own rocket.🚀 

First Class had so much fun during our "Guts of Digestion" workshop with Roseanne. In a hands on, fun filled & at times utterly disgusting session we followed the journey food takes from when it enters our mouths.

The children used a bowl to represent the mouth, they were given cereal & cutlery (teeth) & "salvia" to crush the food.

The children used ziplock bags to represent the stomach & they added "acid" to break down the food further. They did not like the smell at this stage!

From there the food travels to our small intestine. We learned the reason the small intestine is so long is to allow for the absorption of all the good nutrients that our bodies need to learn, work & play. Bile from the liver & pancreatic juices from the pancreas all help the process.

The children used a light stocking to represent the large intestine. They had to transfer the digested food to the stocking, squeeze out the liquid & then cut a hole at the ends of the stocking to allow the waste be transferred to a toilet (bowl)!!! The shrieks of disgust & laughter all at once at this stage were brilliant & hilarious. 

We absolutely loved the Guts of Digestion workshop. Huge thanks to Roseanne & the Lismore Heritage Team on a super, fun packed, educational workshop! 

First Class

Tinfoil Skier/Snowboarder Figure Challenge ⛷ 🏂 

First Class

Tinfoil Skier/Snowboarder Figure Challenge ⛷ 🏂 

First Class

Tinfoil Skier/Snowboader Figure Challenge ⛷ 🏂 

First Class carried out a number of challenges during Engineer's Week 2022.

1. The children made Tinfoil Skier/Snowboarder figures & got them to ski/snowboard independently down a ski slope. ⛷ 🏂 
2. The children enjoyed the Paper Playground Challenge. Within their groups they made slides, seesaws, monkey bars & swings. 
3. Finally they took on the Spaghetti Marshmallow Tower Challenge.

Well Done to all our budding Engineers! The future looks bright 💡 

Junior Infants have been learning all about Spring and on our recent nature walk we noticed lots of beautiful nests in the trees 🌳

We used paper bowls and lots of recyclable materials to design and make our own birds nests for Engineers Week! 🐦

During Engineers Week, Junior Infants listened to the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff.🐐 

We decided to try to build strong bridges that would allow the goats to cross the river and escape the troll! 

We used lego blocks, wooden blocks and unifix cubes to build our bridges.

We had some amazing creations 💛

Junior Infants had great fun testing waterproof materials 💧

Strand: Materials

Strand Unit: Materials and Change

1. We listened to the story about Ted's Emergency - Ted did not have any umbrella to go out in the rain 🌧

2. We predicted what materials would be waterproof from our list of materials: paper, card, cling film, tinfoil, greaseproof paper, tissue paper and kitchen paper.

3. We tested each material using an elastic band to hold it over the cup for Ted. We put food colouring in our water to help us see better! ☂️

4. Our experiment showed that greaseproof paper was the best material to use as an umbrella for Ted 🧸☔️