Friday 28 November 2008

The Water Cycle

Friday, 28th November, 2008
We had a cup of water on the window sill for a few days. It used to be full, up to the line, but now some of the water has evaporated.
Today we learned all about the Water Cycle. We know that water when heated will turn in to gas (this is called evaporation). Gas outside will form clouds, clouds will join together to form bigger clouds and they will let the water fall back to earth as rain. This rain will turn to puddles, rivers and seas. The sun outside will cause the water again to evaporate, and the water cycle will keep on going.

Thursday 27 November 2008

Art in November

Science Week was in November. We carried out lots of scientific investigations and talked a lot about heat, air, waterproof and absorbent materials and space. Our art work reflects some of the interesting topics we covered in our talks about science. Here are some of the examples of our work: Spiral Snakes, Waterproof Umbrellas and Space Pictures. Next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent. We made Advent Wreaths with 3 purple candles and one pink one. We will look out for wreaths if we go to church this Sunday.

The Acid Test

Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Today we were talking about acids. We know that they are bad for our teeth and that they often smell very strongly and may be in some of our foods or drinks. We wanted to find out how to tell whether a drink was an acid or not. This is what we needed:
A bowl of very hot water, a red cabbage, a knife and chopping board, lots of empty cups, a jug and lots of drinks and solids to check.
Teacher cut the cabbage and put the pieces into the bowl of hot water. She left this to cool. When it was cool, she used the jug to pour the now purple coloured water into each empty cup. (It is the colour from the red cabbage that turns the water purple, the cabbage in the water turned white when the colour went in the water).
Now came the fun part - we got to guess what colour the water would change when we put our drinks into the water.
Here are our results: Vinegar, lemon juice, cranberry juice, lemonade, apple and blackcurrant juice, ribena, orange juice and apple juice all turned the cabbage water red or pink. These all have acid in them - we need to brush our teeth if we drink these!
We found that wash-up liquid and bread soda both turned the water a blue-green colour. These are alkalis.

Finally we found that a drink of water didn't change the colour at all. Water is neutral. Red cabbage is a natural PH indicator and can tell whether something is an acid, an alkali or neutral. We can't wait to try this at home with our parents.

Raw and Cooked Eggs

Thursday, November 27th, 2008
We wanted to find out how to check if eggs were raw or cooked. Teacher showed us how. She gave us two eggs (one raw and one cooked) and showed us how to spin them. We found out that when you spin a raw egg and then gently put your hand on it and then take your hand off the egg, that the egg keeps on spinning. This is because the inside of the egg is not solid, and will keep moving once it has started moving, if it can - rather like a child in a car who has no seat belt on will keep on moving forward if the car comes to a sudden stop.If you spin a cooked egg, put your hand on it and then remove your hand, the egg will not continue moving, it will stop. This is because the inside of a cooked egg is solid, so it is like a child in a car wearing a seat belt - if the car stops suddenly the child will also stop.We learned a lot about raw and cooked eggs, and also about how important it is to wear a seat belt at all times when travelling in the car.


Wednesday 26 November 2008

Beauty and the Beast

Today our school had a visit from a Theatre Group. They performed the pantomime "Beauty and the Beast".It was a marvellous show and we really enjoyed it. Some of us will be in the Renmore version of Beauty and the Beast and will be performing in the Town Hall Theatre in Galway at the start of January 2009.

Saturday 22 November 2008

The Science of Bubbles

Friday, November 21st, 2008
It is Science Week in Galway. Actually, in Galway it is a Science Fortnight, starting last week and finishing with a very exciting Science Exhibition in Salthill in Galway on Sunday. In our school all the teachers and pupils walked to Galway Education Centre to see a fantastic Bubble Show. Three of our Junior Infant classes also got to go to a show given by the Armagh Planetarium.
Steve was our bubble man. He blew lots of bubbles, small ones and then big ones. He showed us the 7 colours that can be seen in bubbles - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (the colours of the spectrum, same as the colours in the rainbow). Steve showed us how to guess when a bubble will burst - it will turn from colourful to blue, then to gold, white, and will finally burst.
Next we got to move bubbles with our hands and by blowing them. That was great fun. Steve showed us that bubbles are always spheres, regardless of whether they are blown through a circular wand, a square wand or through your hand. We saw bubbles really clearly when Steve blew smoke into the bubbles. He even showed us how to bounce bubbles, put our hands through them, how to blow a bubble inside another bubble, and how to make a string of bubbles all joined together. We can make really good bubble mixture using wash up liquid, water and glycerine. We are looking forward to having lots of fun ourselves with our bubbles.

Friday 14 November 2008

Matching numerals, words and spots

Maths games
Friday, 14th November, 2008
Could you match each numeral with the correct number of spots and with its proper word? We did this today in groups and each group had a race. It was fun!

Thursday 13 November 2008

Making Paper Aeroplanes

Making Paper Aeroplanes
Thursday, 13th November 2008
It is Science Week. In Galway there is a paper aeroplane flying competition during science week. In our class we decided to try making our own aeroplanes out of a sheet of paper.
Teacher showed us how to make them, then we coloured and decorated them, and flew them. A photographer from the local paper took our pictures with the aeroplanes.

Waterproof or Absorbent

Waterproof or Absorbent
Thursday, 13th November 2008
We are talking about materials. We checked lots of materials to see whether they were waterproof or not, by pouring water over them.
Here are our results:
Waterproof Materials: Plastic, bottles, cups, wet weather trousers, tins, ice cream containers, jackets, our skin.
Absorbent Materials: Newspaper, tissue, toilet paper, cloth.

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Thermometer and Rain Gauge

Thermometer and Water Gauge
Wednesday, 12th October, 2008 We have a thermometer and a water gauge in our class. Each morning we put them outside to measure the daily temperature and how much rain has fallen while we are at school.

Air in a Glass

Water will fill empty spaces
Wednesday, November 11th 2008
Teacher got a candle. She put it on a stand, in a basin, with coins beside it. Then she put a glass jar (full of air) over the candle.
She put some water in the basin.
Teacher lit the candle. The candle stayed lighting in the air for a while, until all the air got used up. Then the candle went out. Now because the jar was empty (all the air was used up) the water rushed in to fill the space in the jar. Look at all the water that rushed into the jar to fill up the space that the air used to take.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

A Candle Needs Air to Light

A candle needs air
Tuesday, November 11th 2008
Teacher lit a candle. She put a glass (full of air) over the candle. The candle burned inside the upside-down glass for a while. Then it went out because the burning candle used all the air in the glass.Teacher tried again, this time with a jar. The candle burned for longer because there was more air in the jar than in the glass. We counted how many seconds each candle burned for.

Water Vapour

Water Vapour
Tuesday, November 11th 2008
Water can be a gas (water vapour) that’s part of the air around us. You can’t see it, so how do you know it’s there?
Teacher got a dry glass. We all felt the outside to check and see if it was dry. It was. Next teacher put ice cubes into the glass. After a while tiny drops of water formed on the outside of the glass. This is because some of the water vapour in the air changed to liquid when it touched the cold glass.

Making Water

Making Water
Tuesday, November 11th 2008
Teacher lit a candle. It burned inside the upside-down jar for a while. Then it went out. After burning the candle for a while, each time lighting it and waiting until it went out, the inside of the jar became a bit wet. This is because the hydrogen in the candle joined with the oxygen in the air to form water.

Pop Up Ball

Pop Up Ball
Tuesday, 11th November 2008
We have a plastic cup. We half filled it with rice, then put a bouncy ball in the cup and filled the rest of the cup with rice.
Next we gave the cup a shake and had to guess whether the ball would go to the bottom or top of the cup, or stay where it is when the cup is shaken. When we shook the cup, the ball ended up on the top. This is because the little rice pieces rush in to fill any air spaces caused by the shaking. This means that the ball ends up on the top each time. This explains why all the big pieces of cereal are always at the top of the cereal box when we open it.