Science

There are four curriculum strands:

Living things
Energy and forces
Materials
Environmental awareness and care

Living Things:

Nature Workshop:

9th October 2023

We had a fun day with wildlife Educator and Specialist with Heritage in Schools Mr. Michael Bell.

He talked the children through a slideshow on Biodiversity in Riverstown, including the flowers, leaves, insects, animals and birds in the local area.

Mr. Bell brought in various types of leaves and seeds from trees in the local area. The children had to identify the leaves and seeds and try to identify what tree they came from. The children completed leaf rubbings with the leaves.

He also brought his stuffed pine marten for the children to stroke if they wished.

The lesson concluded with an outdoor activity on Biodiversity, including a little minibeast hunt.

Nature Walk and Leaf Rubbings:

The children in the Junior Room went for a short Autumn Nature Walk. The used their senses to record something that they could see, something they could smell and something they could touch. They also collected some leaves and completed leaf rubbings back in the classroom.

Energy and Forces:

Materials:

Rainbow in a Jar

15th November 2024

First, the children mixed honey and purple food colouring together. Next, the added blue washing up liquid. Then they mixed water and green food colouring together and added it to the jar. Then, they added vegetable oil. Lastly, they mixed red food colouring and baby oil to the jar.

By layering liquids according to density (heaviest liquids on the bottom and lighter liquids on the top), the colours layer and create a rainbow in a jar!

Snow days

The children were able to get outside and play and examine the snow.

Environmental awareness and care

Nature Worksop (See Living Things above)

Green Schools Day of Action – Global Citizenship, Litter and Waste

1st February 2024

National Spring Clean 2024

21st March 2024

Science 2022/2023

All the classes in Taunagh N.S. will take part in the Discover Primary Science and Maths Award for the fifth year running.

Our digital log is divided under the following headings:

Step 1 – Science
Step 2 – Technology
Step 3 – Engineering
Step 4- Maths
Step 5 – STEM Showcase

Science

There are four curriculum strands:

Living Things
Energy & Forces
Materials
Environmental awareness and care

Living things:

Autumn Nature Walk and leaf rubbings October 2022.

The children headed out for a walk in the beautiful Autumnal sunshine. They brought their clipboards and pencils along with their Autumn Nature walk worksheet.

Teacher brought a basket to hold all the leaves, conkers, and any other interesting objects the children found. We headed down the hill from our school, crossed over the road to look at the river Unshin, walked along the wall beside the river and ended up in the local park. We drew pictures of what we could see, hear, smell and feel.

We made leaf men and women when we got back to school. We also made leaf rubbings. It was a great day!

Spring Walk

27th March 2023

Life Cycle of a Frog

We learned all about the life cycle of a frog. Junior and Senior Infants made the life cycle using paper plates.

1st and 2nd class looked up some interesting facts about different species of frogs.

Energy and Forces:

Static Electricity during Science Week 2022.

The children had great fun experimenting with static electricity. They were delighted when the balloon stuck to their hair. They were even more delighted when they saw the cereal and shredded Crepe paper jump up and down! The children learned that when you rub a balloon on your hair, the balloon grabs onto extra electrons from the atoms in the hair. The gives the balloon a negative charge. Since your hair has lost electrons, it gets a positive charge. Because they have opposite charges, your hair is attracted to the balloon as you lift it away. They also learned that static electricity is what causes lightning.

Light

Pupils in 3rd- 6th Class investigated how mirrors are good reflectors of light by experimenting with Mirror Writing. They had to complete three different drawing activities be only looking in the mirror not at the paper while drawing. We discovered that some letters look the same in the mirror reflection as on paper e.g. CHOICE this happens as the letters are symmetrical from top to bottom.

Materials:

November 2022

Erupting volcanoes and Magic Glove Experiment during Science Week 2022.

The children learned that the eruption of bubbles comes from a reaction between the vinegar and baking soda. The baking soda is a base and while the vinegar is an acid. The children thought it was very exciting to see the lava explode and the gloves fill out!

Lava Lamp Experiment

The children learned how oil and water do not mix. Oil is lighter, or less dense, than water, so it rises to the surface. When the Alka-Seltzer reacted with the water it caused a chemical reaction that caused bubbles of water to rise to the top of the bottle creating a lava lamp.

Investigating soluble and insoluble materials, and whether the temperature of water makes a difference in the time it takes to dissolve sugar

Environmental awareness and care

Picker Pals

We have been taking part in the Picker Pals Programme since September 2022.

Children have read the storybooks, engaged with the world of the Picker Pals characters, sang the Picker Pals song and have done the environmental learning activities in the Funbook. Taking it in turns, the children have taken home the Picker Pack and have lead their family on a litter-picking adventure in their local area. The children have been enjoying telling their classmates about their picker pals adventures and completing their Picker Pals reports.

We have been enjoying all the live meet ups and Kahoot quizzes. We have just sent our entries to the Picker Pals Story Competition!

Biodiversity

9th March 2023

We had a fun day with wildlife educator and Specialist with Heritage in Schools Mr. Michael Bell.

Mr. Bell started by asking the children what they understood the word Biodiversity meant. He was impressed that many of the children knew the answer.

He talked the children through a slideshow on Biodiversity in Riverstown, including the flowers, insects, animals and birds in the local area.

The children were fascinated by the various skulls and bones Mr. Bell brought with him. These included a fox, badger, dolphin and pine marten skull. He also brought his stuffed pine marten for the children to stroke if they wished.

He also showed the children a fin whale rib bone.

The lesson concluded with an outdoor activity on Biodiversity, including a little minibeast hunt. We couldn’t stay out long as it started to snow!

An Taisce Spring Clean 2023

30th March 2023

We had a great day litter picking around the school grounds and local park. We brought our Picker Pals picker uppers with us!

We found plastic bottles, drink cans, sweet wrappers, a broken plant pot and a very old sock!

Science Show November 2022

We joined up with Kilross N.S in Cooper Memorial Show on November 14th and enjoyed a fantastic Science Circus Show with Dr. Ken.

We saw him eat fire, spin’s things, cracks whips, juggle and cycle a unicycle – all in the name of science.

Planting

Pupils in the Senior Room along with the Green Schools Committee have been busy preparing the vegetable garden for planting by weeding, harvesting the remaining produce and preparing the soil for planting. We then planted a variety of seeds including cress, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and peas which are currently growing inside. We hope to plant these in the vegetable garden once the weather becomes milder.

Space Week

The Senior Room learned about the star constellations during Space Week, we learned the names and shapes of some of the constellations and then created the constellations during Art.

2021/2022.

The junior room made bird feeders out of plastic bottles, a pencil and sunflower heart seeds.

Planting seeds

The children planted a variety of seeds for our school garden.

Balloon Rocket Race Experiment 2021

This was a fun experiment where the children learned how the force of air moving in one direction can propel the balloon in the opposite direction, much like a rocket.

Dancing Raisins:

Investigating Pulleys

Materials:

Erupting Volcanoes using vinegar, food colouring and baking soda 2021.

Fruity Sweets Colour Mixing 2021

Experiment using skittles, still warm water and a plate.

The children were surprised that the shells of the sweets were made from sugar and dissolved in the warm water.

Webinar about bubbles and balloons. The children were asked to think about the shape of bubbles and are all bubbles the same size?

Investigating the pH scale

The pupils created the pH scale, by experimenting with acids and bases

Environmental Awareness and Care:

Signs of Spring Hunt

Autumn Leaf Hunt

National Spring Clean 2022

Science Week Activities in the Senior Room

We watched and took part in the interactive Music to Your Ears Science Show and experimented with creating bubbles inside bubbles.

Live Zoom with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. He told us about how he became an astronaut, his trips to the International Space Station and his life as an astronaut.

Meet the Data Scientist- John Newell

We enjoyed learning about the work of a Data Scientist and participated in a randomised trial as part of the active webinar. He told us how he became a data scientist, how data scientists work with athletes and their importance in medicine.

Science 2020/2021

This year, we are delighted to announce that all the classes in Taunagh N.S. will take part in the Discover Primary Science and Maths Award for the third year running.

Our digital log is divided under the following headings:

Step 1 – Science
Step 2 – Technology
Step 3 – Engineering
Step 4- Maths
Step 5 – STEM Showcase

Living Things

The Human Eye

Senior Room pupils conducted a Zoom interview with Nuala McCarrick, an optometrist, painted the human eye and created a video for the REEL Life Science Video Competition. Be sure to look at our video – that would be ‘eye-deal’!

Marine Explorers – Sea Creatures Bigger than Me

The pupils completed projects on sea creatures and presented them to Mark from Marine Explores over Zoom.

Energy and Forces

Electricity

We made electrical circuits and tested materials to see if they were conductors or insulators. We also experimented with how to make a switch.

Magnetism

Pupils investigated the properties of magnets to see how they attract and repel. They also tested a range of materials and classified them as magnetic or non-magnetic.

Exploring Magnets in the Junior Room

Materials

Bubbling potions for Halloween

Volcanic Eruptions

Magic Gloves

Crystal Cup Experiment

Environmental Awareness and Care

Leaf Hunt in the Junior Room

Keeping Riverstown Clean

Have a look at the posters the pupils created to highlight the importance of keeping our village clean. The winning entries are on display on the Tidy Towns Noticeboard.