Step 1; Science
The children in Cloverfield N.S. love science, especially when conducting experiments! Our classes have chosen two of their favourite experiments from this year which focus on living things, energy and forces, materials and environmental awareness and care.
Living Things
What do seeds need to grow?
The children in the Infant Classroom were learning all about the garden in the month of March. 'The Garden Centre' was our Aistear theme and we learned that seeds need water, light, air and soil to grow. We decided to grow our own seeds but we wanted to check if these things are needed for seeds to grow.
-We used cotton wool instead of soil.
-We put one pot in the press where there was no light.
-We kept one pot on the windowsill but we did not water it.
-We used cotton wool instead of soil.
-We put one pot in the press where there was no light.
-We kept one pot on the windowsill but we did not water it.
We planted our watercress seeds on a Monday. On Wednesday, we noticed that the edges of the seeds had changed colour. By Friday they had started to grow. Some of our plants grew very tall! We sprinkled too many seeds into our pots at the start and some seeds were at the top of our plants because they did not have room to form roots. Some of the roots grew through the bottom of the pots!!
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This was the pot that we kept in the press. We still watered it but it got no light. The water helped it to grow but it was a different colour to our plants because it did not get light. |
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This was the pot that got light but did not get water. The seeds did not grow at all! Water is very important to help seeds to grow. |
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Before we started our experiment, we predicted which seeds would grow. A lot of us predicted the cotton wool would not work as soil. We were all correct when we predicted that the seeds would not grow without water. We were surprised to see that the seeds did grow a little bit without light.
Materials
Design a Bridge
In February, the Infants were learning all about fairy tales. One fairy tale we explored was the story of the 'Billy Goats Gruff'. We sequenced the pictures to retell the story before speaking more about bridges.
We talked about why we use bridges and what most bridges look like. The children were then broken into teams and given various materials. They had to use Lego to create the banks of the river and they could choose between paper, card, tissue or plastic to create the bridge. They used cubes to see which one was the strongest. We counted the cubes as we placed them on our bridge and the bridge that held the most was the best material. Card was the strongest as it held the most cubes. We tested out different ways of creating the bridge using card and used the cubes to see what designs worked best.
The children were very good with the maths element of this experiment; counting the cubes and comparing which bridge could hold the most. They enjoyed acting as engineers to design their bridges!
Liquid Density
The middle room studied liquid density. They wanted to see what liquids would float on other liquids!
We gathered various liquids including syrup, soap, washing up liquid and water. We put food colouring into the different liquids so that it was easy to distinguish between them.
We gathered various liquids including syrup, soap, washing up liquid and water. We put food colouring into the different liquids so that it was easy to distinguish between them.
We predicted which liquids would float and which would sink to the bottom.
The oil floated at the top followed by the water, soap, washing up liquid and syrup. Take a look at our results!
Forces
Magic Magnets!
The middle room loved exploring magnets!
We had various magnetic stations with a task at each. Some of these are shown below.
We had various magnetic stations with a task at each. Some of these are shown below.
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We had to predict which items were magnetic and then test to see if we were correct. |
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We used magnets to move a string of cars. |
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One of our favourite Golden Time games is Magsnaps! This also lets us explore 2D and 3D shapes in maths! |
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We explored North and South poles of magnets by stacking them. We then lifted these with the horseshoe magnet! |
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Finally, we tested which magnet was strongest by seeing how many paper clips they could hold. This allowed us to create graphs, linking with data in maths. |
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Making Rockets!
In the Senior Room, we learned about push and pull forces as well as gravity and we made rockets of different types. We made simple straw rockets and then went on to make foam rockets. We tested our rockets indoors and outdoors and measured the distances that they travelled. We used Maths to do measurements as well as to work out averages and make graphs. We really enjoyed constructing, designing and testing our rockets.
Environmental Awareness and Care
Bird Feeders!
The pupils in the senior classroom also created and designed bird feeders which they presented at the RDS Primary Science Fair.
After designing the bird feeders, we also wanted to see which bird seed was the most popular. We created three bird feeders and had three types of seed- sunflower, nyger and mixed seeds. Each Friday we weighed how many seeds were left in the bird seeder to compare which one was the most popular. We then filled each bird feeder again ensuring they all had equal weight and repeated the process for a few weeks to see which seed was most popular overall. Sunflower seeds were always emptied, showing that this was the most popular. Mixed was the second most popular seed. When we looked at the ingredients, we found that sunflower seeds were part of the mixed, showing why mixed may have been more popular than nyger seeds.
After designing the bird feeders, we also wanted to see which bird seed was the most popular. We created three bird feeders and had three types of seed- sunflower, nyger and mixed seeds. Each Friday we weighed how many seeds were left in the bird seeder to compare which one was the most popular. We then filled each bird feeder again ensuring they all had equal weight and repeated the process for a few weeks to see which seed was most popular overall. Sunflower seeds were always emptied, showing that this was the most popular. Mixed was the second most popular seed. When we looked at the ingredients, we found that sunflower seeds were part of the mixed, showing why mixed may have been more popular than nyger seeds.
These were some of our favourite experiments. We really enjoy science in Cloverfield N.S. and have enjoyed various scientific activities outside of the classroom including:
- VEX Robotics.
- Guest speaker Geoff Hunt teaching us about birds and wildlife from Lough Gur.
- RDS Primary Science Fair.
Step 2: Technology
Technology is used daily in today's primary classroom. The children in Cloverfield N.S. are encouraged to explore technology through class laptops and interactive whiteboards.
Videos and websites are always good attention-grabbers and are frequently used as a stimulus to a science lesson. For example, before exploring space and gravity with Junior and Senior Infants, we used a website to understand how big space is. Click the button to explore the website!
Videos and websites are always good attention-grabbers and are frequently used as a stimulus to a science lesson. For example, before exploring space and gravity with Junior and Senior Infants, we used a website to understand how big space is. Click the button to explore the website!
Technology was also a vital part of VEX Robotics. As part of VEX Robotics, the Senior Classroom designed and built a robot. The children had to learn Scratch programming as it is similar to the Modkit programme that the Programming team had to use to programme the robot. The children also learned lots about STEM and had to research robotics in a specific area. They decided to base their research on the use of robotics in AMS (Automated Milking Systems) on dairy farms. They created a presentation based on this research using PowerPoint. The final result is linked in Step 5.
Step 3: Engineering
As part of Engineers Week, we invited Paddy Walsh, one of the parents in our school, to speak to us about his work as an engineer. We really enjoyed listening to him and loved exploring how the machines worked.
VEX Robotics also gave the opportunity for the Senior Room children to work as engineers to create their own robot. They worked on different teams and started by doing some team-building activities to develop our teamwork skills. The children made jigsaw puzzles in groups of four without talking. That was quite challenging and showed how well we could work together. They learned lots about Simple Machines and forces and then made simple machines using some of the parts of the VEX Robotics kit. The children really enjoyed this programme and couldn't wait to get started on building the robot. The Materials team had to make sure that the Build team always had the right parts for each step of the build. The Design team worked on a name and logo for our team.
The children took 'Clobot' to the VEX IQ Challenge in DELL, Limerick on February 1st. Here, they had to drive the robot in teams and with other schools attempting to gain as many points as possible in the driving challenges. We also had to set our programmed robot on the course on the arena and we had carefully measured distances and angles. They had to present our completed Log books as well as make the STEM presentation.
Although we didn't proceed to the further rounds of the competition this year, we really enjoyed VEX and can't wait to do it again next year!
The children took 'Clobot' to the VEX IQ Challenge in DELL, Limerick on February 1st. Here, they had to drive the robot in teams and with other schools attempting to gain as many points as possible in the driving challenges. We also had to set our programmed robot on the course on the arena and we had carefully measured distances and angles. They had to present our completed Log books as well as make the STEM presentation.
Although we didn't proceed to the further rounds of the competition this year, we really enjoyed VEX and can't wait to do it again next year!
We really enjoy engineering in Cloverfield N.S. The Junior and Senior Infants regularly design and build things using Lego or other construction materials as part of Aistear. They really enjoyed building the bridge for the Billy Goats Gruff!
The middle classroom also designed and created paper planes, carefully measuring and folding to try create a paper plane which would travel the furthest difference.
The middle classroom also designed and created paper planes, carefully measuring and folding to try create a paper plane which would travel the furthest difference.
Step 4: Maths
We love keeping maths as fun and active in Cloverfield N.S. We enjoy exploring length, capacity, weight, data and number using different problems, tasks and games.
We also try to link maths with other subjects. Science is a subject which quite often involves some elements of maths.
When the Junior and Senior Infants were designing bridges, they counted how many cubes each bridge could hold and compared the bridges then to see which bridge could hold the most.
The Middle Classroom used a graph to show which magnet held the most paper clips. It was easy to see from the graph which magnet was strongest.
The Senior Room measured distances to see how far their rockets travelled and also used graphs and pie charts to show which seeds were the most popular.
When the Junior and Senior Infants were designing bridges, they counted how many cubes each bridge could hold and compared the bridges then to see which bridge could hold the most.
The Middle Classroom used a graph to show which magnet held the most paper clips. It was easy to see from the graph which magnet was strongest.
The Senior Room measured distances to see how far their rockets travelled and also used graphs and pie charts to show which seeds were the most popular.
Step 5: STEM Show and Tell
OUR STEM PRESENTATION
Click on the link to view our PowerPoint presentation
stem_research_feb_1st_presentation.pptx
Click on the link to view our PowerPoint presentation
stem_research_feb_1st_presentation.pptx