Plant and animal life
Ms. Bradshaw’s 3rd class and Ms. Kenny’s AS class took a trip to Fr. Burke Park to collect acorns for planting and to investigate the changes in plant life in the autumn.
The children work in groups to collect acorns and horse chestnuts while learning to identify the different deciduous trees in our local environment.
The children examined the acorns and planted them in recycled toilet rolls and small plastic trays using compost.
Human Life
3rd class investigated lung capacity and how lung capacity varies from person to person. We have been learning to focus on our breath in meditation in the ‘Friends for Life’ program. Simple, deep breathing can help increase our lung capacity, along with staying healthy and exercising.
The children brought in some resources for this experiment, including some straws and a 2-litre milk carton. We practiced standing tall to take a deep inhalation before exhaling and displacing the water in the milk carton.
The children noticed it was important to ensure the lid carton was fully submerged in the water; otherwise, it would empty quickly. It is also better to stand tall and take a deep breath, as this gives the greatest lung capacity.
Autumn Leaf Identification
5th class took a nature walk with the specific task of identifying trees in our local parks. Many of our trees are native to Ireland. Ms. Heneghan gave the children the leaf spotter identification sheet, and it was a difficult task to ascertain which leaf belonged to which tree.
https://www.treecouncil.ie/native-irish-trees is an excellent website that the children used to learn more about our native trees. The children collected samples of leaves to investigate and analyse them in further detail.
Exploring Tooth Decay
The children learned how sugar can cause cavities. They put eggshells that have a similar composition to the human tooth in four different drinks, including water, Coca-Cola, milk and apple juice.
The eggshell in Coca-Cola was discoloured, and the shell was peeling after two weeks. The egg shells in water and milk were unchanged. The egg shell in apple juice showed signs of decay, but the water and milk were the best.
The children watched this interesting video on cavities What causes cavities? – Mel Rosenberg
Egg Stain Experiment
Ms. Heneghan’s 5th class investigated how different drinks can affect our teeth. The children selected some common drinks and made predictions as to how they thought a submerged egg would fair after a few days.
5th class labelled their containers, and observed changes to the eggs over time. The children discovered that water caused no discolouration or damage to the egg.
Claddagh Science 