Monday, 30 January 2017

4th class Environmental Awareness Workshops

30th January 2017

Dia daoibh go léir! Rang a 4 anseo,

January has been quite a busy month for us. We were lucky enough to have Aoife Munn come to visit us over the past few weeks. 


She reminded us that we all share responsibility for the environment around us. We began by making potting plants out of old newspapers and a plastic bottle. Very simple stuff but it costs nothing and anyone can make one at home. 
Using a recycled plastic bottle to form the shape of the pot.















Newspaper is rolled around the bottle, leaving extra newpaper over the opening in the bottle...





 Then we pushed the extra newspaper firmly into the bottle...

 We also planted lettuce in our school garden plot. 4th class are keeping a close eye on the rainfall (you can use rain water to save tap water) and are monitoring their precious crop weekly!

 Aoife gave us handy tips on how to plant seeds so they can grow properly....don't plant those lettuces too close together!!

 We also learned about proper drainage and how we can help stop flooding in our community. 



Aoife showing 4th class how to take a cutting from the willow tree...



The school garden isn't all hard work! 😁😁😁

Aoife also helped us plant sweet peas. Everybody planted their own and we have been watching closely. Almost all of them have taken now so watch this space for photos!

We also researched Irish animals and presented them to Aoife and the class. She was so impressed with the effort everyone put in! Well done rang a 4!!!

A big thank you to Aoife Munn who helped us think of ways we can support our local environment so that everyone can enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

Slán tamaill,
Mr. O'Connell's 4th class

Sunday, 29 January 2017

Fourth Class Maths Hunt

Hi everyone! 

4th class have been exercising their "Maths Eyes" this year. Just before Christmas, we went around the school and searched for things that reminded us of 2D and 3D shapes, as well as lines and angles that may be hidden. We rose to the challenge and set off in search. 
 




 It  was a lot of fun and we all got some much needed fresh air to blow away the cobwebs! 
It wasn't long before our maths eyes spotted lots of examples. Here are just a few of what we found. Can you find any type of angle, symmetrical shapes, 2D or 3D shapes??? 





You can find much more of these examples of lines, angles, 2D and 3D shapes in the senior building along with some challenging questions for YOUR maths eyes to figure out!



4th Class Christmas Play

Greetings from Mr. O'Connell's Fourth Class!
We have been working hard all year that we hadn't a moment to spare to update our blog until now!

All through November and December every student in fourth class worked so hard in preparing for this school year's Christmas Play. This year The Lion King was performed in front of all the children's parents and guardians. 

From hyenas to antelope, and lions to wise baboons, The Lion King had it all. Fourth class spent so much time learning lines, singing songs and making props to make this year's play the great success it was. 

We would like to thank all those who contributed to make their play so enjoyable. A big thank you must go to the Parent's Association for painting the backdrops for us, as well as Greg, Ms. McHale, Lizzy, Ciara, Ms. Sellers and Ms. Ní Mhaolmhuaidh who brought the characters to life with their fantastic face-painting talents!

Some parents kindly sent in pictures of the play for us all to look back on with great memories. Watch this space; we might just have a few budding actors among us! 

On behalf of all of fourth class, thank you all very much for your support.

Mr. O'Connell
4th Class








Thursday, 19 May 2016

STEM Award 2015/2016

St Philomena's Primary School has achieved a Science Foundation Ireland Discover Science and Maths Plaque of STEM Excellence for the 2015/2016 academic year.

Congratulations to all the children who participated in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths activities this year! 

All the hard work has paid off :) Each class will receive certificates for their involvement. 


Engineering Worskhops for 3rd and 4th classes

3rd and 4th class were very lucky to take part in two engineering workshops given by ‘Seiche Training’.

 The first Workshop was called ‘Exploring Our Oceans Through Sound’ and the second was called ‘Construct an Underwater Microphone’.

·        Description:
With visual presentations and interactive activities the children discovered the physics of sound and how it travels through different mediums. 

They listened to underwater recordings of marine animal vocalisations. 

This demonstrated the huge variety of sounds these animals produce in order to communicate and navigate in an underwater world. 

They discovered the world’s biggest toothed whale, the sperm whale, and how it uses sound to hunt in complete darkness.

With a real working hydrophone the children explored how and why scientists study underwater sounds.

 Using technology, they discovered that we can not only hear underwater sounds but we can ‘see’ them too.
·     
   Key activities:
1.     Physics of sound
2.    Sources of underwater sounds
3.    Listening to marine animal acoustics
4.    ‘seeing’ underwater sounds

Workshop 1











Workshop 2

The marine biologist, Loraine, left us with a real hydraphone (constructed by Adam and Sean). All the classes in our school can now use this to hear underwater sounds!


The boys and girls were involved in many experiments throughout these workshops:
1. Can you hear sound through wool?
2.Make a hydrophone to listen to underwater sounds.
3. Can we feel sound?
4. Can we see sound?
5. Can we hear sound through solid objects?
6. Hearing sound and seeing sound using a real hydrophone.

3rd and 4th class trip to Glendalough!!

We recently visited Glendalough to celebrate Tree Day! The children had a fantastic time and got involved in a variety of activities including treasure hunts, tree measuring, wacky races, puzzles and much more.






Tuesday, 19 April 2016

3rd class held a science exhibition on Friday 15th April. This was for the Discover Primary Science STEM Award. Well done to all the children involved and thank you to parents for coming in to see it!

The experiments included: 
Dancing Ghosts (Blanka and Shanelle), Quicksand (Amy and Ann), Raining Blood (Alex and Adam), Lava Lamp (Jamie, Sean and Lewis), Exploding Coke (Callum, Josh and Aaron), Bouncy Egg (Dawid and Ellie), Blow up Balloon (Shane and Leyla) and Floating Table (Iris, Hanna and Ava)