We learnt all about demolishing buildings over the last week. We built, demolished and sorted the materials for reuse or disposal. The children noticed that when buildings were close together it was hard to knock 1 down without effecting the next building, but we also realised that it was manageable with care. There was a lot of interesting discussion about which direction to knock down from and how to get blocks to land in a certain area. It was definitely a favourite - getting to knock buildings down!
We looked at famous bridges around the world and noted the different features, realising that bridges travel over something and need to have space for something to pass underneath, not lie flat against the ground or water. We built our own bridges using Magna-Tiles, Lego and wooden blocks. We tested our bridges by checking if something could pass underneath, it could support weight on top and there was a way to get onto the bridge.
With the Jaggo blocks, we built ramps for cars to travel down. We tested cars going down carpet vs wood to see which was quicker.
These two tasks were quite a challenge for many and we got to see great persistence from some children! There were lots of engineering minds busy at work this week!
With the Jaggo blocks, we built ramps for cars to travel down. We tested cars going down carpet vs wood to see which was quicker.
These two tasks were quite a challenge for many and we got to see great persistence from some children! There were lots of engineering minds busy at work this week!
We did a science experiment, testing different materials for waterproofing. We tested tinfoil, paper, plastic, tissue, and fabric. First, we made predictions about what we thought would and wouldn't be waterproof. We put some puppets in bowls, covered the bowl with the material and poured water over it. The one we were very surprised with was paper! We found out that it would be waterproof for a while but we decided that it would not be a great idea to make a roof out of paper!
James brought in a deer skull that he found up the mountains (all cleaned and boiled first.) It was really interesing to look at and most children were excited to hold it. We also saw what would happen if we don't brush our teeth! Yuck! Thanks for bringing it in.
We were delighted to play maths games again with our first class friends. This time the other half of the class went up to Ms Kilboy's room (if they wanted to.) We will play some Cluichí Gaeilge with them over the next few weeks, during Seachtain na Gaeilge.