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Primary Maths  & Science

Step 2 -  Technology

We have many other older experiments to share with you from our Science programme in 2017-2018 still on our blog - please visit and see the work of our super scientists and mathematicans. - click here

Energy and  Forces

Panpipes 

Strand: Energy and Forces 

Unit: Sound

Maths: measures – length

We made panpipes from plastic drinking straws.

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What you need

  • 8 plastic drinking straws

  • sellotape

  • scissors

  • a ruler

  • pen or pencil

What we did:

We started by cutting the first straw at 20cm. Then the next straw we cut 2cm shorter, at 18cm. We cut each straw 2cm shorter than the last until we had cut them all.

We lined up the straws longest to shortest.

We used sellotape to stick them together in the pan pipes formation.

We blew across the top of the straws to get a sound. The longest straws were the deepest sound and the shortest  straws had the highest sound

panpipes

Sound is a type of energy made by vibrations. When any object vibrates, it causes movement in the air particles.

You will need: clingfilm, cowl, dry rice, baking tray, wooden spoon

  1. Stretch the clingfilm tightly over the bowl

  2. Sprinkle a small amount of rice on the clingfilm.

  3. Hold the baking tray above the rice and hit the tray with the wooden spoon.  The sound makes the air vibrate and when the sound waves reach the clingfilm they make the it vibrate.  This makes the rice dance.

Energy and Forces

Sound

How do sound waves travel?

sound.jpg

Energy and Forces

Energy and Forces: Sound
 

What you’ll need:

  • 2 paper cups

  • A sharp pencil and blutac to pierce holes

  • String
     

Instructions:

  1. Cut a piece of string 1 metre in length.

  2. Pierce a small hole in the bottom of each cup.

  3. Thread the string through each cup and tie knots at each end to stop it pulling through the cup.

  4. Move into position with you and a friend holding the cups at a distance.  Make sure the string is tight.

  5. One person talks into the cup while the other puts the cup to their ear and listens.

What happened:

Speaking into the cup creates sound waves which are converted into vibrations at the bottom of the cup.  The vibrations travel along the string and are converted back into sound waves at the other end so your friend can hear what you said. Sound travels through the air but it travels even better through solids such as your cup and string, allowing you to hear sounds that might be too far away when traveling through the air.

As with any science experiment it did not work for a few of the pupils but we discovered that the pupils did not have the string tight

energy

Maths, History and Art

We used three arcs to create a Celtic knot design for St. Patrick’s Day.  Many Celtic designs feature interlocking  shapes. The Celtic knot is a very simple design that uses weaving to connect the three arcs.  We were learning about the Book of Kells in History and  the circle in Maths.

The children drew the arcs by drawing concentric circles with a compass and then cutting them out, them  weaving them together to form Celtic knots.

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art 8
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history
Egg in vinegar

Egg in vinegar

Day 2

Day 2

After 3 days

After 3 days

Bouncy egg

Bouncy egg

Procedural writing

Procedural writing

Procedural writing

Procedural writing

Strand Unit: Materials

Strand unit: properties and characteristics of materials

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Materials needed:  1 boiled egg, bowl, clingfilm, white vinegar, red food colouring.

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Method:

  1. Place the boiled egg in a bowl.

  2. Cover the boiled egg with white vinegar.

  3. Add a few drops of food colouring to the vinegar.

  4. Cover the bowl with clingfilm.

  5. Leave the egg in the bowl of vinegar for 3 days.  After remove the egg.

  6. Rinse the shell of the egg gently under a tap,  The shell will be removed.
     

Result:

 

The vinegar (an acid) reacts with the calcium carbonate  producing a salt and a gas called carbon dioxide (these are the bubbles you see). The vinegar will keep reacting with the calcium carbonate until it is all gone, leaving the egg contained in just the cell membrane.

 

A delicate, but bouncy egg.

eggs

Inniu Máirt na hInide agus mar sin rinneamar pancóga inniu. Bhí siad go hálainn. Bhí siad milis agus blasta. D’itheamar
iad  le  siúcra, líomóid, Nutella agus síoróip. Bhi  sé éasca go leor na  pancóga a dhéanamh agus níor thóg  sé mórán ama. Míle buíochas do Ber chun cabhraigh linn.

Ag Déanamh Pancóga

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Energy and Forces
 

A force is a push or a pull on an object.  A push moves an object away from another object; a pull moves it towards another object. Forces can make objects move, get faster, slow down, stop move in a different direction or change their shape.  When an object moves along a surface or another object, a force known as friction occurs.  Friction makes it more difficult for the object to move.

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We observed and investigated the movement of toy cars along rough and smooth surfaces.

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energy

Vitruvian Man

The Vitruvian Man is a drawing by the artist Leonardo Da Vinci based on the work of Vitruvius, a Roman architect.

Leonardo Da Vinci was born near Florence in Italy in 1452. He became a world famous artist. He died in 1519.

He was not just  an artist, he was  a scientist, a sculptor, a mathematician and an inventor!

Our objective was to recognise what the Vitruvian Man is and its significance to science and geometry.

The Vitruvian theory contains a total of 10 ratios between different parts of the body. As you can see we tested many of the ratios.

vitruvian
Seakeepers

Our school is participating in The SeaKeepers Project which is a new initiative of the Green-Schools Global Citizenship Marine Environment theme. This is part of our work towards our 8th Green Flag.  This project focuses on the ecology of six native Irish marine species such as The Basking Shark. As we are situated near the Atlantic ocean we are finding these lessons informative and fun.  We each completed a report and some artwork on the Basking Shark which is displayed in the classroom.  This month we are learning about the Grey Seal which is very common in Irish waters.