Togher N.S.

Science News

Well done to all the children who worked so hard on the many Science projects over this year. We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded The 2009 Discover Primary Science Award of Science Excellence.
There will be a Science Display at the End of Year Celebration so that the parents and families of the children can see the many and varied experiments which the children carried out during the year in order to achieve this award. The children will also receive certificates to show that they took part in this project.
Well done to all of the children, they put in a tremendous effort, and all their hard work was rewarded.

Yet again this school year, the children in 5th and 6th Class have been working hard on many Science projects. They have been studying electricity and working with electrical currents. They have studied magnets, and made magnetic cars. They have made white light and taken their own fingerprints. There have been many interesting, hands on experiments going on.
They have also been studying the human body, and have even made blood in the classroom!!! Whilst studying the lungs and the breathing system, the children set up an experiment to measure lung capacity. They found that the average lung capacity in their class was around 3.6 litres.
All classes have carried out various experiments, and have worked hard at Science. Children in the Middle classes have done various experiments with levers, mirror imaging, and have been taking fingerprints too. 2nd Class did some very interesting experiments with dancing raisins!
The Junior classroom have learned a lot about bridges. They were given the task of designing a bridge capable of supporting the weight of 3 coins. They also investigated balance. Much fun was had by all—balancing on one foot, trying to get up from a chair without moving your body forwards.

As well as being part of the Science strand of the curriculum, this work has been well documented in reports, by the children and the teacher, and a photographic record has been kept of all the experiments. All of this work will be collected together and presented in a report to the Discover Primary Science programme.
Discover Primary Science is a flagship project run by the Discover Science & Engineering (DSE) awareness programme. DSE is managed by Forfás on behalf of the Office of Science & Technology at the Department of Enterprise Trade & Employment. The programme aims to develop creativity in our children, show them how important science is to our everyday lives and more importantly how much fun it can be! Last year Togher NS received an Excellence Award, and we hope to repeat that success this year.

Microbe Magic!!

We had a visit from a scientist from UCC’s Biosciences Institute in March, who gave a talk to 4th, 5th & 6th class about the immune system, and how our body fights infections to stay healthy and strong. The presentation was called Our Bodies’ Protectors—keeping fit4life. This one hour class was interactive and enjoyable, and included some experiments that the students could carry out themselves.

Lifetime Lab

Keeping up the Science theme, on the 3rd of February, 4th, 5th & 6th classes visited Lifetime Lab, on a science field trip.
Lifetime Lab runs environmentally themed workshops for primary schools, where the children learn about themes such as water and energy, through an investigatory and experimental approach.
The children took part in lots of hands-on practical activities, encouraging discovery and investigation.
They did lots of experiments with electrical currents. They made batteries from lemons, electric fans, and even electric cars, which of course, they had to race around the lab!!

Greenwaves

Also, in the natural sciences theme, we are taking part in the Greenwaves Signs of Spring programme again this year. Come on everybody!! Get out there spotting frogspawn, primroses, Horse Chestnuts, Hawthorn, swallows, and Ash trees!
The children are recording the temperature every day, as part of this project.
The children in the Junior classes have been studying the lifecycle of the frog. They’ve been monitoring some frogspawn, watching the tadpoles develop.