Water-Cycle
Ms. Twohig’s Class investigated the importance of the Earth’s renewable resource, water. They explored how the different stages of the water cycle transpiration, condensation, precipitation and collection occur through processes of heating and cooling. Children boiled water a put it in a large transparent bowl. Next, they put a smaller glass tumbler into the centre of the bowl. Then they covered the large bowl with cling film and placed ice-cubes over the tumbler in the middle of the cling film. Over time, children observed the water evaporating and changing from a liquid to a gas. Then, they observed the gas cooling and condensing forming ‘clouds’ onto the clingfilm. Afterwards, droplets formed and fell back down to the glass tumbler, precipitation.
Caring for our Environment
Our whole school participated in the annual Team Limerick Clean Up. Classes came together to identify areas in our locality where there is a lot of litter. They then assigned these locations to different classes and went on a litter picking adventure. Ms. Brennan’s class further come to appreciate the individual, community and national responsibility for environmental care through their involvement with Picker Pals.
Recycle Vs General Waste
How do Germs Affect Bread?
Ms. Brennan’s Class investigated conditions that help germs to spread. Children had four slices of bread. Two slices of bread were placed plastic bags and put in the fridge. One of the pieces of breads had been touched by the childrens’ hands while the other had not been touched and handled with a tongs. Two pieces of bread were kept on the display board in the classroom. Again, one of the pieces of breads had been touched by the childrens’ hands while the other had not been touched and handled with a tongs. After a couple of weeks children observed the results. They observed a that the bread that was kept at room temperature decayed much faster than the bread that was kept in the fridge at a cooler temperature. They also identified that the bread that had been touched by classmates’ hands had much more mould than the bread that was untouched. This experiment illustrated the importance of washing your hands and also the need to keep food in proper storage.
