STEM Award 2024-2025
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Welcome to our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) page. We hope you enjoy looking through some of the work that all of the boys and girls have been doing throughout this school year. We have been having lots of fun experimenting, investigating, discussing and exploring lots of new ideas and concepts in all of our classes.
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Step 1: Science
Living Things:
1st Class grow their own Cress
The boy and girls of 1st Class investigated what elements plants require to grow by planting pots of cress seeds: one with no soil, one with no water and one with no sun/light. They planted a pot for every student. It was fun to watch them grow!
The boy and girls of 1st Class investigated what elements plants require to grow by planting pots of cress seeds: one with no soil, one with no water and one with no sun/light. They planted a pot for every student. It was fun to watch them grow!
3rd Class plant window boxes!
3rd Class planted up some window boxes for the Winter using plants such as Cyclamen, Winter Pansies and Primroses. They enjoyed learning about how to take care of these flowers including dead heading them, watering them and learning about the soil that is best for their flowers to grow in.
Junior Infants learn about the lifecycle of a chick
The children in Junior Infants learned about the lifecycle of a hen. They learned how long it takes for an egg to hatch and learned about the different ways an egg can hatch. The boys and girls were delighted when our school principal Mrs. Kirby took her own hens in for a visit!
The children in Junior Infants learned about the lifecycle of a hen. They learned how long it takes for an egg to hatch and learned about the different ways an egg can hatch. The boys and girls were delighted when our school principal Mrs. Kirby took her own hens in for a visit!
4th Class investigate the human body
The children in 4th class took part in a workshop with Dr Marina Zaki. They learned all about blood in the human body, the composition of blood, how blood is stored, why blood might need to be taken by doctors etc. It was a really interesting workshop. They followed this up with their own learning on the human body.
The children in 4th class took part in a workshop with Dr Marina Zaki. They learned all about blood in the human body, the composition of blood, how blood is stored, why blood might need to be taken by doctors etc. It was a really interesting workshop. They followed this up with their own learning on the human body.
Junior Infants learn about Hedgehogs
Junior Infants learned about hibernating animals and the habitats they live in. They focused on the hedgehog and learned all about this prickly little animal! They decided to integrate their learning with art and created their own clay hedgehogs.
Energy & Forces:
4th class investigate Energy and Forces
The children in 4th class looked at simple machines and how buildings etc were built years ago. They investigated wheels and rollers, wheels and axles as a way to help to move objects. The children explored ramps and friction and carried out a number of investigations to look at this.
Investigation 1: Will a surface make a difference to the force required to make a show move?
Investigation 2: What is a fulcrum?
Investigation 3: Does the height of a ramp affect movement?
Investigation 4: Will an object fall differently if it is in a parachute?
The boys and girls used their findings to present at the science fair. They taught the other classes about friction, gravity and air resistance!
The children in 4th class looked at simple machines and how buildings etc were built years ago. They investigated wheels and rollers, wheels and axles as a way to help to move objects. The children explored ramps and friction and carried out a number of investigations to look at this.
Investigation 1: Will a surface make a difference to the force required to make a show move?
Investigation 2: What is a fulcrum?
Investigation 3: Does the height of a ramp affect movement?
Investigation 4: Will an object fall differently if it is in a parachute?
The boys and girls used their findings to present at the science fair. They taught the other classes about friction, gravity and air resistance!
5th Class investigate Magnets, Light, Heat and Force!
Light: Rang a Cúig learned all about sources of light. They also investigated how light travels in a straight line through shadows. They examined the refraction of light by creating simple Christmas pictures, placing them in plastic, outlining the design and then submerging them in water. The refraction of light causes the colour to look like it disappears. They created some cool videos of this! Watch them below :-)
Magnets: The boys and girls tested magnetic materials and investigated how magnets can both attract and repel magnetic materials. They also created magnetic mazes during art.
Forces: To help with their designs for Engineers week 5th class studied a number of forces including friction, aerodynamics and how a slope impacts on the speed of an object
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Materials:
Making Pancakes!
Lots of classes enjoyed celebrating Pancake Tuesday and integrated it with their science learning. Junior Infants investigated the change that occurs when heat is applied to different foods. They enjoyed tasting their pancakes at the end of their investigation!
Junior Infants investigate Liquids, Solids and Gases
Junior investigated how water can be a liquid, a solid, and how it can also turn to steam when boiled! The children decided investigated the quickest way to save their Arctic Animals that got trapped in an iceberg and made predictions about which way would be the quickest to save them!
Junior Infants learn about Opaque and Transparent materials!
Junior Infants have been learning about light. Firstly, they identified night and day, then they investigated light and objects using torches. They learned two new words - opaque and transparent, and they investigated different materials that were transparent and opaque. They made predictions about the different materials and then went off and investigated if their predictions were correct!
Junior Infants have been learning about light. Firstly, they identified night and day, then they investigated light and objects using torches. They learned two new words - opaque and transparent, and they investigated different materials that were transparent and opaque. They made predictions about the different materials and then went off and investigated if their predictions were correct!
Environmental Awareness and Care:
5th Class enjoy planting bulbs!
Rang a Cúig learned about the parts of a flower and what flowers need to germinate. They planted bulbs in the school garden in the hopes they will bloom in the spring.
Rang a Cúig learned about the parts of a flower and what flowers need to germinate. They planted bulbs in the school garden in the hopes they will bloom in the spring.
Junior Infants learn about Travel as part of our Green School Flag.
Junior Infants enjoyed learning about different ways to travel. They decided to carry out some interviews with their parents and grandparents to discover how travelling to school has changed over the years and to learn about ways we could be more environmentally friendly in how we travel to school today!
Senior Infants learn about the Northern Lights
Senior Infants discussed the weather and the seasons. They also looked at how weather patterns are different in different countries. The boys and girls then explored pictures of an Inuit. They discussed the differences between life in Ireland and the life of an Inuit.
Senior Infants also investigated the polar bear and the penguin and learned that blubber keeps them warm in the snow. They read a book called “The Curious Polar Bear”, and looked at photos of the Northern Lights. The children used chalk pastels to create their own picture of the northern lights.
'Meet the Scientist' Science Week Speaker in 5th Class
The boys and girls in 5th class participated in the Meet the Scientist programme with a webinar all about how the Taylor Swift concert in Croke Park created mini earthquake tremors that were felt all the way in Co. Wexford.
During Space Week we had lots of exciting activities and events!
'ESERO Space Goes to School' - 5th Class take part in a zoom call with Lisa McNamee
As part of the ESERO Space Goes to School Programme 5th class had a zoom call with Lisa McNamee co-founder of Space Medicine Ireland. They learned all about the impact of going into space on your body and how astronauts can prepare their bodies for space flight. She also told them all about aerospace medicine research.
Also as part of Space Week the boys and girls in Rang a Cúig learned about what life would be like if we lived on the moon. They designed moon bases using information we had learned.
Junior Infants enjoyed learning all about Space and the Planets
Junior Infants enjoyed learning all about Space and integrating their learning across the curriculum. They played in their 'Space' station, built rockets and practiced their own Moon landings. They read lots of Space themed picture books and learned the names of the planets through a fun song!
Senior Infants learn about The Solar System
Senior Infant enjoyed learning all the names of the planets in our solar system. They talked about astronauts and what it would be like to travel to space. The children made their own rockets in art and put a photo of their faces on the pictures of their astronauts. They also read a story “Back to Earth with a Bump”.
Space Week in 1st Class
1st Class learned all about how astronauts live in space. They learned about the planets and the dwarf planets and even sang songs about them. Finally, they drew pictures of the solar system using black sugar paper and chalk.
Space Week in 2nd Class
The boys and girls of 2nd class have been designing their own planets! They worked in pairs and small groups and came up with some fantastic names and what it would be like to live on their very own planet. Most of the planets had lots of sweet shops and very few of them had schools!
Step 2: Technology
5th Class Record and Analyse data collected using graphs and spreadsheets!
As part of the Junior Entrepreneur Programme 5th class have been busy carrying our research for their product. They recorded and analysed data that they collected using graphs and spreadsheets on our chrome books.
5th class work on creating Stop Motion and Short Movies!
The boys and girls in 5th class used the iPads film and edit short Stop Motion projects on both a Christmas and World
War One theme.
Short Movie Making: They have used the iPads as part of their drama activities filming and editing diary entries or what
might happen next in a chapter of our novel.
3rd and 4th class learn all about using technology for presentations and Coding
3rd Class have used the Chromebooks to learn typing, tables, how to tell the time, coding and they have also completed slides projects on European countries.
4th Class learn about Coding
The children have been using tutorials on scratch to learn to create code. They took part in a Coding webinar during Engineers' Week. They completed multiple activities where they had to think like an engineer to solve problems. They built connections between engineers and STEM. They used coding and technology to explore how engineers collect and use data in the real world. They met a Microsoft engineer who discussed her role in the company and her daily tasks. Some children continued to experiment with coding and have since been able to code a whole game!
3rd Class investigate Renewable Energy Technology in their locality
3rd Class watched some videos about wind energy and wind turbines. They found out some facts about the wind turbine at DKIT in Dundalk. They then made their own paper wind turbines and tested them out with hairdryers. They also made sailboats and tested them out on water. Some children brought their projects in and some put videos or photos of them up on Seesaw.
Step 3: Engineering
Understanding how Everyday Objects Work:
2nd class investigate how vehicles move
After learning about how vehicles move, each group in 2nd class were assigned the task of building something that could move i.e. some kind of vehicle. The engineering of moving parts in any vehicle made the children more aware of the huge amount of detail that goes into each and every design.
2nd class investigate how vehicles move
After learning about how vehicles move, each group in 2nd class were assigned the task of building something that could move i.e. some kind of vehicle. The engineering of moving parts in any vehicle made the children more aware of the huge amount of detail that goes into each and every design.
Junior Infants took part in lots of STEM Design and Make challenges throughout the year:
Design and make a witch's broom, a 'Super Sleigh' for Santa, and a house for the 3 little pigs!
'Room on the Broom'
At Halloween Junior Infants decided to design a super broom for a witch after reading the book 'Room on the Broom'. Some of the stimulus questions were:
Is there a place for the witch to sit?
Is there a shower for the frog?
Is there a nest for the bird?
What would you super broom have?
They worked through these questions to design and make the best possible broom for a witch!
2nd Class design and make Paper Towers
Our 2nd class engineers had to investigate how to make the tallest paper tower. They explored different ways of doing this and explained to each other how they designed and made theirs. They shared their ideas in order to make their own better.
Lots of Design and Make Challenges happened across all of our classes this year!
6th class
6th class completed a range of engineering challenges. They had to create the tallest free standing tinfoil tower using only 60cm of tinfoil. They also had to make a working jump rope using only two plastic bags and 10cm of tape. They had to work together to create a free standing tower using only 10 index cards, the tower also had to hold a copy book.
4th Class take part in a Building Bridges webinar with engineer Gareth Kelly from DKIT
4th class completed a building bridges webinar with Gareth Kelly from DKIT. The children learned about the various types of bridges and how to recognise them. After the webinar the children were inspired to create their own bridges in the classroom. Some were big and strong enough to hold the children themselves!
Engineer Sinéad Kelly visits our school
Sinead Kelly (Engineering Lecturer in DKIT) ran a bridge building workshop using Knex with some of the classes in our school. The children learned all about making strong triangular shaped structures for strength.
A visit from engineer Neil Larkin to 5th Class
Artistic robots: 5th class were lucky enough to have one of our parents Neil Larkin visit during Engineers' week. He discussed the different types of engineering with us and talked about his job as a computer engineer. He helped us with some robotic engineering using simple motors and coffee cups. Our robots had markers attached which meant they could create simple patterns for us. Some even managed to create a perfect circle!
Lots of STEM play during wet days in our school!
Our school has invested in lots of different STEM resources. The children love playing with these freely during wet play days when they are indoors or during any free time they have throughout their days!
Step 4: Maths
Lots of integrated Maths learning across our STEM subjects!
2nd Class enjoyed lots of fun with their maths learning!
Fun with length!
The boys and girls have been investigating using the measurement of 1m. Armed with their own string metre they went around the classroom finding things that were approximately 1m in length. They found lots of things including their teacher's guitar.
The Long Jump:
Having covered measurement in class, the boys and girls took part in a standing jump and a proper running long jump competition. Comparing the two jumps, the boys and girls were asked why the running long jump was longer.
This brought them into contact with things such as speed, thrust and velocity all done in a very fun way.
The boys and girls have been investigating using the measurement of 1m. Armed with their own string metre they went around the classroom finding things that were approximately 1m in length. They found lots of things including their teacher's guitar.
The Long Jump:
Having covered measurement in class, the boys and girls took part in a standing jump and a proper running long jump competition. Comparing the two jumps, the boys and girls were asked why the running long jump was longer.
This brought them into contact with things such as speed, thrust and velocity all done in a very fun way.
4th class learn about 3D shape
The children used the ipads to take pictures of 3d shapes in our environment. They used pic collage to categorise their findings. The children made various 3d shapes using lollipop sticks, magnetic tiles, paper and other resources.
Junior Infants have fun with maths!
Junior Infants enjoyed lots of outdoor maths. They took part in a shape hunt, created repeating patterns using the natural environment, they went on a maths trail around our school with the help of 6th class and then learned how to play simple board games like Snakes and Ladders. They have also been learning about the transformation of shape this year and have had lots of hands on activities to see how shapes can transform!
3rd Class enjoy lots of hands-on maths learning!
Lots of classes developed Maths Trails
3rd class Maths Mystery Trail!
6th class Maths Week Maths Trails and Mega Maths Quiz!
6th class were exploring all the strand and elements of Maths through completing a Maths trail around the school. 6th class took part in a Mega Maths Quiz, competing against schools around Ireland. They also explored with a range of concrete materials making and playing games.
Maths Week in Senior Infants
The children created their own Maths problems for homework and they really enjoyed looking at the videos and pictures on seesaw each morning. They did lots of hands on activities about the number six; played games called Spotty Dotty, Snakes and Ladders and Hidey Holes. They also completed a Maths Trail outside; the children worked with their partner and had great fun counting the various objects outside.
Senior Infants also leanred about 3D shapes and created these using marshmallows!
Lots of Maths work in 5th Class
Place Value: When dealing with big numbers it’s great to be able to represent them in a big way. The boys and girls in 5th class used chalk and the school yard to create place value abacus, rotating in groups to write the numbers in expanded form. They also used lots of practical resources to learn about decimal place value.
Maths week: During maths week 5th class participated in the Maths Week Mega Quiz. They had lots of fun and a great debate to figure out some of the answers.
Data: During Space Week with Mr Fahy 5th class created graphs about the planets. The class also used a lot of data throughout their Junior Entrepreneur Programme. They conducted surveys throughout the school as market research, transferred the data to graph form and used this to inform their product creation.
Maths Games during the year: Although maths in fifth class can be a challenge the boys and girls love playing games whenever they can to help reinforce new concepts and revise old ones.
Step 5: STEM Show and Tell
Scoil Mhuire gan Smál Science Fair
On 26th March this year we organised our whole school Science Fair. Each class had a table at the science fair where they presented some of the experiments and investigations they had been working on. All of the boys and girls in each class got a chance to present at their class tables.