5th Class

Science Week

To celebrate Science Week 2016 we did science experiments in our classroom. I was in a group with Ava and Adam. We did the experiment ‘Erupting Volcano’.

Our equipment included:

• A plastic bottle
• Newspaper
• A tray
• Bicarbonate of Soda
• Vinegar
• Food Colouring(for effect)
• Washing Up Liquid(for effect)
• Stones
• Paint
• Mini-Figures(optional)

Method:

1. Firstly, place down the bottle on the tray.
2. Carefully pour the vinegar into the bottle. Screw on the cap!
3. Cover the bottle in newspaper. Try to shape it like a volcano.
4. Paint the Volcano and place stones around the outside. You can also use mini-figures.
5. Put in a few drops of food colouring and a squirt of washing up liquid.
6. Put in a few spoons of bicarbonate of soda. Hey Presto! Your volcano should explode.

Why?

The volcano exploded due to the reaction between the vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda creating carbon dioxide and bubbles.

Result

I really enjoyed making this volcano. I would give it 8/10.

By David,

5th Class

3-D Printer

On the 18^th of November a man called Noel Murphy came in to school and told us all about a 3-D printer. Noel told us how some companies are starting to print Drones and how Domino’s Pizza has started using them to deliver their pizzas. He also showed us a video of how people light up some drones to music. Then we went into the halla and got to see a 3-d printer. Noel was telling us how the printer works and what it could make and he also brought in some examples which were an elephant, a little robot and some bricks. Then He said that he would print us a whistle. Later that day it was done and we had an assembly. Daniel was the first to test it.

Seán 5^th class

The 3D Printer Visit

In Kilteirnan national school a teacher named Brid Fenlon called in a favour from a friend. On Friday the 18^th a man named Noel Murphy came with a 3D printer to Kiltiernan NS. You might not know what a 3D printer is. Alright then let me explain. We all know a printer works *cough* hopefully *cough* I might as well explain it to you anyway. Now when you use your printer if you have a printer, it’s most likely an inkjet printer. The way an inkjet printer works is it uses extremely small drops of ink to create an image. The ink dots are really, really, really small, smaller than the diameter of a strand of human hair, which just so happens to be 70 microns. The dots are also positioned very, very, very, very, very precisely. Okay that’s the explanation on printing period. Now let’s explain the 3D printing shall we? So you put on a USB key what you want the 3D printer to create and the 3D printer will take the material you choose, preferably plastic, and heats it up to fuse the material layer by layer by layer for hours and hours and hours to build you a three dimensional object. When Noel Murphy brought in the printer he called us all into the class room to explain how a 3D printer works. Then he passed around an elephant he made using the 3D printer. It had holes in it so it wasn’t really a whole elephant. It was more of a… Swiss elephant. Then he called us all into the halla and told us that we were going to make a whistle that we could keep. So we sat on the benches waiting for our aisle to be called to come in, so we could take turns getting to see the 3D printer IN ACTION. By the second lunch time (which was a few hours later) the whistle was done printing. It was yellow and plastic. The first kid that got to try out blowing the whistle was Daniel, the youngest kid in the school. And it worked perfectly. It was really cool. After that we all went back to our class rooms, Noel Murphy took the 3D printer and all of his figurines back and that was that. If you ask me it was real nice of Noel Murphy to bring in a 3D printer. I really enjoyed his visit and I hope that everyone else in Kiltiernan NS did too.

BY: Erin

Irish dancing

We have an Irish dancing teacher called Louise. Every week from the start of the first term until the end of the second term, she takes our class every Wednesday from 9:20 to about 10:05. We are working on a dance but it is a combination of some other dances. First we all do the hop one two and some do one two three which are quite easy but at the start it was a bit difficult. Later all the girls come in as some of the boys just stand aside. Last of all Adam comes and does a dance with a brush. He does a tap dance and he holds the brush in his hand and pulls it. Then he puts one leg over the brush and repeats it with the second leg.  I think it is a very good dance.

By Luke

Blog for Science Experiment: Odd Ooze

Last week was science week. In the senior room, we got into groups for science projects. In my group was Tara, Paul and myself. Our project was called Odd Ooze. We needed corn flour, water and food colouring for this project. You had to mix all those ingredients together in a large bowl. Let’s say you punched the substance in the bowl really hard, it would feel like punching a wall. But if you put your hand in slowly it would feel like it is a liquid. The ooze is made up of tiny, solid particles of corn suspended in water. This type of mixture is called a colloid. It behaves very strangely. I enjoyed making this substance and experimenting on it. I hope I get to do this all over again next year.

Toby 5th Class