Today in third and fourth class we were learning the very important skill of budgeting. The children armed with their Lidl magazines were asked to design a meal for 4 people with a budget of €20. The meal needed to include a starter, main course and a dessert. While the meals were questionable the children were very good at spending the maximum amount of money available to them.
Inspired by our trip to NUIG where we learned that engineers are superheros, we decided to give superheroing, I mean engineering a go. We were given the materials of spaghetti and marshmallows and asked to build the tallest structure we could. Armed with our previous knowledge from bridge building and our brilliant mathematical minds we set to work. It was task that proved more difficult than we had expected. After plenty of designing and redesigning we had two structures that were in competition with each other. Harry was our worthy winner in the end and was awarded with a spaghetti/marshmallow prize from our runners up Michael and Darragh. For the last 20 minutes we were allowed build anything we wanted. This is when some more fantastic imaginative minds came to light. We may not have saved lives, or facilitated people to fly but we are well on our way to becoming brilliant engineers.
For the second part of our Explorers Programme we had the privilege of going to the Galway aquarium. The children had the opportunity to dissect a squid and learn about all the parts. It was a challenge for some where as others embraced the experience with both hands...literally. Then we were treated to a guided tour of the aquarium. We also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the playground beforehand. The photos speak for themselves.
We were delighted to get a visit from Padraic Creedon from the Explorer's Education Programme in third and fourth class. He taught us about marine plants and animals. We were really interested in the ray and shark eggs that he brought in for us to see. We will be searching for these on Irish beaches from now on. We are looking forward to the second part of the workshop which takes place in the aquarium in a few weeks.
Today in third and fourth class we were learning the very important skill of budgeting. The children armed with their Lidl magazines were asked to design a meal for 4 people with a budget of €20. The meal needed to include a starter, main course and a dessert. While the meals were questionable the children were very good at spending the maximum amount of money available to them.
We had great fun making 3-D shapes from lollipop sticks and playdough. We made cubes, cuboids, pyramids and prisms. We even attempted cylinders but they unfortunately didn't work out. We now know all about vertices, sides and faces.
Inspired by our trip to NUIG where we learned that engineers are superheros, we decided to give superheroing, I mean engineering a go. We were given the materials of spaghetti and marshmallows and asked to build the tallest structure we could. Armed with our previous knowledge from bridge building and our brilliant mathematical minds we set to work. It was task that proved more difficult than we had expected. After plenty of designing and redesigning we had two structures that were in competition with each other. Harry was our worthy winner in the end and was awarded with a spaghetti/marshmallow prize from our runners up Michael and Darragh. For the last 20 minutes we were allowed build anything we wanted. This is when some more fantastic imaginative minds came to light. We may not have saved lives, or facilitated people to fly but we are well on our way to becoming brilliant engineers.
For the second part of our Explorers Programme we had the privilege of going to the Galway aquarium. The children had the opportunity to dissect a squid and learn about all the parts. It was a challenge for some where as others embraced the experience with both hands...literally. Then we were treated to a guided tour of the aquarium. We also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the playground beforehand. The photos speak for themselves.
We are continuing with our bridges theme and the children have been really busy making their own creations at home. Here are a few examples of what they have made. I've been blown away by their creativity and commitment to these projects.
We were delighted to get a visit from Padraic Creedon from the Explorer's Education Programme in third and fourth class. He taught us about marine plants and animals. We were really interested in the ray and shark eggs that he brought in for us to see. We will be searching for these on Irish beaches from now on. We are looking forward to the second part of the workshop which takes place in the aquarium in a few weeks.