Saint Brigid's Day

Next Tuesday is the 1st February.

It is St. Brigid's Day and the first day of spring.

There is an old Irish tradition where the cross is left outside with some cloth the night before Feb 1st.

St. Brigid blesses the crosses and cloth during the night.

(The cloth is called St. Brigid's Mantle)

Next morning, someone goes outside to get the cross and cloth.

They have to knock on the door and the person that opens it has to say

"welcome Saint Brigid and welcome the spring".

James left the cross and cloth outside, and next morning, when he knocked on the door, Patrick opened it and said

"welcome Saint Brigid, and welcome the spring".

Chinese New Year

Next Thursday is the start of the Chinese New Year.

It will be the year of the rabbit.

Can you find any information about how the Chinese celebrate?
Try to discover more about the country as well;
e.g what colours are in the flag
what is the capital city
what language do Chinese people speak
what animals are native to China (there is a new link that might help you with this one!)

Young Scientists!

Ava and Sophie showed the class an experiment using the primary colours.

When the food dyes ran, they made secondary colours!

We used blue, red and yellow bubbles to make these cool paintings :)

Prayer Service

 

Children making their First Holy Communion this year have a Prayer Service tonight.

It is at 7 o'clock in the Pastoral Centre. 

If you cannot attend tonight, there will also be a prayer service tomorrow night.

Please phone the Presbytery if you have any questions.

Our Feathered Friends!

There was great excitement in class on Tuesday, as Michael put up the nest box that 1st and 2nd classes made last year. Cian has already spotted some great tits checking it out!

The boys and girls are keen to feed the birds over the cold winter and early spring, so we are selling hyacinth plants, as well as making bird feeders for sale.

We hope that we will make enough money to buy seed and nuts for all our little visitors!

Walking on the Moon!

In class, we have learned about the solar system and the stars.

Have a look at our Fact Factory to find out about moonwalking!

Landing on the Moon

The Apollo 11 Crew

The Apollo 11 crew from left to right: Neil Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and , Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. The Launch President Kennedy challenged the nation to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Center.

The Moon Landing

On July 20, 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon. He said  "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." A camera in the Lunar Module provided live television coverage as Neil Armstrong climbed down the ladder to the surface of the moon. Walking on the Moon To walk on the moon's surface, the astronauts needed to wear a space suit with a back mounted, portable life support system. This controlled the oxygen, temperature and pressure inside the suit. On the surface, the astronauts had to get used to the reduced gravity. They could jump very high compared to on Earth. The crew spend a total of two and a half hours on the moon's surface. While on the moon's surface, the performed a variety of experiments and collected soil and rock samples to return to Earth.

Returning to Earth

After re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, parachutes opened to safely lower the Columbia into the Pacific Ocean. After landing in the Ocean, the crew were retrieved by a helicopter and taken to the recovery ship, the "USS Hornet." The crew and lunar samples were placed in quarantine until their health and safety could be confirmed. The Command Module "Columbia" returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Apollo 11 had successfully completed its mission. President Kennedy's objective to land men on the moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.

The Rainbow

 

 

 

 

Colors of the Rainbow  =

 

Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain   =

 

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet!

Rainbow experiment

You will need the following:

A clear glass jar with a wide mouth
A mirror (small enough to fit in glass)
A flashlight
A room with white walls

First, fill the glass with water. Then, carefully place the small mirror into the glass jar, at an angle.

Next, turn the lights off so that you will able to see the rainbow better.

Last, aim the flashlight toward the mirror in the jar. Change the angle of light from the flashlight or change the angle of the mirror until you can see the rainbow on the wall or ceiling.

What colours do you see?

Explanation:The mirror reflects light as it passes through the water, traveling at an angle. The water refracts (or bends) the light. As light bends, it separates into the colours of the rainbow, which are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

 

New blog page

Hi kids!
We now have a new page in our blog.
Its called The Fact Factory and you will find all sorts of interesting information there.
If you have a cool fact to share, let teacher know.
Hope you enjoy the page!

Colour

How Animals See Colour

Dogs, cats, mice, rats and rabbits have very poor colour vision.
In fact, they see mostly greys and some blues and yellows.

This is what humans see.

This is what dogs & cats see.

What about bulls? Does a red cape make them angry?
Does a red cape make them want to attack it?

This is what humans see.

This is what a bull sees.

Bulls are colour-blind. They charge the red cape because it is moving, not because it is red.

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Some animals do have good colour vision. Monkeys, ground squirrels, birds, insects, and many fish can see a fairly good range of colour. In some cases it's not as good as what we humans see - but it's much better than cats and dogs.

Scientists say that good colour vision helps animals find food on the land or in the water. For land animals, good colour vision helps to tell the difference between ripe red fruit and unripe green fruit. Finally, the ability to see colours helps animals identify predators (other animals who may attack them).