Let's go fly a kite...

4th and 5th classes have been busy constructing kites, not yet finished, there are a few modifications required in most groups! 
Get some tips on how to build a kite that might get airborne here!

/build-a-kite     There is a kite festival in Dublin in June.
Easy-Paper-Kite-for-Kids/
my-best-kite.com/kite-for-kids
After learning how to make a kite, find out a little about the history and origins of these cool toys!
historyforkids/china/kite
kitehistory
This website has some very interesting facts about kites! Here's a taster...

The Chinese believe that when you tilt your head back to look at a kite in the sky your mouth opens slightly, which gets rid of excess body heat giving you a healthy yin-yang balance.

The Chinese name for a kite is Fen Zheng, which means wind harp. The name is derived from early Chinese kites which used to carry wind musical instruments.

Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.

kitekids/facts

Mr. Golden Sun!

During the glorious sunshine of last week, 4th and 5th classes looked for every opportunity to get outside and enjoy the weather.
So, jobs were allocated! Some pupils saved seeds from last year's flowers while strawberry plants were potted in the hope that we will have a fruitful crop later in the summer. Kite building has been keeping everyone busy; starting from planning and designing through construction and trial. A few prototypes were found to need major alterations!

It's science, honestly!!

4th and 5th class boys and girls were having so much fun flying their paper planes that it really didn't feel like learning! 

Aerodynamics is the way air moves around things. The rules of aerodynamics explain how an airplane is able to fly. Anything that moves through air reacts to aerodynamics. A rocket blasting off the launch pad and a kite in the sky react to aerodynamics. Aerodynamics even acts on cars, since air flows around cars.

Here are some websites if you want to find out more..

paperaeroplanes  This website takes paper planes to another level! 

nasa.gov/aerodynamics

Principles-of-flight

As always, if you have any comments or recommended websites for us, or if you think you have the best ever design, we would love to hear from you!

P.S boys and girls: check out our new song for next week and our next science lesson!

Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth

Some of the world's oldest monuments are right here in Ireland, not too far away from Cavan, in county Meath!
Newgrange is an example of a passage grave, also made famous by the light which enters only on the winter solstice, a feat which has amazed and baffled archaeologists and historians.
newgrange-facts
ireland_newgrange
newgrange.com