Water Cycle
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
We have been talking about the water cycle. We have been listening to a song about it too. We know that the sun evaporates puddles and a little of the water from lakes and seas. We have left a bowl of water on the window to see if the sun and the heat from the radiator will evaporate it. Teacher drew a black line on the container so we will know when the water evaporates a little. 
This is how much water had evaporated by Friday. 
Next we tried to make our own water. Each table started with a cup with a little water in it. The outside of each cup was dry. 
Next teacher gave each cup two ice cubes. When the ice cubes melted a little some water started being formed on the outside of the cups. 
This happens because the air around the cup is warmer than the cup with ice in it. When the warm air hits the cold cup, some of it turns itto water droplets (condenses). We were amazed when we saw the water on the outside of the cups. Now we know how to make water!
We painted snakes on Monday, cut them out and hung them up yesterday, and today we noticed that the snakes hung in the middle of the room didn't move at all, 
but the ones near the window were dancing. 
We chatted about this for a while, some of us thought that the snakes by the window were just more excited, being able to look out. After a bit of discussion, we decided that the snakes by the window were moving because they were also over the radiator. We know that hot air is coming from the radiator. This air rises because hot air (and steam and smoke) always travels up as high as it can go. The snakes by the window are in the path of the hot air and so they look as if they are dancing. The ones in the middle of the room have no radiator under them, and so they don't move.
Look at the pictures of all the different ways we could balance on our own and in pairs!
We talked about why some kinds of balancing are easier than others. Gravity pulls us down but we can balance easily if we can put our arms out. 
It is impossible to pick things off the ground or to lift one leg if our bodies are pressed against the wall. This PE class is very scientific too! For more pictures of us balancing see 
Teacher blew up the balloon and taped the balloon to the straw. We counted down 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Blast off! and let go the balloon. 
It zoomed across the classroom. We were wondering if the balloon could fly uphill, so one of us sat on a chair, holding the thread, while the other stood (carefully) on the table. Sure enough the balloon was happy to fly uphill. We noticed that the air coming out the end of the balloon causes the balloon to fly in the opposite direction. We really loved this investigation!
Senior Infants, Room 5 held an open day, to display the science we have done so far this year to teachers from our school and from another junior school in Ennis. 
It was an exciting day, and each pupil got the chance to man a table with an investigation of their own. Of course, we will do many more investigations before the year is over, so look out for our next open day in January or February. 
The investigations we demonstrated were: fingerprints, minibeasts, weather stick, model lungs, strawberries, helicopters, colour wheels, colour fans and acetates, smartie science, lions in cages, eggs-how to tell raw from cooked, in vinegar, how to get an egg into a bottle, dancing raisins, racing colours and string telephones.
Thanks so much to the Galway Education Centre for always showing so much interest in the science we do in class. Thanks to them too for the T-Shirts and goodies they sent as a reminder for us of our great day.
Teacher had to do these investigations herself because the water in the bottles was boiling hot - too dangerous for us to touch. First she tried to push a boiled egg, with the shell on it, into the bottle. It didn't fit. Next she peeled the egg and tried again. With water in the bottle, the egg just sat happily on top. The action started when teacher poured the boiling water out of the bottle, and then put the egg on top. Once the bottle started cooling down, the egg began to be sucked into the bottle. 
It got sucked in a little, but we think the eggs we tried were just too big - the rim of the bottle cut the egg so the egg broke (but half of it ended up in the bottle).
Today we planted daffodil bulbs. They look very like onions. We planted one each - we had to dig a hole with a trowel, pop in the bulb with the roots facing downwards, then fill in the hole with the soil we had taken out. We saw lots and lots of worms. We know the bulbs will be safe and warm in the ground all winter. We look forward to seeing the beautiful daffodils in the spring!
