Action Day
Water Scientist: Kate & Philip
Water Experiment: Water Tornado
We used a special connection to join two big bottles together by their caps. We attached the two bottles together. Before we attached them together we ¼ filled one bottle with water. Once attached we turned it upside down and moved it in a circular motion. The momentum pushes the water to the side and then a water tornado is formed. The water remains to spin. The water that has not come down makes a whirlpool (tornado). Most children were amazed by this and they all wanted to do it by themselves.
Water Scientist: Kate & Philip
Water Experiment: What dissolves in water and what does not dissolve in water?
We laid out glass jars and we put different things into the water to see what dissolved in water and what did not dissolve in water.
We had the following items to test: rice, porridge flakes, rice, coffee granules, salt, sugar, pepper, flour and Vit D tablets.
We asked the children to put a teaspoon of each substance into the jars of water. Before they were allowed to put a spoon in they first had to predict if the substance would dissolve in water or not. We wrote down what the children predicted.
The following were the results:
| Substance | Dissolved | Did not dissolve |
| Rice | X | |
| Porridge Flakes | X | |
| Rice | X | |
| Vit D tablets | X | |
| Pepper | X | |
| Sugar | X | |
| Coffee Granules | X (in hot water) | |
| Flour | X (after stirring) |
We found the coffee granules did not dissolve in cold water but they did dissolve in hot water so we heated the water during our experiment with the help of adults.
We also found the flour actually dissolved one you stirred it with a spoon.
Water Scientist: Grainne & Rachel
Water Experiment: Black Pepper & Water
Fill a lunch box ½ way with water and put ground black pepper on top. We then got the children to dip their finger into washing up liquid and then they had to touch the surface of the water.
Result: The ground pepper went away from the children’s finger. We felt all the children enjoyed this experiment.
Water Scientist: Grainne & Rachel
Water Experiment: Water Races
We put drops of food colouring into water and we put some water onto grease proof paper which we securely placed on the table. The children would then blow through some straws and they would race the water to the finish line which would be lollipop stick.
We then asked the children if we put washing up liquid in do they think it would make a difference?
Some children made predictions as to what might happen.
Result: By adding the washing up liquid it made the water faster and easier to blow.
We felt the children loved the water races and they wanted to keep doing it!
Water Scientist: Aoife & Jamie
Water Experiment: Sinking & Floating
From juniors to 2nd class we got them to make a boat out of plasticine and they had to put marbles in it. They had to see if the boat would float or sink. As we did this experiment we became more creative so we called it a raft and we called the marbles people. The younger children enjoyed this.
From 3rd to 6th we got them to make a boat out of paper and they had to put buttons in it to see if it floated or sank. We decided to call this Titanic.
We did lots of sinking and floating activities which included:
Mandarin with and without its skin, a needle on a tissue, sponge, yoghurt carton, stone, lollipop stick, plastic toy, pencil, counters, rubber and a dice.
The children had to predict if each item floated or sank.
We further developed the experiment as the day went on so when the children put the dice into the water we got the children in each group to check who got the highest number.
Results:
| Item | Floated | Sank |
| Mandarin with skin | X | |
| Mandarin without skin | X | |
| A needle on a tissue | Needle floated
(surface tension) |
Tissue sank |
| Sponge | X | |
| Yoghurt carton | X | |
| Stone | X | |
| Lollipop Stick | X | |
| Plastic Toy | X | |
| Pencil | X | |
| Counters | X | |
| Rubber | X | |
| Dice | X |
Water Scientist: Tadhg & Elizabeth
Water Experiment: Musical jars
We put water into six glasses of different amounts and different food colourings.
The first glass had no water
The second glass had a small amount of water
The third glass had had more and so on. The amount of water went up each time.
The first glass that had no water was very high pitched
The sixth glass that had the most amount of water was very low pitched.
We got the children to hit the glasses with a spoon. The children could hear the different sounds that the glasses made. We got the children to attempt to play their favourite song and also different notes.
We asked the children which glass played the highest note/pitch and the lowest note/pitch. The children enjoyed this experiment and they had great fun playing their favourite song.
Water Scientist: Tadhg & Elizabeth
Water Experiment: Coins
We filled a jar with water. We asked the children how many coins would fit in the jar without the water spilling. The results were varied but usually around 40-50 coins would make the water spill over. Most children predicted a low number of coins 3-10 coins. This was an interesting water experiment.
Water Scientist: Tadhg & Elizabeth
Water Experiment: Water Bombs
We put some water and cooking oil into a jar. We asked the children did they know why the cooking oil was resting on top of the water. Some children knew that this was so as because oil is lighter than water and also oil and water do not mix.
We then put some food colouring on top.
Result:
The food colouring sank down through the oil and when it got to the water it exploded.
We loved doing the water bomb experiment and we also enjoyed being teachers for the day!
Water Scientist: Jack & Ciaran
Water Experiment: Dancing Raisins
We put raisins into normal top water and we found that the raisins sank to the bottom of the bowl.
We put raisins into sparkling water and we found the raisins started shaking around, they started jumping up and down. They would stay up for about three seconds and then fall back down again. We found that if the experiment didn’t work at the start we would simply give the bowl a little shake and the raisins would start to dance/float again.
Water Scientist: Jack & Ciaran
Water Experiment: Skittles
This experiment works well with hot and cold water. However for the explanation purposes we decided to use cold water as we found the experiment was far too fast with hot water.
We put water on a plate. We put in five different coloured skittles on the plate. We used lollipop sticks to mix around the skittles in the plate.
Result: The colour ran off the skittles and into the water. We found that the red skittles were the strongest colour in the water, the purple skittle was the second strongest colour in the water, the green skittle was the third strongest colour in the water and finally the orange and yellow were about the same.
We enjoyed the younger classes as they were amazed at this experiment.
Thirsty Tuesday
The children from the Green School Committee together with Mrs Kissane, Mrs Spillane and Mrs Moynihan enjoyed an action day where the children displayed science experiments based on water. We are hoping to get our next green flag this year which is for water conservation. It was a most enjoyable day. Each class came to visit and take part in water based science experiments
THE GREEN SCHOOLS
(by Elizabeth and Tadhg – Green School members)
Our Green Schools members for 2016/2017 include Rose and Ronan from Third Elizabeth and Tadhg from Fourth Melissa and Billy from Fifth and Maeve, Dylan and Daragh from .We have three parent members Mrs.Kissane, Mrs.Bennet and Mrs. Cahillane . Our team also include Anthony our caretaker. We also have two teachers on the team Ms. Lynch, Ms. O’ Donoghue and Mrs. Moynihan.
Water watchers
For the next two years we are working on trying to save water.
In order to do so we have chosen Water Watchers.
Juniors: Cillian and Lilly,
Seniors: Flir and Jake,
First: Jack and Eva,
Second: Sam.B and Fiona,
Third: Rose and Ronan,
Fourth: Tadgh and Elizabeth,
Fifth: Melissa and Billy,
Sixth: Maeve, Dylan and Daragh .
WATER Audit
After we had the Green School team sorted out we carried out a
water audit of the school:
taps =36 toilets =25 dishwashers =1 shower=1 hose =1
We made a map and a block chart of our results as well.
Survey conducted on water usage in Fossa Community.
We wish to thank the families from Fossa School for taking the time to participate in our survey on water usage within the home.
From the feedback we received, we have made the following observations:
- Households in Fossa community are aware of water usage.
- Appliances are used daily but families are mindful of only using them when they are full.
- Taps are often left running when completing chores or personal hygiene. But most are in good working order.
- There are moderate use of water for outside tasks like washing the dog and cat etc.
- Families use bottled water as opposed to drinking water from the tap, especially in the summer.
- It was interesting to note that the majority of family’s do not use hippo bags or bottle in the toilet.
- Separate basins are not used in the kitchen sink.
- Twistable taps are the most common types of taps in homes.
Once again a sincere thank you for completing the survey.
Some ideas we have:
Get a water metre to see what we have been doing, time how long people use the taps and get a water pump.
On Wednesday the 17th of February the whole school went out to the astro turf.
We had to use energy so we did things like push up, sit ups, running on the spot, jumping jacks and the plank.
Together we did this for ten minutes we did not take a break we used as much energy as we could.
Wednesday the 17th of February
Fourth class, fifth class and sixth class had energy workshops.
In the workshops we learned about new ways to save energy.
The woman’s name was Tara.
She made rockets out of foam and cardboard and then we launched them with a metre stick and an elastic band.
Then we got fizzy tablets and water and a little tub and put the water and the tablet in the tub and waited and it flew up in the air.
We the students are trying to save energy to get our green flag.
The Questionnaires were sent to parents to highlight awareness about energy.
The green team had to go through all the slogans to see which one was the winner so we came together as a group to pick one. We chose “Don’t be the world’s enemy save energy”
We are trying to get our second green flag.
Each class picked two people to be energy zappers
The more energy we save, the more money we save! With the money we save we can buy something nice for our school.
So the aim this year is to save energy and get our second green flag.
The green team will keep working with the school & parents throughout the year.
The green school team hopes to see their next flag flying outside the school soon.
We hope you have an energy saving year!
