What’s been happening in December…

Our pupils in P1-P4 enjoyed shared activity based sessions where they explored a range of transport related construction and play resources. From building boats to launching rockets and working out how trains and cars work they covered it all! The new resources purchased through the Rolls Royce fund enhanced this learning opportunity. This is what the children had to say:

“I made a big car. It went really fast when I pushed it!”

“I made a bus and my friends were able to fit inside!”

“My first paper aeroplane didn’t fly very far. I kept trying different ones. Finally I got one to fly really far!!”

Primary 7 pupils enjoyed a visit to the Northern Regional College, Coleraine Campus. There they saw a stripped back car and its parts, learned about power sources for vehicles and even witnessed a sea water science experiment. Here are some of their comments:

“A lady showed us an experiment which used sea water and showed it could burn up and be used as energy.”

“We got to walk under a real car which was up on a lift. It was really cool to see inside and under the car.”

“I learned what happens when you put the wrong type of fuel in a car.”

Primary 5 and 6 pupils met to work and engage with each other in small groups to collaborate and investigate how things move. They also explored what they needed to do in order to make the structure of their vehicle secure and what were the best materials to use. Children were given a range of materials from construction resources such as K'nex and Lego, to recyclable materials such as old clothes pegs, bottles, elastic bands, paper and card.

The children were really focused and enthusiastic about the workshop and commented:

“The teams that worked well together made the best vehicles.”

“I loved working with my friends from St. Colum’s. We had a great group and we made a brilliant vehicle out of our materials”.

“I loved the surprise of what was in our making box. We had to come up with our own ideas and work out how to make our vehicle move”.

“It was hard to get our wheels to move because we had fixed axles and fixed wheels”.

The collaborative groups were then given the opportunity to feedback to their respective peers on what materials they used, what they made, the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. The children are excited and keen to get started on the next stage: Design and Make!

Primary 1-7 had a visit from the local council Recycling Officer, Declan Donnelly, who discussed what and why we recycle. He was really enthusiastic and informative, giving us some pointers and tips as to what we might be able to use to build our Marvellous Movers.