MS. BRADY'S JUNIOR INFANT CLASS 2017-2018

Juniors Infants investigated the Strand 'Materials'.

Walking Water Experiment; Dancing Raising Experiment; Rainbow Milk experiment; Lava Lamps; Floating and Sinking

Strand: Materials
Strand Unit: Materials and Change
Activity: Designed and made Lava lamps
Starter Questions:
Can you name some of different kinds of energy?
Where do we get energy from?
ow do you get energy from food?
Do you think oil and water mix?
What happens to tablets when you put them in water?
Skills:  Predicting, experimenting, observing, analysing.
​Conducting the Investigation:
We measured water and later a smaller amount of vegetable oil using the measuring jug.  We waited until the oil and the water separated. We added food colouring to the mixture to colour the water. We broke an Alka Seltzer into three pieces and dropped one of them into the mixture. We observed the alka-seltzer reacting with the water, producing carbon dioxide which tries to escape from the top! 
​Interpreting the Results: 
We described the colours we saw in the jars and we observed the shapes of the reaction. We saw some spheres which we had already learnt about in out Maths lessons.
Maths link: Number, ordering, operation, measures (capacity).
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Step 5: STEM SHOWCASE- Science Week 2017
​5th and 6th classes along with Junior Infants explored Science Week experiments together.  We arrived at each station and undertook each experiment. We made our predictions beforehand and we made sure a fair test was conducted at each station. 

Juniors include Science and Maths in their Aistear themes. Here they are exploring the theme of Outer Space as part of Space Week 2017!

Junior Infants: Examining Absorbency

The Juniors have been busy exploring the characteristics of materials. They tested five materials for their strength in absorbing water such as plastic;kitchen-roll; newspaper; magazine paper; and a J-cloth. They discussed the five materials and made predictions as to what material would gather the most liquid. Nearly everyone predicted the outcome of the experiment! The lesson involved lots of Maths work too with the Juniors ensuring that the level of water that was placed on each plate beforehand was of equal amounts using the measurement tool of the water syringe. The Juniors learnt how to conduct a 'fair' and accurate test of each material.  Well done Juniors!

Step 2: Junior Infants-Technology: ICT
The Junior Infants have been introduced to coding and are practising their Maths skills on the Ipad.  They work on their coding skills daily in the 'Hour of Code' developing their number and spatial awareness skills.

Step 3: Engineering - Junior Infants: Engineer's Week 2018

Activity 1:
The Juniors discussed what engineering is and the different types of engineering:  Civil, Mechanical, Biomedical, Genetic, Computer to name a few. We examined the engineers week website and looked the the pictures of each type of engineer.

Activity 2:
We took the Marshmallow challenge!! We had to design and build structures using marshmallows and spaghetti. Our goal was to create a structure that could stand alone using squares and triangles. We worked in pairs to create our structures. We linked this activity with our Maths work (Shape and Space; Number; Length).
​We think we did a good job as 'civil engineers' !

Activity 3:
On the Interactive White board we examined various types of bridges around the world. In pairs we decided to design and build various paper shaped bridges. 
​Skills: Predicting, experimenting, observing, analysing.
We then tested each bridges ability to hold coloured cubes. Maths link: Measures: Spatial Awareness; Height; Weight. Number. 

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Step 4: Junior Infants: Maths Week 2017 - Strand: Measures; Number.

The Junior Infants developed a Maths trail around the school.  They examined number on their outdoor trail.

They also examined 3-D shapes in their indoor Maths trail.

Junior Infants. National Tree Day- October 5th 2017.
​Strand: Living Things

The Juniors examined the large trees around our school grounds. They established that the trees were Horse Chestnut trees.  They examined their leaves and fruit. They used their prediction and estimation skills to figure out what would be the best measuring tool  to measure all around the tree trunk. Finally, they produced some creative tree bark rubbings!

Strand: Materials
Junior Infants investigated waterproof materials

The Juniors have been busy exploring and investigating different materials. They examined a variety of materials and have learned that they all look and feel very different.  They then decided that it would be fun to explore which of these materials are waterproof. They talked about the word 'waterproof' and discovered that the word means that it doesn't let water through it!   The Juniors used their prediction skills before they conducted their investigations and made sure each test was a fair one! They wondered if their predictions would be correct.  It was interesting to see what happened to each material as water was poured over them.  Many pupil predictions were correct! 

Junior Infants Investigating Materials- A Waterproof Coat?

Junior Infants have been busy exploring and investigating different materials.  We looked at a variety of materials.  We particularly looked at plastics, fabrics, rubber, paper and card.  We learnt that they all look and feel different.  We decided to investigate which of these materials are waterproof.
We again reminded ourselves what the word 'waterproof' means - it does not let water pass though it.
Ryan, Emily and Adah showed us their coats and we examined the materials their coats were made from.  
To begin our experiment, we gave our predictions.  We made a prediction 'p' sign with our fingers,  We wondered how many of our predictions would be correct!
Then we began to work on testing each of the materials.  We had great fun making coats for Mr. Zebra, The Worry Monster, Freddy the Teddy, Bertie Bear and Inky Ink!  We tested plastic, rubber, newspaper, card, tissue paper, and fabrics.  
Ms, Brady stapled the materials to make a little coat for each of the animals.  We then used the same amount of water spray on each animal.  We were glad to see that the rubber and the plastic were waterproof!
Some of our toy animals got soaked while others stayed dry.  We discussed why this happened during the experiment.
We had lots of fun finding out what materials would be the best to keep the rain out and keep our toy animals dry!

Junior Infants - Step 1 & 4: Science & Maths: Which Ball is the Bounciest?

Materials: Properties and characteristics of Materials

Junior Infants decided to investigate different types of balls to see which one was the bounciest. There was a large selection of balls in our classroom and in the shed. We decided to use Charlie’s soccer ball, a basketball, a sponge ball, a juggling ball, a Toy –Story plastic ball and a ping pong ball.

We used a metre stick to measure how high the ball bounced.

Before we began, we had to make predictions about which ball would be the bounciest. We chatted about what sports we see on television that use the different types of balls. Some pupils thought that the basketball would be the bounciest because it was the biggest.  Other Juniors thought that Charlie’s soccer ball would be the bounciest because it was hard.  Most of the Juniors predicted that the ping –pong ball would be the bounciest and that the spongy ball would be the least bouncy.

We then carried out our investigation. We discussed how to make the investigation a fair test. We chose to drop the ball from the top of the metre stick each time. We also made sure that we dropped the ball from our hand instead of throwing it down.
For each ball we tested, Luke held the metre stick, individual pupils dropped the ball while others watched how high the ball bounced. Ms. Brady marked the place on the metre stick where the ball landed with a marker. We found that the metre stick was very useful as it had the Clare colours  on it (blue and yellow) so we just had to see which colour it reached.
After all of the balls had been bounced, we could see which was the bounciest.

The ball that bounced the highest was the ping pong ball. The second bounciest ball was Charlie’s soccer ball, followed by the basketball, the sponge-ball and the Toy-Story ball. The juggling ball was the least bouncy. We learned that balls bounce differently depending on what material they are made of.

We linked our science investigation to Maths in a few different ways:
Shape and Space – 3D shape: We have recently learned about 3D shapes and we know that a ball is a sphere shape.
Number – Comparing and ordering: We had to put the balls in order from the bounciest to the least bouncy. We used the language of ordinal number when we were deciding which balls to test first and last.
Measures – Length: We compared the balls according to how high they bounced.

Junior Infants: Step 1 and 4. Investigating and Describing Materials. Linking Science and Maths.  Pass the Parcel Game!

Our Investigation
We are continuing to learn about Materials.  We have been discussing materials and using words to describe items.  We have learnt words such as smooth, rough, prickly, rubbery, shiny, fluffy etc.

One day our teacher played a game of ‘Pass the Parcel’ with us. We sat around our tables and looked at the big parcel that was taken out of the very large bag.  It was wrapped in brown paper and it had a green ribbon.  We saw that there was a sticker with 20 written on the outside of the parcel.  We wondered what would happen when we opened that first layer of the parcel – would there be another sticker with a different number and maybe different packaging.  We made our predictions.

We then began our investigation.  The music played on the computer and we passed around the parcel. When the music stopped, the person holding the parcel looked at it and described the material used. They described the colour and the texture. Then they saw that there was a little prize inside for them to keep. We named each prize and linked it to our Maths work on Shape and Space, Colours, Counting, Length etc.  When the music began once more the parcel was passed around again. This continued until everyone got a turn.

We found out that as we opened the layers of the parcel, there was a different material making up each layer.  We also realised that the parcel was getting smaller and that the numbers on each sticker were getting smaller too as it went around the room.

We linked this activity with our Maths work.
Strand: Number- Counting –
Strand: Space and Shape – 3d Shapes
Each parcel was numbered from 20-1 and we counted down as we opened each layer. Many of the objects between the layers were 2D and 3D shapes for example. the pencil is a cylinder and the ball is a sphere (both cylinder and sphere can roll). We also found out that the ruler can make straight lines and the odd- shaped erasers were able to link together.

We really enjoyed discovering all about different Materials and especially playing the ‘Pass the Parcel’ game!