Here is our Sway.
Our Environmental Art Sway
WINNERS!
Last week Joe, Bronagh, Kaya and Murray traveled with Mrs Clark and Mrs Leask to Glasgow and Edinburgh to take part in the Celebration of Science and Engineering run by @scdiYESC at the Glasgow Science Centre. They were finalists in the Junior Saltire Awards with their Wave Islay design, made with help from Bronagh’s dad Gus, an excellent boat builder. They tested their devices at the Flowave facility in Edinburgh along with 6 other primary schools and 5 secondary schools, before attending the event and presenting to the judges. They also took part in STEM challenges as a team, with around 40 other schools, where they had to correct a listing oil rig, calculate pH for crops, stabilize a bridge, build a train and identify oil products. When we got to the awards ceremony the Imax cinema was full. We were shocked and amazed when Heather the weather announced the winners of the primary STEM challenges as Port Ellen Primary School! We got a great trophy and went and sat back down, only to discover we had also won the Primary Junior Saltire Awards! What a day! Below is a video of our Junior Saltire Journey.
https://vimeo.com/170321861
One Picnic Pocket Pallet Garden
On Thursday 2nd June Mirren and Rebecca traveled to Edinburgh to set up their Picnic Pocket Pallet Garden. When they arrived, they set up their garden for the next morning when the show would be held. The Garden Show was held in Ingliston. They next morning Mirren and Rebecca and their families went to the show. There were lots of really good gardens from other sections and the section Mirren and Rebecca’s garden was in. They looked around all of the gardens and then they went back to theirs because a politician came to look at our garden and asked us questions about it. Then we got our picture taken by a photographer. After that we all went to look at other gardens and got ice-cream before we traveled back down the road to the ferry.
Cooking Around The World
For my Endeavour I am doing cooking around the world. Endeavour is an independent topic that you work on for a few months. I chose Cooking around the world because I love to cook and I don’t know where foods come from and I would love to know. I have used books from different places that has lots od different recipes on it. Mrs Mcfarlane has helped me when I have been cooking. I have learned how to chop vegetables and I now know how to be safe in the kitchen. I have also improved my math skills and my chopping. On the day when I showed what I had achieved I had 2 posters, some recipes, a video, foods that I brought in and my quiz and pictures of what I made.
The Mod
On Saturday 4th June Port Ellen Primary School choir went to the Local mod on Islay. The mod was held in the high school in Bowmore. The choir won the unison and came 2nd in the peaurt a bheil. Also ten people from the choir won the psalm. For the unison you have two songs and in our first song Mrs Macdonald made a mistake so we thought there was no chance of us winning but with our second song, Latha Math, we did really well and we got high marks for Gaelic and music from the Judges which meant we won. Lots of individuals did well also- Rowan was covered in gold medals! The Primary 1-3 class also did a fab action song. We really enjoyed taking part and improving our Gaelic.
HOGWARTS BUZZING GARDEN IS ALREADY BUZZING!
Here are some photos of our finished garden, already attracting bees and butterflies.
The Results are in!
P3/4 have been conducting lots of different plant experiments using fair testing techniques. They have chosen one variable and kept all other conditions the same, testing for heat, water, light, soil and plant food. One group was amazed to see a broad bean growing in sand! The beans in the boiler house germinated and grew really quickly but the leaves were very pale and the plants did not look too healthy so we decided that a combination of heat, light and water works best! They worked in groups to produce a scientific report using powerpoints. Some of the plants will be used in the Pocket Picnic garden.
Picnic Pocket Garden
P5/6/7 took part in the Eco Schools Scotland One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden competition and designed a Pocket Garden in pairs. The garden had to be eco-friendly, use seasonal produce, be grown locally and have a theme. Mirren and Rebecca’s Hogwarts Buzzing Garden came back as a winner! They had a Harry Potter themed Garden that is bee friendly which they now had to create and take to Edinburgh for the Royal Horticultural Show at the start of June. After they found out they won they went straight to work with finding, making and growing different items to put on there garden. Mirren, Rebecca, Mrs Clar and Mrs Leask took a trip up to Glenegadale Garden and Peter to source some locally grown plants for the display, which he generously helped us with. We think the final garden, which has plants to help with spells and help attract and feed bees, will look great. Thanks to everyone who is helping to make it possible, including our mums and dads who are taking us.
Junior Saltire Awards
A few weeks ago p5/6/7 worked on designs for a wave power device for the Junior Saltire Awards, which is a national competition for school children to design and make their own devices to promote the use of renewable energy. The group that built the device was called Wave Islay, and included Bronagh, Joe, Murray, Kaya, Abi and Ellie. We researched renewable and non renewable energy and learned about wave powered devices. Bronagh’s dad came in to help us build our device. When it was finished we went to test it in the sea and it worked. We had to fill in some papers to send away. Later on we found out that our device was in the finals. Now we are working on improvements to make it better! Bronagh, Joe, Murray and Kaya get to go to Edinburgh for the awards on the 9th June, where we will test our device in the Flo Wave facility at Edinburgh University. It is all very exciting!
