P45 have been learning Sea Shanties and Drumming with Giles from Jura this term. They have improved their rhythm skills and learned new songs.
Harry Potter Escape Room
Primary 3 and 4 from Port Ellen met with Primary 4 and 5 in Bowmore to do a Harry potter Maths themed escape room. There was lots of problem solving to do, including sorting the potions and spells. It was great to meet with our friends in Bowmore to do some maths.
Pleased to report that everyone got out of the Hogwarts Escape Room! Fantastic fun, lots of great maths problem solving and meeting new friends from Bowmore Primary. Well done everyone. pic.twitter.com/lBQet11vcI
— Port Ellen Primary School (@portellenps) February 15, 2023
Rock pooling
On Wednesday 7th of September p5/6/7 went rock pooling over the Ard to the Swan’s pool for our classification topic.
We caught sea creatures; so we caught multiple crabs, a jelly fish, some shrimp, fish, and a huge fish skeleton.
After that we got seaweeds and the animals we found and identified them using classification keys because we kept them in trays with water in them. The multiple seaweeds were all different colours, shapes and sizes.
After we let them go and walked back over the Ard and went back to school.
By William and Jacob
Parachutes in P1/2/3
P1/2/3 have been learning about parachutes (air resistance) and they used Explain Everything to record their experiments inserting video clips of their tests, how they made their tests fair and the results. They were then able to use this information in the design of their own parachutes to protect an egg from smashing when dropped from the top of the stairs.
Thinking like Engineers
P1/2/3 have been using their engineering skills to design and build models that incorporate a working electric circuit. They worked hard to solve problems and try to improve their designs as they went along.
Building circuits
After building human circuits in the gym hall, children in P1/2/3 were given a box of components and had to build a working circuit. This excellent resource was given to the Islay schools cluster by SSERC and it has been well used!
How we get electricity
P1/2/3 have been learning where electricity comes from. We watched video clips of how power is generated in a power station by burning coal and oil to make steam which then turns the huge turbines. We built models to show that we understood how power gets from the power stations to our homes and why we should never play near electricity pylons. It also struck home that this is what causes emissions that cause global warming, linked to our Who will Save us? topic.
Learning about Energy
P1/2/3 have been learning all about energy. They have explored lots of different toys, old and new, to see what they do and thought about what makes them go. They have discovered that toys can move, make sounds and light and that all of this is produced by putting energy into the toys – from electricity, by pushing, pulling and twisting. The children were amazed to see the liquid move when it was heated with your hand. Learning about energy is part of our Rolls-Royce Science Prize project for this year.
Scottish Maths Challenge Success!
Every year Mrs Clark’s class take part in the Scottish Maths Challenge, a competition where you have to complete tricky maths problems that require you to think outside the box. It is a great way to improve your maths problem solving skills and learn to apply strategies to help you work out the answers. Children can opt to take part in the challenges, and there are three sets of questions over the year. One of the questions this year was:
Colin and Tom are on a camping holiday and, at their campsite, they make friends with Fiona. They ask her when her birthday is but, being a bit of a joker, Fiona tells them only that it is one of the following;
May 14, July 12, May 15, May 18, June 16, June 19, July 15, August 12, August 14, August 16.
She then tells Colin the month of her birthday, but not the day in the month, whilst she tells Tom the day in the month, but not the month.
Immediately, Colin Declares “Well Tom certainly cannot know for sure when Fiona’s birthday is.”
to which Tom replies “Ah, but now I do.” “And now I know when it is as well,” comes back Colin.
When is Fiona’s birthday? Explain your reasoning.
Quite tricky!
The children who took part have been very successful and should be proud of their perseverance and skills. Ellie and Matthew have achieved a bronze medal and Eva, Ruaraidh, Rowan, Rebecca and Kaitlyn achieved a silver medal in the competition. Kaitlyn and Rebecca missed out on the gold by one point! Well done everyone.
Pesach Sway
Here is our Sway on the Jewish Festival of Pesach.
Wesak Sway
Hi, Here is mine and Rebecca’s Sway on Wesak, a buddhist festival.
Our Solar System
For our topic we have been working on the solar system. So far we have learned what is the closest planet to the sun which is Mercury. In school we have been working on the eight planets they are all surrounding the sun.
We have also been learning about the rocky and the giant planets. We are going to tell you about the rocky planets. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
Now we are going to tell you about the giant planets. They are Saturn, Jupiter , Uranus and Neptune. Neptune is the furthest away from the sun it is 4.5 billion km away. Neptune has 165 years to complete orbit. We are learning lots.
