Biology

On the 15th of March P6/7 went to the high school for a science day. P6/7 from different schools came as well, like Bowmore, Port Charlotte and Keills. We all got into groups to do different activities. P7 went to do science. We did Chemistry, Physics and also Biology.

In biology we had to find many different things about ourselves, like our heart rate, our temperature, our reaction time and about our lungs. After we had tested we had to write it down.

Also we had to get a sample of our DNA.  We did that by getting fairy liquid and pouring it into a tube. Then we had to getting a cotton wool stick and wipe it around our mouths. We would then stick it in the tubes. After we did that we got something that was ice cold, and put it in with the fairy liquid. We then put it in a beaker and poured it in somewhere else. To make sure it was ours we had to write our initials on it. We all learned how to get a sample of our own DNA and I think that is a good skill to learn. We all really enjoyed the different activities that we did, and cannot wait to do it again in high school.

Physics

On the 15th of March all of the P6/7 on Islay took part in STEM activities.  STEM is science, tecnnology, maths and engineering.

It felt really strange in the high school and we had three different science teachers.  I liked Mr Kitching’s class where we were learning about physics and magnetism.

We got to try out different machines that made electromagnets and we had to make the light turn. It was fun and I met lots of new friends for high school and the event made me meet a lot of new people.

Science For P7 At Islay High School

In the afternoon of Wednesday 15th March all the P7s of Islay and Jura all learned about chemical reactions. The chemical reactions that Mrs Moran talked about are; change of colour, appearance of a solid, different temperature- hot or cold, bubbles, sound and it might move around the water. All the P7 went to do science to see what the High School is like and what the science class is like. We learned that if you sprinkle  little bits of iron over a flame of fire it will look like sparklers.

Mrs Moran  also taught about sodium which is a metal and showed us what it can do. Sodium is a dangerous product and can be very harmful but what it can do looks very pretty. Mrs Moran put a tiny bit of sodium in the water. ” Everyone stand back!” Mrs Moran said. The sodium whizzed about the water, slowed down and created a pretty pinky purple colour in the water it moved around and in a couple of seconds BANG!

By Natalie

P4/5 Force Topic For Science Week

P4/5 have been learning about forces for science week. They have also been using science skills like how to test fairly.  They tested to find out how the difference in force they applied had bigger and smaller impacts on what they were moving.  They measured what they were doing in newtons and the testing was fair and accurate. They built rockets to test which would travel the furthest.  They felt that the bigger force would have a better impact because it would make the rocket go further and faster.

They also did an experiment on how far a small car could travel. They had a chair and they had a elastic band. They put the elastic band round the chair legs and then one of them pulled the band back and then the other person put the car in front of the band and then the other person the band go and it shot the car forward. Then they marked down what distance the car had traveled. They then used smaller and bigger pulls on the elastic band to see if the distance would change.  They learned how changing the size of a force could change the motion of what they were testing.

By Ruaraidh P7

Generation Science visit with Lego Mindstorms

On Monday 13th March we programmed robots when we had a visit from Generation Science for National Science Week.

The robots were made of Lego but they had a device on them. The device was what made the robots do what it was programmed to do, a micro processor. We had to get a computer then make programs on it. We had to add settings on an app on the computer then make it move forward by clicking a arrow facing forward and then add more setting and click on a stop button to make it stop.

Once we made the programs we had to get a cord then plug one end into the computer and the other into the robot. We then had to press a button on the computer to transport the programs onto the robot. Once the robot was programmed you had to take it to a race track to get it tested and if the robot passed the test, you can go onto the next challenge. The next challenge was to make it go forward then go backwards for 3 seconds. We had to make a new setting on the computer which had a backward arrow on it and then make it go backward for 3 seconds by clicking a button and writing 3 seconds down. We then tested it out again on the race track and then we got another challenge.

The challenge was to keep all the program but make it rotate.To do that we added a new setting and put it before the stop setting. we then just put rotate to 75 and then tested it out. For the next challenge we had to remove all our current programs then add new. We had to make it go forward and then dodge barrels then go back on track and make it to the end of the track. It was hard because we could not use any senses so it could not dodge barrels just by seeing the barrels so we had to judge the time it would take to hit the barrels. Not many people made it past the challenge and eventually we had to stop. We then had a few minutes to give our robot some programs and make it dance. We had a robot dance battle  but they were no winners.

Drone After School Club

  On Monday 13th March we had a drone club after school. Nearly everyone in my class went to the club. The club was for primary 4 – 7. The first thing we had to do was program the drones to make them fly around in a square. We used the Ipad  to program them.   The first time we tested it some groups made it do a flips and turns. Some of the drones wheels that protected us from it even fell of. After that we got a shot of spheros that got controlled on an ipad .  You had a choice of changing its speed or colour . At the end of the club we got to see a very small computer about a half the size of a  remote. Everyone go a shot of tinkering with it.

A toothrific afternoon!

On Monday, 13th March Mrs Bermingham came in to talk to us about keeping our teeth healthy and cleaning them properly. She talked about all of the good and bad bacteria in our mouths and why it’s important to eat healthy snacks. She also told us that we need to “spit, not rinse!” and Spitty Monkey squirted water at us! She also gave us a Healthy Snack reward chart to make sure we are bringing healthy snacks into school.

By Christopher and the P1-3’s

International School Meals Day

On Thursday 9th March we celebrated International School Meals Day. We are learning about China and gave our ideas to Mrs Holyoake. We decorated the dining hall with fans, lanterns, Chinese menus and chinese writing that said “Enjoy your meal!” The whole school enjoyed eating prawn crackers, spring rolls, Chicken Chow Mein, Sweet and Sour Chicken followed by dumplings with golden syrup and ice-cream.

The Pink Tree Trackers Game Design Competition

The p5/6/7 had a game design competition. There were four groups The pink tree trackers, The dream team, MCG gaming and The fish finish line. My group was the pink tree trackers. In our group we had our own roles, these were the roles:

Sophie – Creative diretor/Manager

Natalie – Assistant Marketer/ Producer

Rowan – Programmer

Aaron – Artist

Abi – Game designer

Ciaran – Game designer

In our game we had four levels, all of them had a pink tree in it. They all had a pink tree in them because the whole point of our game was to get to the pink tree and that’s how you got to the next level. I think our group worked well together because we never left anyone out of anyone with nothing to do but I think we need to work on being a little more organized and faster. One problem we had to overcome was that we wanted the Kodu to eat the apples but he wasn’t, but as we tinkered around a little we found out that we had programed the apple instead of programing Kodu. The strategy that we used was debugging.

by Sophie Macdonald

Deforestation Endeavour by Aidan campbell

My Endeavour is Deforestation and its involved in science because I’m going to see how animals survive in those conditions and see how people can stop deforestation such as using smartphone detectors that detect saws and they send a alarm to a ranger the ranger comes and stops the person who is cutting down the tree. The science is about nature and the protection of trees.  In this I mostly feel happy because I am focused and calm but usually pictures don’t work and that makes me a bit angry.

Bird Endeavour

For My Endeavour I’m doing birds. I have been learning about their migration, where they go to, how long it takes them to get there, what they do on their journey. I have also bean learning about a lot about garden birds. I have learned about the robin, great tit and blue tit, I will be learning about other birds.

I have started a sway on geese migration on Islay, I have not done very many slides on my sway but I will be doing more. For a piece of homework for my Endeavour I drew a bird and labelled the different parts of it, on the back I wrote a bit about how birds fly but never finished it. I have done a book creator and have done quite a lot of slides. I am quite proud of my book creator and all the learning I have done through my Endeavour. The skills I have used is how to do a sway, how to do a book creator.

Port Ellen Primary School 2017 Swimming Gala!

On 1Oth of March Port Ellen Primary School went to the Mactaggart Leisure Center to have their Swimming Gala! They will be counting up points and at the end there will be a winning house. If you come first you will get 100 points, if you come second  you get 75 points and third gets you 50 points.

First to compete was the girls and boys in Primary 5/6/7. This is because if you were in P6/7 you were competing for girl and boy swimming  champion. The reason for the P5s coming to swim with the P6/7  was because they were practising for next year, where they would be competing for girl and boy swimming champion. The winner of girls front crawl was Eva Munro, second was Lauren Macdonald and third was Sophie Macdonald. The winner of boys front crawl was Struan Colthart, second was Matthew Cambell, and third was Darren  Hamilton. The winner for the girls back stoke was Eva Munro, second was Sophie Macdonald and third was Lauren Macdonald. Boys back stroke winner was Struan Colthart, second was Matthew Campbell and third was Taylor Swanson.

After all these races were finished the rest of the school came down to the pool to race. There races were front crawl and the novelty race.  After all these had been done there was a house really race. competing for Orsay was Rowan Morris, Kaitlyn Clarke, Sophie Macdonald and Matthew Campbell.  Competing for Nave was Ellie Mackie, Taylor Swanson, Sarah Maclennan and Lauren Macdonald.  Last but not least was Texas really team.  Competing for Texa was Eva Munro, Daren Hamilton, Natalie Logan and Struan Colthart.  third place for the really race was Nave then second was Texa and then a second apart was Orsay.

In the end the winner for the girls was Eva Munro and for the boys it was Struan Colthart.

The house that came Third over all was Orsay and then Texa and then and then Nave came first.   All round the day was Amazing with all the shouting for the teams and all the swimming.  I wish I was here for next years swimming gala.

By Struan Colthart and Eva Munro

Electricity and Engineering

My endeavour is Electricity and Engineering and so far I have made a successful letter which I’m not too proud of because I was late at finishing it. I have also made a start on making a parallel and series circuit and I feel quite proud of it. I have got some facts to the difference of diesel and petrol engines. I am going to start on a sway. In the end I will show an electric set. I think this project would be ambitious because there is nothing I have done near to this topic. I could also be an electrician when I grow up.

The Dream Team Game Design

This term we have been learning about Game Design. We all got into groups which would be our companies. My groups company name was The dream team. There was criteria like,

  • You must all adopt roles.
  • You must create an eye-catching logo.
  • You must create a prototype of your game.
  • You must create a survey and make a graph with your results.
  • You must have a clear plan of your game.
  • You must have a clear, colourful storyboard.
  • You must have a clear background story.
  • You must create colourful characters, settings and objects.
  • You must write instructions that show you how to play the game.
  • You must create an advertising poster that makes someone want to buy your game.
  • You must create a theme tune that sounds good for your game.
  • Everyone must create a pitch to sell our games.

This is one of the members of the group with the storyboard. The Dream Team’s name for their game was Racing Master.

Racing master is a game where you have to race against all the other formula one champions to win the championship. We had two different levels that got harder and harder. As we made our game on Kodu we could only use the characters that are there so on the first level we used a blimp, a jet, a rover and the character you were playing was a rover. In the second level we used three jets and in this level you also played a rover. In the first level there is a race track and you are against your opponents. On the track there is obstacles if you hit into the obstacles you slow down. You also have to try stay on the track because if you go on the grass you will slow down. There is only 2 ways to move to the next level. One way is to beat the characters in the race. The other way is to collect 5points then you can win and move onto the next level. To collect points you can find the hidden coins on the track then you bump into them and it gives you a point.

In level two there are lots of hills and the track is different but you have to follow the same rules and you can win in the same way. You also need to try not to go off the track or bump into the objects and try to collect coins. There was one problem with the characters on the game because they wouldn’t follow the path but we managed to fix it using debugging. We have learned more about game design and solving problems. We used debugging and also tinkering when we were trying to fix the problems. Our logo was a shape with the dream team written inside it and four clouds in the corners of the page. The whole group enjoyed doing this topic and need to work on working in a team.

By Kaitlyn

Fish Finish Line!

 

Port Ellen Primary Schools Primary 5/6/7 class has been doing game design for their topic. They had to make a game for 7-12 year olds. Then they had to battle all the games in the class.  First they had to assign roles and create a group name.

In my group (Fish Finish Line) I was the Creative Director it is like being the manger and I found being the manager. Aidan was the Marketer that meant he had to find out what other people would want to play/buy.  Aiden was also the Creative Assistant and he had to take over is the Creative Director is he or she was away.

Aiden says” I really enjoyed it because I enjoy doing surveys and collecting information.”

Holly was the Programmer and she had the fun job of programming. Ellie and Matthew shared the job of the Game Designers and they had to do the logo and the story board. Lauren was the Artist and she had to design characters for the game.

We made an IMovie, poster, characters, 4 worlds, theme tune, logo, game summary, story board and a survey. In the end we presented our game to Mr Shakespeare. He judged us on different aspects but we won the best presentation!

Bird Endeavour

Today wednesday 1st March I got an email from David Wood about my bird Endeavour, he sent me tracks of greenland white fronted geese. That the RSPB track using tags, he sent me the tracks to show me where the greenland white fronted geese migrate to and I found it very interesting, they fly thousands of miles and they all fly in their families.

Toys From The Past Endeavour

Endeavour is a long term project that you work on through out the year to improve your learning, which has to be ambitious. For my Endeavour I have chosen  Toys from the past. I hope to achieve some hand-made toys for the finish. I wrote to the Museum Of Childhood. I asked them questions that they can answer for my Endeavour, and I got a reply. With my reply I got a picture of a dolls house. This year I plan to make a toy from each decade, interview, planning, sway and many different things. So far I have achieved my sway, letter, information and a poster of popular toys. I will have learnt many different skills, For example building, designing and I will learn how much toys have changed. I really hope I will be successful.

Sport Stars

On the 28th March P4/5/6/7 will be doing an shinty interhouse challenge. Between Orsay Texa and Nave. It will be held by the citizenship group the Sports Stars. It will be a fun and an exiting day because it will be a day that all the houses can be active and be competitive and have a blast. Every term we are going to have an inter house challenge between Orsay, Texa and Nave. Next term the sport stars are going to arrange a rugby interhouse challenge for teams it is 6 aside and it is p4/5 that can enter it.

Fair Trade Tuck

ftThe Earth Watchers group will be holding a fair trade tuck shop in Port Ellen Primary for the pupils. We are going to be selling GEO bars, raisins, rice crispy bars we are also hoping that the Co-op will be very kind and give us some fair trade bananas and all sorts of fair trade foods.

What  is fair trade? Fair trade is when you have food that has been produced in a way that is fair to farmers. Fair trade is good to buy because you know you are supporting producers to get a sensible amount of money.

School Waste Week

Two weeks ago when we were doing citizenship the green gang did a waste bin survey for all the classes. In each class there is a paper bin and a general waste bin. The green gang collected the waste in a bin bag but we separated the paper and the general waste in different bags. We then put one bag at a time in to a scale and measured. We then wrote the measurements down and we then put it onto Exel in a chart. There was a measurement for each class and each bin in each class.

banana
The results show what class is the best at putting the right waste in the right bin. The red bar is the general waste and the blue bar is the paper bin. P1/2/3 class paper bin weighed: 60g. The general waste bin weighed: 150g. P4/5 paper bin weighed: 20g. The general waste bin weighed: 750g. P5/6/7 paper bin weighed: 120g. The general waste bin weighed: 140g. The class that had the lowest paper bin weight was P4/5 and the class that had the lowest general waste bin weight was P5/6/7. The things P1/2/3 had in their paper bin were wrapping paper and paper so they had good things. In P1/2/3 general waste bin they had sand, stickers, an apple and a bottle so they had good things again. In P4/5 paper bin they had newspaper, glue stick, sticks and crisp packets. P4/5 had one bad thing which was the newspaper because it should have been in the paper bin. P4/5 paper bin they had string, wool and paper. In P5/6/7 general waste bin there was crisps, paper towels, tissues and kinder wrappers. The bad things were the tissues and paper towels. Then in the P5/6/7 paper bin there was a bottle lid, pencil and mechanical pencil. The bad things there were the bottle lid, pencil and the mechanical pencil. The class with the least bad things in each bin was P1/2/3. Well done P1/2/3 keep up the good work.

By The Green Gang.

Breakfast Club

img_1788Every Wednesday morning, from 8:30-9:00 we have been running a Breakfast Club for people in the school, So they can come to have Breakfast. Breakfast is very important because it gives you a good start to the day. The Mindfulness Minions have organised the Breakfast Club, they have wrote a letter to the co-op to say thank you because they donated all the food that we have at Breakfast Club. At Breakfast Club there is Croissants, Cereal, Hot chocolate, tea, juices and toast. Everyone loves going to Breakfast Club, and everyone who goes gets a great start to the day. We all have to thank the co-op for donating food to the school. We all have been enjoying Breakfast Club.

Thank You

Mindfulness Minions

Endeavour Afternoon

img_1848On Tuesday  21st February P5/6/7 of Port Ellen went to Bowmore Primary School to talk about Endeavour. We were all partnered with someone from Bowmore And they had to take us around their school and to talk to us about Endeavour. We had to fill in a sheet about what we had achieved and get our partener to fill the other side in. Most people found it better when we were working with Bowmore Primary.

This is what  people are doing for Endeavour –

Charlie- Cal Mac Boats Around Islay

Darren- Golf

Taylor- Sports On Islay

Jack- Golf Design

Kaitlyn- Cake Decorating

Sarah- Giant Pandas

Ciaran- Electricity and Engineering

Natalie- Horse Riding

Sophie- Animation

Aaron- Art

Rowan- Magic

Abi- Photography

Aidan- Deforestation

Lauren- Bath and Beauty

Matthew- Comic And Animation

Eva- Skin Care And Beauty Industry

Holly- Birds

Ellie- Toys In The Past

Rhys- Kodu Game Lab

Struan- Fitness And Bones In The Bodyimg_0149

Kaya- Famous Poetry

Rebecca- Islay Heritage

Ruaraidh- Writing A Book

Andre- Graphic Novels

And we fell that everyone is getting on very well with there Endeavour. Good luck to everyone with there Endeavour prodject!!

by Natalie and Sophie.

A Visit For Endeavour!

On Tuesday  21st February P5/6/7 of Port Ellen went to Bowmore Primary School to talk about Endeavour. We were all partnered with someone from Bowmore And they had to take us around their school and to talk to us about Endeavour. We had to fill in a sheet about what we had achieved and get our partener to fill the other side in. Most people found it better when we were working with Bowmore Primary but some of us didn’t.

This is what  people are doing for Endeavour –

Charlie- Cal Mac Boats Around Islay

Darren- Golf

Taylor- Sports On Islay

Jack- Golf Design

Kaitlyn- Cake Decorating

Sarah- Giant Pandas

Ciaran- Electricity and Engineering

Natalie- Horse Riding

Sophie- Animation

Aaron- Art

Rowan- Magic

Abi- Photography

Aidan- Deforestation

Lauren- Bath and Beauty

Matthew- Comic And Animation

Eva- Skin Care And Beauty Industry

Holly- Birds

Ellie- Toys In The Past

Rhys- Kodu Game Lab

Struan- Fitness And Bones In The Body

Kaya- Famous Poetry

Rebecca- Islay Heritage

Ruaraidh- Writing A Book

Andre- Graphic Novels

And we fell that everyone is getting on very well with there Endeavour. Good luck to everyone with there Endeavour prodject!!

by Natalie and Sophie.

 

Dolphins Championship

img_1786In the holidays there was the dolphins championship and lots of people went there to take part. Struan and Matthew and Sophie and Lauren took part from the primary school but there was lots of people that took part in the high school in Port Ellen.  Struan took two Trophies and four golds.  Lauren two silvers and one bronze.  Sophie brought three bronzes.  Matthew got Swimmer of the month. He also got first session boys champion and got three golds and one silver and a runner up medal.  The ultimate swimmer went Struan fourth, Ross came third, Cameron came second and DJ came first. It was a very fun day and then we got tasty food after.

Internet Safety

In school with Mr Shakespeare we have been learning about internet safety. He has showed us different websites with fun games to help us. Those games helped us because they had questions about what to do if someone asks you to meet up and other important questions. Mr Shakespeare gave us this site called Thinkuknow and it is really good because it gives you games.The games on that site helps us because they give us three options is you want to delete it, keep it or reply to the message. Mr Shakespeare gave us a book that said all the facts that we need to know about internet safety. There is another site called Scratch and it is really good because you can make up your own quiz. And P567 made a quiz for the P123 in pairs.
Some of the things we have learnt are SMART which is S: Safe, If you are online you should make sure you are playing games you are allowed to play also is you are researching a question you should make sure it is the right thing. M:Meeting, If you are online and you get a message from someone you don’t know saying do you want to meet up tomorrow at lunch time? You say no because they could say they are 12 years old but they are actually 45 years old. Also is you get a really nice message you should know the person before you meet up but first you should check with an adult. A:Accepting, if you are on E-mail and you get a message from someone you don’t know and the send you a message which has a link but the do not mention the link in the message you should not open it because it could give your device a virus. R:Reliable, Reliable is when you are on the internet researching and you go a website that doesn’t sound very true so it wouldn’t be a very reliable website. A reliable website would be Wikipedia. T:Tell, Tell is if you get a nasty message don’t delete it because you could get more mean messages. Instead you should tell an adult you trust.

Report a Glow concern
Cookie policy  Privacy policy