On the 14th March the Primary 6’s from all over the island came to the high school for an engineering day. The P7s also came. Everyone got put into groups of three by Mrs Harrison. The first one was about a roller coaster, you had to make a marble get into a cup with some type of dip or loop. Most people were successful but some weren’t. The second challenge was to put your table at an angle using bricks. You had to try and make youre marble take ten seconds to go down a table. Some people added zig zags and peices of paper to try and slow down the marble. Overall the day was good and I would go back.
Engineering Art
Today on Friday 9th March Port Ellen Primary School had Elaine Johnston come and help the whole school create art. Primary 6/7 did an engineering abstract picture where we drew things that related to engineering like screws, cables and cogs. We used the art Eduardo Paolozzi as an inspiration for our work. We then had to paint them in only black, white and yellow we were allowed to mix the colours together. Once the paint had dried we outlined the picture in black and used metallic pens to add effect and texture to our pictures. It was a lot of fun and we would like to say thank you to her for helping us. The pictures will be on display for our year of engineering.
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.
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! Above is a video of our Junior Saltire Journey.
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.
Football Robots !!!
We have been making FOOTBALL ROBOTS for our science topic. We have made eight football robots and there all working. We decorated them and made them useful for real life. The wiring was very tricky and complicated to do. The football robots have a hand held controller to work them. The football robots have two motors facing down the way so if you pressed the left button the motor connected to the button would go left and that is the same for the other side. We took them to the High School and children from other schools got to play competitions with them. It was exciting!
Science afternoon with Dave
One afternoon a scientist called Dave came to see use to tell us about light and lasers. It was fun. We made a thing that can see spectrums. We told the p3/4s about our day with a scientist. He told use about the laser that he built and the biggest laser in the world. I hope he comes back because it was really cool.
by Ewan and Scott
P7 Islay High School Visit
On Thursday 21st March every P7 in Islay and Jura went to the the Islay High School to do some science. The day started when Mr Kitchen filled a flask with water and placed it on a gas cooker. The water turned into steam which came out off the flask and then he put the lid on it. Then we went to Ms McNaughton who was talking about air in our lungs. She also showed us how to float a straw in water and measured in many different ways. We also found out how to get a boiled egg into a flask without touching it.
Food Experiments
Last week was science and engineering week.In school we were learning about food science. We tested for glucose, iron, fat, protein and starch. For the protein we got protein strips and food juices. We then got a test strip and dipped it into the food juice. We then looked on the bottle and seen what colour it matched to. For the iron we got different cereals and put them into a sandwich bag and then we sealed the bag tightly. Then we crushed the cereal with a rolling pin and then added a bit of water. Then we got a strong magnet and kept sliding it back and forth looking for iron(wee black dots). For fat, we got a piece of brown paper and drew a circle it, then rubbed what ever it was, and held it up to the light and the parts in it are fat. For glucose we used Benedicts solution.
Eco Ferrys
In our class we are making eco ferrys for a science compition in Glasgow. We made them in our table groups. We did a practise speed boat which worked alright. But our real thing will have to carry cargo and the boat that is done in the fastest time will win. You can go back and forth as much as you want. The ferry can only be 18 cm wide as thats as wide as the tank is. You also will get extra points if it is powered by a renewable source . It is alot to think about when were building the real thing . We attempted to make a prototype out of junk some worked much better than others. Some tipped over when they started and others couldn’t go straight. Were are working on it and adjusting it so that it will go straight in the water.
By Maisie and Eilidh
Wind Power
Wind power is a for
m of renewable energy. 24% of Scotland’s renewable energy comes from wind power. It is created when wind spins the turbine that in turn spins a shaft which leads into the generator where a magnet is turned around a coil of wire which creates energy. That is how you make energy from wind.
Incredible Ileachs Win Science Award
Ileachs Jason, Ewan, Dan, Eleanor and Aileas went to the Glasgow Science Centre, Wednesday 30th May 2012. 
Glory fell on them by winning BT Scotland Award for Best Club Presentation and also 250 pounds. Jason said “My Pyro Pyrimid was great.”
My Personal Topic
My personal topic is the circulatory system and I am going to make a fantastic jigsaw Of the circulatory system. Then I am going to make devil dark red vessels out of papier mache. Next I was going to ask questions one of my questions were what does the blood looks like,my second question was what happens when you cut you self.
My Personal Topic
My topic is the lungs, I have made a 3D modal of the lung that shows how your diaphragm works also I’m making a power point about asthma. How the lungs work, when you breath in your diaphragm pulls down, it lets air in to your lungs and grow out when you breath out your diaphragm pulls in and your lungs goes in.
Dissecting a chicken!
This week we were dissecting a chicken and I thought it was good for research.
We found lots of cool stuff like;
LIVER
MUSCLE
KNEE CAP
KIDNEYS
THE WINGS
SPINAL CORD
CORDS
We thought we saw the lungs but it was on the wrong side for the lungs
but Mrs MacDonald thinks it is the lungs as well so I think it’s the lungs.
I touched every thing, so did Abbie. (I loved it,it was the best lesson ever!)
Dissecting A Chicken
On Thursday I felt so excited because p4/5 dissected a Chicken. Amazingly I felt so,so impressed with myself because Izzy,Ciara and I were the only three girls in the class that held all its Organs. We all were very impressed with Mrs Clark because it was only a Co-op Chicken she bought but there was still liver in it.
At some points it was quite gross but at all time awfully COOL! Here are some of the things we saw
. The Liver
. The kidneys
. The Blood Vessels
. The Lungs (Well we thought it was the Lungs)
Also so much more 😀
science visit
On Thursday 24th May P4-7 were making wind yachts and we had to measure wood then cut it were you put a mark. There was lot of gluing and sellotaping. At the end we had a race with our yachts and we when up in six. In my group I came 3rd. It was very good and exiting.
BY ANNIE
Science Visit
Yesterday our school Port Ellen had a science visit. And we made wind surfers for to play races with. We used junior saws to cut our wood. We also got to use straws for attaching the wheels. When it finished it had been home time.
By Nick
Dissecting A Chicken.
On Thursday 24th May we were dissecting a chicken, when i saw the inside of the chicken it looked really cool. Mrs Clark let us hold bits and bobs, the things we got to see and hold were:
• liver
• muscles
• cords
• ribs
• kidneys
• wish bone
• spine
Some of the things we touched was squidgy.
I thought I was brave and calm looking inside the chicken but thought I couldn’t look at it though I could. 🙂
By Jodie
Rockets
We did a presentation on rockets on Friday 15th March. I enjoyed making rockets.
Newton’s Laws
From the 11th March-16th March it is science and engineering week. Primary 4-7 are all taking part in a whole week of science and all the activities we do is about forces. The first thing that we learned was Newton’s 3 laws and they are very important because they describe forces very well. The first law is “when forces acting on an object they are balanced,it will remain at rest or move in an straight line at constant speed”. The 2nd law is “force=mass x acceleration”. The 3rd law is “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” and that is Newtons 3 laws.
Science week
At Port Ellen primary we were doing science almost all week we had to learn about forces for example there was friction, if you went on something bumpy friction would slow you down, and mass if something is heavy it will have mass and it will slow it down.
Science and Engineering Week
On the 12th of March we started to do some science for the whole week and today we are making a car and it is really, really tricky. But we manged and it is really fun. Angus was at the dentist so he didn’t really get to do much but he did the wheels and they fitted perfectly. After lunch Abbie and I are going to decorate the whole car.
By Annie p4
Science Today
We are making a car today, we have had to think about what it will run on. We have been designing the car to look funky and cool. The car is looking ok but we will be making it look even better. We have to add our own engine as well. 🙂
By Helen and Danni
Science in p4/5 and p6/7
This week is
science and engineering week. Our aim is to be able to successfully make a car by the end of the week. We are also trying to know Newton’s three laws off by heart, the first one is when forces acting on an object are balanced,it will remain at rest or move in a straight line at constant speed, the second rule is force=mass x acceleration and finally the third rule is every action has an equal and opposite reaction. On Monday we had science activities in groups to complete my group is Daniel Ewan Izzy and I . My favourite activity was buoyancy!:)
By Emily!!!
Learning about the Moon and Gaelic
Today at school in the afternoon at 1:00 we had Mrs Rae and we were makeing a moon chart. We made little moons, you get a cup and a black pen and trace over the cup and get your pen and colour in the moon and get tin foil and wrap the tin foil around the moon all the moon shapes and thats how you do it. After break we had Miss Macrae and went on Twitter and a man was asking us to tell him the days of the week in gaelic. Then we all got given numbers and typed them on the computer then after that it was home time.
By Ciara
P4/5 science.
Hi my name is Ciara and yesterday we were doing science in class in the afternoon. This is what we did, we got a bowl and put plastic over it and put sugar on and banged a drum loud and the sound made the sugar move. We learned
that sound is faster in water and if someone bangs the wall quietly you can hear it far away. We did three other experiments.
Ciara
Science
Yesterday we where learning about science. One of the things we learned was if you put your ear to something metal and get your friend to hit something hard on it you will hear it faster than through the air. If you put your ear to the wall and get a friend to hit it round the corner you can hear.
Annie
Science And Experiments
We did some experiments on sound today. We learned that sound travels 15 times faster through metal and bricks than air. In the ear there is a little bone that sends signals to the brain, it tells it if it’s a high sound or low, loud or quiet and the bone is above the ear drum. Sound is shock wave of vibration. We did an experiment on making something move without touching it. First you get a bowl and wrap it in cling film, second put sugar on it and then get an instrument and bang it and the sugar moves.
By Abbie
