Primary 6 and Primary 6/7  learned about the properties of materials in Science and took part in a challenge to design and  build a boat from foil that could hold the largest number of marbles without sinking.

First, they  designed their own boats to test made from paper and tested these in their groups to see which design would work the best when made from aluminium foil. When each group had found the best design it was then made into a foil boat. Then all the groups came together for a final testing of their foil boats to find the best design. They recorded their results in tables and the best boat design was revealed.

The Eco Committee and the pupils of Class 2 had a visit from a beekeeper, Mr Hunter. They learned about how honey is made by bees and about the threats facing the survival of bees due to the parasitic Varroa mite. One lucky boy got to try on a beekeeper’s costume and everyone had a taste of some delicious heather honey.  

Class 1 and P1/2 went on  bug hunts to find  and record the types of invertebrates that live in different habitats in our school grounds. They looked on soft ground surfaces like soil and short grass first. Then they looked on human made hard surfaces like walls and fences. Finally, they looked on plants like shrubs, trees and long grass. They used magnifying glasses to help them identify the bugs. They found that different types of invertebrates prefer to live in different habitats. There were more spiders on walls and fences, but more woodlice, slugs and caterpillars on soft ground. On plants there were greenfly and ladybirds. These OPAL (Open Air Laboratories) surveys help scientists to keep an eye on how creatures are surviving across the country when you send them your findings.

During British Science Week this year, P6/7 took part in the Astro nappy experiment to find the most absorbent material to use in space. They tested a variety of materials to see how many drops of water they could hold. They made predictions about which would be the best and worst materials at absorbing fluids and recorded their results in tables. They tested cotton wool, paper, sandpaper, plastic, greaseproof paper, thick felt, polystyrene and foil. They found that some materials like the foil, could contain water well , but not absorb it, as was the case with the plastic and the polystyrene. The best material was the sponge which held 1589 drops of water.

Class 1 were learning about Forces in Science. They pushed a wooden car on a ramp to see how far across the class it would go. They counted the distance in footsteps. Then they tried the car on the ground to see how far it would go there. They have been learning how  pushes and pulls are needed to make things move.            

Class 1 were learning about freezing and melting in Science. They looked at ice closely with magnifying glasses and they had to find a way to rescue a small toy that was trapped inside the ice. The only way to do it, was to melt the ice with a hair dryer. They saw that the ice changed into water when it melted.

Primary two learned about the characteristics of water. They learned that water is the only substance on earth to exist in three states within the range of temperatures found on Earth, as solid ice, liquid water and gaseous water vapour. They also learned that water is a good solvent as it can dissolve many other substances. They conducted an investigation into which substances will dissolve in water and which won’t. Here you can see the photos taken during the experiment.

As part of our Eco Schools litter topic, Primary 6/7 went on the hunt in the local area looking for graffiti, which is a form of litter. They used survey sheets to record the locations and descriptions of the graffiti and photos of the graffiti were taken. The Eco Committee will take this forward, by reporting the graffiti to Glasgow City Council, so a team can be sent out to remove it.

This Eco Week, the pupils of St. Albert’s Primary have been learning about the problem of marine litter pollution and its effect on ocean wildlife. The pupils have learned that even litter that is dropped in a city can make its way to the oceans as it is washed down the drains into rivers and out to sea.

Our Eco Committee took action on this issue. Primary 5 and the Eco Committee recently travelled to Prestwick Beach to take part in a beach clean and nurdle hunt. Although they  didn’t find any nurdles, they still managed to collect 8 Kg of mainly plastic litter from the beach. They may have helped to save some sea creatures or birds from choking on plastic rubbish.