Belgrove Senior Girls' School

We have been listening to this song to find out about the heart.

We had a visit from the Director of the Water Institute, DCU, Professor Fiona Regan.  She is also Caireann’s Mammy!

This is Fiona’s favourite (non-human) creature at the moment.  It is called the Namibian Fog Basking Beetle.  It is found the Namibian desert in southern Africa.  It has a very clever way of collecting and drinking water.

Fiona taught us Water Sense.  That means being aware of water, how it’s used and how to avoid wasting it.

We learned:

• The best time to water your lawn is early in the morning or late in the evening.
• By washing your bike with a sponge instead of a hose you could save 24 litres.
• To save water when washing your car, bring it to a car wash that recycles water.
• A family of 4 uses 400 litres of water per day.
• It’s important to save water because there’s a limited amount of clean water available.
• Washing the dishes in a fully loaded dishwasher saves water.
• Keep water running when you brush your teeth wastes a lot of water.
• Taking a 5 minute shower uses less water that having a bath.
• A bucket can be a water saving object.
• A leaky toilet wastes a lot of water.
• It’s never ok to flush rubbish (eg cotton wool, baby wipes) down the toilet.
• If you hear a dripping tap, you should tell your parents.

She gave the class a quiz to test our Water Sense, and we had two winning teams!  The Water Heroes, who scored 11 out of 12, were The Water Winners and The Puppachinos.

Míle buíochas to Fiona for coming in to share her knowledge.  We all learned so much, and love our special Water Institute goodies!

We have been learning about rivers, and have been trying our best to sing this song to learn new vocabulary about rivers.

Listen out for: source, tributary, erode, deposition, meander, oxbow lake, floodplain, mouth, estuary.  How many did you hear?

The class got into the Christmas spirit by writing stories.  The plot was that Santa had a problem.  They conjured up creative problems and even more imaginative solutions.  A number of girls illustrated fabulous covers, and wrote wonderful blurbs.

Most of the class wanted to enter their stories in the Raheny Library Christmas Story Competition.  Out of 188 entries, I’m delighted that Julia was one of the winners!  Comhgairdeas leat, a Julia!

Thank you to everyone who came along to our class’s Christmas Show.  You were a fantastic audience, and the girls all enjoyed performing their songs, poems and dances for you.  Nollaig Shona!

We learned a cool trick to help us with our 9s skip counting and x9 tables.  Then we watched these videos to help us even more.

All of Third Class danced to this song at PE on Friday.  Can you remember any of the moves?

Great Britain Project                                                            Ainm ______________

A good project is easy to read and the information is presented neatly.  Here are some guidelines to help you. The title of your project is Great Britain and it is due on Tuesday 17th December.

• All projects can be 3 or 4 pages of an A3 scrapbook- no longer.
• You can find your information in: your SESE copy, ‘Small World’, online, books, newspapers or magazines
• Your project information must be written in your own words, so paraphrase when you can.
• Your project must include at least 4 pictures, maps or diagrams. They can be drawn or printed.
• Include a bibliography at the end, which is a list of where you found your information.

Here are some ideas of paragraphs to include, remember you don’t have to include all of them!

1. Where is Great Britain?  How can you get there?
2. What countries make up Great Britain? What are the capital cities?
3. Are there any famous or well- known places to visit?
4. Draw the Flag of Great Britain and Flags of England, Scotland and Wales. Do you know when or where they were designed?
5. Physical Geography- lakes, rivers, mountains, sea
6. What money is used in Great Britain?
7. What sports are popular in Great Britain? What are the most famous? Where are they played?
8. Any event in history that involves England, Scotland or Wales
9. The Monarchy ( Kings and Queens)
10. Famous people from Great Britain? ( pop stars, politicians, sports stars, authors)
11. What animals would you find there? Can you draw them and write about them?

Useful Websites:

• http://projectbritain.com/
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries/united-kingdom/#united-kingdom-abbey.jpg
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/25119208
• http://kids.britannica.com/

Please monitor your daughter carefully when using the Internet. These websites have been checked for suitability, but navigation away from them may not be safe for her.

Best of luck! I am looking forward to seeing your awesome project work!

Ms Walshe

What can you learn about the Sun from this video? Our class worked together to compose these questions:

1. How hot is the Sun?
2. What gasses is the Sun made of?
3. How many Earths could fit inside the Sun?
4. How old is the Sun?
5. How wide is the Sun?
6. What side of the Earth does the Sun rise in?
7. What side of the Earth does the Sun set in?