Making a Clinometer

A clinometer is a device for measuring the height of tall buildings and tree.

First we drew out an isosceles triangle on a sheet of cardboard. When we were drawing the isosceles triangle we had to make one angle 90 degrees and two others 45 degrees each. 

We attached a string of yarn with  Marla attached at the end of the yarn. We put on the Marla because we wanted it to be perpenclicular.The marla acts as a plumb line as it must be vertical when we are measuring the trees.

To measure the height of the tree you must measure from the toes of the person holding the clinometer to the trunk of the tree.Then you must add your answer to the height of the student up to their eye.

Facts about our blog

This is a map of the countries that have visited our blog.We have also included the flags








Facts about our blog.

URL: http://aimsigh.blogspot.ie           Blog started : September 2012

Countries that have visited: 25           Largest number of visitors: Ireland.

Total number of posts: 42                   Our favourite post: Alma animation.

Total Number of page views: 4830      Largest number of page views in one day: 189

Greatest number of comments:     14 comments on Kessa's post Greetings from Wintry Finland.

Investigating the Effects of Acid on an Egg

Last week we did a science experiment.We wanted to investigate the effects of acid on an egg.  We submerged the egg in a jar of vinegar. After a while we noticed hundreds of  tiny bubbles surrounding the egg There were caused by a chemical reaction when the acetic acid in the vinegar combined with the calcium carbonate and released the gas carbon dioxide.
The experiment took eight days and we recorded the results in our flip book.

Eircom Junior Spider Awards 2013

Fifth Class pupils are all delighted to find that we have been  shortlisted for an Eircom  Junior Spider Award in the Best School blog category. The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, 5th March in the RDS. If you are interested in viewing the other shortlisted projects click on this link

Growing Food without Soil

In January we started growing cress seeds without soil on the window in our classroom.The seeds were tiny but we put them in our seed sprouter and watered them. 

After two days they had germinated and we could see the tiny little roots.Then we waited for them to grow. We had to rinse they every morning so that they didn't dry out.

This is what the roots looked like when we turned the container on its side.

Finally after nine days we got the opportunity to taste them. Some people in our class thought that they were very peppery but others thought they were delicious

Exploring Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky (1866 - 1944) was a famous Russian artist who enjoyed painting abstract pictures. This video shows him in his studio in 1928.

This paintings of squares with concentric rings is very  popular with young people. They find it easy to replicate and enjoy the use of bright colours. We used it as inspiration for our art class. Here are some of the pieces we produced.

Brent Geese Migrate to Dublin

 From Bathurst Island to Bull Island

Brent geese are migratory geese who spend their lives moving between Dublin, Ireland and Bathurst Island in the north of Canada.They spend the summer in Bathurst Island where they breed and moult before returning to Ireland  via Greenland and Iceland every September.

At this time of year large flocks of Brent geese flying over our school are a familiar sight. They normally spend their time eating eel grass on the mud flats at Bull Island but at high tide they come inland to graze on the local greens.

Matthew a research ornithologist has spent several months monitoring the Brent geese that over winter in around Bull Island. He is particularly interested in social groupings amongst the geese. They hang around with their family members’ mothers, aunts, brothers and sisters just like you do. In his post Matthew mentioned that on the morning of on 11^th November 2012 he counted 750 Brent geese in Kilbarrack at high tide.

Click here   if you would like to read more about Matthew’s study of our local geese.
More information on the Irish Brent goose can be found on this site  Irish Brent goose