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Pond Dipping in Lough Gur

Log of Evidence 2018/2019

Discover Science and Maths Award

Award Number:

Step 1: Science

Please click on the photos to see our evidence!

1. Living Things

The Junior and Senior Infants grew seeds in their classroom. They used yoghurt pots, cress seeds and cotton wool. They also learned about the different parts of a flower. They investigated daffodils in the garden. They also learned about the life cycle of a frog and a hen.

Click here to learn more about their seeds experiment!!

Thanks to the expertise of Geoff Hunt, the whole school learnt about animals and birds at a local wetland, including swans and ducks

2. Energy and Forces

Mr. Larkin's class investigated sound energy. They learnt about sound waves and vibrations. They conducted an experiment using water and glasses entitled "Tinkle, Tinkle Little Jar". They were able to identify between high and low sounds depending on the amount of water in the glass. 

They also designed and made musical instruments. 

3. Materials

The whole school decided to take part in a very messy experiment. We decided to make slime! 

We gathered up the ingredients including PVA glue, detergent, food colouring, baking soda, saline solution etc. We tried a number of different recipes. It was great fun mixing the ingredients!  The children concluded that the recipe that used the "Formil" detergent made the ​

best stretchy slime.

The Junior and Senior Infants also investigated different materials in the classroom including wood, plastic, glass, fabric and metal. 

They described and compared materials, noting the differences in the colour, shape and texture They learnt about some everyday uses of these common materials.

4. Environmental Awareness and Care

We promote and encourage environmental awareness in the school. Ms. O Sullivan and the Green Schools committee are very active in the school.

Check them out here! They monitor our waste, energy usage and water usage.

In Banogue Ns, we regularly use our water-butt for watering plants. We use recycled materials for art and crafts. Recently, the Junior and Senior Infants designed and created a love heart using bottle tops and old cds. 

We also encourage biodiversity in our school through the use of our wildflower garden and bug hotel. 

5. BUG HOTEL

Miss Cagney's class (4th-6th) exhibited their experiment at the RDS Primary Science Fair in Mary Immaculate College in January 2018. Their experiment was entitled, "What are the best materials to use in our Bug Hotel?" They investigated the best materials to attract bugs. 

The students from 1st-6th class attended the fair and enjoyed going to science classes and workshops. 

6. Baking Soda Balloons!

The infants investigated a chemical reaction in this experiment. The whole school came out to see the result! The science, behind this balloon baking soda experiment, is the chemical reaction between the base {baking soda} and the acid {vinegar}. When the two ingredients mix together the balloon inflates.
The gas produced from the two ingredients is carbon dioxide or CO2. As the gas tries to leave the bottle, it goes up into the balloon. Because the gas has no where to go and is pushing against the balloon it inflates it!  Similarly, we exhale carbon dioxide when we blow up balloons.

Visit from a Science Speaker: Geoff Hunt

We had a visit from Biodiversity Expert Geoff Hunt. He took us to Lough Gur to do bird-watching. 

In the Heritage Centre, we got to see old artefacts from Lough Gur. We got to act as historians and take part in an excavation. We also had to piece together an old clay pot. The speaker in the heritage centre told us stories about the past and stories about fairies. We also got to dress up and try on costumes from long ago. 


 Geoff Hunt helped us to identify birds in the Lough Gur environment. We used his telescope and spotted mute swans, mallard drakes, mallards, grey heron, teal and widgeon. We also saw a pheasant and whooper swans feeding on grass on the bus journey to Lough Gur. 

Afterwards, Geoff returned with us to school and he gave us a talk on birds and their habitats. 


It was a very great day enjoyed by students and staff.

Science Speakers and Participation in Science Events.

  • Visit from Geoff Hunt- Biodiversity Expert. The pupils of Banogue NS learnt about Flora and fauna in the local environment.  

  • Field Trip with Geoff Hunt to Lough Gur. 

  • RDS Primary Science Fair, Limerick. Miss Cagney's class presented a project entitled,"What are the best materials for a bug hotel?"

  • Visit from a local farmer to discuss farm life, machinery and technology

  • Visit from a DELL engineer to discuss robotics, programming and technology.

Step 2: Technology (ICT)

DPSM: Plaque of STEM Excellence ( 2 or more examples)  


1. Using ICT TO Access Information and Analyse Data

Miss Cagney's class made use of ICT to record and analyse data in graphs for their Bug Hotel Project for the RDS Primary Science Fair. They also used ICT to research information on the minibeasts they discovered in their bug hotel.  They also made Powerpoint presentations of the project. They had to type up their findings using the school laptops. 

2. Using Technology in Banogue NS 
The students in Banogue National School have access to a wide variety of technology. Each classroom is fitted with an interactive whiteboard which the children and teachers utilise every day. Both teachers and students alike utilise the internet for lesson ideas, research and skill building.

Some websites which we frequently use in Banogue NS are www.primaryscience.ie, www.mathletics.com, www.tryengineering.org, www.treecouncil.ie, www.kidshealth.org, www.askaboutireland.ie, BBC Science Clips, National Geographic Kids and Arcademics Skills Builder. These are just a small example of the resources we use. Each classroom also has computers which the children use for maths, games, research and typing. We try to ensure each student has access to a computer on a regular basis.

The school has 10 tablets and several laptops which the children have access to on a daily basis. These are used mainly for Mathletics, an online maths programme, and research for school projects.


3.  Scratch Programming: 3rd-6th class 

Miss Cagneys Class take part in Scratch Programming. Check out the videos of their coding below!

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Morning Rush

Morning Rush

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00:23
Into the Blue

Into the Blue

00:31
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Step 3: Engineering

DPSM: Plaque of STEM Excellence ( 2 or more examples)  

Design and Make Activities:  

  • Bug Hotel: 3rd-6th class designed and made sections for their bug hotel using recycled materials such as bottles, paper and carpet. They also used hay, silage, leaf litter and twigs.​



  • Mr. Larkin's class designed and made musical instrument using a variety of materials. 


​Investigating Engineering


  • One of the parents at our school is a farmer. He came to the school and spoke to the children about machinery on the farm and life on the farm. He spoke about the changes to machinery on the farm in the past and in the present. The children got to handle some of the machinery and technology he uses on the farm including a milking cluster for milking cows and also, a device which measures the fat content of milk. He also brought in young turkeys for us to look at.

  • One of the parents at our school works as an engineer for DELL in Limerick. He spoke to the pupils in Miss Cagney's class about technology and programming. He brought in a robot that had been designed, built and programmed by primary school students with the help of engineers from Dell. The children were very inspired by this technology and they hope to take part in this robot building in September 2018. 

Maths skills_ Measuring

Step 4: Maths

Step 4: MATHS 

Throughout our Science investigations, we incorporated Maths where possible. For example, 3rd- 6th class used maths during their RDS Primary Science Fair project.  They were engaged in maths topics such as  counting, measuring, capacity, volume, percentages, fractions and data. They had to count the number of minbeasts in each section of the bug hotel.  Their findings were recorded in graphs. 

1st and 2nd Class used mathematical skills to measure the volume of water in each glass in their water experiment. 

The children often take part in baking and cooking which requires a number of maths skills including measuring volume, capacity, ratio and weight.


The students also took part in constructing a Maths Trail around school. Click here to see one of the Maths trails for the Junior classes around Banogue NS.

Look at our photos to see evidence of using math skills as part of science!

STEP 5: STEM Show and Tell

1. Science Week 

2. RDS Primary Science Fair Limerick 

3. Banogue NS Website/Blog  

4. Presenting experiments to other classes. 

RDS Primary Science Fair
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