Maths Eyes Project
This is an initiative encouraged by the Science Foundation of Ireland Discover Science, Maths and Engineering Excellence Awards to encourage pupils to look at the world around them through a mathematical lens. Our pupils in St. Anthony’s Building took photographs of everyday objects in their environment and posed mathematical questions to initiate a mathematical response to the photograph. Third class used 2D and 3D shapes, cards, lollipop sticks, tin whistles, rugby balls, hurdles and Halloween characters to create their projects. Pupils in St. Anthony presented their projects, to the pupils in St. Brigid’s Building encouraging our younger pupils to use their Maths Eyes.
Maths Bee 2016 Our annual Maths Bee was held in St Anthony’s building on Thur. 20th of October. All classes in St. Anthony’s Building held an in-class Maths Bee and the top two in every class represented their class in the finals. The tension was palpable when we gathered in the hall for the final but all finalists held their nerve and the computation skills demonstrated were very impressive. Rhys Kelly and Seán Byrne were the last ones standing after ten rounds and Seán Byrne was crowned Maths Champion in the final round.
The Maths Bee class winners were: 3rd O Aoife Keating and Joshua Finnerty
3rd Y: Daniel Walsh and William Cash 3rd G: Sophie Camlin and Alex Doyle
4th O: Abi Hammond and Ethan Poland 4th Y: Laura Hannon and Finn Larkin
5th O: Jack Pistoor and Bryanna Coughlan 5th Y: Seán Byrne and Nathan Keane
6th O: Holly Doyle and Larissa Brady 6th Y: Hazel Donoghue and Rhys Kelly
Engineering Presentation
On Monday, September 12th 2016, 5th and 6th class had a visit from Darragh McKay. Darragh is studying computer engineering at Trinity College Dublin and came in to talk to us about the different types of engineering and what it takes to be a successful engineer.
There are various types of engineers including civil, chemical, robotics, environmental, structural, computer and many more. Darragh explained that an engineer must be a problem solver, creative thinker, good at maths and science and have a desire to change the world. We learnt about some famous engineers including Dyson, Dunlop and Steve Jobs. These engineers have all had a significant impact on our world today. We were particularly interested in Dunlop, an Irish engineer who invented the pneumatic tyre.
We would like to thank Darragh for inspiring the next generation of potential engineers.
Coding and IT skills
We were amused to hear our Minister for Education promising that pupils in secondary schools would be coding over the next few years. The students in Kilcoole PS have been coding for years now and would love the minister to do less talking and more funding for new technology. The students in the senior building have begun working on Sherston Coding and IT Skills software. This package provides a wonderful variety of animated and interactive tutorials to engage students at all levels in computer coding, logical thinking and problem solving. The Crystal section of the package enables pupils create and explore data bases, design graphs, charts and web pages and also provides relevant tutorials on internet safety. The package is a valuable resource in linking maths, science and SPHE in the curriculum.
Here’s what the students are saying about it in 4th, 5th and 6th class:
‘In the programme ‘Crystal’, my two favourite activities were Mission Control V2 and Bamboozled. The perk of Mission Control V2 is that it enforces trial and error, because you won’t get the solution on your first try. With Bamboozled, you need to strategise your actions, and also you can be Bamboozled offline with Bamboozled worksheets. All in all, I would recommend Crystal to anyone who wants to get their brain thinking.’
‘It’s really accessible for beginners but also challenging if you already have coding experience.’
‘It teaches you how to programme robots…’ ‘it’s great for team work.’
‘I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in programming.’