5th Class St.Mary’s, Blessington
Eye on Nature Calendar
‘Eye on Nature’ – Class Calendar
Our 2027 Class Calendar. You are being asked to focus closely on the natural world around them and take photographs that capture something interesting, beautiful, unusual or special in nature.
The idea is to get you to really notice what is around you. The photographs should be of nature only, with no humans or pets in the pictures. Insects such as bees are fine. Think carefully about the photographs you take and make sure that they fit with the theme of ‘Eye on Nature’.
You should be able to explain what you have photographed and why you chose that particular image. The emphasis is on you noticing something yourself and having a reason for taking the photograph. When you send in the photograph make sure to give your photo a name.
Once the photographs have been submitted, we will look at them together as a class. We will select the 13 best photographs. The selected photographs will then be developed and used to create our class calendar.
The overall aim is to encourage you to slow down, look carefully at the world around you and see the nature that is often right in front of them. See winning photos from last years calendar
ScienceBlast 2027
🔬 Science Blast 2027 – What Will We Investigate?
Last year, our Science Blast experiment investigated dead hanging and handwriting. Half of the 6th Class took part in a dead-hanging programme, while the other half did not. We tested everyone’s handwriting before and after the experiment and collected lots of data to see if dead hanging had an effect. We then used our results to create graphs and draw conclusions.
This year, we want to try something new but it will involve dead hanging again.
So, what should our Science Blast 2027 experiment be?
What could we investigate as a class?
What could we measure and collect data on?
What experiment could we carry out over a number of weeks and use our results and graphs to answer a scientific question?
It’s over to you… What should we investigate for Science Blast 2027? 🧪🔬
LunchTime Gaelic Football League
Boys – 2 groups of 3
Girls
ScienceBlast 2027
🔬 Our Science Investigation: Does Upper Body Strength Improve Running Speed?
Thanks to our discussion yesterday we have chosen our next whole-class science investigation! Our question is: Does improving upper body strength make us faster runners? To find out, all three 5th classes will have their running speed tested next week. Each student will run the same distance, giving their best effort, while their time is recorded using a stopwatch. We will then repeat the same test at the end of our six-week investigation.
Our class will be the high-frequency dead-hanging group. Five days a week, we will complete five attempts at dead hanging from the bars. Each time we hang until our hands can no longer hold on, that counts as one attempt. Miss Gilligan’s class will be our lower-frequency group, completing five dead hangs twice a week for six weeks. Miss Nugent’s class will be our control group and will not complete any dead hanging.
At the end of the six weeks, we will compare everyone’s September and October running times and calculate their improvement. We expect everyone may get a little faster as they grow stronger and practise running, but we want to find out whether the students completing dead hangs improve more than those who don’t. This will help us decide whether increasing upper body strength has an effect on running speed. We will collect, analyse and graph our results before reaching our final conclusion!
Class Website Logo 2026/2027
In Art we will be looking at logos, what makes a good logo and what are some instantly recognizable logos. You will then be asked in teams of three to come up with a new logo for our 6th class website (ThinkWithYourInk) . I’m looking forward to hearing what stories your logo is going to tell.
This is the winning logo from 2years ago, what story is it trying to tell us do you think?
Ans last years winning logo, what story is it trying to tell us do you think?
We will design a new logo for our class website in the next week. You will work in groups of 3.
ScienceBlast Submission
Logo Presentations
🐜 Logo 1 – The Ant: “Think with your ink”
Our logo is based on an ant because we think an ant represents hard work, teamwork and never giving up. Ants are very small, but they can carry things that are many times heavier than themselves. This shows us that you should never judge what someone can achieve by how small or young they are.
We chose the words “Think with your ink” because our website is about sharing our ideas, our learning and our creativity. We wanted the logo to show that everyone has ideas inside their head, and we can use our writing and drawing to get those ideas out.
We chose blue for the background because blue is a calm colour and it makes us think of learning, thinking and being focused. We chose green for the sign because green can represent growth. Just like plants grow, we are always growing and learning new things.
The purple circle makes the logo stand out and gives it a fun and creative feeling. We used black for the ant and the outside because black is strong and makes the other colours easier to see.
We also included the sun because it represents positivity and bright ideas.
Most importantly, the ant is holding up our message. It shows that even something small can achieve something big if it works hard, keeps trying and believes in itself.
🐢 Logo 2 – The Turtle
We chose a turtle for our logo because we think a turtle represents perseverance, learning and never giving up. A turtle might not be the fastest animal, but that is exactly why we chose it. The story of the Tortoise and the Hare teaches us that you don’t always have to be the fastest or the best straight away. If you keep going and don’t give up, you can still reach your goal.
The turtle is wearing a graduation cap because learning is one of the most important parts of school. We also gave it a pencil because pencils are something we use every day to write down our ideas and show what we have learned.
We chose green for the turtle because green represents growth. We are always learning, improving and growing, just like a plant.
The shell has lots of bright colours, including yellow, blue, purple, red and green. We chose lots of colours because every person in our class is different. We all have different talents, ideas and interests, but we are all part of the same class.
The black outline makes the colours stand out, while the white underneath gives the logo a clean and simple look.
Our main message is that you don’t have to be the fastest. You just have to keep moving forward. If we work hard, learn from our mistakes and keep trying, we can eventually get where we want to go.
Artefact Thursday
What is an artefact?
An artefact is an object made or used by people in the past that can tell us something about a person, family, place or time in history.
Each Thursday, one student will bring in an artefact from home and give the class a short presentation about it.
Questions to answer in your presentation
- What is your artefact?
- What was it used for?
- Who did it belong to?
- How old is it?
- How did it come into your family’s possession?
- Has it been passed down through your family?
- Why is this artefact important or interesting to you?
- What does it tell us about life in the past?
Try to bring the actual artifact if possible. If it is too valuable, fragile or important to bring to school, you can bring a photograph instead.
Class Logo 2026/2027
Our Winning Logo 🐝🌻
What a fantastic day we had on Friday as everyone presented their class logos and explained the meaning behind their designs. Our winning team was Matthew, Dara and Michael.
Their logo features a bee, representing hard work, perseverance and never giving up. Just like bees keep working every day, even when things don’t go to plan, we want to keep trying and doing our best in 5th Class.
The red represents passion and courage, green represents health and growth, while yellow represents happiness and creativity. The sunflower represents growth and hope, and the grass represents health and the beauty of our world. The rose represent how we grow throughout the year. Just like a rose starts small and gradually blooms, we too grow through patience, effort and hard work.
A brilliant logo with a brilliant message! 🐝🌻
