Green Schools Week 2020 in Rm12 (15th - 19th June)

Hi girls,

I hope you and your families are all keeping well! I hope you all enjoyed looking back on your year in 5th class, you won’t forget this year anytime soon!!!

This week is Green Schools Week and you’ll find lots of activities on the Green Schools handout that Mrs O’ Brien and Miss Dennehy put together for your work pack. Check out some suggestions for the week below.

The next chapter of Harry Potter, ‘Quidditch’, is available to watch online now. Feel free to do some of the activities from the ‘Chapter Challenge’ section too and be sure to send them to me if you do.

https://www.wizardingworld.com/chapters/reading-quidditch

On Monday I’ll be at school so that your parents will be able to collect your belongings and drop off anything that needs to be returned to school. The following is a list of things we’d like to collect:

• any book rental books you have at home,
• our novel ‘Holes’,
• your 5^th Class Memories worksheet,
• your kindness rock,
• your jigsaw piece,
• all Time Capsule worksheets you completed (Letter to my Future Self / I am Not Stuck at Home, I am Safe at Home / Special Occasions / Handprint / We’re All in This Together? / Achievement Shield? / Interview Your Parents / Things to Remember).

Thank you for your emails this week and keep them coming! My email again is amyryancashelgirls@gmail.com .

I hope you all have a lovely week ladies!

Take care,

Ms Ryan.

Green Schools Week 2020

We would like you to get outside and explore the environment.

We would also like you to think about how we all impact the environment both negatively and positively and what we can do to help make our environment better.

Mrs. O’Brien has put a lot of work into the activities for Green Schools Week and we hope you enjoy it!

Plant Your Wildflower Seeds

Mrs. O’Brien gave every child in the school a package of wildflower seeds to plant at home.

They are in a paper bag in your work package.

You can plant your seeds in an area of your garden or in a pot.

Here is a video to show you how to plant your wildflower seeds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=46&v=RmcGh8tMvgs&feature=emb_title

We learned about bees earlier in the year. Wildflowers are very important for bees. Can you find out what flowers they like?

Cashel Tidy Towns have planted lots of wildflowers all around the town. There are beautiful wildflowers on the Golden Rd., at the Gouts Pond, on the walk around the rock.

Why not bring your camera and to take some photographs of the beautiful wildflowers around Cashel.

Learn about trees

Importance of trees.

Trees are sometimes called the “Lungs of the Earth” because they take in Carbon Dioxide and give out oxygen.

Read about why trees are so important for the environment https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2017/12/why-do-we-need-trees/

Tree Identification (sheet in your package)

You can identify trees by looking at their shape, buds, bark, fruit or leaves.

In your package you received a tree identification sheet. Use it to identify trees in your garden or perhaps you could go for a forest walk this week and see how many trees you can identify.

Here is an article describing how to identify trees you parents might like to read.

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/how-to-identify-trees-on-a-walk-in-ireland-1.4205056

Woodland Art.

I love these woodland art pieces made using leaves and bark. Why not make collect some leaves and create some woodland art of your own.

https://www.redtedart.com/kids-crafts-woodland-people/

Calculate the age of a tree.

Here is a fun maths activity for you to calculate the age of a tree (You will need a measuring tape).

What to do:

1. Do you know the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees? Find a deciduous tree at home
2. First, face the trunk and measure 1.3m from the ground. This is the point at which you need to measure the circumference of the trunk.
3. At 1.3m from the ground, use a tape measure to measure the circumference of (distance around) the trunk, in centimetres. Make sure you avoid any lumps or branches.
4. To get an approximate age for the tree, convert the measurement of the circumference in centimetres, to inches. Here is an example of the calculation:

What is the oldest tree you can find?

A poem about a tree.

Read the poem about trees in the downloads by Joyce Kilmer.

Sketch a Tree

Find a tree that looks nice. Look at it very carefully and try to sketch it.

Remember that you draw with your eyes as well as your hands so keep looking at the tree very carefully. I’d love to see your sketches.

Plant experiments

Try out these experiments to learn about how plants grow.

How does water travel through the stem of a plant?

Watch this video and try out the experiment to learn how plants grow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIug9Foou3s

Spud break-out

Darwin was fascinated by how plants grow. He grew lots of plants to test how different conditions - like the amount of light - affect their growth. Now it’s your turn to try growing something

More Experiments

Download the sheets below and read about plants and try out some more plant experiments.

Learn about Recycling

Visit https://repak.ie/team-green/for-schools/ to learn about recycling in Ireland.

Meet the recycling characters Bobby the Box, Jenny the Jam Jar, Cormac the Can and Bridget the Bottle. Watch the short videos and let the guys explain how you can recycle better and save our nation from contamination. 

Read the Recycling Fact Sheet in the downloads and Take the Contamination Quiz.

Plastic Waste

Watch this short video which tells us how we can keep plastic out of our ocean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQTUWK7CM-Y

Survey your waste. See how many recyclable items you have.

Think about how much plastic you use?

Examine the waste in your recycling bin.

What small changes can your family make to reduce the amount of plastic they use.

Why not try to eliminate single use plastic drink bottles – bring your own reusable bottle! Bring your own plastic bag. Reduce the number of plastic toys you buy?

Potty for Toilet Roll!

Recyclable materials are fun to use for art and craft activities.

Mrs. O’Brien has challenged you to see what can you make using toilet rolls?

Mrs. O’Brien would love to see photographs your creations. So send me a photograph of your work.

You’ll find lots of ideas here!

https://www.redtedart.com/cute-easy-toilet-paper-roll-crafts/?cn-reloaded=1

The World’s Largest Lesson

Watch this video – the world’s largest lesson. Think, talk and discuss ways you and your family can help in protecting and creating a sustainable environment we can all live in.

https://www.unicef.ie/stories/emma-watson-introduces-the-worlds-largest-lesson-on-global-goals-2016/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwz4z3BRCgARIsAES_OVcJkNIa7qiwfxIgXOAsKFcqSIib992M8_ULP9qsOvA81hdm-SI9BjIaApNgEALw_wcB

Camera Crazy

Take some photographs of all your Green Schools Work this week and send it in for the School Website.

A Nature Diary

Getting outside in nature is wonderful for your mental health. Why not keep a nature diary.

https://greenschoolsireland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Design-a-Nature-Diary.pdf

Green Schools Quiz

Test your knowledge of Greens Schools. Download the Green School Quiz.