Green Schools News
On April 12th and 13th we had our Action
Days for Biodiversity. On April 12th,
the 5th class children did a river study with Jan Baars. The
children learned about the river as a habitat - the pools, runs and
riffles. They sketched a stretch of the
river and indicated which areas were deep pools, which areas were shallower
runs, and which areas were fast flowing riffles.
They then investigated which creatures could be found in the
river. They used petri dishes to examine
the creatures and recorded them and used this information to determine whether
the water quality was good or bad.
Thankfully, the water quality was good!
Jan had set traps the previous evening to catch some of the
crayfish in the river. He taught the
children how to tell if the crayfish were male or female, and how to weigh and
measure them. The children learned that
the female crayfish tend to be smaller and lighter than the male crayfish.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the river study and learned so
much about the variety of life in the River Liffey.
In the afternoon, the 1st class children did a bug
hunt with Jan Baars. They explored the
various habitats in the school grounds and found a variety of insects to
explore. Again, they had a great me and
learned so much. Many thanks to Jan
Baars for giving of his time to help the children explore the world around
them.
On Friday, all classes dressed up for Biodiversity Day. The variety of costumes was amazing, and so
many of the children went to such great effort in creating their amazing
costumes. A huge thanks to all who took
part. There was a wonderful buzz of
excitement around the school for the day. Here are a few examples of the many wonderful costumes:
On the day, some of our 5th and 6th
class children brought in their unusual pets to show to the younger
children. Jamie and Jason Malley brought
in their bearded dragon and corn snake and the pinstripe ball python, Jemima Terry
brought in her chinchilla and Daniel Baars brought in his crested gecko. The children (and teachers) had great fun
with these unusual pets and learned a lot about their eating and sleeping habits
and some of the tricks they get up to. Many thanks to the children for bringing
in their pets!
Éanna Ní Lamhna visited the 3rd and 4th
classes and spoke to them about the biodiversity in the area and in particular
about species that are native to Ireland.
Many thanks to everyone for taking part in the day, and in particular to
all of the children and parents who put so much effort into the wonderful
costumes.
After all of the hard work during the last two years, Scoil
Bhríde has been awarded its fifth Green Flag for Biodiversity! The children are looking forward to receiving the Green Flag at the awards ceremony in the Helix, DCU in May.
Here are some other photos from our Action Day:
Here are some other photos from our Action Day:
