Y5 UCC Experience Day (Jun 2022)
T
his term, Year 5 had the exciting opportunity to take part in a variety of lessons that are exclusive to secondary school education at UCC. Bursting with excitement, we were met by welcoming members of staff to guide us through the school grounds, whilst many of the children were using their noticing skills, interested to see that secondary schools are laid out by departmental blocks.
Half of Year 5 were guided to the Design and Technology department, where we spent the morning baking biscuits and learning Spanish, whilst the other half of us got creative with clay, sculpting a class masterpiece following our English lesson on poetry. The whole morning was thoroughly enjoyable and a good opportunity to see what lessons would be like at secondary school.
After lunch in the school canteen, Year 5 ventured to the Science department to take part in a series of exciting experiments focusing on a space expedition. First, we had to design a carrier to ensure that the space crew (an egg) had a safe landing on the mystery planet. Blasting the packages in the air rocket was incredibly exciting, especially not knowing whether each egg would survive or not. Unfortunately, not all crews made it without a crack or two!
Finally, once landed in space, we entered a biology lab to hunt for the DNA of a mystery fruit, after discovering that we shared 50% of our DNA with a banana! It was great to use a series of equipment that we have never had the opportunity to see before, creating a lot of excitement about Science lessons in the future.
