On Tuesday, the 28th of April 2009, Éanna Nì Lamhna came to our school. Éanna Ní Lamhna is on “Mooney Goes Wild” every Friday on RTÉ Radio 1. She answers listener’s questions about nature and science. So, it was great to have an actual scientist and a person who knows everything there is to know about nature take the time to take 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th Classes outside on a nature walk.
We have a report from 4th Class and 5th Class.
Report by 4th Class
Éanna Ní Lamhna's Visit
Fourth Class had a fun and educational morning with well known environmentalist, radio and TV broadcaster, Éanna Ní Lamhna. Éanna is also chairperson of An Taisce the organisation which is in charge of the Green Schools’ programme. She gave a talk about spring and took the class on a nature trail around the school grounds.
She talked about the trees and how their leaves grow in spring. The Horse Chestnut is first to show its leaves in March. The Sycamore and Beech have their’s in April. Last of all are the Oak and Ash who have their leaves in May. Cavan and Monaghan are the last counties in Ireland to show leaves on trees.
Insects, caterpillars, slugs and greenflies are delighted to see the leaves appearing. So also are spiders and ladybirds.
The birds are happy to see all these insects. They lay their eggs in spring and will need lots of food top feed their young chicks – May is a very busy time for feeding. Birds sing (mostly males) to mark out their territories – not just because they are happy to see spring coming.
Some animals wake up from their hibernation in spring. Hedgehogs, bats and frogs hibernate. However, squirrels do not hibernate – this is only a myth. Éanna showed us some of the wild flowers in our school grounds. On the top pitch we found dandelions (yellow), cuckoo flower (purple), speedwell (blue), daisies (yellow and white) and hedge mustard (purple).
Using our pooters we turned over stones and found many insects and creepy crawlies! Éanna also shook trees and bushes into her umbrella to discover more creatures. We saw worms, snails, slugs, wood lice, a centipede, lots of flies, a shield bug or stink bug as well as a ladybird. Éanna also captured a huge queen bumble bee.
We had great fun!!
Report by 5th Class
A Day With Éanna Ní Lamhna
First, Éanna came into our classroom, and everyone asked some questions about birds or trees that they saw. Then we discussed what nature we might see outside. Éanna told us about the cycle of birds, hibernating animals and where some birds live. Did you know that the squirrels do not hibernate; they just sleep, and if it’s a bad day they go back to sleep after eating some of their stores of nuts - if they are smart enough to remember where they hid them!
Afterwards our question-and-answer session we went outside. We looked at some of the trees in our school grounds. We saw the lime tree, the mountain ash, the sycamore and the beech tree. Then using our pooters, we were told to get some insects for close observation.
Immediately, everyone ran to the Biblical Garden. We looked under big stones to find the creepy crawlies underneath. Declan, Eimear and Liam held the slimiest slugs ever! Éanna told us that a slug is both genders at once, so there are no male or female slugs and all slugs lay eggs.
Moving up to the hill, we looked at wild flowers. Éanna says there are no such things as weeds, only flowers growing in the wrong place. We saw the daisy, (the “day’s eye”, as it closes at night), the speedwell, (“so tiny that you might miss it” with its four blue petals), and the dandelion (“if you eat the leaves you’ll wet the bed”). We also saw a swallow flying back and forth. We wondered why it was doing that, but it was actually flying around to catch flies in the air. Éanna said that birds don’t migrate because it’s cold, they migrate because all the insects die out in winter and they can’t get any food. At the end of our nature walk, we set the insects free and Éanna had to go to take 6th class on their walk. Mrs. Farrell let us stay out for a bit longer, and we talked about what the insects did in our pooters. Some claimed that the ants ate their woodlouse and their fly!
Éanna, if you are reading this, 5th Class would like to give you a big thank you!
