We went to Birr on our school tour.
We visited Birr Castle. We met Alison our guide. She brought us through the science galleries. We learned about the third Earl of Rosse who built the largest telescope in the world in 1840. We saw a model of this and Alison explained how it works. We went to other galleries where we learned about the Whirlpool Galaxy first seen through the telescope. We learned about Charles Parson’s invention of the steam turbine which was used in ships like the Titanic.
After we went to look at a real steam turbine and the big telescope.
Next we had a picnic and went to the playground. There was a fantastic tree house to play in.
After our playtime we learned about how rockets work. We made our own rockets.We then had a competition to see who’s rocket could fly to the ISS (well, a picture of it!)
We had great fun and a fascinating learning experience.