Home › Forums › Teaching Space in Junior Classes with Curious Minds and ESERO › Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills › Reply To: Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills
For this assignment, I would use the hands on themed activities in the Animals in the Cold section. I think this lesson would be so enjoyable for junior classes.
As we in Ireland are all experts on talking about the weather, the class discussion at the start of Animals in the Cold would be at full speed! Lists of films etc set in the North or South poles would be ideal. Then the pupils could brainstorm about what animals they would expect to find there. A list with pictures can be compiled at this point.
When thinking about these animals keeping warm, the personal experience of the pupils can be drawn on in terms of how they keep warm themselves, whether it is on yard, at home, going to the supermarket, etc. I would lay coats, jackets, scarves, hats, gloves, etc. on their tables and have a discussion about what makes these items effective against the cold.
Moving to the animals, we can then explore the natural coats and fat they have instead of our manmade ones and that they keep them on all the time. (Some pupils who have cats at home might have noticed that they moult in summer but their coats become thicker and plusher in the Winter to keep as much heat as possible.)
The vaseline is a super idea here. It demonstrates so well the waterproof properties of grease/fat. I would do a before and after at this stage of the lesson so they experience the immediate effect of the vaseline on their hands.
The idea of camouflage will be very well illustrated with the penguin and polar bear. We could also chat briefly about any other animals they are aware of where camouflage is used.