Mind map: Constellations, telescope, stars, plough, spectroscope, refactor, orrery, martian canal, landscape,. surface, stargazing
I loved so many of the lesson ideas in the module. It really shows how easy it is to make learning about space fun and engaging. The lesson I am going to choose to explore is:
Space and Aliens: Special life- Life in Space
Learning outcomes To:
• know that as far as we know there are no alien beings in space • know what they find special about life on Earth • dramatise their own drawings • use their imagination to draw an alien being
Explain to the children that we live on Earth. Earth is a planet. There are many more planets in space. As far as we know there are no people living there. But if people did live there, what would the children like to show them here on Earth? What objects or animals here on Earth are so special that visitors from other planets should see them? Encourage the children to make a range of suggestions, and then decide what message to draw and act out. Give each child a sheet of A4 paper and colouring pencils. Encourage each child to draw what he or she has thought of, without letting the other children see. This maintains an element of surprise about what they will be acting out.
Sit in a circle with the children. Ask a child to act out what is in their drawing, without showing the drawing to anyone. Let the other children guess what is being enacted. Does it match the drawing? Make sure every child has a turn.
Discuss how successful the enactment was. Was it difficult? Discuss with the children whether acting something out made it easy for them to show what they think is so special about Earth. Draw an alien 15 min. Ask the children if they know what an alien is. What do they think an alien would look like? Encourage them to make a drawing of this. When they have finished, discuss what they have drawn. Why does their alien look like that? Explain that no-one has found any real aliens yet, so we don’t know if they exist or what they look like.