Design a Martian lesson
Trigger: We would read the book “The Way Back Home” by Oliver Jeffers. This book is about a boy and a Martian that both land on the moon, and help each other before they both return home. We would chat about the story, we would look at the illustration of the Martian, and where the Martian had come from.
This would lead us into learning a little about Mars./ Wondering what it’s like, I found this video on YouTube. Much of the info might be too difficult but I did like that the images are clear, showing the moon lander. Journey to Mars/ SciShowKids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAGGntBUYFM
This fun Outer Space:We are the Planets Song also introduces each planet briefly, in a rap style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHAqT4hXnMw
When we had established that Mars is “The Red Planet” , is very cold and has huge dust storms, we would start thinking about what a Martian may look like….the same as in the book, or different? Children would sketch their own Martian. They would tell their partner about their design.
Children would be given the time to create their Martian. All children would sit in a circle at the end of the lesson so that they could talk about their creation, materials used. Children could say what they liked about each other’s work.
In a follow up lesson, children could create the model landscape of Mars as the setting for their Martians.