My name is Liz and I currently teach multi-grade infants.
Space Fact: The number of stars in the Milky Way is probably higher than the number of humans that have ever been born!!
This is an example of an inquiry based activity that I used in my Junior and Senior Infant class in May.
Exploring Ice: understanding how it melts and how salt can affect melting.
Engage the pupils by asking the pupils what they know about ice. Where do they see it? What is it made of? Write down their ideas on the board.
Explain the activity: Tell pupils they will be scientists exploring ice. They will observe how ice changes and see what happens when they add salt.
Investigation: Give each pupil a small plastic bowl or tray and an ice cube. Hand out small amounts of salt and give them magnifying glasses.
Observing the ice: Ask pupils to look closely at their ice cubes using the magnifying glasses. Encourage them to describe what they see. Is it clear or cloudy? What shapes do they notice?
Melting observations: Have pupils hold their ice cubes in their hands for a minute and then put them back in their trays. What happens? The pupils should notice the ice starting to melt. Adding salt: Ask pupils to sprinkle a small amount of salt on their ice cubes. – Observe and discuss what happens. The salt will cause the ice to melt faster. Pupils can use magnifying glasses to watch this process closely
This also lent nicely into follow up hands on Aistear activity using ice. I froze mini dinosaurs and other small animals in shallow trays: the children became mini archaeologists using little tools and salt to uncover what animals were hidden in the frozen ice. This activity was completed in the classroom and out in the yard in the sun!