Online Tools and Resources
The ESA website for kids is fantastic. There is a lovely range of sections that can be used in the classroom. Children most especially love interactive lessons and this website has huge scope. I think they would engage really well with the virtual tours. It is also a website that they themselves can use at home with their parents, as an alternative type of homework assignment. The News section is great too as the children can check in on any recent missions. The videos, animations and visuals on the website are lovely in that they explain complex topics in layman’s terms for the kids! The games quizzes and hands on activities are very doable. Older classes would benefit from using this website when completing project work.
Milo and Marvin. I like the literacy links elements here. The read aloud can be used for discussion on the plot, characters and space concepts in the story. After reading allow the children to think critically about the story and its space related theme. The videos and animations are really nice where M&M explain various space topic which can be discussed afterward to reinforce the learning. The children again get to partake in games and quizzes which is always a winner! There are many drama opportunities too when using this resource. I haven’t used this resource in the past but would love to try some of their activities next year as I tend to use the same experiments over and over again.
I would like to familiarise myself some more with the stellarium website over the summer but at this point I think that I would use it live in the classroom on the IWB to point out visible planets, stars, and constellations.