Hello, my name is Susie and I am teaching Senior Infants this year. A fact about space that I love is that the word ‘month’ itself is related to the moon. It originally measured how long it took for the moon to complete a cycle around the earth, so ‘moon’ and ‘month’ come from the same root. Kids love learning this!
Introducing young children to the wonders of Outer Space can be an exciting and rewarding experience, especially through inquiry-based learning. At five or six years old, students are naturally curious, eager to ask questions, and full of imagination. Using an inquiry-based approach with this age group allows me to harness their innate curiosity and guide them through a process of exploration and discovery. Reflecting on how I would implement an inquiry-based activity on the theme of Outer Space for Senior Infants, I envision a fun, engaging, and age-appropriate journey that makes learning an adventure. I would introduce the theme of Outer Space through a picture book, story or short animated video to spark their interest with lots of opportunity for questions. I would design the inquiry process to be interactive and exploratory. We would set up different “stations” around the classroom, each focused on a different aspect of Outer Space – rocket building station, planet exploration station, starry sky station etc. I would encourage collaborative learning and reflection after exploring and creating an environment where curiosity is encouraged.