I enjoyed this module and have saved many of the resources included to use when I return to school to teach Senior Infants.
I particularly liked the activity on the ‘Spherical Earth’. I always find it so interesting teaching this concept to children as it is something that may not have come across before or been aware of. I would start the lesson by using an inflatable globe and throw it around the classroom. When a child catches it we call out the country that their thumb lands on. More often than not the globe is upside down so we discuss questions like ‘Are all the people in that country living upside down?’ This creates a lot of discussion and laughter especially when we land on Ireland!
Then, using another ball and a torch, I would simulate the sun and rotate the ball slowly to show how the light only shines on one side at a time, creating day and night. This helps reinforce the idea that the Earth is round and constantly rotating. We would chat about different time zones and I would show them clocks around the world and relate it back to the sun and the world rotating.
I enjoyed learning about the ‘Spherical Earth’ activity where each child draws a different landscape and then connect the mosaics. I think this would further reinforce that the different orientations depends on which side of the ‘circle’ or ‘sphere’ that you are standing on.
I always love to read the story ‘How We Found the Earth is Round’ by Joseph Becker. There is a lovely animated version of it too which brings to life the discovery that the world is not flat and also introduces the concept of gravity which you could expand on then in your next lesson on this topic.