Hands-on creativity. The children will be able to identify and explore how objects move and will work scientifically: observing and measuring.
Rocket Building
I would begin the lesson by sharing the story ‘The Way Back Home’ We will discuss the story and talk about how the little boy ended up on the moon. Can you remember what he flew past on the way to the moon? Clouds, stars and planets. How did he get back to earth? What tools did he need to fix the rocket?
Explain that the children will become astronauts and will be making their very own rocket. We will watch the video on how to make rocket mice. The children will then make their own rocket. During the experiment we will place a post it note on the wall to show how far into space each mouse travelled. We will discuss why some mice flew higher, was it because the bottle is a different shape? Bigger/smaller? Was more force used to squeeze the bottle? I know the children will love this engaging activity and they can even explore further by making rockets at home.
For the plenary I would show the children some video clips from NASA and ESERO Ireland showing real life rocket launches.