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ASSIGNMENT
Create a mind map in relation to your ideas about space. Please add to your mind map after each module as part of the reflective learning process.
As a reply to this post, introduce yourself on the forum and share your favourite space fact. Then add a reflection (150 words min) on how you would use one inquiry-based activity in your classroom
Also, please respond to at least one other participant’s post in this forum.
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Hi everyone!
I’m Frances, space enthusiast and moderator with my colleagues from Blackrock Castle for this course.
I have loved space since I was tiny – I remember the Mars missions in the 1970s and was fascinated by the idea that we could send missions to the planets.
I was alive when the Apollo missions happened, but don’t remember them at all (I was only 3! in summer 1969).
I just “snopes-ed” my new favourite space fact – and it turns out to be not true at all. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/michael-collins-scream-cut-mic/
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As a reply to this post, introduce yourself on the forum and share your favourite space fact. Then add a reflection (150 words min) on how you would use one inquiry-based activity in your classroom
A lesson that I did before in school was asking the children to find a new home for an alien in space. We talked about what time of home he was looking for, his family members that were also coming with him and the type of environment he would like to live in. This naturally led to research about the different planets. I find it a great lesson to open up conversations about the different planets also there is a huge amount of cross curricular scope. geography for different types of homes, art- designing and creating a home, creating planets etc. There is also scope for this lesson to lead to group work research. Assign a planet to each group and they research which planet would be best for the alien to live on, each group present their ideas and research to the class. I have always found this lesson particularly enjoyable and the kids love it!
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Hello, my name is Michelle. I am currently working in Junior Infants with 4/5 year olds. My favourite space fact, its not really a fact but an idea put forward by Brian Cox in a recent lecture of his that I attended, is that we, as human beings, might be the only beings able to ‘think’ about space and therefore give it meaning.
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I had never heard of Brian Cox before starting this course. I have listened to a few of his videos now and it’s clear straight away how passionate he is about science. I look forward to listening to more of his work as I find children these days are so into science and space so I need to keep up with them!
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Do you know this song? 🙂
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Hi, my name is Rachael and I’m working in a junior school as a SET teacher. I think it’s cool that worms have 5 hearts! We do a lot of Math and Literacy based in class so a lot of the time I’m combining Math and Science lessons together.
My favourite inquiry based lesson to do in school and at home is floating and sinking. An oldie, a classic but you can elicit so much from the children and they usually have a lot of previous knowledge on the topic because of water play in the infants classrooms. I like to introduce this by talking about different objects and predicting if they’re going to float or sink and discussing the language of floating and sinking, like what does it actually mean. I usually bring in the kid’s experiences of swimming in the discussion. We observe and investigate what happens when the children place different classroom items in the water like rubbers, rulers all different materials and heavy and light items. We’ll discuss our findings and take note of them. Usually we would watch a video at the end to sum up our findings. -
Floating and sinking is also one of my favourite lessons! As you say, it’s an oldie, but a goodie! I like throwing in items to throw them such as a golf ball or a sponge! I taught infants for many years and didn’t think that 2nd class would enjoy it or get as much from the lesson, once it’s adapted suitably it’s great for all ages.
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Kathy- the beauty of the inquiry method of learning science is that the teachers is NOT the fount of all knowledge. You can put on an air of slight uncertainty in these activities as you encourage the children to make predictions using:
I think that XXX will happen if we do YY because…
You can help them phrase their thinking, and challenge if they are predicting one thing that is totally at odds with why they think it will happen, but you (and they) don’t need to know the “Right” answer before you start.
So, for forces, a child might say:
I think a big toy car won’t go as far when it goes down a ramp, because it takes more push to throw a heavy ball… and then you test this.
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My name is Eimear and I teach senior infants. I recently completed a dissertation on the use of picture books to promote IBL for science investigations. we read picture books that linked to teaching the children about materials. This led to lots of child led discussions where they came up with that experiments they wanted to do. It was amazing to see the children take autonomy over their learning.
My favourite space fact is that there are apparently more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on the Earth! -
Hi Eimear, that sounds like such a great idea. I really like the intention of building what the children are interested in to promote curiosity and autonomy in learning. I am also a fan of using picture books as a base/prompt for science investigations. I feel that it provides something to the children to relate to as they engage in the lessons.
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Hi, my name is Niamh and I will be teaching first class this year. An inquiry based lesson style that I have found successful in the past is creating a challenge as a stimulus. I sometimes use books, videos or something that has come up in classroom discussion for this. One lesson creating ramps and the goal is to figure out how to make it go the furthest. The children are free to use materials in the classroom (once they check it with me first) and they have autonomy over what way they design it. They have opportunities to trial it and make adjustments before the final test. It was really great to see the children take charge and work together to solve this. They came up with such inventive ideas and really thought outside the box.
A space fact I found interesting is you wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter as it does not have a solid surface.
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Niamh,
I’ve frequently mentioned how important ramps is as a learning activity, so it is great to hear it from the classroom. My go-to-link for the pedagogy is this from the Ramps and Pathways team.
It is an ideal design and make, and we do it at BCO with pipe insulation cut in half, easy to source, reusable and flexible. Get it from your local builders providers, choosing the widest interior diameter and thinnest outer material to get something that is easy to curve and can accommodate a lot of different size marbles. Give different groups different colour marbles, so if they lose their marble you can check that another group hasn’t collected it before you move every item of furniture looking for it. (that’s from experience!).
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Niamh I am also teaching first class this year and I really want to focus on stem and playful activities surrounding that. I am very interested in your ramp activities especially as it really gives the children agency to create and design through their learning experiences. Now my own wondering is why does gravity pull objects down quicker froma higher ramp?
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Denise,
gravity always pulls with pretty much the same force, at least over the heights you can reach in the classroom. But, gravity keeps something accelerating as it pulls, since it keeps pulling.
So, in the first second that an object falls, it speeds up from no speed, to 10 m/s. In the next second it speeds up another 10 m/s, so is now going 20 meters every second – so has now gone much further in the second second than the first.
You can see this on the ramp in this video:
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvmm-math-fallingbodies/galileos-falling-bodies/
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I love doing floating and sinking with my classes. I work in a junior school so my experience is up to 2nd class age children. We gather objects and experiment at a class level. I just love when the children are so engaged and they ask questions to each other and give their explanations as to why they think it may or may not float before someone is nominated to test it out. After this the children go into groups and decide.what they want to test. They make predictions in both scenarios and record them on whiteboards. Sometimes we record our experiences later in report writing activities. This presenter in the inquiry you tube video was correct to say that no two science lessons are the same. This year for the first time.ever the children set up a little experiment at the back of the class. Some were.cerrain that over time some object will sink despite floating initially. They made a sign asking will it float or sink and stuck it beside the fish tank. Sure enough the paper sank and the wooden dice began to submerge. Additionally they were delighted that the dye from the paper actually colored the water. I.myself had not.anticipated this.
I will be using thw spillage idea from this module for.certain next year. I love how it.expands into waterproof clothing also.
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My name is Aoife and I have been teaching in a Deis school for 20 years.
An interesting Space fact is that Mars has a volcano bigger than the entire state of Hawaii!!
Two years ago I had Junior Infants and I remember doing an activity based on the Stars and the children really enjoyed it and the activity at the end,
Topic- The Stars
Beginning of the lesson- Sing the song ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’ with the children.
Middle of the lesson- Talk about the song …..drawing their attention to the words: How I wonder what you are?’ What are stars? Can we name any
stars? What do stars do? Why do we call some people Superstars?! How
many stars do we think are in the night sky? Why can we see lots of
stars some nights and very few on other nights?Conclusion- Each child will design their own star and we will create our own milky way on a huge sheet of black card.
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Hi my name is Aideen and I am currently teaching Junior Infants. I am looking forward to completing this course and learning some new ideas about teaching the topic of Space. My favourite space fact is that shooting stars are not actually stars; when you see a shooting star, it’s not a star. It’s actually a tiny piece of rock or dust from space that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, creating a streak of light.
An inquiry based activity that I have used in the classroom was in relation to observing how different variables affect plant growth. The students were given seeds, soil, and water, and were tasked with designing an experiment to test how different variables (e.g., amount of water, type of soil, amount of light) affect plant growth. They then had to discuss the results in their groups, form hypothesis , collect data, and present their findings. The children really enjoyed the activity and loved comparing their predictions to the results. -
Hi my name is Aideen and I am currently teaching Junior Infants. I am looking forward to completing this course and learning some new ideas about teaching the topic of Space. My favourite space fact is that shooting stars are not actually stars; when you see a shooting star, it’s not a star. It’s actually a tiny piece of rock or dust from space that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, creating a streak of light.
An inquiry based activity that I have used in the classroom was in relation to observing how different variables affect plant growth. The students were given seeds, soil, and water, and were tasked with designing an experiment to test how different variables (e.g., amount of water, type of soil, amount of light) affect plant growth. They then had to discuss the results in their groups, form hypothesis , collect data, and present their findings. The children really enjoyed the activity and loved comparing their predictions to the results. -
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Hi my name is Eimear and I teach in a vertical DEIS school. My interest in space is that I love that its vastness, blackness and planets and stars are of interest to children from infants to 6th. In my teaching I have found children in infants interested in stars and moon, and love that older children are informed about Neil Armstrong and the moon landings from the senior SESE curriculum.
from this module I loved the ‘oops’ idea as a trigger to grab children attention. I think dropping items to the ground will immediately have children immersed in the idea of gravity and how it pulls objects to earth core.
I think the framework of enquiry sets out a clear path for a lesson that allows children explore and develop ideas and then perform tests and look at data. It makes the learning experiental and allows ways to observe and record data.
I think children enjoy letting objects fall to ground and make observations of each – a feather; a school bag; a book; a marker; a liquid. Can tie in with maths through timing and speed of the fall of items and perform a fair test by dropping items from sane height and recording as video to observe. -
Hi Eimear,
I think if you want the children to actually time something falling that you will need to give them objects with a lot of air resistance, otherwise, it’ll all be too fast.
Or, you could go to ramps, and have them at a very shallow angle and have objects slide down. If you have marbles that roll, or toys that roll, then a shallow shallow ramp may work.
Measuring time appears in the Maths curriculum for 3rd/4th class- would you introduce it much earlier? [compare, approximate and measure time using appropriate units of measurement.]
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Hi Aoife,
I really like the idea of the lesson on the stars. By beginning with the song the children are familiar with and you are also integrating then with music. As all children are familiar to the song they call all relate to the lesson then and it leaves nobody out. I also love the idea of creating your own milky way to display in the classroom.
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Hi when I was teaching junior infants last year we used the Oxford Reading Tree book The Carboard Box as a prompt for waterproof materials. This led the children to carry out a number of experiments on a variety of materials to see which ones were waterproof or not. Before the experiment we engaged in oral discussions about the materials we would use and discussed further to see if the children believed each material would be waterproof or not. They then used a pipette filled with water and recorded the results of the experiment using a happy or sad face beside each material tested. We then discussed the results. As an extension to the activity the children had to create a waterproof jacket for teddy using cut up pieces from each of the waterproof materials they tested.
The children really enjoyed this simple experiment as it led to many discussions and they were able to connect old and new learning together.
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Michelle,
what a great story: The Big Box, Oxford Reading Tree Level 1
https://youtu.be/GS2DHx4jcVA?si=dVzap0DQLzoVGC1u
the illustrations show clearly what happened to the box when it rained, and this is a great prompt for an inquiry.
Plenty of opportunity to ‘explore‘ what happens to a material when it gets wet, in this case in terms of structural integrity. You could link it to the paper towels of Mighty Materials and do they stay strong when they get wet.
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I did a lesson very similar to this with my Junior Infant class last year Aoife. The children were engaged in the lesson instantly when we opened it with the song ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. We then went on to speak about the stars and I shared some basic facts about them. The children were so interested and fascinated by the idea of stars being so huge and so far away. We spoke about the shape of stars and how bright they are too. We also finished our lesson with the children decorating, designing and cutting out their own stars that we stuck onto large black paper to create our own Space Wall.
I have Junior Infants again in the coming school year so I hope to do the same lesson with them as it was so engaging for them.
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This sounds like such a great learning activity. The scope for inquiry based learning and quality discussion is amazing here. As a teacher in a junior school I think this is just the kind of topic that I would like to introduce with my class to discover their existing knowledge of space and their ability to think creatively.
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Hi Everyone,
My name is Susanne and I’ve taught a range of ages over my 28 year career. I’m currently working in SET and my pupils very much enjoy exploring the world around them. Hence my choice of summer course. I welcome new ideas from fellow colleagues.
I’m fascinated with space and attribute my interest to Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spok if I’ m completely honest (that’s Star Trek to those of ye youngsters !!!!)
My interesting space fact is that on Mercury a day is twice as long as a year apparently.
I teach in a rural town in County Monaghan and a lot of our pupils come from a farming background.
So when I’m introducing forces I tend to use tractors instead of toy cars and talk about the farmer’s work with a tractor.
And for Junior classes I could use Tractor Ted videos capture the pupils’ interest.
Many thanks to Susan Molloy for sharing her lesson plan on finding homes for aliens and all the interesting ways it can be integrated into other subject areas. I’ll definitely be trying this out.
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Hi Michelle,
Brian Cox has a real way with words and has some fascinating videos and clips based on space.
My space fun fact for the day is that sunset on Mars appears blue!
I will be teaching senior infants in September and one lesson that I find always gets their interest and imagination going is floating and sinking. They love predicting and then the opportunity to test items out for themselves. They often compare the floating items to themselves floating in the swimming pool! There is also scope then for the conversation to lead into water and different materials that might be waterproof or not which could be a lesson for another day!
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Hi Susan, your idea of a home for an alien is brilliant. The scope for cross curricular opportunities is endless. From arts and crafts to geography to drama and literacy. These cross curricular links are hugely important to children’s learning as they provide excellent avenues to inclusion and diversity
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My name is Rebecca. I will be teaching 1st class this coming September. My favourite space fact is that depending on the elements shooting stars are made from they can shine different colours.
An inquiry-based lesson that I have done is making a volcanic eruption in a jar. The children really enjoyed this and it is such a fun way to show chemical reactions in the junior classes.
Method:
Half-fill a jar with water.
Add a few drops of food colouring.
Fill the rest of the jar with oil.
Allow a few minutes for the oil and water to separate.
Drop the fizzy tablet and watch the magic happen. -
Hi Rebecca,
this demonstration can make a great prompt when looking at Inquiry based learning.
Children could then consolidate their science understanding by posing simple testable questions that they can then verify with an investigation.
A child might suggest: “I think that if there is more oil then it won’t work… because…” and then check out if the more oil scenario does or doesn’t work.
Another child might think – there needs to be lots of water or the tablet won’t fizz- can I try it with only water?
In this way children act as scientists and confirm or refute their own understanding.
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Hi Rebecca,
I love this lesson. I actually completed it for my diploma when I was being inspected about 15 years ago. Although we made volcanoes out a clay first and did not have the reaction in the jar. I love the idea of the jar.
A nice way to introduce the lesson could be a KWL chart and this will maybe keep the children focused and on task.
As a parent myself now, I can see the effect that these inquiry based lessons have on children . My child loves to come home and reenact this type of learning at home. Shame he isn’t as enthusiastic in other areas of the curriculum but it does just prove how important hands on inquiry learning is.
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Hi Rebecca
I’m also very interested in Science-based learning and I love how my own children are curious about the world around us and the solar system!
I can also see how enquiry-based learning can benefit children when investigating science matters. It also helps us as teachers to reflect on the learning at the end of a lesson for progression.
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I totally agree with this from a parents point of view and a teachers point of view. My own children love coming home with an experiment to do for homework and when we had Science week in school my Junior infants couldn’t wait every day for the experiments – they loved predicting what was going to happen and then waiting to see were they right or not. Children love inquiry based learning and experiments lend themselves to playful learning naturally. Children learn so much from play and are the experts in play.!
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I love this lesson idea Susan because there’s so much scope for what you can do. It start with geography but the children could role-play life on the planet, design a the planet including his flag in Art, compose the planet’s anthem in music, etc. It’s very cross curricular and can be fun and child led.
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Inquiry based activity:
”Exploring the moon”
I would start with a prompt like a short story of video of the moon. I would elicit prior knowledge and ask questions about the moon, e.g. What does the surface of the moon look like?
Using a flashlight and a ball we would explore the moon’s phases, how the light changes on the ball (moon) and as it moves around the flashlight (sun). We would discuss the vocab around the different phases. We would then draw the different phases using black paper and chalk. We could also make the surface of the moon using playdoh, focusing on craters.
We would investigate using pictures of the moon, astronauts, etc. The children can reflect in small groups on what they’ve learned. They can share their favourite fact like we did in this forum.
Teacher assessment would be through observation and questioning. Self assessment and peer assessment through their drawings and playdoh models.
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Hi Louise this seems like a fun activity and potential for so many more lessons. With the ball and flashlight you can go and teach about shadows and activities can include making shadows with their hands, tracing their shadows in pairs outside with the Sun, etc.
Pictures and vocab is very important especially as most children are visual learners. And I for one am always amazed doing a KWL chart at the amount of information children know about a topic beforehand and how much info they gather in such a short time. There will always be a space lover in the group of children you’re teaching, or at least one will be born after the topics are taught.
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Yes the KWL is such a solid platform to work from.
We did a space project (first class) during the first term and each table had to split a page in what fact and fiction knowledge they think they have?
We had read a few fiction and non fiction books, and watched a few videos about space (Chris Hadfield). Do aliens really like underpants was a very popular question! What does gravity mean? This introduction / approach encouraged some great positive conversation about space and a good starting point for building on going forward.
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Yes the KWL is such a solid platform to work from.
We had read a few fiction and non fiction books, and watched a few videos about space (Chris Hadfield). Do aliens really like underpants was a very popular question! What does gravity mean? This introduction / approach encouraged some great positive conversation about space and a good starting point for building on going forward.
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Hi Louise, this lesson on the moon seems really good and I think the children would really like it . It would definitely spark their curiousity regarding the moon. I think it’s so important to provide interest based fun lessons in STEM. The chidlren would just love working with the flash light seeing the moons different phases as well as working with playdough exploring craters. I’m definitely going to use this in my own class.
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My name is Rachael and I will be teaching junior infants in September. An interesting fact about space is that it is silent.
Inquiry based lesson I have taught before was creating a model of space using the children themselves. Children were given a planet, star, sun, moon- that they had to become for the model. In order to recreate the solar system they had to investigate as much as they could about their part. What it looks like, how big it is, where it is situated in relation to the sun, does it spin and if so what direction. Questions arose like what does the inside of earth look like which prompted an investigation and discussion about the earth’s crust, the inner and outer core etc. We then created our life picture of the solar system and performed this for our school at assembly.
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Hi Rachael,
welcome to this course, you’ll find a lot of suggestions from other teachers of infants, so I do urge you to explore the forums as well as the course material.
In this course we are specifically referring to the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry when we look at inquiry activities. So for making a model of space using children as stars/suns/planets/moons – the actual scenario could be the prompt, they could then share what they know and ask questions that they might use secondary sources to verify.
So – a child who knows that the Moon goes around the Earth, but thinks the Sun also goes around the Earth can share what they think the model should look like, then can check it from books or other sources.
Questions that can lead to further investigations are a sign that the inquiry is at the right level. I heard once that if a class are saying “we get it, we get it” then they don’t – since a class that “gets it” will have lots more questions (whatever ‘it’ is!)
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That’s a great idea Susan and a great wayto get the children’s attention. It’s so exciting for them to be finding a home for an alien. But yes it is essential to know some facts about where the alien is coming from so researching the various planets is crucial. I love how all aspects of the curriculum are used from oral language to art, geography and SPHE too. I will definitely try this out in the future.
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Hello everyone, my name is Pól. I am starting in a new school at the end of August and I will have Junior infants next year. I don’t have one favourite space fact but I do love to learn about space and look forward to learning many new and interesting facts during this course that I will be able to share with my pupils next year
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Hi everyone my name is Eoghan and I teach first class. I am looking forward to learning about how I can teach my students next year about space. An interesting fact I know about space is that the largest volcano is on mars and is three times the size of Mount Everest.
An inquiry-based activity I would use to teach children about space would be a lesson on the effects of gravity.
Engage
Prompt: Drop a bouncy ball.
Wonder: What makes the ball drop?
Explore: Allow the children to drop balls.
Investigate
Starter Question: Do different objects fall at the same speed?
Predicting: Children share their predictions.
Conducting the investigation: The children will drop different objects and will observe whether or not they drop at the same speed.
Taking the next step:
Applying Learning: The children will work together to make a concluding statement on the effects of gravity on objects of different weights.
Making Connections: The children will make connections to real life, movies and stories they have watched where certain objects fall towards the ground and the different speeds that they fall at.
Thoughtful actions: The children will note how their learning will better allow them to understand the world around them in the future. -
Eoghan,
how will you measure the speed? I think it is more likely that you will use a fixed height and drop two objects together and see which one hits the ground first, in essence comparing time.
Note that using the actual formula pushes this activity very much to the upper end of primary.
(Maths has Explores the relationship between time, distance and speed, but as a j).
By using different objects, the variable the children will be investigating is likely to be surface area. If they are also varying mass, then comparing objects will be quite difficult.
This Gravity resource from Engineers Week structures the inquiry slightly and might make it easier to ensure that the learners are building up their knowledge.
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Hi Susan,
I love the idea of asking the children to create a new home for an alien. It’s great that they got to explore the different planets and choose the best. This lesson is so open to cross curricular work. You’ve covered science, engineering, maths (shape and space / number /measures /etc), technology. I might steal this one! You could even use the funny Aliens Love Underpants to spark their interest – what kind of home would they need to store all their stuff !
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Hello,
My name is Robyn. I am currently teaching 1st class. I am really interested in using space as a theme in the classroom and would love to make sure it is used at different class levels but with extension in each class. A space fact that I like is that On Mercury a day is twice as long as a year. I think this would be a good stimulus to teach about space and time.
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Hi Everyone,
My name is Susanne and I’ve taught a range of ages over my 28 year career. I’m currently working in SET and my pupils very much enjoy exploring the world around them. Hence my choice of summer course. I welcome new ideas from fellow colleagues.
I’m fascinated with space and attribute my interest to Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spok if I’ m completely honest (that’s Star Trek to those of ye youngsters !!!!)
My interesting space fact is that on Mercury a day is twice as long as a year apparently.
I teach in a rural town in County Monaghan and a lot of our pupils come from a farming background.
So when I’m introducing forces I tend to use tractors instead of toy cars and talk about the farmer’s work with a tractor.
And for Junior classes I could use Tractor Ted videos capture the pupils’ interest.
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DCqBIfmKdUAk4ZV3rR80HRztt61TO9bz/view?usp=drivesdk
Mind map
I’m not sure if this is the way to upload a picture of my mindmap. I didn’t know how else to do so except through Google drive. I hope it works.
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I love working with materials with the younger classes as it is so hands on and relative to their life. One inquiry lesson I would like to do after reading this module is waterproof clothing. Eg Class teddy needs to prepare himself for the wet Irish winter, what material would be the best. We would test how waterproof different materials are. But it would also open up discussions about flexible materials, cost effective materials for those students who would need to be challenged.
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Hi Michelle,
I completely agree. I think it makes the learning more real world for the children and it is much easier to engage them. It also allows them to take charge of the discovery. I have found that it makes the lessons more enjoyable for everyone and is a great opportunity to support and challenge children working at all levels.
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Hi . my name is Michelle and I am a Junior Infants teacher, heading into my 3rd year teaching this class. I have found that the children have real interest in all things space and planets related in the last few years. My favourite fact is that the sun is a star!
After reading and listening to this module, I would like to try the water proof material lessons, using an enquiry based lesson. I really liked the idea of posing a problem for the children to try and solve, like making a mess or a spill as an introduction and stimulus to the learning. I do think that the children are coming into Junior Infants now with some prior knowledge of science, either from pre school , or possibly watching videos on youtube etc, so making it a real life experience would elevate it for them. The exploration and investigation stage can be very easily managed in a lesson like this, with small amounts of water and materials being used. I think they would really enjoy helping teacher with her problem!
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Hi Michelle,
I agree, children love a good problem to solve. This will really engage them. I love that the new Maths curriculum seems to be taking a similar approach to learning. Problem solving and discussing different ways to solve problems instead of just always trying to find the ‘right’ answer at the end. It’s more about the process and sharing ideas. Teaching problem solving skills like the inquiry based activities here in this lesson.
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My name is Sinéad and I will be teaching Junior Infants in September.
An interesting fact about space…..Mars has dust storms. Often called the red planet, huge dust storms can last for months and make it hard to see the surface.
An inquiry-based activity……. I’ve tried this experiment a couple of times and its very effective ……How to grow a rainbow – science experiment.
Needed: Kitchen roll/paper towel • Markers • Two small bowls of water • Paperclip • Thread
Cut the kitchen roll into the shape of a rainbow. At each end, use markers to colour a rainbow about 2cm up from the bottom…..red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Attach the paperclip to the top of the rainbow and tie a piece of thread to it. This will allow you to hold your rainbow. Add water to the two bowls. Hold the rainbow with both ends slightly submerged into each bowl of water and watch your rainbow grow.
Explanation: The fibres in kitchen roll have lots of little holes. Water is absorbed through the kitchen roll because when the first water molecule adheres to it and begins to move upward, it pulls the next water molecule up with it, like a chain. This same action is how water moves up into plants from the roots.
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Hi Sinéad,
You could adapt that demonstration to become more inquiry focused by showing the rainbow happening, then asking the children what they wonder or would like to try differently (and why they think it would make a difference).
for example: ” I wonder if we could make the rainbow faster… what would happen if we used different paper (like greaseproof paper)? or put the colours in a different order or ….”
These set demonstrations can serve as a wonderful prompt, but the science learning by inquiry is based on the children using their own understanding to develop their ideas further. For that they need to have familiarity and some working mental model of the scenario and be challenged to explain it further and to use it to predict what will happen.
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Hi Sinéad,
Thank you for sharing your introduction and the fascinating fact about Mars. Junior Infants are lucky to have such an engaging teacher!
I love the inquiry-based activity you’ve suggested. “How to grow a rainbow” sounds like a wonderful way to combine art and science, and it’s perfect for capturing the curiosity of young learners. The explanation about capillary action in the kitchen roll is clear and easy to understand, making it a great educational moment.
I would say the kids will have a great reaction to these exciting activities!
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Hi Sinead,
Many thanks for sharing this inquiry-based activity on growing a rainbows. I teach senior infants so I will be definitely noting this one down in my learning record for my senior infants. I think I might get the children to try different types of paper to see if the rainbow grows faster or slower. Or maybe get the children to come up with some ‘I wonder’ questions around this activity.
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Hi , my name is Orla and an interesting space fact which is so simple is that the sun is a star! It’s my4th year teaching a multi grade JI and SI class and they still find this fact fascinating !
enquiry based activity about space :
All stars are not white ? True or falsefirst we need discover what a star is ? We could extend this by finding out the size of the largest, smallest star , any names of stars that are familiar eg the sun!
next we can discover what colours stars can be. Red, yes slow, white and blue and what these colours represent, red is hot, yellow is hotter , white is even hotter and blue is the hottest ! The children can first predict which colour is the hottest. Using clay and play dough we can then make different coloured stars to represent our new knowledge
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Hi my name is Olivia, I just had second class and will have them again this upcoming year. My favourite space fact is that the moon is lemon shaped!
I am very passionate about inquiry based learning, children naturally are very inquisitive and are ready to explore and learn more about the world around them. One of my favourite lessons to see the students critical thinking skills is making boats. The students are provided with a variety of materials and using critical thinking they must figure out which boats could float/sink and why this might happen. The students work in groups and this encourages critical thinking. It is always a brilliant lesson to see how the students work together, problem solve and use critical thinking. The lesson is very hands on and the students are able to explain their logic/reasoning in the end. -
Hi my name is Olivia, I just had second class and will have them again this upcoming year. My favourite space fact is that the moon is lemon shaped!
I am very passionate about inquiry based learning, children naturally are very inquisitive and are ready to explore and learn more about the world around them. One of my favourite lessons to see the students critical thinking skills is making boats. The students are provided with a variety of materials and using critical thinking they must figure out which boats could float/sink and why this might happen. The students work in groups and this encourages critical thinking. It is always a brilliant lesson to see how the students work together, problem solve and use critical thinking. The lesson is very hands on and the students are able to explain their logic/reasoning in the end. -
Hi Olivia,
giving 2nd class children a taste of the 3rd/4th class ideas of
investigate the pushing force of water / design and make a boat or raft using an increasing variety of materials, tools and craft-handling skills.
can be super. I tend to use just paper, and see if they can work out the 1st requirement of not letting the water in! Paper is also lightweight, so will float pretty much. Since the science behind why boats float is quite tricky (getting into the volume of the displaced water provides an upwards force called buoyancy) – I tend to like to make rafts first that pretty much float on the surface.
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My name is Sinead and I am working in a Junior School about to go into my second year of SET. I have always been interested in space and find it fascinating. I am really looking forward to participating in this course. My favourite space fact is that there has been a storm raging on Jupiter for hundreds of years (The Great Red Spot).
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Hi my name is Sarah and I will be teaching 1st class next year. I enjoy the lessons surrounded by Space and I find there are so many interesting ideas and lessons to introduce to children that allow for active learning. My favourite fact about space is that the sun is a star.
Inquiry based activity that I has been done in my classroom expolored a variety of stars. I started by assessing and exploring the children’s previous knowledge on stars asking questions like; ‘What is a star? Where would we see stars? What colours are stars? etc.’ Then based on this knowledge we watched a slideshow showing different stars. After discussing stars and their colours and shapes the children were given clay to create their own stars.
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Hi my name is Sarah and I will be teaching 1st class next year. I enjoy the lessons surrounded by Space and I find there are so many interesting ideas and lessons to introduce to children that allow for active learning. My favourite fact about space is that the sun is a star.
Inquiry based activity that I has been done in my classroom expolored a variety of stars. I introduced the lesson by assessing and exploring the children’s previous knowledge on stars asking questions like; ‘What is a star? Where would we see stars? What colours are stars? Are all stars the same size and shape? etc.’ Then based on this knowledge we watched a slideshow showing different stars and highlighting that different colours mean different levels of heat. We discussed different facts about stars. After discussing stars and their colours and shapes the children were given clay to create their own stars. The children then talked about the star they created in groups and their undertsanding of what a star is.
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Hi Sarah,
knowing that the Sun is a star is something that many of us (who studied astronomy at college and love the topic) take for granted. My twin sister turned to me once, when we were in our 40s, and said “you know what, Frances, the Sun is a star!!” she hadn’t realised it until then. She has 2 masters degrees!
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Module One assignment
I would begin with a simple brainstorming lesson to gauge the children’s current knowledge of gravity. Then I will show some of the videos from the module and explaining that gravity is a force that pulls everything down towards the ground. I will then ask the children if they have noticed how things fall to the ground when they drop them. A whole class discussion will take place.
We will then make our own inquiry about gravity. We will decide what objects to use and the equipment that is needed. I can list them on the whiteboard and the children can gather them.
One by one we will make observe the object and make predictions on which objects they think will fall faster or slower. I will record the children’s predictions on the whiteboards.
To perform the experiment I will stand on a chair to get some height. I will hold two different objects at the same height and I will drop both objects at the same time while the children observe from a safe distance which objects hit the ground first. We will record the results on the whiteboard. We continue this with all the objects we gathered.
We will discuss the results at the end. I will ask questions like did all the objects fall at the same speed or different speeds? We will see if their predictions correct or incorrect and discuss this.
Finally we can conclude that gravity pulls objects down towards the earth and that all objects fall at the same rate.
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An Inquiry-based lesson I like is constructing boats to test if they will float when placed on a body of water.
Show the children different pictures of/models of boats: large, small, sailboats, boats with engines, etc. Discuss how boats can float on water.
Can we build a boat that can float in the water? What materials can we try? Predict what materials will be successful in floating. Children use a variety of materials to construct their own boat before testing it in the water to see if it will float.
Children reflect on their learning and what they may do differently next time/what worked well.
The children in my class really enjoyed this lesson and some of their creations were really well thought out and effective. There was lots of fun had and ideas shared making this a hands-on, collaborative lesson, even for junior classes.
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Sinead,
making boats is a lot of fun, but the science can be a little bit tricky. I find it best to start with rafts – where they have to float on the top of the water, and in later classes look at boats that displace water and hence float.
For those type of boats you can make a simple currach out of plain printer paper and it will last long enough to be tested a few times.
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Hi, My name is Bridget and I am teaching Early Start.
My favorite space fact is that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on all the beaches on earth.
For my inquiry base activity we could look at what material will soak up water best.
Trigger:Water spill on table or floor .
What can we use to clean up the spillage.
Look for suggestions of what will work best from a range of materials presented.
Will I use, newspaper, tinfoil, cling film, kitchen towel, toilet paper , tea-towel. ???
Predict which will be the most effective.
Conduct the investigation by using the various materials to try and wipe up the spill.
Out all the various materials used which worked best.
Record results by putting a smiley face on the material that worked best.
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Hi, My name is Aoife and I am currently teaching Junior Infants. My favourite fact about space is that space is completely silent.
I enjoyed the suggestions for the lesson on gravity in Module 1 and I think that the children would really enjoy it too. In my infant classroom I would follow a plan like this for the lesson.
• Introducing the trigger, wondering, discussing, exploring
• Exploring different types of forces – pulling a chair, jumping etc.
• Exploring how objects fall
• Discussion/reflection on what happened during the experiment.We like to use a buddy system in our school with 6th class so I think we could extend the lesson by using the older children to help the younger ones design and create a parachute. They would have lots of fun working together to create the parachute and also testing their creations together outside. It would be a good way to show them how a parachute lessens the effect of gravity.
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Hi I am Sinead.
My favourite fact about space is Mars is the first nearby world that people from Earth will eventually visit. I am interested in the fact that mars is said to have four season similar to earth .
For Junior infants I like to learn about materials and what materials would be best to make a raincoat/ umbrella and why for our teddy bear.
The children are given a pack with different materials such as tin foil, paper towels, blue roll, plastic, felt. They are given water and are asked to investigate what material will be best to make the umbrella/ coat. How did they decided on this and why.
Or can they think of a better material that would make a perfect raincoat for teddy.
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Hi Sinead,
if you want to read more about timekeeping on Mars, see this article from 2021.
I hadn’t realised that the calendar started in April 1955, but I do know that I am still in my 20s if I count my age in Mars Years.
At the start of each Mars mission the science teams tries to keep on Mars time – so they come to work 40 minutes later each day. See this article about it.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/living-on-mars-time/
https://www.space.com/perseverance-rover-mission-on-mars-time
Teddy’s raincoat can be a great prompt for inquiry learning, particularly if you have a range of materials for the children to use to make the raincoat. I find that cultivating a slightly befuddled air is good – and resist the urge to tell the children which is waterproof or not. Claim that you used different materials last time your class did this and you don’t know which of these are waterproof…
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Hi Sinead!
I love your enthusiasm for space and materials science! Mars being our next destination for exploration is such an exciting concept, especially with its seasons that might be similar to Earth’s. It makes the idea of traveling to Mars feel even more real and tangible.
Your inquiry-based activity with Junior Infants sounds fantastic! Investigating materials for a teddy bear’s raincoat or umbrella is a wonderful hands-on approach to learning. The variety of materials you’ve provided—tin foil, paper towels, blue roll, plastic, and felt—gives the children a great opportunity to experiment and discover which ones are most effective at keeping teddy dry. I think it’s especially engaging to have the children not only test these materials but also think critically about why some work better than others, tapping into their creativity and problem-solving skills.
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Hi everyone, I’m Katie-Jo and I have been teaching infants for a number of years now. I absolutely love enquiry based learning especially with the younger classes.
My favourite space fact is that 1 million earths can fit inside the sun. Even though the sun is merely considered an average sized star!
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Hi everyone, I’m Katie-Jo and have been teaching infants for a number of years. This coming September I will be teaching junior & senior.
My favourite space fact would be that you can fit 1 million Earths inside of the sun. I think it really heals visualise the scale.
I absolutely love enquiry based learning and I feel that the problem solving and idea that come from it are never something you could have planned for.
A lesson I thoroughly enjoy is exploring materials and specifically waterproof materials. We explore some materials that may or may not change within water first to create a discussion. I always have a sample few materials at the ready but kids can choose things from around the classroom.
We then look at the materials that did not change in water, explore pouring water over them etc usually a child will use the word ‘waterproof’ then we discuss what this means? why do we need waterproof materials? we think of times we’ve used waterproof materials eg on the farm wearing wellys and in the rain using umbrellas.
I then introduce Teddy – he wants to go to the farm but doesn’t want his beautiful fluffy feet getting wet and has asked the children to help him solve this problem.
Kids then problem solve as to how he could walk through the mucky pig pen or go to the pond to feed the ducks without getting wet.
We then use our knowledge gained from our materials and change experiment to create welly boots and a coat. Children test materials and record results then together we create a farm proof outfit for Teddy that we have tested and are sure will keep him dry. I then take Teddy to my family farm and share images of him in his waterproof materials nears the pigs and the pond.
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Katie- Jo,
what a super context for the children to engage with for this Design and Make activity. Teddy’s boots are a great prompt and I think it is just brilliant that you take a pic of Teddy on the farm at the end!
I am still on the endless hunt for a decent waterproof jacket that doesn’t leave me too sweaty when I wear it, but I guess Teddy doesn’t sweat so he’ll be ok.
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Sharon, if you wanted to make explicit the new vocabulary, you might use something like this “New Words” poster from SFI.
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An inquiry based activity that I have enjoyed doing with my class in the past is making a rainbow and showing the distribution of colours within the rainbow.
Materials:
coffee filter paper
water-based markers
water spray bottle
Method:
The children open up the coffee filter paper and lay it out flat. It naturally makes a butterfly shape so I usually add a pipe cleaner down the middle as the butterfly’s body at the end. I then encourage the children to use different coloured markers to create a pattern on the filter paper. When they are finished we spray water all over the filter paper butterfly with the spray bottle. I then hang the filter paper up and we watch as the colours begin to separate and bleed into each other to create a beautiful butterfly pattern. Young children are always intrigued with this process and the end result is always stunning. They particularly like to see the black separating into all the colours of the rainbow.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Alex and I will be teaching in our middle autism class next year. My favourite space fact is that stars twinkle because their light has to travel through Earth’s atmosphere, which is like a big, moving ocean of air. This air is full of different temperatures and densities, which bend the light in various directions. This bending makes the stars look like they’re twinkling, just like how a penny at the bottom of a swimming pool looks like it’s dancing when you look at it through the moving water.I would use inquiry based learning through exploration and investigating.I Use a flashlight to represent a star and a clear glass of water mixed with oil to represent Earth’s atmosphere. I would then shine the flashlight through the glass and gently stir the water and observe how the light twinkles.
I would then ask students to draw a picture or write a sentence about what they learned. They could draw Twinkle the star dancing or write about how the air makes stars twinkle.
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Alexandra,
flashlight / water as star and atmosphere makes a lovely demonstration that can be a prompt for further investigation. You’ve planned for the children to wonder and explore by writing what they think is going on. Then their questions could pose a starter question for an investigation.
Does the size of the jar make a difference? Does a ‘star’ twinkle more if it goes through more ‘atmosphere’ ?
{Yes, in the case of real stars, which is why Sirius, the brightest star, which is always quite near the horizon from Ireland, looks so twinkly}
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Hi everyone,
My name is Katie and I teach Senior Infants. My favourite space fact is that the Voyager 1 contains a golden record with pictures of Earth in case it bumps into some aliens.
An inquiry based activity I did with senior infants last year was learning about exoplanets. After learning about what they were I told them that they were going to become space explorers trying to discover new planets. I divided the class into pairs and gave each class a picture I had made on canva. The picture had a mixture of tiny stars and small circles speckled all around it. The children used flashlights to try and find the tiny circles that were new planets. When they found a planet they circled it. Afterwards the children took turns coming up to the interactive whiteboard where I had the picture on display and marked planets they had found. We ended the activity by each child coming up with a name for one of the planets they found.
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The inquiry based lesson I plan to introduce is the Glitter Germ Experiment. It helps children to actually be able to see the ‘germs’ and give them a more concrete understanding of how handwashing and germ prevention work. Younger children can find it difficult to understand that germs are everywhere! Only four ingredients are required to explore how germs work. We want to emphasise that even though we can’t see them, they’re everywhere. A shallow dish, water, blue washing up liquid and gold glitter. Pour water into the dish almost to the edge. Sprinkle glitter generously over the surface. Squirt liquid directly into a mass of glitter. The children will see when liquid soap is added to the water the germs(glitter) moves away. The more soap the faster the reaction. The children could also coat a finger in soap and try to touch the ‘germs’. A follow up activity could be to read a book on the importance of handwashing and practice good handwashing. I think this would be an extremely worthwhile activity, particularly with younger classes!
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Siobhan,
The Glitter Germ can be an excellent prompt for the children to start an investigation inquiry.
After they have seen the demonstration they should try to construct an explanation of what they have seen. Then they will have questions that they can investigate to confirm their understanding.
You might consider offering a range of liquids that could be added to the glitter water – The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire has a nice description of some possibles (toothpaste, cooking oil, hand soap) and outlines the science behind why different liquids behave differently.
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My name is Veronica and I am currently teaching in SET
I would use the following inquiry based activity in the classroom-Floating and sinkingEngage: Present the children with a wide range of materials.
Pose various questions to the children such as “ Do you think this plastic will float or sink?” Materials: Container of water
Various objects (wooden block, plastic toy, metal spoon, rubber ball, foam ball)
Notebook or chart paper
Pencil or markers
Wondering- The children will brainstorm ideas on what makes an object float or sink. Exploring- Allow the children to go through the items and try classify objects according to whether they float or sink Investigate: Starter question-why do some things float and why do some things sink? Prediction-Do you think the items will float or sink-record your predictions on worksheet
Have children predict whether each object will sink or float based on its characteristics.
Fill the container with water and invite children to take turns placing objects in it.
Record observations in notebooks or on chart paper.
Facilitate a discussion on similarities between sinking and floating objects.
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Veronica,
a nice set of materials for this activity are the set from the module, these are used in a few of the ESERO activities.
The floating and sinking from ESERO appears as “Does Saturn Float?” This includes an attractive poster for children to use to record their predictions.
Which characteristics would you expect children to identify as making a difference to floating and sinking? Please note that density is not used in primary science, rather objects can be described as heavy for their size. Would you have materials that can be shaped, such as tin foil? In this case you can find that it both sinks and floats, depending on shape that could lead to an interesting “take the next step.”
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My name is Veronica and I am teaching in SET.
Inquiry based activity A Magnetic Race
Materials: Paper and scissors, A large sheet of cardboard, Crayons or markers, 2 steel paper clips, 2 pencils, 2 small magnets / fridge magnets, 4 thick books or 4 glasses, A table
Exploring Facts Magnets attract magnetic objects through other materials.
Objects made from iron, steel, nickel or cobalt will stick or be attracted to magnets. These are called magnetic objects or magnetic materials. Magnets attract magnetic objects through other materials, for example cardboard, water, glass or plastic. Let’s use these facts to make a fun magnetic game.
How to make
1. Draw 2 small cars about 5cm long and 2cm wide.
2. Colour each car.
3. Tape the steel paperclip to the bottom of each car.
4. Draw two courses on the cardboard. Mark the start and finish on each course. Colour in. Place the cardboard on the glasses or books. This will allow you to put your magnet wand underneath the cardboard.
5. Tape the magnets to the end of each ruler. This is your magnetic wand.
6. Position the two magnetic wands underneath the cardboard, under the two cars, so that you can move the cars along the courses with the magnetic wands. Invite one of your family to race with you. Enjoy! What is happening? The magnet attracts the steel clips through the cardboard, moving them along the race course.
Finally I encourage students to ask more questions and think about other challenges and solutions.
Challenge Place a paper clip in a glass of water. Challenge somebody to take the paper clip out, but without putting a hand in the water.
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Veronica,
this is another nice example of a prompt to stimulate further inquiry. The children can play with the game material and then quickly explore their own questions about “how far away can the magnet be and still be able to pull the car?”
We do a similar activity in workshops at Blackrock Castle and ask children to make a maze for a bug to move through. The bug is drawn on paper and attached to a paper clip. Magnets are held by hand under plastic art trays, or under the table. The children can engage in maths talk as they describe their mazes and see if they can go faster through one type of maze rather than another.
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Create a mind map in relation to your ideas about space. Please add to your mind map after each module as part of the reflective learning process.
As a reply to this post, introduce yourself on the forum and share your favourite space fact. Then add a reflection (150 words min) on how you would use one inquiry-based activity in your classroom
My name is Cillian and my favourite space fact is Einsteins Theory of Special Relativity. I can’t say I fully grasp the concept but am fascinated how many years later Einstein’s theory still holds up today. I saw the film ‘Insterstellar’ and it the scence about flying towards the Black Hole ‘Gargantua’ was incredible. And also how the main character had only aged a few years while when he came back to Earth his children were older them him!
I saw a lesson before where the teacher used lemon juice and the heat from a light bulb (lamp) for the students to write ‘invisible messages’. Lemon was squeezed into a small bowl. A toothpick was then dipped into the bowl. The toothpick becomes the ‘pen’ and the child can draw a picture on a piece of paper. Once the paper ‘dries’ you will not be able to see the ink. The teacher then shines a heat source on the paper and the drawing is revealed!
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Hi everyone, my name is Sinéad. I teach first class and I have always had an interest in space. When I was younger we had a telescope and I used to be fascinated with the moon and its craters. My favourite space fact is the one about Jupiter’s storm. It had been in existence for years and continues to circle the planet. It is the spot you can see in pictures of Jupiter – so I can only imagine how big it is!
One inquiry-based lesson I would enjoy implementing in my classroom would be how light travels through various surfaces – opaque, translucent and transparent. Using torches and classroom materials the children can explore how light travels and if you provide mirrors/coloured plastics the learning becomes even more exciting.
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Stand : Living Things, Energy and Forces
Strand Unit :Myself, Sound
Curriculum Objectives :Use all the senses to become aware of and explore
environmentsSkills : Questioning Investigating, Observing
Equipment : Various foods (cereal, salad leaves, seeds). Plastic tubs or containers.
Starter questions – How good are our ears at identifying something that normally does not create a lot of sound? Why do we need our ears? What do we hear everyday?
The children have their eyes closed and the teacher shakes the container with various food
e.g. breakfast cereal.Shake the container and have the learners
predict what the item is before it is revealed.
Reveal the contents and see how many were
correct.
Now have the learners break into groups and
repeat the investigation themselves with
different materials.Focus Questions
What do we use our ears for? Can we identify things using our ears? What things are best identified using sound?
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Hi,
I already posted about why I’m doing the course and a favourite space fact, but I’m not sure how to find it now!
As regards Inquiry Based learning. I have done a few investigations here and there – never enough. One simmple one we did in Winter, was figuring out how to get rid of the frost and ice outside the front door of school. I started with showing them the ice and I wondered how to get rid if quickly to make it safe for everyone to walk in. The children brainstormed ideas and they wanted to make it disappear.
We came up with suggestions of what to throw on it. Hot water was a bit uinsafe for them to use, so we needed something else. One of the childrrn said they used salt, so we asked if throwing different substances on the ice would get rid of it. The children suggested different substances and we included the salt.
I brought in bowls of ice from the school fridge. We placed salt on one bowl clay on another and sugar on another. We compared the ice after a few minutes and the salt had melted it very quickly. Simple, but they enjoyed it.
We also tried to find the best material to keep teacher’s cup of tea warm and we found out why it is important to wear gloves when playing in the ice and snow – how it keeps our hands from freezing ! Everything was hands on and lots of chat.
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A recent article has a theory about white holes, but they are very much a science fiction idea at the minute.
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/white-hole
https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/what-is-a-white-hole
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/black-holes-white-holes/
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Hi, my name is Brenda and I am currently teaching infants. I am looking forward to completing this course as Space is topic I struggle with. I find it’s a very engaging topic for the children so I would like to improve my teaching methodologies for the future. My favourite space fact is the moon is not actually round, it is shaped like a lemon.
An enquiry based lesson I have conducted in infants was planting bulbs and observing how different variables affect growth such as the amount of light, soil and water. The children planted the blubs and we blocked the light access of one plant by placing it in a dark storage press, we didn’t water one and one we looked after as normal. We observed all the results and compiled it into a chart which the children used to present the results to the senior infant classes. The children really enjoy this lesson and couldn’t wait to get into the classroom in the morning to observe the plants daily and observe and discuss the results and findings.
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Hi I’m Ciara and I am going to be teaching 2nd class for the first time this year.
My favourite space fact is that there are more stars than there are grains of sand on all the beaches on earth!
An activity that I am looking forward to using is the inquiry-based activity we saw in this module with the missing sweets and fingerprinting! I thought this lesson was fun and engaging for students of all ages. I think the children would love using magnifying glasses to examine their fingerprints. I’m realizing that science doesn’t have to be so tough and overwhelming. It can actually be simple and fun. This activity has shown me that hands-on learning is a great way to get students excited about science. I’m looking forward to trying out this lesson in my class and seeing my students become detectives, solving mysteries while learning about science. This whole experience has really reminded me that teaching science can be both educational and enjoyable and doesn’t always require alot of equipment.
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Hi Ciara,
You’ll find the majority of resources from Curious Minds can be used with classes and are designed to not require a lot of equipment.
The fingerprints prompt is great for getting the children interested and then active in wondering and exploring how fingerprints are viewed and a little bit about how they are different for different people. The task of viewing the fingerprints could be the subject of an investigation itself, as the children might suggest trying different ways to get a good look at a fingerprint. Younger children could consider how much you should blow up the balloon, older children might consider the material that should be used to make the prints, using perhaps different amounts of pencil or perhaps a different colour contrast.
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Hi Everyone, my name is Julie and I have taught Junior Infants and Junior/Senior Infants over the last few years. I will have a straight Junior Infant class this coming school year. My favourite space fun fact is that the sun weighs about 330,000 more than earth. I really enjoy incorporating active and hands on learning within the classroom and I feel that this usually leads to inquiry based learning. I find magnets are a great resource in the infant classroom and children really enjoy trying them out and finding things that are magnetic. We normally go on a little trail around the school to explore different materials. I also like the lesson in relation to making a waterproof raincoat. I normally ask the children to make the raincoat for a teddy but this year I will introduce the alien and we can make a raincoat for the alien through exploring different materials that would be suitable etc.
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Hi Julie,
magnets are a favourite of mine as well. I find it is vital to give the children time to play with the magnets and notice the patterns in what is attracted to a magnet and what is not. Since many metals that are easily found in a classroom contain iron, some children may erroneously conclude that all metals are attracted to magnets. I find it useful to have some coins, tin foil and some jewellery (silver or gold) to offer for testing.
Once children have played, ask them to generalise what they have found out (ie Only metals go to the magnet) – and from that make a starter question (Do all metals go to magnets?) and then investigate.
A fun next step is to make ‘bugs’ from pipecleaners (that have steel in their centres) and make a bug maze. Use the magnets under the table to pull the bug along the maze.
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Hi my name is Anna. I teach Junior Infants! My favourite fact about Space that my pupil’s always love is that one million Earths can fit inside the sun.
One of my favourite enquiry based learning lessons to see the students critical thinking skills is floating and sinking. The students are provided with a variety of materials and using critical thinking they must figure out which objects float/sink and why this might happen. The children make predictions and then carry out the experiment. The lesson is child-centred and encourages collaborative learning/thinking. The results provide a stimulus for our lesson about why objects float/sink. The students are able to explain their logic/reasoning in the end for their predictions and see if they match the results.
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Anna,
I’d change the order slightly in the activity, and give the children some experience with floating and sinking actual objects before asking them to
using critical thinking they must figure out which objects float/sink
Their own mental models of why things float and sink can be built up through play and observing a range of toys or other items in the classroom.
ESERO have a suggested range of objects (the ones that are dropped in this module) that can also be floated (see https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/04_Does-Saturn-float.pdf). In this case, they can explore, draw generalisations, then make predictions for other objects to float and sink.
I’d actually disagree with the statement at the end of the Saturn sheet –
It is important that the children discover that whether an object sinks or floats depends on the material it is made from and not its shape; it is not dependent on the size of the object.
Since you can shape plasticine to float by making it into a boat or raft shape.
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My name is Leeanne and I’ll be working with Senior Infants this year.
An interesting space fact (to me!) is that, since it’s discovery almost 100 years ago, Pluto hasn’t yet made a full orbit of the sun.
One example of an inquiry based lesson I would do is have the children design their own space suits. To introduce the lesson I would have a range of different clothing in the centre of a circle, and ask the children what clothes they would choose for a hot day, a wet day, a cold day, a windy day. I’d ask them about the properties of the clothes and why they’re most suitable for the given conditions. I’d then show pictures of more specialist clothing like that of a bee keeper, a diver, a fire fighter, an astronaut and discuss them.
For the main body of the lesson I’d explain to the children that they’re going to design their own space suits. We’d discuss the requirements of this suit (keep them warm, keep oxygen in). To do this with infant classes, I’d give them the outline of an astronaut that they can cut out and stick the necessary materials to. I’d leave out a range of paper, fabrics, cotton wool, foil, etc, and have them choose what they think is best.
To conclude the lesson we’d recap on the requirements of a good space suit and the children can share their designs with the class and explain why they chose the materials they did.
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Hi Leeanne
ESERO’s Design a Spacesuit has some nice images that would support this activity.
To bring out the inquiry aspect of this, (referencing the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry) I would use the scenario of designing a spacesuit as the prompt, encourage the children to wonder and explore the different types of clothing. As you have mentioned, one criteria is “keep them warm”, so the children could carry out an investigation as to which of the materials you have provided keep something warm the longest. In a typical classroom this often means having something hot inside the fabric – which can be a bit hazardous (at second level this is often hot water inside metal cans with different layers of insulation, a thermometer measuring the temperature), so this could be modified to “keep something cold” – (the heat from outside can’t get in). Then you can look at keeping an ice cube cold – and will a thick warm sock keep it cold or will a thin tight be better? This can be the starter question and they can share their thinking as they make a prediction.
Once they have shared results, they can consider their next step, which could be their design of the suit using the materials that they have found best to keep the heat out (which is the same as heat in).
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As a reply to this post, introduce yourself on the forum and share your favourite space fact. Then add a reflection (150 words min) on how you would use one inquiry-based activity in your classroom
Dia Daoibh, My name is Deirdre and I’m based in hospital school so I have all age groups and abilities 🙂
A space fun fact I think is interesting is that the sunset on Mars appears blue!
In our school setting our lessons often depend on how our pupils are feeling on that particular day, I find Chris Hadfield’s youtube videos about space a brilliant resource to use. His videos are full of facts and fun, such as ‘How do you brush your teeth in space?’ The children really enjoy watching these short videos. They are short and sweet but that is perfect in our school setting and really appeals to the pupils. Mystery Science is another of my Go to websites for Science, they have fantastic space videos and once again are short, sweet but very informative. These videos can offer great discussion opportunities for the children and we can add to our classroom KWL charts.
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Is this the site Deirdre? https://mysteryscience.com/
Short and sweet videos are a great prompt for inquiry work and I’m a big Chris Hadfield fan. I like his Chris Kitchen videos, including how to make a peanut butter tortilla
https://youtu.be/AZx0RIV0wss?si=af-aybkOtw99uGxf
and rehydrating dried spinach
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Hi, my name is Jessica Markey and I am a Junior Infant teacher in a DEIS Junior school. I have been an infant teacher for the past two years. I decided to do this course to expand my knowledge on space and hopefully use this new understanding of space in my current teaching position. My favourite fact about space is that it is completely quiet.
An inquiry based activity that I would like to do with my Junior Infants is ‘Storm in a Glass’. I have done this experiment with older children (SI, FC and SC) and think it would be a great hands-on activity for an Aistear based lesson.
The trigger for this lesson would be a previous Literacy lesson about the book ‘One Stormy Night’ and a follow up lesson geared towards Winter/Weather.
Throughout my years of teaching, I have seen how children question or often wonder where rain comes from or why is there more/less rain on different days or in different areas. I would begin this lesson by showing the children a wet sponge and tell them to pretend that the sponge is a cloud. I would tell them to notice that by adding more water to the sponge, more water comes out. This would give the children more of an idea of what happens when it rains more – the cloud is bigger so more rain falls. We would then move onto a glass or clear container filled with 3/4 water. We would create a ‘cloud’ using shaving foam. I would ask thought provoking questions such as “what do you think will happen if I add water to the cloud?”, “what would happen if I now added more water?” Eventually, the children should be able to identify what happens if we add more water or “rain”.
I think this is a brilliant hands-on and messy water activity for young children.
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Jessica,
I like how you have structured this inquiry, from a suitable prompt (the story), with explore and wonder built around the behaviour of the sponge.
Would you use food colouring as in this video version?
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Hi everyone, My name is Laura and I have been teaching a mixed second class for the past 3 years. I will also have second class for this school year 2024/2025. My favourite space fact is “A day on Venus is longer than a year!”
### Reflection on Science Inquiry-Based Activity in the Classroom
One particular activity that stood out was our exploration of plant growth under different conditions. The objective was to understand what plants need to thrive, which aligned perfectly with our unit on living organisms.
I introduced the activity by posing a question: “What happens to a plant if we change the amount of light, water, or soil it gets?” This sparked curiosity and led to the formulation of hypotheses. Each group of students planted seeds and varied one condition while keeping the others constant. Over several weeks, they observed and recorded the growth of their plants, eagerly sharing their findings and adjusting their hypotheses as necessary.
The hands-on nature of this experiment allowed the students to engage deeply with the scientific method. They learned to make observations, ask questions, and draw conclusions based on empirical evidence. It was rewarding to see their excitement and sense of ownership over their learning. They developed critical thinking skills and a better understanding of how scientific inquiry works.
This activity underscored the importance of active learning and the effectiveness of inquiry-based approaches in fostering a deeper understanding of scientific concepts. It also highlighted the value of collaborative learning, as students worked in groups, shared their ideas, and learned from each other. This experience has encouraged me to incorporate more inquiry-based activities in the future, as it promotes engagement, curiosity, and a love for learning.
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Laura,
You have described the inquiry process for an activity on plant growth. If we frame it using the Framework for Inquiry outlined in this module you have introduced a prompt = What happens to a plant when…
The children then can share what they know as they wonder and explore – and exploring can include looking at the planned equipment for the activity so that they can make up their own starter question that is directly relevant.
I’d draw attention to fair testing, which is vital in this case, since “Each group of students planted seeds and varied one condition while keeping the others constant.” which sounds as if each group could compare to the other groups, which would be valid if the seeds that were watered, had the same amount of water, and each group had the same amount of soil, the same shape container, planted the seeds to the same depth etc.
I note that you had the plants growing from seeds – so there are two different processes under examination. Did any group find that their seeds germinated in darkness, but then the plant didn’t grow the same as others?
Depending on the type of seed you have, some will not germinate unless they are in darkness, so did you try scattering seeds on the top of the soil vs planting?
“and adjusting their hypotheses as necessary.” is the learning happening. As the children observed different growths they would revise their undertanding.
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Hi everyone, my name is Robyn and I’m am infant teacher, juniors into seniors every second year for six years now.
My favourite space fact is one I leaned in this module and it’s that the gravity on the moon is less than that on earth because the moon is smaller. I always thought there was no gravity on the moon so that stood out to me and I am no longer misinformed.
One of the activities I enjoy the idea of is exploring the potential real estate on the different planets. When I taught second class, we learned about the different planets by scoping out which one would be the most suitable for a family of aliens to buy a house on. We looked at what the planets were made of, their landscapes, climates, etc. and compared the planets to each other, creating fact files on each of them. We then had in depth discussions about what planets the children thought would be the most suitable for the aliens to buy a house on and live out their lives on. The children had great knowledge of the different planets after this exploration and it led to wonderful debates on which planet they deemed most appropriate.
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hi my name is Claire and I will be teaching second class in September for the third year in a row.
my favourite space fact is that sunsets on Mars are blue.Are use enquiry base learning in my classroom all of the time it is very very beneficial for the younger children as they love to explore and they get lots of new ideas. The enquiry based learning that I have used over the last number of years is based upon the story of the three little pigs and which house we stay standing against the big bad Wolf. We always start off with straw sticks and bricks, but once the children understand the concept of we moved to different materials to see and compare which material holds up the best.
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Claire,
what a fun prompt! Stories that the children are familiar with can serve such a great purpose. How do you test the “blow your house down?”
Do you have a hair dryer that you use so that there is the same force each time? There could be a nice link to fair testing in this activity, particularly if you demonstrated blowing the house down with the wolf giving only a tiny puff to one house and bigger puff to another!
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Hi
My mane is Mark King. I teach in O’Connells Primary school in North East Inner City Dublin. Science is a subject that has fascinated me from childhood. The magic of science caught my attention as a child and it is brilliant to see children experience that same awe and fascination. My favorite fun fact from science is that there is no sound in space
Classroom Activity; Sound in Space
Children find it very difficult to comprehend that there is no sound in space. Video games and films contradict this with booming lasers and space ships blowing each other up. I find the a lesson on how sound works is an ideal way of helping them to understand the lack of noise in space.
Simple ways to do this are lessons that show that sound is caused by vibrations through the air. Ask children to gently scrape a coin on their desk . Their partner has to listen to see if they can hear the scraping. They will hear a feint scraping sound as the vibrations have to travel through the air. The child then puts their ear to the table while their partner scrapes the coin on the table. The vibrations are more intense and the sound is louder. After the lesson explain to the children that the coin caused vibrations in the air to make the sound. There is no air in space therefor the are no vibrations. No air means no sound
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Hi Mark,
those of us of a certain age remember the tag line of the first Alien film.
I’m not suggesting you use that as your prompt! Scare the wits out of me when I eventually got around to seeing the film.
You have described an engaging task, and one that the children can extend with their own understanding coming into play. Once they find out that sound can travel through materials they can explore different materials that absorb or more clearly transmit sounds.
From Curious Minds you can find:
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My name is Catherine and I will be teaching 1st/2nd class this year.
My interesting fact is that 95% of the universe is invisible!
Teaching an enquiry based lesson on electricity is enjoyable for all.
Introduction/Prompt: Picture book on a stormy day/night when the house loses its electricity.
Wonder/Explore: Elicit prior knowledge on the sources of electricity in the house, what uses electricity & the importance of electricity. Explain that electricity is everywhere!
Investigate- How we can create electricity!
Predict: Can we create electricity with a balloon and various items. Show Magnets and how they have positive & negative ends (North & south poles)
Experiment:
Rub an inflated balloon on your head for about 10 seconds.
Slowly move it away – what happens?
What happens when you hold the balloon near small pieces of paper, an empty drink/soda can, or a thin stream of water running from a tap?
If you do it right you can even place the balloon on a wall or door and leave it stuck there!Explanation:
When you rub the balloon on your hair you are giving it a small electric charge. What’s actually happening is you are rubbing tiny particles called electrons from your hair and onto the balloon. This gives the balloon a slightly negative charge and you and your hair a slightly positive charge, and opposite charges attract each other and try to stick to each other. This is why when you move the balloon away from your hair, your hair stands on end and tries to go with it!You might notice that your hair carries on standing up after you take the balloon away – that’s because you’ve left each hair with a positive charge!
Explain to the children that this electric charge is very small and eventually the electrons will balance out again and the balloon loses its magical sticky powers. But if the air is dry enough you can leave the balloon on a wall and it can stay there for days!
Discuss the experiment & their predictions.
Conclusion: What if questions?
What would happen if you:Had wet hair?
Rubbed the balloon on a woolly jumper instead of your hair?
Rubbed two balloons on your hair and then brought them together? -
Hi Catherine,
Static Electricity is a great topic for 1st/2nd class (and addresses :Energy and forces >Magnetism and electricity • explore the effects of static electricity) and it is explored in this Curious Minds Junior class resource:
https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/static_electricity_activity.pdf
and in Irish: https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/static_electricity_activity_irish.pdf
I don’t think you need magnets, and, as you have said, the balloon will stick best on a dry, non-humid day.
I wasn’t too sure what the soft drink can was going to be used for, but found this explanation: https://www.experimentarchive.com/experiments/rolling-static-soda-can/
I’d be careful on the language used, electrons are only mentioned in the teacher’s glossary. Charges themselves are a tricky enough concept. The charges will balance on a humid day more quickly, since water molecules in the atmosphere are able to neutralise charges.
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Hi. My name is Paula and I will be teaching first class in September.
A space fact that I like is that the moon is the shape of a lemon. While I appreciate that it is more of a slightly flattened sphere, I love the reaction from children when you say this to them and their curiosity about why this is the case. -
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Hi
My name is Patrick, I teach 1st and 2nd class.
My favourite thing about space is the fact that while we know some amount about it, there is still so much that is yet to be discovered if only we could travel far enough to see it.
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Hi all,
I’m Sinéad and I am currently teaching Senior Infants.
My Favourite Space Facts are that Venus spins in the opposite direction to the rest of the planets in our Solar system and also that Black Holes have an opposite White Holes!
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Teaching an inquiry-based activity on gravity can be a fun and engaging way for students to learn. Here’s how I would teach it in my classroom.
1.Introduction: Introduce the concept of gravity to students. Explain that gravity is the force that pulls objects towards each other. Use simple and relatable examples to help them understand.
2.Ask Questions: Encourage students to ask questions about gravity. What do they already know? What do they want to learn more about? This will help spark curiosity and guide the direction of the activity.
3.Hands-on Experiment: Plan a hands-on experiment that demonstrates the effects of gravity. For example, you can drop objects of different weights and sizes to observe how they fall to the ground. Encourage students to make predictions and record their observations.
4.Research: Have students research more about gravity. They can explore how gravity works in space, why objects fall at the same rate regardless of weight, or even the history of our understanding of gravity.
5.Discussion: Facilitate a group discussion where students can share their findings, ask questions, and reflect on what they’ve learned. Encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
6.Creative Projects: Allow students to showcase their understanding of gravity through creative projects. They can create models, posters, or even skits to demonstrate their knowledge.
7.Conclusion: Conclude the activity by summarizing key points about gravity and its importance. Encourage students to continue exploring and asking questions about this fascinating force.
My goal in this activity is to encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and active learning.
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Saoirse,
Have you thought about how the framework for inquiry might be used for gravity activities?
Here is an example of a senior infant class, with a demonstration of a spinning bucket and how the spinning can balance gravity and stop the water from coming out of the bucket – this could be a great prompt to get the ideas going.
The module gives the example of the very simple ESERO Activity of dropping things – would that be too simple for your Senior Infants?
Could you say a bit more about your step 4?
Research: Have students research more about gravity. They can explore how gravity works in space, why objects fall at the same rate regardless of weight, or even the history of our understanding of gravity.
What books or supports might senior infants need to do this research? Have you videos that you might show them that you can recommend? Please note that ideas of rate of fall and it being independent of mass is something that would be covered at leaving certificate level in Ireland.
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Hi Frances, I would use a variety of different items with the children and let them see that no matter what weight they still fall at the same speed from the same height. When I say research, I mean the children listening to a story and actively trialling different classroom items such as paper, pens, copybooks, glue-sticks, workbooks etc. The ups and down of gravity is a book I’ve used before by David A Adler.
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Hello I really like your lesson idea on gravity you have it very well structured and it is very well and clearly laid out. It is definitely a lesson I would be hoping to use in my own classroom in the future. I think the children would really enjoy learning but gravity and you’ve given a lot of ideas to support this.
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Hi, I’m Mary and I am (and will be) teaching junior and senior infants. Some love space and know loads, others are mystified but interested.
My current favourite space fact is that Black Holes don’t look like what we thought they did when I was young, and that it took years and years of studying distant points in space (as well as millions of dollars filming Interstellar) to find a more current representation of how light bends around a black hole.
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And teams of scientists with the combined light from telescopes around the world have imaged the area around black holes, including the one at the centre of our own Milky Way. You can read more here.
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Hi, my name is Ashling and I work in SET with Senior Infants and 1st class.
An interesting fact about space is that if you were to fly to Pluto it would take over 800 years.
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I love Pluto! Still a planet to me.
You can see the images of Pluto sent back by the New Horizons mission, launched in 2006 and passing Pluto in 2015. Of course, this was a fly-by, if we had wanted to put the spacecraft into orbit then the journey would have taken much longer.
I sometimes describe Fly-By missions as: “have you ever been on holiday, and you want to see as many sights as possible, so your parent won’t even stop the car and just tells you to take a picture so you can get on to the next destination?”
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Hi, my name is Seán and I teach 2nd class. My favourite space fact is that scientists estimate there are about 500,000 pieces of space junk today, including fragments from rockets and satellites, and everyday items like spanners dropped during construction of the International Space Station!
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Michelle – there are some ESA activities on space debris for primary children.
There is a Framework for Inquiry to support their use here.
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An inquiry based lesson for Infant classes – Exploring the planet Jupiter.
-Warm up introduction with familiar song to the class: The Solar System Song
1. Ask the children to listen to the song again with just the excerpt about Jupiter – this time trying to recall a new fact they have heard.
2.Gather the children in a circle and introduce the topic of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. Show pictures or models of Jupiter and ask if anyone has heard of it before.
3. Using different sized balls, create a planet earth and planet jupiter to show the children an idea of the size difference.
4.Practical exploration: Using Playdough or clay, children engage in making a planet Jupiter and the largest moon – with volcano.Discuss the size and features of Jupiter as they create their playdough planets.
5.Looking at images of Jupiter from https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-jupiter/en/ – discussing how it looks, describing by size, colour, texture words.
6.Read “Jupiter, the gassy giant” aloud in circle time with the class. Encourage the children to listen for interesting facts about Jupiter and ask questions about what they have learned.
7. Practise singing the Jupiter facts from the Solar system song. Pairwork – in twos ask pupils to share a fact they know with a friend/ Share their favourite fact with the class.
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Hi Ursula,
is this the book you recommend? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/161179929-jupiter-the-gassy-giant
The framework of inquiry has been designed to help you planning for inquiry activities that help children learn science through the inquiry process. You might go deeper into the children’s understanding of colour with Jupiter as your theme with this resource from spaceweek.ie https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Gas-Planet-Clouds.pdf
The children could predict which colours they would get when they mix the food colouring – perhaps referring to their understanding of paint. Then the inquiry process would show them if their understanding was correct.
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An inquiry-based lesson using Bee-Bots to simulate space exploration
1.Introduction: Start by introducing the Bee-Bots and explaining the goal of the activity – reaching different planets. They will be displayed on charts in the classroom, Programme your BeeBot to go to Neptune, Jupiter…
2. I will elicit information from the children about the solar system and the planets. They can gather information about each planet’s size, distance from the sun, and unique characteristics.
3.The children will programme the Bee-Bots to simulate traveling to different planets. They can create a map or layout representing the solar system and use the Bee-Bots to navigate to each planet.
4.I will encourage students to think critically about the distance between planets, obstacles in space, and how the Bee-Bots can overcome challenges to reach their destination.
5. After the activity, the children will reflect on their experience. I will ask them what they learned about the solar system, coding, and problem-solving.
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Yvonne – I love this idea. It really mirrors actual space missions where the instructions have to be sent to the missions in advance because of signal time delays.
I have done a similar analog with children, where they have to choose from a set of cards which instruction to send to the ‘spacecraft’ and then one child is the ‘radio wave’ and they have to walk to the ‘spacecraft’ who continues moving.
It was a lot of fun when ‘turn left’ arrived at the space craft long after the spacecraft had passed the planet. The activity was originally part of the New Horizons education resources, I’ll see if I can find the original link.
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<p class=”MsoNormal”>Hi, my name is Eleanor. I am working in a DEIS 1 school and will be working with Infants in September. I am really looking forward to getting stuck into this course and learning about some fun ways to teach space in infants. I feel that space is often brushed over in the Junior end of the school based and in my own experience only done thoroughly at the senior end of primary school.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>My favourite space fact is that the core of a star reaches 16 million degrees celsius!</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>Inquiry based activity: I would do a lesson with infants to figure out what materials are waterproof. I would give this a fun context e.g. help the teddy bear to find a coat that would be suitable for the rain! I would put children into pairs and give them packs. In the packs I would have droppers, squares of material e.g. plastic, tinfoil, tissue, paper. Children will test the materials to figure out which materials are waterproof and which are not. We will discuss afterwards, which material would suit best plastic v tinfoil as both are waterproof.</p>-
Hi Eleanor,
Teddy raincoats is a lovely way to bring the Inquiry process to the infant classroom.
The prompt is appropriate and visual – we don’t want teddy to get wet!
The materials for investigation are easy to source and only small quantities are needed. Droppers can make it feel ‘sciencey’ and are easy to get if you save children’s medicine droppers.
Pair work allows the children to chat to each other about what they think will happen and to share their predictions.
Class discussion at the end leads to a ‘next step’ that is suitable and can be a new investigation.
You can see this in English and Irish from Curious Minds.
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Hi Eleanor,
I think this is a lovely extension lesson to the materials lesson in module one. It definitely allows the children to apply their learning from that lesson to your one above. I would also like to note the importance of collaborative work during STEM and science lessons particularly in developing the science skills. Pair work and group work are vital to allow the children to discuss, share ideas, challenge themselves and others, promoting critical thinking and problem solving skills. It encourages active learning and inclusion for all.
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Hi, I’m Laura, I have worked in Senior Infants for three years since I’ve come out of college! A fact I find interesting about space is that there is no sound in space!
In the context of junior classroom education, particularly with concepts such as “push” and “pull,” this method can be exceptionally powerful. These fundamental physics concepts form the basis for understanding force and motion, offering young learners a hands-on and intuitive grasp of the world around them. This reflection explores the implementation and impact of an inquiry-based lesson on push and pull in a junior classroom, while also bringing in the concepts of gravity etc in an informal way.
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Teaching second class students about push and pull forces through an inquiry-based activity can be engaging and effective. It is a topic that is already taught in second class and this has made me think more critically about this topic. You could start by introducing the concept of push and pull forces using simple language and relatable examples, like pushing a toy car as mentioned. Encourage students to share their own experiences of push and pull in everyday life to make the topic more relevant and understandable.
Next, set up hands-on activities where students can explore push and pull forces. For example, provide materials like toy cars, ramps, strings, and balloons for students to experiment with different scenarios. Ask guiding questions to prompt critical thinking, such as “What happens when you push the car harder?” or “How can you make the balloon move faster?” This could be furthered by using a ramp to explore push forces or expanded to include friction from different materials when pushing/ pulling.
Encourage students to work in small groups to observe, test, and record their findings. Whiteboards could be used to plan or sketch diagrams of experiments or to record predictions. Finally, gather students together to discuss their observations, share their conclusions, and reflect on their learning experiences.
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Hi Sean,
Ramps are a key component for child centred learning about forces.
There is a Curious Minds resource on slopes.
This article is from the US, but clearly describes how ramps can be used with young children in an inquiry style.
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Creating an inquiry-based activity on gravity for 7-year-olds can be both fun and educational. The key is to keep the concepts simple and engaging while encouraging curiosity and exploration.
Activity: Exploring gravity with falling objects.
Materials needed:
A variety of small toys
stopwatch or timer
ruler or measuring tape
a note book for recording
a large open space to test your objects
Introduction:
- Begin with a simple explanation of gravity: “Gravity is a force that pulls everything down towards the ground.”
- Ask the children if they have noticed how things fall to the ground when they drop them. Encourage them to share their observations.
Predictions:
- Show the children the different objects you have. Ask them to predict which objects they think will fall faster or slower and why.
- Write down these predictions in the notebook.
- Experiment – Dropping Objects:
- Stand on a chair or a small step to get some height.
- Hold two different objects at the same height.
- Count down and drop both objects at the same time while another child uses the stopwatch to measure the time it takes for each to hit the ground.
- Record the times in the notebook.
- Observation and Discussion:
- Repeat the experiment with different pairs of objects
- Ask the children to observe which objects fall faster or slower.
- Discuss the results: Did the objects fall at the same speed or different speeds? Were their predictions correct
- Conclusion and Reflection:
- Summarize the key points:
- Gravity pulls objects down, and all objects fall at the same rate if we ignore air resistance.
- Ask the children what they learned and if there were any surprises
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Hi Irene,
dropping objects is always fun and lots of learning can happen. I’m not so sure about using a stop watch unless you have some sort of parachute, since the objects will be falling quite quickly and the errors in stop and starting the timer will be greater than the difference between the two objects.
I’d suggest just having a race- and the one that hits the ground first is the winner.
With a much older class you might use the acoustic timer from phyphox and make a sound as the object is dropped and then the phone can pick up the sound of the landing and stop the timer. When I tried this just now, the time for the object to drop was 0.64 seconds.
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Teaching an inquiry based activity
Strand :Energy and Force Strand Unit : Force
Learning objective :The children should be enabled to investigate how forces act on objects
Engage : I’m going to Smyths to buy a fast vehicle for my 5 year old son. Using toy cars/trucks/lorries etc from play box I’d ask the children which one should I buy that would be the fastest. Use the question ‘I wonder?’ Invite the children to explore.
Investigate : Present different size ,weight ,shape, number of wheeled vehicle Predict : Get the children to predict the fastest over a smooth surface /rough surface /on an incline -record their predictions on the board
Conduct the investigation : Divide the children into small groups to conduct their investigation
Share /Interpret data ; Report back their findings
Reflect :Teacher reflect if children achieved the learning objective /Adapt in future to improve results
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Hi Claire,
you can see the same article I mentioned earlier, that shows an American example of implementing children’s ideas about forces with ramp and toys.
Fair testing may go out the window with such a range of ideas, but this can be included in teacher discussion with each group – by asking “how do you know that the size of the truck made the difference – could it have been the how steep the ramp was?”
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Hi all.
My name is Kate. I was in SET this year and will be in Junior Infants in September.
My favourite space fact is that Earth is that it is the only known planet where water exists in all three states- solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (water vapour) naturally on its surface.
I have always loved space and love teaching it to hear all the questions kids have on the mystical place that Space is. -
Post a reflective piece on how you would use one inquiry-based activity in your
classroom to the forum (150 words min).
“Solar System Adventure.”
Start:
A brief storytelling session where students learn about different planets and space objects.
Middle:
Each student given a specific planet, moon, or other space body to investigate. Provided with resources, such as books, interactive websites, and videos.
Students will question their planet. “What is the weather like on Venus?” or “What are the rings of Saturn made of?”
Use the resources to gather information, draw pictures, and create simple models or dioramas to represent their findings.
Collaboration: students will be grouped into “space teams”.
Share their discoveries and discuss the unique features of their planets etc.
Creates a poster- include drawings, fun facts, and any models they’ve made.
Present their findings to the class, explaining what they have learned and answer questions.
Reflection: ask children what they’ve learned and ask them if they have portrayed all important information in their drawings. This hands-on approach makes learning fun and memorable. It also teaches important skills like teamwork, creativity, and critical thinking, which are essential for their overall development.-
Kate,
would this work for Junior Infants? Are there specific websites or videos that you would recommend for them to use as resources?
There is a lovely way to engage the children around the question of the weather on Venus – developed by Dr Elizabeth Tasker of JAXA. She compares Venus to a person who is in the Sahara (where it is hot) but is wearing a thick coat (the atmosphere of Venus is really thick!). This could be linked to the children’s coats and how their coats should be chosen with weather in mind. Curious Minds explores this more fully with “Investigating Children’s Coats” in English and Irish.
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Hi all, my name is Fiona. I am a senior infant teacher who is looking forward to learning lots about space. My favourite space fact is that it takes on average only 3 days to reach the moon by spacecraft!
Inquiry based activity:
Creating mice-rockets
Each pair will be given a round piece of coloured card which they will fold into a 3D cone shape. The children can then use their imagination to add decoration and design to their cone to create a mouse (ears, tail, nose, whiskers). This allows for individuality.
Challenge: how far can you shoot your mice rocket using an empty bottle?
The children will have to explore the various ways they can move their mice rockets and share with the class.
Aim: using the empty bottle, place the mouse rocket on top of open empty bottle. Using two hands bang either side of the bottle, causing the force of the air to leave through the top of the bottle and send the little mice rockets flying!!
Lots of laughs and giggles as mice fly all over the place. This can be furthered into a classroom challenge of which mouse can travel furthest! Also another further enquiry could be ‘if we change the size/shape of the bottle will the rocket travel further or less?’
Results: The harder the bang/push of air from the bottle i.e. the force, the further the rocket will travel.-
Hi Fiona,
I love rocket mice – it is a favourite of our “Move It” workshop for Junior and Senior Infants.
I like to give the children different colour mice, so that they can then respond to “what colour mouse works best?” and explore the difference between different children launching vs the colour.
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Rocket Mice, i think my class would love this and i love seeing the individuality in each creation and the deign element would give a sense of ownership. Could be interesting to see the differences in those that add big ears, long tails etc and see is there a difference in the height. Great discussions to be had afterwards I reckon
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An Inquiry Based Lesson for My Classroom. ‘ A Safer landing’ How can I change the speed of a rolling object as it falls towards the ground? Inspiration- Marble runs
Strand: Energy and Forces Strand Unit: Forces Curriculum Objective: investigate how forces act on objects through experimenting with different materials Skills Development:Questioning, Investigating, ExperimentingTrigger: Oops a lego ball drops to the ground and smashes.
Wonder: I wonder could we help the ball to get to the ground a safer way using some of our junk materials. (toilet roll tubes, masking tape, egg cartons, cardboard.
Explore the materials and discuss ideas.
Starter question: Can we build a some ramps and tunnels to help the ball travel to the ground in a slower safer manner using our materials along a wall.
Predictions: Children state and record ideas and their reasoning.
Conducting the investigation by constructing ramps/runs for the lego ball to fall safely to the ground without breaking.
Share and interpret the results. What worked best?
Applying our learning and making connections to build class marble runs in Aistear.
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An inquiry based activity to explore the different distances to the Sun based on planet location in 2nd class.
I would introduce the lesson by showing the children a photograph of the different planets. I would question the children on the distance of each Planet to the Sun.
Questioning: would occur surrounding closest planets to the sun and furthest away planets and how this could effect the planet.
Questioning would also provide me with an opportunity to elicit the children’s prior knowledge on the planets and the Sun.
Next, I would call up different children and provide them with a photograph of a planet. The children need to rearrange themselves in order of closest and furthest away to the sun.
The other children would then be provided with distance in kilometeres on cards.
Together, the children need to predict which distance corresponds to which planet.
Seeing the children stand at the top of the classroom with the planet pictures would help and this activity would also encourage co-operative learning and teamwork.
Throughtout the lesson, the teacher would question the children on their choices and ask them to explain their reasoning.
At the end of the lesson, the teacher will call out the distance with the correct planet.
This lesson incorporates Maths and measures. It also provides endless opportunites for integration.-
Hi Alyson,
You can find some activities on solar system and scales here and in Irish.
and the club resource from spaceweek.ie has a table with the steps for a walking solar system.
This might be useful to extend the learning to show the spacing of the planets, which is very unexpected.
so instead of just
The children need to rearrange themselves in order of closest and furthest away to the sun.”
ordering themselves, they can try to space themselves out as well.
This can then link nicely to your question of “how this could effect the planet.” Children might find out about how temperature varies with distance from a heat source – and they could use a radiator in winter as the heat source. Children’s predictions could be tested to develop and confirm their scientific understanding.
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HHi, I’m Criona.
I will be teaching junior/senior infants in September. I think teaching space to infants will be fun and engaging and look forward to learning more by completing this course.Mindmap
Space
/ | \
Planets Stars
/ | \
Earth Sun Moon
/ | /
Mars Venus
\ /
Satellite
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Asteroid
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GalaxyComets
| |
NebulaeInternational Space station.
An Interesting space fact:
The international space station is visible from Earth: After the moon, the ISS is the second brightest object in our night sky. You can even see it without a telescope as it flies 320 kilometers above us. -
Reflection:
1. Engage:
o I introduce the topic of space using captivating images or short videos related to astronauts, planets, or stars.
o I encourage children to discuss and predict methods astronauts might use to purify and recycle water in space.
2. Investigate:
o I pose a starter question: “How do astronauts purify water in space?”
o In groups, children simulate the purifying process by removing solid dirt from a mixture.
o We discuss reasons behind predictions and record our thoughts.
3. Take the Next Step:
o We explore how invisible impurities might be removed from the mixture.
o I emphasize the importance of fair testing (consistent conditions, controlled variables).
4. Reflect:
o After the activity, we reflect on what went well and how we could improve next time.-
Hi Criona,
The Curious Minds ESERO CPD which has been offered to schools has a workshop “The Journey to Space” which touches on this exact activity.
We haven’t included the full activity in this course, since I felt some of it was a bit too much for Junior Classes.
The video we used in that is the Chris Hadfield talking about recycling water aboard the ISS – you can find it here.
The cleaning dirty water outline is “Can You Live on Mars?” from esero.ie.
I think it works well as a Design and Make activity, with children testing their predictions by making a filtration system.
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Hi
I’m Fiona, although I’m teaching 6th Class on September I am very interested in learning about Space and using what I learn in tye future. I’m sure I might be able to adapt some of the resources and information for an older class. I don’t have a favourite Space fact but I find the whole universe fascinating.
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Objective: Children will explore the concept of gravity by observing and discussing how and why objects fall to the ground.
Materials:
-A variety of small objects (e.g., feather, paperclip, toy car, ball) (if outside, use natural object like leaves, sticks, and stones)
-A clear container filled with water
-A heavy object and a light object (e.g., a rock and a feather)
-A picture book about gravity (The Gravity Tree: The True Story of a Tree That Inspired the World)Introduction:
-Begin by asking the children if they’ve ever dropped something and watched it fall to the ground.
-Show them a ball and ask, “What do you think will happen if I let go of this ball?” Let them predict.Activity 1: Drop and Observe:
-One by one, drop different objects from the same height and let the children observe what happens.
-Ask guiding questions like:
—-“Did it fall fast or slow?”
—-“Did it go straight down or did it float?”
-After each drop, discuss their observations.Activity 2: Floating and Sinking:
-Show the children the clear container filled with water.
-Drop a heavy object and a light object into the water.
-Ask, “What do you notice? Why do you think the objects behave differently in water?”Discussion:
-Explain in simple terms that gravity is a force that pulls objects toward the ground.
-Read “The Gravity Tree: The True Story of a Tree That Inspired the World” to reinforce the concept with illustrations and stories.Closing Activity:
-Let the children each choose an object to drop and describe what they think will happen and why.
-Encourage them to share their thoughts and discoveries with the group.Wrap-Up:
-Ask, “What new thing did we learn today about why things fall down?”
-Recap the day’s activities and what they learned about gravity.(PS – for those interested, link to the book: https://annacrowleyredding.com/books/the-gravity-tree-the-true-story-of-a-tree-that-inspired-the-world/)
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Module 1: How I would use one inquiry-based activity in my classroom.
Strand- Materials
Strand Unit- Properties and Characteristics of Materials
Learning Objective- . Explore, investigate, identify and recognise ways of keeping things cool.
Trigger- Picture of icelollies in the sun, melting.
Wonder- Why are they melting? How can we stop them from melting? What are insulators? What are conductors?
Exploring- Discuss how quickly/ slowly the ice-lollies melts? Examine cool bags, items that are used for keeping things cool. Show the children the various materials which you have brought in and ask them: “Which of these materials do you think would be the best for keeping ice lollies cool?” “Next best”, etc. “How do you think we could carry out a fair test to try to answer this question?
Starter Question- What material do you think will slow down the melting of the ice lolly?
Predictions- Record these
Investigation- Groups of children use a different material and cover the icelollies. Discuss fair testing. What will be the same (layers of material, size of material, same icelolly type, all in the shade or all in the sunlight? What will be different, materials used?. Control: unwrapped icelolly.
Sharing- What happened? Sharing and interpreting results.
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Hi,
I’m Laura and I teach Junior Infants in a school in Carlow. My favourite space fact that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth!
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Hi Laura,
I love this space fact, and even more the riff on it from the science cartoon XKCD “What If?“
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Hi my name is Mary. I am currently a SET teacher. I do a lot of in class teaching and I thought this course would be very helpful especially in the area of Aistear.
My interesting space fact-The hottest planet in our solar system is 450C
.How you would use one enquiry based activity in your classroom.
Students have questions that they are hungry to answer.
Use Trigger question –Oops I have spilled water what will I use to clean it up?
Brainstorm ideas
Exploring the materials you have to clean up the spillage
What are the materials like
Similarities/ Differences
Have you seen or used the materials before
Predict- Which material would work best?
Conduct the Investigation
Spill water on table /Tray
Use a material at a time to soak up the water
Observe which one they think works best
Record results-Put a smiley face next to the material that worked best . Put a sad face next to the material that worked worst.
Interpret the results
Make a pictogram using smiley faces of the results.
Extension- Which material would you use to make a coat for Teddy?
Teacher Reflection on activity.
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Mary,
is there a particular way you might use this activity in Aistear teaching?
The prompt might arise from tidying up the classroom, or you might place a plastic cup in a precarious position and give it a nudge when the time is right.
What materials would you have handy in the classroom or would you be able to get easily?
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Class : Junior Infants
Engage:
The Trigger: Tell the children I am going to show them a magic trick. Using a ‘boat’ constructed from paper with a paperclip attached to the bottom on a piece of paper and a magnet on the bottom. Use the magnet to move the boat .
Wondering : Think/ pair /share on how the boat moved.
Exploring : In groups children use magnets to move boats
Investigate:
Starter question: What other materials do magnets attract?
Predicting: Looking at the materials provided – plastic bottle tops, card, coins, metal dinky cars, plastic topper, pencils , scissors.
Conducting the investigation: In small groups (each with set of magnets and materials) take one material at a time and see if it will stick to the magnet.
Sharing : using two large signs on the ground for each group ask the children to sort the materials into those that magnets will attract and those they do not.
Taking the next step:
Applying Learning:
What other materials could we use to attach to the bottom of the boats to make them move?
Children attach other metallic objects to the ‘boats’ to make them move when the magnet is under the paper.
Teacher reflection
How did this activity go?
What improvements could I make?
Were the learning objectives actualised?
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Hi I am Sean I teach in a senior boys school. My favourite space fact is:
One million earths could fit inside the sun.
It makes me reflect on our significance and reminds me not to sweat the small stuff 🙂
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Hi Sean,
I like that space fact. I find even more mind blowing is the fact that a millions sounds like such a big number, but you can have a million of something in your classroom really easily.
I like showing a 1-cm cube and then make a bigger cube from 3 meter sticks (two on the floor and 1 at right angles to them – showing three sides of a cube – ask them to imagine the other sides).
How many cubic cm are in the cubic m….? (100*10o*100 = 1 million).
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Hi all,
My name is Sarah, I am currently support teaching for Senior Infants but will be taking Senior Infants mainstream in September.
My favourite fact about space is that there are more stars in the milky way than the number of humans that have ever been born.
I chose this course as I feel that Space is one of those areas that captures the imagination no matter what age you are as there is always more to learn.
A very simple inquiry -based activity that I have used time and time again is Making Rice Krispie buns.
The materials needed are very simple-Cooking chocolate, Rice Krispies, A bowl and Spoon
Before starting I would hold up a few bottle of different household items drink and would teach children the word liquid if they did not already know it. I would also hold up blocks and some other classroom items and talk about they are solid.
I would discuss and question the children on what will happen to the solid bar of chocolate when we put it into the microwave and inadvertently we are discussing states of matter- introducing the concept without overwhelming the children with very complicated language.
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Hi Sarah…I love you using your inquiry as the rice crispie buns. I often do this but more from a mathematical prescriptive with senior infants and I love the idea of turning it into a STEM lesson. It is such a good way of looking at materials and their properties and so engaging also. They could make their predictions and discuss what would happen prior to the activity. Key questions could be asked throughout and children could discuss their outcomes and talk about what might happen if they used different materials. I must now see baking/cooking as a link not only with Maths but with STEM.
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Hi Sarah,
cooking as inquiry – brilliant!
I can see that children might try different amounts of melting time — does it get melted a lot, a little? … trying to quantify that is great maths.
What happens if you have too much chocolate and not enough rice krispies… again, really simple to predict and test.
Beautiful links to measures. I’d offer different pre-measured amounts for the younger children, and bowls and different measures for older children.
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Using an inquiry-based activity in the classroom can significantly enhance students’ engagement and understanding of scientific concepts. Here’s how I might implement it:
I would begin by introducing a real-world problem or question related to space exploration, such as “How can we design a sustainable habitat for astronauts on Mars?” Provide students with background information and relevant resources. Organize students into small groups and guide them to brainstorm potential solutions, encouraging them to ask questions and conduct research.
Facilitate hands-on experiments and simulations using resources, such as building models or conducting simulations of Martian environments. As students work through their inquiries, I would prompt them to make observations, collect data, and analyze their findings.
Throughout the process, I would encourage critical thinking and problem-solving. Concluding with a class discussion where groups present their solutions and reflect on their learning. This approach fosters collaboration, creativity, and a deeper understanding of scientific principles.
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Hi Sean. I really like this activity as you are helping the children to focus the research by providing background information and relevant resources but also giving them the autonomy to come up with solutions to the problem in groups. The final presentation I find works well along with the opportunity for other students to ask questions and offer possible modifications and improvements. I would often let the groups revisit their project after this step to allow them to think about advice they have received from peers and make any changes they wish.
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Hi Sean,
Mars as a topic is supported by some of the ESERO resources, and spaceweek.ie has a Mars resource in English and Irish. ESA have this excellent resource too.
Google Earth (choose Mars at the top) can let children view Mars up close and understand the environment that their habitat has to withstand.
A habitat is an example of using the Framework for Inquiry to support Design and make, so the plan is vital. This is how they will connect their science understanding to their design skills.
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Learning Objectives:
design and make a boat that will float
explore the relationship between the shape of the boat and the weight it will carry
To engage the children I will ask them to roll a piece of plasticine into a ball and drop it into the basin of water. Did it sink or float?
Predict: could we get the plasticine to float?
Ask the children to play around with the plasticine to see if they can get it to float.
Children record the results in 2 boxes: sink and float. They would do this by simply drawing the shape of the plasticine in the relevant box e.g. draw a ball in sink
Look at some record sheets as a class and discuss the shapes that floated.Wonder- What shape floats best?
Next steps: look at pictures of boats and their shape. Watch video of a boat cutting through the water. Discuss what we see.
Design and make: make a boat with plasticine that will float and carry as many passengers (peas) as possible.-
Hi Paula,
Your plan clearly references the Inquiry process as outlined in the Framework for Inquiry. The play with the plasticine is essential for them to be able to make a prediction, so I’d let them have some directed play at the beginning as they try to shape the plasticine so that it doesn’t sink – and then I’d say “I wonder if this could be a boat?” and then let them share their predictions about the boat shape and which boat will be best.
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Inquiry based learning is an approach to learning that encourages children to engage in problem solving and experimental learning.
Strand – Energy and Forces
Strand Unit- Fores
Lesson – Investigating Slopes
Resources – Books or blocks of equal height, empty kitchen rolls cut in half to create the slope, marbles, toy cars.
Background Information – When a marble or toy car is let go at the top of a slope it is pulled down the slope by the force called gravity. This lesson investigates the distance they travel depending on the angle of the slope. Further exploration can be carried out through changing the surface of the slope and changing the surface onto which they run.
Introduction – Begin by asking the children to discuss what is a slope? Children may use the word steep or goes up o describe it. Ask the children what do you notice when you walk or cycle up a slope / down a slope? There is a concept cartoon which would allow discussion around this topic by Brendan Keogh and Stuart Naylor ‘Starting points for Science’
Development – Place a marble at the top of a ramp (kitchen roll cut in half, with one end propped up by a book to create slope)and ask:
What will happen when you let the marble go? What will happen if you make the ramp higher? i.e add more books. What will happen if we make the ramp really high? How can we slow down the marble after travelling down the ramp?
Children explore these questions with hands on exploration work. They can use blu tack to make the distance the marble or car travels with each change in slope height.
Discussion and Conclusion- As the children to share their findings. Did the height of the slope change the distance traveled. Why do you think this happened? Can you think of anywhere slopes re useful? Examples for trolleys in supermarkets or wheelchairs.
Further Exploration – Possible areas for follow up activities are what surface would best slow down or stop the marble or car for example sand. the children can create longer slopes and examine if the length of the slope makes any difference.
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Thanks for sharing this Barbara. Slopes is a great activity.
I vary it slightly by using pipe lagging, cut in half and given out in 1m lengths. Children can then make very long marble runs and really get a sense of how the height at the start of the tube affects the speed of the marble along the run
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An inquiry based learning activity that we have enjoyed in my classroom is based on materials and change.
Strand: Materials
Strand Unit: Materials and change
Curriculum Objective: Explore the effects of heating and cooling on everyday items.
Engage:
The Trigger: Have the children arrive in after break to fine some toys from our classroom frozen in a block on ice on the tuff tray.
Wondering: I wonder how we could melt the ice quickly so we can play with our toys again…
Exploring: Brainstorming or Think/Pair/Share-have children come up with some ideas as to how to could do this.
Investigate:
Starter Question: Which material will speed up the ice melting?
Children will have water, tin foil and salt available to them.
Predicting: By drawing a smiley face on a worksheet children will use predict which material they think will speed up the melting process.
Conducting the investigation: In this experiment children will test 4 different items to see if any of them affect how fast ice melts. We will use sand, salt, tin foil and baking soda.
The children will work in small groups. They will place an equal number of ice cubes in bowls and sprinkle them with each substance. We will have one bowl with nothing sprinkled on it to act as a control.
Sharing: Using iPads the children will take pictures every 10 minutes to record the process so that the children can share their results with the other groups in the class. They will record their final results on the same worksheet they made their predictions on.
Taking the next steps:
Applying Learning: Chat about why we salt the roads during the winter time.
During playtime have the children free polar animals from ice.
Challenge the children to construct containers that would stop the ice cubes from melting for the longest time.
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Exploring The Moon
Students will explore the Moon, learning about its surface and features through observation and hands-on activities.
Materials:- Pictures of the Moon
- Playdough or clay
- Plastic craters, rocks, and other small objects
- Flashlights
- Introduction:
- Show pictures of the Moon.
- Ask, “What do you see on the Moon?” and “What do you think the Moon is made of?”
- Introduce the main question: “What does the surface of the Moon look like?”
- Engagement:
- Share a short video or story about astronauts on the Moon.
- Discuss the features they observed, like craters and rocks.
- Exploration:
- Provide playdough or clay and plastic craters/rocks.
- Let students create their own Moon surface models.
- Use flashlights to simulate sunlight and create shadows, showing how craters and rocks cast shadows.
- Explanation:
- Gather students and have them share their models.
- Discuss how the shadows helped them see the craters and rocks more clearly.
- Explain how scientists study the Moon’s surface using similar techniques.
- Elaboration:
- Introduce a simple experiment: Drop small objects into a tray of flour to create craters.
- Observe the shapes and sizes of craters formed.
- Evaluation:
- Ask students to draw their Moon models and label the features.
- Have a brief sharing session where students explain their drawings and what they learned.
Conclusion:
Reinforce the key points: the Moon has craters and rocks, and scientists use light and shadow to study its surface. Encourage curiosity and further questions about space.-
The 6-E inquiry steps you have used are very similar to the Curious Minds/ESERO Framework for Inquiry that has been developed in Ireland.
Key is the wondering and exploring before children use their science understanding to predict and investigate.
I have done a similar activity and used masking tape rolls to be the craters and asked children: I wonder when the shadows of the craters will be easiest to see? I wonder where the Sun will be when the shadows are longest?
For older children you could link this to the phase of the Moon and how 1st quarter Moon images have great shadows on the terminator.
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Inquiry Based Activities are magical when they can be instigated. While I have been successful at creating them in the past, the step by step approach that is available thanks to ESERO is very useful. As an infant teacher, we choose a monthly theme. The themes include Space, Under the Sea and In the Garden. I will use this approach to drive the theme. With effective stimuli’s children usually seize control of their learning and start to research topics at home, write about it in their free writing copy and play imaginatively during Small World and Dramatic Play. I will provide further information, vocabulary, praise and enthusiasm to help the children continue on their learning trajectory. Children love to present their knowledge. I find in particular, they enjoy creating a project or piece of writing and showing it to their peers or other teachers. It is important that the children’s enthusiasm and work is validated.
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One inquiry based lesson I’ve previously carried out with second class and they loved was the following. I think I’ll try it in 1st class this year too but just support them a little more where needed.
More information and resources can be found here:
https://www.sfi.ie/resources/Our-Solar-System.pdf
I printed this during Space Week one year and use it each year depending on class level.
Prompt: Show pictures of the planets in our solar system.
Ask the students what sizes they think the other Planets are compared with Earth.
• Ask if they know what the biggest and smallest planets are.
Describe and compare the various sizes of the planets from pictures used.
Activity: I would carry out this in groups of 4 or 5. • Show the students all of the fruits available and ask for guesses as to which ones represent which planets, ask for reasoning when they give guesses. • Place all the fruits on a table. Have labels with names of planets but don’t match the fruits to the labels, have the students figure out where each should go, using the hint card that you can print off from the activity framework. • Go around to the various groups and listen to their discussions and reasoning as to which fruits correspond to which planets.
Finally: Discuss the correct sizes as a class.
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Glad to see that you find this resource useful – there is also an Irish language version. You can find both and others at spaceweek.ie
The key for me is listening to the children’s discussion and justifications as to which fruit is which planet.
There is also an option of Earth and Moon with objects. Have a range of objects of different sizes and ask the children to choose one object each. Then they have to find another person with a different size object to make an Earth-Moon pair. The Moon is roughly 1/4 to 1/3 the size of the Earth, so there may be many pairs. Plus, someone may be somebody else’s Moon and a different person’s Earth.
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Inquiry based learning
Investigating how different surface materials effects the speed of a toy vehicle/object travelling down a ramp
Resources – 2 marbles, ramps of a given length, set up to have an equal slope covered with various materials (left over lengths of laminate flooring are great) covered with different materials – (heavy duty plastic, different types of carpet, sand paper, lino, no cover, astroturf etc..)
Introduction – Hold the 2 marbles at the top of one of the ramps and ask the children what will happen when they are let go? Question Why do they think this. Let the marbles go and observe them rolling down the ramp. Do they roll at the same speed?
Investigation – Place a second ramp with a different surface beside the original ramp, hold one marble on the original ramp and one of the second ramp – ask the students what they think will happen when the marbles are let go, will they roll at the same speed, can they justify their answer, let the marbles go observe the results and discuss, repeat this for all surfaces until the fastest/slowest surface is found.
Discussion and conclusion – Discuss the results in groups, why do you think that the marble rolled faster/slower over different materials, introduce the word friction and what it is, can you think of any everyday applications of friction and how it helps us.Follow up- would the changing the angle of the ramp change the speed
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Hi, I’m Donna and I will be teaching Junior Infants in September. One of the facts about space which I like is the fact that I used to teach the children that there were 9 planets but we now know that Pluto is a dwarf planet. It is amazing that we are still learning so much about space and I think its that curiosity about the unknown that has so many of us intrigued.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Christine and I currently teach Senior Infants. We cover the theme of Space as our Integrated Learning through Play topic each year so this course is going to be immensely helpful. I am also looking forward to discovering how it can support the new Primary Maths Curriculum. One of my favourite space facts is that the sunset on Mars appears blue.
Another play theme that we cover in class is Polar Exploration. I would use the ESERO’s Animals in the Cold (#7) lesson plan to build an ‘inquiry-based activity’. Using the Curious Minds framework, the structure would look as follows:
Engage
Prompt:Do they know any films/cartoons about the North or South Pole?
Wondering: What do the children know about these places on Earth?
Exploring: The children find out how animals that live in cold places keep themselves warm.Investigate
Starter Question: What do people do when they feel cold? How do the penguin and the polar bear keep themselves warm?
Predicting: Explain that the penguin’s feathers and the polar bear’s fur are also covered in a layer of grease. Predict what happens because of this.
Conducting the Investigation: Rub Vaseline on one of each child’s hands. Now the children also have a greasy layer on their skin. Drip some water on this hand. What happens to the water?Take the Next Step
Applying learning: Come to the conclusion that the water rolls off the hand with the greasy layer.
Making connections: Come to the conclusion that the penguin and the polar bear have three ways to keep themselves warm: a thick coat of fur or feathers, a thick layer of fat under their skin, and a greasy layer on their fur or feathers.
Thoughtful actions: The animals have adapted to the conditions that they live in-
Hi Christine,
with your familiarity with the Curious Minds/ESER Framework it is great to see how you would use it in the classroom.
This type of activity where there is a “catchy” demo (putting the Vaseline on children’s hands) can also be structured to support deeper science understanding by having the demo as part of the wonder/explore or even as the prompt itself.
Then the children might wonder – ‘does more Vaseline make me more waterproof?’ and make their prediction about that aspect of the activity and then try it out to see if they were right.
Another child might wonder ‘I think that as long as there is some Vaseline you’ll be waterproof and it doesn’t matter how much’ and investigate that.
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Doing this module reminded me of alot of inquiry science which I learned about in my teaching practice and taught while aboard. I love the idea of contextualising the problem and giving a hook into a lesson.
Strand is materials/materials and characteristics: Infants objective: describe and compare materials, noting the differences in the colour, shape and texture
Hook: Which is the odd one out (have the 3 little pigs houses). As long as children can justify, explain and reason they are correct.
Scenario: Which material will be the best to keep the wind out of the 3 little pigs house.
Prediction: Children to discuss their predictions and teacher to ask insightful open ended questions.
Materials: matchsticks, straws (plastic/paper if possible), marshmallows, elastic bands, cardboard, lollipop sticks, bluetac, lego, squeezy bottle or fan for wind
Activity: Children chose from different materials….to make a house for the 3 little pigs. They can move around 5 tables to create.
Children to then see which is the strongest. Teacher to bring a fan in. *disucss height/size too
Results: Which houses were the strongest. Discuss the material but also the height and size of it.
Further adaptions: Build the strongest tower.
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Hi Donna.
you’ve captured it exactly:
As long as children can justify, explain and reason they are correct.
You don’t have to check their science is “correct” – the activity and investigation framework will do that.
With the marshmallows and matchsticks would you be building structures like Amazing Triangles?
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An Inquiry Based Lesson for My Classroom. ‘ A Safer landing’ How can I change the speed of a rolling object as it falls towards the ground? Inspiration- Marble runs
Strand: Energy and Forces
Strand Unit: Forces
Curriculum Objective: investigate how forces act on objects through experimenting with different materials
Skills Development:Questioning, Investigating, Experimenting
Trigger: Oops a lego ball drops to the ground and smashes.
Wonder: I wonder could we help the ball to get to the ground a safer way using some of our junk materials. (toilet roll tubes, masking tape, egg cartons, cardboard.)
Explore the materials and discuss ideas.
Starter question: Can we build a some ramps and tunnels to help the ball travel to the ground in a slower safer manner using our materials along a wall.
Predictions: Children state and record ideas and their reasoning.
Conducting the investigation by constructing ramps/runs for the lego ball to fall safely to the ground without breaking.
Share and interpret the results. What worked best?
Applying our learning and making connections to build class marble runs in Aistear.
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Module 1: Space Exploration
– Reflective Learning: I am fascinated by the advancements in space exploration and how they spark curiosity and innovation.Module 2: Planets and Moons
– Reflective Learning: Learning about the different planets and moons in our solar system provides a sense of awe and wonder about the vastness of space.Module 3: Stars and Galaxies
– Reflective Learning: Exploring stars and galaxies opens up a whole new perspective on the universe and our place within it.Module 4: Black Holes and Dark Matter
– Reflective Learning: The mysteries of black holes and dark matter challenge our understanding of the universe and push the boundaries of scientific exploration.Hi everyone! I’m here to share my favorite space fact: Did you know that the light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach Earth? It’s amazing how something so fundamental to our lives is still so mind-boggling!
Reflection: To incorporate an inquiry-based activity in my classroom, I would create a simulation where students are tasked with planning a space mission to a distant planet. They would need to research the planet’s characteristics, design a spacecraft, and consider the challenges they might face during the journey. This activity not only fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills but also ignites a sense of exploration and discovery among students.
I look forward to engaging with all of you in this forum!
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Hi Colette,
When we bring inquiry into the classroom we are aiming to increase the children’s science content understanding through acting as scientists by investigation activities. Given the Design and Make skills in the Irish curriculum, the “Investigate” tier of the Framework for Inquiry can be modified to be Explore>Plan>Make>Evaluate. You can see examples of this design and make version on spaceweek.ie – for example Humans in Space.
Researching a planet’s characteristic is something that older children might do independently (it’s often set as an activity in second level schools), but for Junior Classes the teacher would have to provide a range of books or videos to help the children.
This ESA resource could be used to support children in designing a Mars mission – but note that it is designed for ages 8 – 12.
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An Inquiry-based lesson for my Infant class:
Strand: Energy and Forces
Strand Unit: Forces
Curriculum Objective: investigate how forces act on objects through grouping objects that float or sink
Skills Development:Questioning, Investigating, Experimenting
Engage:
Trigger- Read aloud: Who sank the boat? Pamela Allen
Wondering- Q+A: I wonder why the boat sank….
Exploring- Discussion about boats and what they can be made from.
Investigate:
Starter Question- Which materials are best for making a boat?
Predicting- The children could discuss and record their predictions through drawing pictures of the materials presented to them
Conducting investigation- the children could test their predictions in groups using basins of water and placing the materials in the water to see if they float or sink in water
Sharing and Interpreting results- the children could share their results through pictograms. The teacher would record an overall pictogram on the board to identify the best material to make a boat.
Applying learning:
Design and make a boat in aistear
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Module 1
My inquiry based activity would be – Where would an alien like to live ?
I taught a similar lesson before and this module helped me to reflect on this and how I could broaden the lesson and make it more inquiry based.
I had a little alien sensory teddy filled with flour. I integrated this with literacy and art. We read a story about different types of aliens and predicted where they might like to live based on their different characteristics. In art the children drew and painted their own aliens and using a variety of construction materials they designed spaceships and alien homes for their aliens.
I think talk and discussion plays a pivotal role in inquiry based learning. With everyone adapting and changing their opinions as we learn from each and gain more information. I think this would lead to exploration of the habitats, climates and living conditions of different planets. There is plenty of scope for the development of SPHE themes about feeling different/the same, celebrating uniqueness and developing inclusivity. I work in a Junior school so I think this would be a good starting point for some simple project work. The children could be put into teams and given a planet each to research. They could make a pros and cons list for each planet before conducting a graph or chart about where the aliens might like to live – this would link nicely with the strand of Data in Maths.
Using themes and topics like this makes learning fun for everyone and sparks curiosity in the children. It is a great motivational tool.
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Teaching senior infants involves a lot of learning through themed play activities.One of the themes is camping and this opens up a lot of opportunity for inquiry based learning .Introducing the idea of preparing for a camping trip I read the story Herman’s holiday . Discussion on what we need for camping follows. We discuss the weather ,clothing and tents etc. The children will look at different fabrics and materials and describe them. Questions asked …….Which material would keep you warm ? dry ? cool ? The children will predict and the test the materials in simple experiements to get results . Results are recorded in a child friendly way .Finally the children could be asked to make a waterproof tent for their teddy bear and test it to see if it works .
This activity is fun and it is child based learning and developing and inquisitive mind.
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Hi Roisin,
welcome to this course and the forum.
I love the idea of pitching this as a camping trip! Is this the book? and this an extra pack of bits? and a how to draw Herman?
A prompt with a “cold, soaking wet and bored” character is so much fun to promote thinking about being waterproof.
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Mindmap about Space: Prior to teaching Space I would create a mind map of key words. These key words would be the focus of my lessons and would also be the vocab I would want the children to know come the end of the series of lessons on Space.
Key words
Planets, Solar System, Moon,Sun,Stars, Galaxy, Gravity.All of these could be chosen as a focus for a lesson and built upon in follow up lessons. Space is a very broad area and it is often only brief touched upon in lessons in workbooks. A great idea prior to teaching Space would to gather what the children already know. A ‘KWL’ chart would be an effective tool to use here. Children may be more interested in the planets or could be fascinated by the First Moon Landing. A teacher can then choose where to focus the lessons so the children’s interests are built upon. Getting the children to do their own mindmap could be an effective idea also. In junior classes, the children could draw what they know about Space and the teacher could discuss their drawings with them
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Hi, my name is Dean and I teach junior infants.
My favourite space fact is that you can fit a million earths inside the sun.
My inquiry based task is the absorption science experiment:
Spills Happen!
What you’ll need:
Shallow tray or baking sheet
Water
Dropper or spoon
Paper towels
Paper sheets
Sponges
Fabric scraps (like old towels or cloths)
Markers (optional)Plan: Talk about spills! Where do you see spills happen? (kitchen, bathroom) What kind of things can spill? (water, juice)
Predict: Ask the children, “What do you think would be the best material to soak up a spill?” Let them guess and explain their ideas.
Test: Pour a small amount of water onto the tray. Now, it’s time to put those predictions to the test! Touch each material (paper towel, sponge, etc.) to the water.
Observe: See which material absorbs the most water. Does the water spread or form a bead? You can use markers to color the water and see how it spreads in each material (optional).
Record: Help the children draw pictures or write down what they observed.
Discuss: After testing all the materials, talk about the results. Which material absorbed the most water? Why do some materials work better than others?
Let’s go further!
Try different types of paper towels or fabrics.
See if thickness affects how much water is absorbed by using multiple layers of the same material.
Time how long it takes for each material to absorb the water.-
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Thanks for that Dean, I like the way you connect the inquiry to the children’s lives at the start of the lesson, where do they see spills at home, what type of things spills, might be an idea to introduce the word ‘liquid’ at this point as some children might not know the term. Good idea to explore whether the thickness of the material affects it’s absorbency.
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Hi,
My name is Chloe and I will be teaching senior infants in September.
My favourite space fact is that it would take 9 years to walk the moon.
Mind map: galaxy, stars, planets, orbit, moon, solar system, sun, satellites, exploration, gases, cool, heat, gravity, rings, fast, slow.
Experiment:
Which Paper absorbs best:
Questioning:
You are going to be investigating –
What do you want to find out? (which paper absorbs the best)
What will you change? (the paper)
What will you keep the same? (size of piece of paper, amount of water, time)Materials absorb water through capillary action. This means that water is attracted to the surface of the fibres and is drawn up into the spaces between them. The coarser the fibres the more easily the material absorbs water because there are more air spaces for the water to go into.
Give the children 3 different kinds of paper and ask them to investigate scientifically which is the most absorbent. Show them what equipment is available to do it.
Encourage the children to think of various ways in which this could be done with the available equipment. They need to design and make a support for their fair test. Then they need to see which paper absorbs the best.Hang the three pieces of paper from the ‘crossbar’ or the string using blu-tack or plasticine. Put water into the butter carton (and a few drops of food colouring, which helps to show up the water) and hang the three pieces of paper so that they are just dipping into the water. Watch what happens.
Display against the light for the best effectReflection and observation:
What do you see?
What does this tell you about absorbing?-
Hi Chloe,
I really like your inquiry based activity. It’s hands on and lots of fun. The children would absolutely love the use of food colouring. It’s a very effective and fun way to show how the water is soaked up by the materials. This is open to lots of discussion before and after the lesson, predicting which would be the best/ worst material to use. What materials do we use at home/school for drying?
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Hi Chloe,
I’m afraid my brain gets tangled when I try to figure out how water wicks up a cloth.
It it is good at absorbing, it will soak up all the water in just a bit of the material and the line will be really small. (microfibre cloth or sponge)
It is not as good as absorbing, the water will go further up the material, since each bit of material can’t hold as much, so it keeps wicking up. (tissue or cheap paper towel).
If it is really bad at absorbing, none of the water will be taken up the material (plastic bag)
So the children will have to carefully work out what they expect to see for different absorbancy materials.
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Hi, My name is Kevin . I currently teach First Class and lot’s of the kids in the class have a huge interest in STEM, doing experiments and space so this course was of interest.
My favourite space fact is: ONE MILLION EARTHS CAN FIT INSIDE THE SUN
The inquiry based activity that I have chosen to discuss today is the fingerprint experiment. I feel this experiment would create great excitement and interest.
I would begin with the trigger: A Youtube video showing a thief leaving his fingerprints on a window.
Wondering: Asking the children what a fingerprint is? What mistake did the thief make? How can the guards use this information from the print ? What if the print is not on file? How can they solve the crime ?
Starter question: How could the guards get the print from the window?
Predicting: Record answers.
Conducting the experiment: Secret thief .. I would pick a child to leave his/her fingerprints on the classroom window without the other kid’s knowledge of who it is. All the children would print their fingerprints on sheets and then try to investigate the prints and find the thief.
Interpreting results: Look at the results and interpret the data (fingerprints on the board before matching the fingerprints to the thiefs.
Extension: Free Writing : The thieves fingerprints
Teacher reflection with children.
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Hi Kevin,
the fingerprint activity can be a great starting point for inquiry learning. I think the important part is the questions that the children pose themselves as they are carrying out the activity.
They might ask – which powder makes it easier to see the fingerprint? Do we need to have a lot or a little of it? How are fingerprints the same or different?
In each case, they should use their own understanding to make a testable question – and this might be quite informal as they quickly say – ‘I think it needs to be a just enough to cover the fingerprint – let me try that.’
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I also really love the idea of a unit/activities around the who done it theme. It would be really engaging to stage a robbery of some sort in the school with a notes and a pen left behind. It could be as simple as sorry. I just really needed some chocolate in my class today! That could leave it open to a lot of teachers.
This is something which I have done previously and it looks at fingerprints (can use powder) to examine the patterns, look at footprint and examine the patterns…have other footprints to compare, examine the writing and look at the handwriting in detail to see which one matches the note, check the ph level (acidi) in the clay off the footprint, use chromatology to see which colours come from the pen and finally could be a maths activity to break a code which could help. Other elements which could be used: leave a mark on a glass (lip stick) and examine clothing fibres!
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Hello, my name is Daire and I have always been fascinated by the topic of space and I find children have so many questions with regards to this topic in a way that I havn’t experienced with other ones, my favourite space fact is the there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on Earth.
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Teaching an inquiry-based activity on space and the planets in the solar system can be a fun and engaging way for students to learn. Here’s how I would teach it in my classroom.
Introduction: Introduce the concept of space and the solar system to students. Explain that there is an order to the planets in relation to which one is nearest the sun. Use rhymes and songs to help remember the order.
Ask Questions: Encourage students to ask questions about the planets. What do they already know? What do they want to learn more about?
Research: Have students research more about the solar system. They can explore how many planets there are and what is the order of the planets, which one is nearest to the sun, which comes next and so on
Activity based approach to consolidating the information, I would prepare large cut outs of the planets and laminate them, I would get the pupils to work in groups and construct a large diagram of the solar system in the hall or outside using the cut outs and chalk/string to represent orbits and help keep the planets in order (this also helps with the spacing of the cut outs).
Discussion: Facilitate a group discussion where students can share their findings, ask questions, and reflect on what they’ve learned.
Consolidation: pupils can create models, posters or drawings to demonstrate their knowledge of the solar system
Conclude the activity by summarizing key points about the solar system and the sequence of planets. Encourage students to continue exploring and asking questions about the solar system.
My goal in this activity is to encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and active learning.
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Daire,
if the introduction has
Explain that there is an order to the planets in relation to which one is nearest the sun. Use rhymes and songs to help remember the order.
what additional research will the children do about this?
Research: Have students research more about the solar system. They can explore how many planets there are and what is the order of the planets, which one is nearest to the sun, which comes next and so on
Inquiry learning is more than asking questions – using the framework for inquiry that is outlined in this module, children can pose their own questions that reference their science understanding and have investigative activities to check their understanding.
So, for planets, children might expect that the planets that are nearer the Sun (as established in the intro) would be warmer than planets further away from the Sun. Books/videos or charts with that information could be shared and children could check if they are correct. If not (and it is a not), then they might ask why a planet that is closer to the Sun – Mercury – isn’t as hot as the next planet – Venus. This could then lead to a practical query on how Venus’s atmosphere acts like a blanket to keep it warm.
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My name is Lynn and I teach 1st/2nd class. Saturn’s rings are 90% water.firstly take
a soda bottle and mix water, dish soap, food coloring and white vinegar. Then, make baking soda slurry and add slowly to this solution. Let the children watch the volcano erupt and understand the coAn inquiry lesson I have completed is making a volcano erupt in a bottle. The children work together to make predictions in groups. You take a bottle and mix water, soap, food colouring and vinegar. Then add baking soda and add it slowly into the bottle. The children they watch the volcano erupt and see the process of eruption.
Children can consolidate their learning by asking and posing questions to other groups in the classroom. They can then write up their findings and check if their predictions were correct.
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An inquiry lesson I have completed is making a volcano erupt in a bottle. The children work together to make predictions in groups. You take a bottle and mix water, soap, food colouring and vinegar. Then add baking soda and add it slowly into the bottle. The children they watch the volcano erupt and see the process of eruption.
Children can consolidate their learning by asking and posing questions to other groups in the classroom. They can then write up their findings and check if their predictions were correct. The now understand the concept of eruption properly. -
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Hi
My name is Lucy and I teach in an Early Intevention class. The children are aged 3 to 5 and most are non verbal.
Everything I use has to be very simple. The topic I’d choose is materials and investigate water absorption.
Trigger: 50 ml water spilled on the table.
Have 4 different materials ready i.e. kitchen roll, a newspaper, a small sheet of plastic and a magazine. Each time spill 50 ml of water and use one of the materials to soak up the water. Take a photo of the table each time. After each child should touch the materials and observe if it is wet or not. Sort into 2 categories i.e. wet or dry.
Photographs could be ordered from the one which has the most water left on the table to the one with the least or vice versaThis could extended with coats made of different materials. Pour water on 3/4 coats and identify the one which is best to keep out the rain ( waterproof )
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This is just great to read. We have recently opened up our autism class and this is such an engaging task. The spilling of water, pressing various materials to figure out if the material is absorbent or waterproof. Well done! And then ‘ordering’ photos for sorting and classifying afterwards is super and extends the opportunity for teachers to keep using the vocab and engaging the students.
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Hello all,
My name is Orla and I teach in a large primary school in Dublin. Next year I will be teaching second class. An interesting space fact is 564 people have been into space – of that number 65 of them were women.
From September onwards I plan to use an inquiry-based activity about gravity and falling things in the classroom. I will engage in this activity when I am completing the ‘Energy and Forces’ unit of work. The students will investigate how forces act on objects. We will speak about push and pull forces. We will complete some examples (using objects such as a toy car) in small groups before showing our investigations to the whole class. We will then explore the effects of gravity using the ESERO resources as a guide. I will then provide different objects for the children to name and explore the effect of gravity on. To investigate we will devise our starter question and predictions. We will choose somewhere safe from which to drop our objects at the same time. We will measure the height of the drop, so it’s the same each time. We will observe and record our results and what we see. We will repeat the drop three times, recording our results. After conducting the investigation in small groups we will analyse and interpret our results, before writing our conclusions.. Perhaps as a follow on we could complete the egg parachute experiment depending on the ability of the class.
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Hi Orla,
welcome to this course. There are lots of posts in the forum with suggestions, resources and ideas from other teachers, including other 2nd class teachers, so I hope you find this useful.
Gravity and falling things is fun to explore, if you find that when you drop ordinary things they fall too fast to compare you could try rolling them down a ramp – it will be a bit slower – although friction/rolling will then come into play.
This is how Galileo explored gravity back in the 1600s! See this teacher article on his thinking.
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Hi my name is Louise. I will be teaching 1st class in September after having senior infants the past 3 years.
My favourite space fact is that one day on Venus is longer than one year on Venus. Venus has extremely low rotation on its axis so it takes about 243 Earth days to complete one rotation, while it takes only about 225 Earth days to complete one orbit around the Sun. Weird but cool!
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Hi my name is Elaine and this year I’m teaching first and second class.
I decided on this course as I myself have a huge personal interest in space, be it the planets (Pluto is also still a planet in my eyes), solar eclipses, lunar eclipses or meteorite showers and I’d love to pass along my interest in it my class. I’m really looking forward to this course.
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Hi,
My name is Naomi & I’ll be teaching Junior Infants this year. It’s my third time teaching Junior Infants and one theme I always do that my students love is Space. My favourite fact about Space is that because the Universe is always expanding, there are stars in the sky that we will never be able to see. I love stargazing and to think that of all the abundance of stars the sky will provide, there will always be stars the naked eye has never seen.
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Inquiry-based activity:
Gravity & Mass
One really easy lesson that I’ve always done and got the children so engaged and curious was on the topic of gravity and mass.
Firstly I did a KWL chart and asked the children what they know about gravity. Then I would teach some vocab and show a video on gravity. Based on the video and what the children already know I would ask them what they would like to know about gravity.
I would then go onto doing 2 small experiments.
One is dropping an empty bottle and a full bottle of water on the floor – which would would hit the floor first. We would discuss and tally on the board which one would fall first and why.
After the experiment is done I would ask why they think the one that fell first fell, and why? After discussion I would tell them the answer and the science behind it.
The second experiment is dropping a flat piece of paper and a crumbled up piece of paper at the same time – which would fall first? The same process of prediction, recording, discussion and explanation would occur.
These experiments would be an introduction to gravity and after teaching lessons on gravity and how it works, the children would then use two different variables just as the experiments above and conduct an experiment in groups in front of the classroom. They would have to research and in conference with teacher discuss their experiment and its explanation. Then they would show it in front of the class with the same pattern as modelled by the teacher: stating the experiment- prediction – recording- experiment- discussion – explanation.
Then as a conclusion to the theme of gravity we would as a class complete the L part of our KWL chart, or this can be done after each lesson while the info is fresh in the children’s minds.
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Naomi,
try to let the children tell you the science behind the experiments. In that way they are verifying that their understanding matches the real world.
In the case of the empty bottle and the full bottle hitting the ground, they both experience a force of gravity that is proportional to their mass – so the empty bottle has a smaller pull of gravity, but because it is lighter, it needs less to fall at the same rate.
The full bottle has a bigger mass, so a larger pull of gravity on it, but it needs that larger pull to get it to the same acceleration.
A slight difference may occur with the slowing force of the air on them – if they are the same size bottle then that force will be the same, and for the less full bottle that will affect it more.
Much more straightforward to start the exploration with two objects that are the same mass and have different shapes – in this case the air resistance force makes the biggest difference to how they fall.
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Inquiry based activity
How do animals keep themselves warm?
Brainstorm all the different types of weather-sunny, rain, cloudy, windy and snow.
Explain that some places get lots of rain and other are very dry. Some places are very hot and some places are very cold. At the North and South Pole it is very cold. Can they think of any movies set these regions? What animals live in these areas?
Trigger: Read the story The Snowman by Raymond BriggsQuestion: Ask the children how do animals keep themselves warm?
Then show them a picture of a Polar bear and a penguin. Ask them what animals they are and where they live/ hot or cold climate?
List all the ideas children give on how animals keep themselves warm.
Explain that Polar bears and penguins have a really thick layer of fat under their skin to keep themselves warm. They live in such a cold climate that they need more than the layer of fat under their skin.
Question: What do we do to keep ourselves warm when going outside? We put on an extra jumper or coat….
The Penguins and bears don’t have a coats but they have extra thick feathers and fur that act as a coat for them. Penguins and Bears also have a thick layer of grease on tip of their fur and feathers to protect them from the cold water.
Children will rub Vaseline on their hands and then put them in water.
What happens? They will see the water run off their hands. The layer of grease repels the water.
Conclusion: The polar bear and penguins have 3 ways of staying warm in cold climate- extra layer of fat, extra thick fur/feathers and a layer of grease. They adapt to the climate they are living in.-
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Anita,
this could easily be extended by asking the children what they think would happen if they put on an extra coat? If they have their own coat on in the classroom – how warm do they feel? What if a child puts YOUR coat on over their coat?
I used to teach second level and I would bring in the reflective lining of my Canadian coat (good to -40) and one girl would wear it for a few minutes- she’d be so hot by the end of that!
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Hi There, my name is Susan and I teach in Dublin. My favorite space fact is that it takes nearly three days to travel to the moon. I have visited Kennedy Space Centre many times and touched moon rock each time. It is an amazing place.
I love to do floating and sinking with infant classes. I use different materials – an orange (both peeled and unpeeled), play doh in a ball and shaped as a thumb pot, a stone, a tick, a pen, a pencil, a bottle, other items from around the class. Infants love water play and it leads very naturally to the ideas of waterproof items and waterproof clothing. At infant level, I start by telling the class that I can do magic. When we finish the lesson I remind them that I said I could do magic and now so can they. A magician is just a scientist.
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Scientists as magicians is a great idea.
The orange naturally lends itself to the magic — it floats with the peel on, but when you make it lighter (by taking the peel off) it sinks.
This is so counterintuitive to a child who thinks something floats because of mass (rather than heavy for its size = density).
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Hi I work in a Junior School. Love the junior school aged children and science. Their natural curiosity lends itself so perfectly to investigation, questions and some great and funny answers!
In the past we have used Chris Hadfield and his posts about life in space as a great ‘real life’ as a concrete example of how gravity makes life in space and on earth so different! How gravity helps us on earth, but also how fun zero gravity would be. The children loved this and enjoyed finding comparisons and coming up with their own ideas of inventions to supports them if they were on the space craft with Chris!
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Gravity
Standing on tables dropping various things, discuss weight plays a role on how fast things fall, but ultimately everything falls.
How does gravity affect our daily life. How have we designed the world to help us navigate gravity?
How can we slow things down from falling? How have humans designed things to help us beat gravity whether for fun or for safety? Talk about things that don’t fall out of control …gliders, hot air balloons, stairs, escalators, elevators etc.. all the things that help us go up and down at our own pace.
Making parachutes. Talk about materials needed watch some videos. Create our designs. Have a ‘we (kinda) beat gravity day!!!’ dropping various things and enjoying science.
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Hi Louise,
be careful in the discussion around
discuss weight plays a role on how fast things fall, but ultimately everything falls.
since the role of air resistance is tied up with this. Aristotle thought that the heavier an object was, the faster it would fall. This isn’t true, and Galileo found that out by doing experiments on objects going down ramps (the ramps meant that the objects went slow enough that he could measure their speed).
If there is no air, then all objects fall at the same speed. You can see this at this video from Brian Cox, or from the video of the astronauts on the Moon where there is no air.
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e Hi everyone. My name is Deirdre and I jobshare in 1st and 2nd class and will be doing that for the 3rd year this year. I love how inquisitive children are and how they can up with solutions to scientific experiments. We had loads of fun this year using Lets’ discover and there was plenty of opportunities for experimentation.is
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Hi, I’m Áine. I have taught Junior Infants for the last two years and will be teaching lovely 1st class next year. My Junior Infants loved learning about Space. It’s one topic that always captured their imagination and I am always amazed at their knowledge and space related facts.
My favourite space fact is that one million Earths could fit inside the Sun. -
Hi all,
My name is Claire Dempsey, I have been mainly teaching in the Senior Classes but am moving to Junior Infants in September so a big change awaits.
My favourite fact about Space is that Jupiter is heavier than all the other planets put together.
Reflection/Inquiry based activity
Using toys to explore the forces of pushing and pulling
Sorting into sets a variety of toys into different groups. Which ones require a push or pull to make it move?
Questioning the children on any other ways they could make the toys move. E.g. Blowing
Are there ways to make the toys go faster or slower?
Which toys move fastest and are easiest to push?
Which toys need a big push to move them?
Which toys need a small push to move them?
Using our chairs and tables in the classroom to explore the forces of push and pull.
Talking about practical ways that we use the different forces of pushing and pulling – Opening doors/Windows etc.
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Hi Claire,
welcome to this course and the world of Junior Infants! I think you will find the ideas and suggestions in the forum very useful – there are about 60 teachers so far in this course, so lots of sharing going on.
Your playful forces activity is spot on for the engage and wondering aspects of inquiry. Teacher modelling “I wonder…” can help the children find a question that they can answer with their toys.
They might think that lighter objects are easier to move (from throwing objects around) so may think that lighter objects will fall or roll down a ramp more easily — and so exploring that will let them develop their understanding of forces acting on heavier or lighter objects.
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Inquiry unit for an infant class that I really enjoyed teaching this year was investigating materials. We used the story of Paddington for stimulus and to engage the children’s interest.
Problem to solve: Paddington is going on a long journey to England. It is very rainy in England (in Ireland too) , how can we help Paddington keep his fur dry?
Introduction: we brainstormed the clothing that Paddington could wear. We spoke about and introduced the term ‘waterproof’.
Development: We tested to see if our coats and jackets were waterproof. We looked for the waterproof symbol on some clothing. We explored the materials that were best for keeping water/ rain out. Had we any materials in the classroom that would be good? Which materials should Paddington not wear if he wants to stay dry?
For art, we designed and made a coat for Paddington or a bear of choice.
Going further: Children brought in two items from home and we tested to see if they were waterproof.-
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Áine, I love how you started with their own clothing and looked for the waterproof symbol. They might also tell you that despite their coat saying it is waterproof, they still get wet.
I’m endlessly hunting for a good jacket.
You might include some maths with this by using Investigating Children’s Coats and in Irish.
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I think after doing this module that I will work harder on making my science lessons inquiry based where they can be. I followed a certain programme during the year which was great for giving me ideas and I will certainly try even harder next year to use the inquisitive minds of the children and work from what they know. In the last month we did the experiment where we spilled the water and they were very quick to tell me that the water spillage had to be the same each time we were testing a new material to keep the test fair. We also did a theme on bridges which was integrated with Art and they had to design bridges that would be strong enough to withhold different toys. I can tell you that it took a lot longer than the time that I had intended it to but it was worth it to see the joy on their faces when they experienced success.
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Hi Deirdre,
You can look at inquiry activities as both ‘science questions’ and as ‘design and make’ activities that use their own science understanding to inform the design process. As you have noted, it may take much longer than you have anticipated, so you may need to plan for practical maths as part of the activity to give you another aspect of the busy curriculum in the time.
I like how you included arts in stem – this is the current thinking about STEM & Arts.
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My name is Louise, I am teaching in a special school for pupils with a mild general learning disability. I have been teaching LCA classes the last number of years but will be teaching Junior primary in September.
One fascinating fact about space is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. Astronomers estimate that there are around 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, each containing millions to billions of stars. This vast number highlights the incredible scale and complexity of the cosmos.Incorporating inquiry based activities into the classroom significantly enhances students engagement and critical thinking skills. One effective inquiry based activity I plan to use is the Mystery Box Challenge.
This activity involves presenting students with a sealed box containing an unknown object. Students must ask yes-or-no questions to gather clues and eventually hypothesise the content of the box. This activity serves multiple educational purposes. Firstly, it stimulates curiosity and encourages active learning. Students are not merely passive recipients of information; instead, they actively participate in the learning process by formulating questions, predicting outcomes, and testing their hypotheses. This aligns with constructivist theories of learning, which emphasise the importance of students constructing their own understanding. Secondly, the Mystery Box activity fosters collaboration and communication skills. As students work together to solve the mystery, they must listen to each other’s questions and reasoning, promoting a collaborative learning environment. This peer interaction is crucial in developing social skills and learning from diverse perspectives. Lastly, this activity enhances critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Students must use deductive reasoning to eliminate possibilities and make educated guesses. By engaging in this hands-on and minds-on activity, students learn to approach problems systematically and think critically about the information they gather.-
Hi Louise,
would you use the mystery boxes in the way that I have seen them presented – where you do NOT open them at all – they remain sealed for the whole year and the children can bring them out every now and then as they learn more. So, they can be brought out when you are doing magnets, so that they can see if anything inside reponds to magnetic force.
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Hi there, My name is Siobhan and I teach in an all boys’ school. The pupils love all things space. My interesting fact is the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun and 400 times closer to Earth.
Class: Stem Investigation: Moon Crater
Introduction: I would start by introducing the children to the storybook Bring Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett. This will help to spark a discussion with what we see in the sky at night. We will then discuss what we know about the moon and hat the surface of the moon looks like.
Stem investigation: We will recreate the moon surface by using white floor on a baking dish, and we will then drop objects into the flour bowl. This will recreate the moon surface. We will then drop a variety of bouncy ball, marbles onto the surface. We will discuss how this changes the moon surface as we drop the object. We will then use tweezer to remove the object without damaging the surface further.
We will then compare this to the surface of the moon by using real pictures of the moon surface. The children will then have an opportunity to draw their own moon surface and see how they are similar and different to the moon surface itself.-
Hi Siobhan,
flour is a good surface for this, but needs to be disposed off afterwards (food source in the classroom). I tend to use different sands that I get from B&Q or other suppliers. The sand can be dried (so if you get sand, allow about a week for it to dry enough to use) so that it flows easily and makes simple craters. If you use wet sand the balls just drop and make a hole exactly the size of the ball!
This is lovely if you look at some of the craters that have clear ejecta – like Tycho.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/tycho-crater-on-the-moon-labeled/
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An inquiry-based activity that I would use in my classroom (and one that I remember doing in school myself) would be to show how gravity works by dropping eggs from a height. Eggs would be dropped onto different surfaces (the ground, grass, soft towel, etc). The pupils must guess if the egg will break when it hits all the surfaces or just some of the surfaces. To extend this lesson the pupils can create different methods of protecting the eggs to prevent them from breaking.
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Hi, My name is Margaret, I will be teaching senior infants in September. My favourite space fact is knowing that some stars we see are actually extinct. We are only receiving their light now as it takes millions of years for the light to travel and reach earth, therefore we are seeing the stars in the past.
An enquiry- based activity- This year I ran an afterschool Science club with ‘Junior Einsteins’. The children loved doing the experiment the Fizzy Balloon experiment which looks at gases from a volcano and the effects it can have during an eruption of a volcano.
• a Funnel
• drinks bottle
• vinegar
• balloon
• 3-5 tablespoons of baking soda at least
• 1 cup of Vinegar
Pour baking soda into a balloon. Pour vinegar into the bottle using the funnel. Remove the funnel. Quickly fit the balloon over the neck of the bottle. Lift the balloon up pouring the baking soda into the vinegar. Ask the children what they think will happen when you mix the baking soda and vinegar together. Make sure the children hold the balloon on the neck of the bottle and shake the soda down into the bottle, all at once. The balloon starts to blow up because of the pressure, or force, of the gas in the bottle. The more gas given out, the more the balloon fills.-
Hi Margaret,
I also love that fact about stars – and since stars last for billions of years, most of the nearby ones are still there.
With the volcano activity, asking
Ask the children what they think will happen when you mix the baking soda and vinegar together.
will only build on their science if they have some background in mixing and chemical reactions.
I’d be inclined to do the demonstration as an amazing prompt – and then ask the children how they think they could make the eruption bigger/ or quicker / or last longer… and let then apply their new understanding in a testable way.
I did this with my Brownie Guides last year- and many of these 8-10 year old girls had seen a similar eruption, either in school or from a book/video. It meant we could have fun building on their ideas – so we made a paper volcanoes and looked at the difference the volcano shape made to the eruption.
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My name is Sinéad, I’ll be teaching first and second class in September and my favourite fact about space is that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand!
I usually begin the year with an activity on making bubbles.
I begin with the question why do bubbles burst?
When we have had a whole class discussion on this we will investigate if there are any ways of keeping a bubble for longer.
I will then show the class a diagram of a bubble – two spheres with and layer of water trapped between. The bubble bursts when this layer evaporates.
The children will then have fun making bubbles with washing up liquid, water and syrup.
The will explore how a soapy bubble wand will hold the bubble for longer. Adding the syrup helps the bubbles to form.
They can then do a follow on activity making bubble wands in different shapes will a bubble always be spherical?
This activity can then lead in to further investigation on other materials and their properties.
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I will be teaching Senior infants in September and one of our aistear topics is now Space so I love teaching children about this topic.
I will use the story of frozen to start the lesson and as a stimulus to engage the class.
Investigate materials- What is the quickest way to melt ice
Problem to solve: Elsa has frozen all of Arendelle. Can Olaf survive in summer
Introduction
The children will brainstorm what they know about ice.
They will discuss the different between hot and cold things/ climates
Development
We will complete Magic Olaf melting ice cube experiments. The children will be asked to predict which Olaf ice cube will melt first. We will have the Olaf ice cubes in different situations 1. warm water 2. wrapped in different materials.
The children will watch and observe what melts first.
Photo story
Children create photo stories of Olafs life in summer.
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Outer Space
I would begin the lesson by asking the children ‘What do you know about space?’ which children would answer through mentimeter.com and the answers are recorded on the board.
Show the children some pictures of the solar system, planets and stars and ask the children to identify what is in the pictures.
Read “There’s No Place Like Space” (a Cat in the Hat book) and discuss the book
Create a Starry Night – Give each child a piece of black paper and white chalk and draw stars, planets, and other space objects. They can use space-themed stickers to add more details. Encourage creativity and ask questions such as “What do you think it’s like to live on Mars?”
Using tablets and Book Creator, allow students to work in small groups to research focus questions (e.g. “Which planet is the hottest?” or “How many moons does Saturn have?”) and create a book about what they have learned.
Gather the students and ask them to present their book and share one new thing they learned about space.
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Ashling,
you have outlined a lovely set of cross curricular activities that involve research and arts about Space as a theme.
To include science inquiry you might want to see what theories the children hold about why the solar system is the way it is – and perhaps help them find simple ways to explore some aspects of that.
So, if they find that the hottest planet is Venus, they might wonder if that is because it is close to the Sun – and how does being close to a heat source affect how warm you are? – simple inquiry.
or they might wonder if it is because it has a thick atmosphere — so how does wearing more clothes make you feel?
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Hi my name is Laura and I will be teaching in Junior Infants in September.
A fact about space that I find interesting is that ‘Driving a car at 70mph to the nearest star would take more than 356 billion years’!
An inquiry based activity that always is well received in Infants is the Dancing Raisins experiment. For this what you need is 2 clear glasses. In one glass you put regular water and in the other you put a clear fizzy liquid such as sparkling water or 7up, the more fizz the better. I would ask the children prior to adding in the raisins what they think will happen in each glass and if there will be a different reaction in each glass. After this discussion we will add raisins to each glass. The children will observe the raisins in the glass with the fizzy liquid begin to move/dance in the glass. After we have observed the raisins dancing we will discuss why they danced in one glass and not the other and also if we could change anything to alter the outcome. We would then test out the different ideas the children have come up with. -
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Hi, my name is Valerie and I still remember a sun fact I learned in 3rd Class – the sun is 93 million miles away! I was so struck by the colossal number. Pupils always have such fun with huge numbers and space provides endless opportunities to engage with them.
An enquiry based activity I have done with junior classes is the Ice Melting experiment which explores turning solids into liquids and allows the pupils to hypothesise. This experiment works well either as a whole class or in groups if you have another adult to hand!
I did this in groups and had the following materials/equipment: bowl of ice cubes, salt, sugar, water, access to the staffroom fridge and our heat source was the windowsill on a (rare) very sunny day in June.
The pupils discussed in advance which method they thought would melt the ice fastest. They picked a method in their groups, made their predictions and then carried out their experiment, recording the time taken for the ice to melt. The times varied widely and the experiment was revisited throughout the day.
The pupils evaluated their hypotheses afterwards and compared their ice with other groups, leading to further discussions with their classmates, thinking about alternative scenarios, e.g. what if we used more/less ice in each bowl, bigger/smaller cubes, a different heat source, etc.
They loved the practical aspect of it, seeing their own results as well as the results in other groups.
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This is great with Junior Infants as it is so relatable and simple, yet they are using scientific language and methods. As well as melting ice, I have also used chocolate and then discussed how ice and chocolate melt by applying heat but then can return to a solid shape after too. I have toasted bread to show how some materials can change – by adding heat ( as with the chocolate/ water) but some can’t return to their original state – ie. bread once it is toasted it can’t return to bread. Again, a relatable material for young children.
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Hi, my name is Dympna and I have been teaching Junior and Senior Infants for the last few years. My favourite fact about space is that the sunset on Mars is blue.
One inquiry-based activity I have used in my classroom with Junior Infants is an investigation into strong and light materials using the story The Three Little Pigs as a prompt and to engage and interest the children. A question I would ask would be “I wonder what other materials the pigs could have chosen to build their houses…/The wolf could have blown down…” The children think of other materials or items around the room or from the nature table or Junk Art box etc. such as paper, cardboard, a wooden jaggo block, a feather, a metal spoon, a plastic pot, a plastic straw, a rock, a shell, pom, etc, naming the item and what it is made from. The starter question would be Could the wolf blow it down? We begin the investigation; first discuss what we will use as the wolf’s breath / air/ wind – and how to make sure it’s a fair investigation – a child could be picked to blow through a straw; a hairdryer at a low setting, a battery fan etc. (I have used all of these). We go through the items; first predicting yes or no and record each result by placing the item in the yes or no section of the investigation table like a 3D data chart/display. More interpretation and discussion of the results is done after; discussing why the wolf could blow – light or strong; was anyone surprised by this etc, making connections where applicable e.g. I used that for my Junk Art bird feeder but it blew away etc. Lots of reflection opportunities arise for me after when the children are prompted to make the pigs houses themselves during Aistear and I can see them choose light, weak, strong, very strong materials, and hear them using the correct vocabulary.
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Thanks for this detailed account of practical science in the infant classroom Dympna. Letting children have the time to explain their predictions – so that they are not just making “guesses” or trying to figure out what you think is the correct answer is so important. I like how you have planned for time for the children to connect to other familiar situations.
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Hi Dympna, I love this inquiry based activity for infants as it interlinks the story of ‘The Three little Pigs’ which I always use in my classroom when I am teaching construction as a theme in ‘Aistear’ or part of SESE (Houses/buildings/locality) etc., I also use it as part of Maths recently when children are exploring 3-D shapes for the first time using cocktail sticks and mini marshmallows. When I saw your inquiry based learning I also thought about how I could explore this activity as part of Language & Literacy not as a stand alone subject but interlinking it through oral language, reading & writing which then could lead on to interlinking this with Visual Art (create the three little Pigs houses using only crepe paper, mini lollipop sticks & red card etc.,
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I really like the inquiry based activity on Materials in this module. I will use this with my Infant class in the first term next year.
I would open with a spill as an introduction and discuss how we could clean it up. Then working in groups I would get the children to try out a few different materials to see how effective they are in soaking up the spill. I like the smiley faces worksheet as a way to record their findings.
I particularly like the scope this lesson gives for further investigation into what other uses materials can have, and if they are not good for one purpose what can they be used for eg: designing a waterproof coat for teddy. This gives plenty of scope for integration across the curriculum into the areas of Geography, Art aswell as Oral Language.
I look forward to working on this with my class.
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Hello, my name is Lauren. I will be working in the MGLD class in September, with ages varying from 5 to 8. My favourite space fact is that some planets have no surface to land on. An inquiry based activity that I often do is the ‘Dancing Raisons’ experiment. For the equipment, you will need two clear glasses, one glass filled with still water and the other glass filled with sparkling. I then ask the children what they think will happen in each glass before adding the raisons; will they sink of float. When the raisons are added to the glass with fizzy water, they appear to dance as they float up and down. We then have a whole class discussion on why the raisons ‘danced’ in the glass with fizzy water and discuss that the increase in buoyancy helps the raisons to become less dense than the fizzy water.
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Lauren – Dancing Raisins ( English and Irish) is a lovely demonstration. The original activity was written before the Inquiry Framework was developed, but it can be made more child inquiry led by planning ahead to have different liquids and different objects to let the children try out for themselves to check their understanding.
Does the surface of the material make a difference — do raisins work because they are wrinkly? what would happen if you used a smooth bit of plasticine instead? or a small nut that is smooth?
Is it the fizzes that are important – does differently fizzy water work as well? The activity sheet suggests that the drink should be freshly open to be very fizzy – could you use fizzy vitamin tablets to make water fizzy and would that work?
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Hello, My name is Rachel Byrne and I will be teaching Junior Infants this year. My favourite aspect about ‘Space’ that I remember from my own childhood is how the shape of the ‘Moon’ is not round but in actual fact shaped like a ‘lemon’. An inquiry-based learning activity (materials) that I have used and will continue to use in my classroom is ‘splashing in muddy puddles’. To ensure that I appeal to all learners in my classroom I always use a prompt/stimulus to engage my pupils in their learning at the beginning of the lesson and for students to use their prior knowledge/own personal experiences. For this activity I always use a video of a child in the rain jumping in muddy puddles with an umbrella/wet gear/wellies etc., I then start to ask the children ‘open-ended’ questions about what they have heard/saw and we start to predict/discuss what other materials we already know are waterproof etc., We then investigate ‘how to keep our socks dry’ by carrying out an experiment using a wellington, shoe, socks & water (basin), towels, outdoor/indoor area. Teacher asks the children to bring in some old clothing i.e. shoes/socks/wellingtons from home prior to these experiments. First, we predict whether the shoe/wellington will keep our socks dry. TI get children in groups (mixed ability all who have a different job) to carry out their experiment to test whether the shoe/wellington will keep their favourite socks dry. (Sometimes I will model what I want the children to do depending on the class, otherwise I let the children explore their own ways). At the end of the experiment we reflect on what happened and which shoe/wellington kept our favourite socks dry but I also ask the children to think of ways they could make non-waterproof shoes ‘waterproof’. This will also interlink with Visual Art as I get the children to create a new design shoe with a teacher design task of ‘make it waterproof’. While the children are carrying out their experiment I am facilitating their learning by moving around the room and asking questions like ‘I wonder… etc.,’. I also remind the children that when we are carrying out experiments we are ‘Scientists’.
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Hi,
My name is Stephanie and I teach in an infant school. This year I have Senior Infants.My favourite space fact is that black holes are formed from a massive star dying and the gravity within a black hole is so strong that not even light can escape.
how you would use one inquiry-based activity for senior infants in your classroom:
This year my senior infant class really enjoyed the ‘sink or float’ experiment as it was hands on and everyone could get involved.
It allows children to be curious and helps develop critical thinking, to work as a group and listen to others opinions and make predicitions. It is also important to discuss with the class about how it doesn’t matter if your prediction is right or wrong, as both results teach us something new.
This activity allowed children to predict the buoyancy of an object and then test out the objects to explore their predictions. The children were encouraged to talk about each item and what material it was made of. Each group were provided with a cork, a plastic block, a stone, a coin, twig and a rubber duck. They were encouraged to think back to previous experiences with any of the objects and water, eg bath time and a rubber duck.. did the duck float or sink.
They had to record their predictions first with a smiley face if they thought the object floated and a sad face if they thought the object would sink when we placed the object in water.
The children then placed each object into the water and were encouraged to watch carefully to see if it sinks or floats. Then after each object is tested, they recorded the result next to their predictions on the chart. We then discussed ‘why we different objects sank and why some of them floated? How heavier objects often sink and lighter objects float and about how different material affects its buoyancy.
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Stephanie,
you are so right about
It is also important to discuss with the class about how it doesn’t matter if your prediction is right or wrong, as both results teach us something new.
and children should realise that if their prediction was wrong, that their science understanding can be modified.
There was a nice example of this in the ramps material that we were discussing last week – where a child might think that the lighter car will go further since a lighter toy can be thrown further than a heavier toy, they can then test this – and will likely find that the heavier object is less affected by friction, so goes further – and so will have to reconsider how different forces are acting on the object.
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Hello everyone, my name is Grace and I am a support teacher working with senior infants. I was scrolling through Instagram shorts last night and I found a space fact that I’m not sure is true, but it got me thinking anyway – scientists do not know where RH blood type came from, perhaps from somewhere else in space?
Using an inquiry-based space activity for senior infants would be a highly engaging and educational experience, fostering curiosity and critical thinking. I would create a “Space Explorer Mission.” I would set the stage with a story about a mission to a new planet. Provide children with simple, questions to guide their exploration, such as “What do you think we might find on this new planet?” or “How do astronauts travel to space?”
Next, create hands-on activities where the children can explore these questions. For example, set up different stations with various space-themed activities: a craft station to build model rockets, a sensory bin with “moon sand” and hidden “space rocks,” and a station with picture books about planets and space travel.
Encourage children to ask their own questions during these activities. Prompt them to think about how astronauts live in space, what planets are like, and how rockets work. Facilitate discussions where they can share their ideas and hypotheses.
Wrap up the activity with a “Mission Debrief,” where each child can share what they discovered or created. This debriefing session helps them process their learning, articulate their thoughts, and listen to others, reinforcing the inquiry-based approach. Through this method, children develop problem-solving skills, creativity, and a love for learning about space.-
Grace,
When planning science inquiry it is good to reference the Framework for Inquiry that specifically deals with child lead inquiry science, where the children’s science understanding is shared, leading to a testable question.
So if children are playing with moon sand (https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/moon-sand) they might wonder ‘how long moon sand keeps its shape?’ They might ask ‘how much can you push moon sand before it crumples?’ A bit trickier to explain might be changing the recipe for moon sand and seeing does it change its properties.
If they build working rocket models, then they can explore forces, compare distance travelled and share those results.
With inquiry learning the children should improve their science content understanding by acting as scientists and testing their ideas.
And about the blood from space – I found this article that says probably not true.
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Hi, my name is Laura and I will be teaching 1st class in September. I have been teaching junior and senior infants for the past 14 years so this will be a change! My favourite space fact is that Venus spins in the opposite direction and is the only planet in our solar system to do this.
I love science and really enjoy teaching this subject. As I’m going into 1st class, I look forward to doing lots of enquiry based activities with the children. There is so much for scope for deeper thinking and learning and I love to teach through group and pair work which is perfect for this kind of tracing and learning. The examples given in module one were all very practical and interesting ways to teach about gravity and materials. I have taught lessons in infants that were enquiry based and very hands on in how we investigated and tested materials when trying to figure out which materials were waterproof and ones that were not. I love the idea of giving the children a stater question or fun scenario to begin the lesson. I am a big advocate of learning through play and this is a perfect way to introduce a topic and get the children invested and interested. I look forward to checking out all of the activities and ideas on the curious minds website and putting them into practise.
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Hi. My name is Muireann McCarthy. I have taught Senior Infants last year and I have Senior Infants for the next school year. I am excited to learn some space activities for the classroom. My favourite space fact is that shooting stars aren’t stars. They are actually tiny pieces od rock or dust from space that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.
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Inquiry based activity:
Fill one of the plastic bottles about ¾ full of water.
Add a couple of drops of food colouring.
Add about a teaspoon of glitter to the coloured water.
The glitter represents the dust in the tornado.
Tape the top of the empty bottle to the top of the bottle with the water.
Make sure the tape is secure around the bottle tops.
Turn the bottles around making sure the bottle with the water in it is on top.
Watch as the water flows from the top bottle into the bottom bottle.
The water flows slowly from the top bottle into the bottom bottle.
Also, air bubbles travel up through the water in the top bottle, making a noise.
Hold the bottles where they are connected and quickly swirl them in a circular motion for a few seconds. Stop and look inside the bottles. There will be a mini tornado in the top bottle as the water flows quickly and quietly into the bottom bottle.
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Muireann,
you have described an attractive demonstration that could be used as a prompt for the children to engage with your topic.
With this tornado demo, the children might wonder about pouring smoothly – so you could give them a range of containers and water or other liquids to see how pouring creates glugs / noise / bubbles.
They might know about hot water bottles and how it is tricky to pour into a hot water bottle since the air has to come out.
In all inquiry activities the children should have a chance to share what they understand of the science, and make testable predictions. Some of these predictions may lead to a full-on, fair test activity, some might be quickly checked and then the children will move on.
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Hi ,my name is Mary and I’ve been teaching for over 20 years now.
My favourite fact about space would have to be that you wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune as they have no solid surface!
The inquiry based activity I would choose to recreate with a younger class would be that of creating our own model solar systems. I would start the lesson by watching a YouTube video explaining in fun and simple terms what a solar is and what it consists of. Following that I would have the children go into groups of 4 and begin discussing why they think the solar system follows the order it does . After the topic has been discussed and questioned I would begin the physical task of creating our solar systems. The equipment the children would have in their groups would be either foam spheres of alternating sizes or even stones, I would supply them paint ,pipe cleaners , glitter, glue and Pom poms and then they would have put the planets in the order they think is right. After each group has completed this task I would have them present their solar systems to the class one by one and explain why they put the planets in this specific order. I believe this would be an educational and fun inquiry based lesson .
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Hi I’m Sharon and am going into my second year teaching a junior autism class. My favourite space fact is that the number of stars in the Milky Way is probably higher than the number of humans that have ever been born! Shows how enormous it is!
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An inquiry-based activity I would use would be on the topic of the solar system. I would use the solar system song as an initial introduction to the eight planets in the solar system. This song gives three to four facts about each planet and displays them in the correct order from the sun and their size comparable to one another and the sun.
Each group/child would be given a blank planet made out of paper mache and asked to paint it the colour of the planet that their group has been assigned.
While the planets are drying the children would be encouraged to use books/iPads to research some facts about their planet.
When the planets are dry each group would present their planet and facts about their planet to the whole class -
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Hello everyone, my name is Michelle, I teach in a junior school and Science is one of the areas I love to teach. My favourite science fact is one a pupil added to our ‘Space Fact Wall’ when using Space as a theme last year – The Sunset on Mars appears blue!
This was a successful enquiry based activity in my classroom this year, it was Art as well as Science and Engineering. We made a class ‘Marble Run’.
First using some sets of toy Marble Runs to see how they actually worked. Then looking at videos of large wall mounted Marble Runs. After that discussing what materials would be best to use – we thought toilet/ kitchen rolls, and designing what their particular section would look like. Finally making their section of the marble run- as it was also art, these sections were highly decorative! They loved the making part and thinking about the shape / angles for their sections. I pinned all the various sections onto the wall. We had lots of testing, the marble fell off many times. Again discussion as to what would make it better/ how we could make a corner – egg cartons were decided and some plastic bottle sections. This was ongoing for about a week before we got the marble to run from the top to the bottom into a paper cup -
Hi Michelle,
I’m glad you have shared your experience with ramps – I also make marble runs with pipe insulation cut in half lengthways.
Please see this site about ramps, where they argue that ramps and pathways is one of the best activities for teaching forces and inquiry science with young children.
They found
Ramps and Pathways gives children endless possibilities to think and create. They build, test their ramp structures, make adjustments, and try again until they are successful. We have found that children are motivated to engage in this process because of the intriguing nature of the materials.
Summary article here: https://qappd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/fun_physical_science.pdf
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Hello everyone. My name is Dolores and I’ve been interested in Science-based learning all my life! I am really looking forward to the rest of the Modules and how the information can be used in the classroom.
Enquiry-based activity in the Junior Room
Learning Objective:
To investigate the effects colour mixing has on a paper towel.To ENGAGE the children, I will ask them questions in order to PROMPT them – What will happen when we apply colours to a paper towel?
This will lead to the children WONDERING what will happen when colours are applied to paper towel. They will make PREDICTIONS. This in turn will lead to the children wanting to EXPLORE colours and their effects on materials.
When the children are beginning their INVESTIGATING I will ask them a starter question about materials and which materials would be suitable to use when exploring colours.
The children will share their PREDICTIONS with their peers. We will then CONDUCT THE INVESTIGATION and apply colours to kitchen roll and see the effects. The children will then INTERPRET THE DATA/RESULTS and share their findings with the rest of the class.
The children will TAKE THE NEXT STEP by APPLYING THEIR LEARNING through investigating the use of mixing colours on other materials. They will apply their learning by MAKING CONNECTIONS with other subjects (art).
I will REFLECT on the lesson and ask myself how the lesson went, what could I have adapted or changed and how I could extend the lesson.-
Hi Dolores,
you have clearly engaged with the framework for inquiry and how children can learn science through the stepped structure of the framework.
We used a similar activity with a “life in space” theme in this resource from 2020 – Creeping Colours from Curious Minds was extended to model identifying the signs of life by spectroscopy.
That could make a next step for your early finishers.
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My name is David and I am currently teaching in Learning Support
I would use the following inquiry based activity in the classroom-Floating and sinkingThe “Sinking or Floating: Buoyancy Exploration” experiment introduces young children to the concept of buoyancy through hands-on exploration. By predicting and observing the behaviour of different objects in water, children develop critical thinking skills and gain an understanding of why objects sink or float.
Engage:
Present the children with a wide range of materials.
Pose various questions to the children such as “ Do you think this plastic will float or sink?”Materials:
Container of water
Various objects (wooden block, plastic toy, metal spoon, rubber ball, foam ball, paper clip, etc.)
Notebook or chart paper
Pencil or markers
Paper towels for cleanupWondering- The children will brainstorm ideas on what makes an object float or sink.
Exploring- Allow the children to go through the items and try classify objects according to whether they float or sink
Investigate:
Starter question-why do some things float and why do some things sink?
Prediction-Do you think the items will float or sink-record your predictions on worksheet
Introduce buoyancy and discuss sinking and floating objects.
Have children predict whether each object will sink or float based on its characteristics.
Fill the container with water and invite children to take turns placing objects in it.
Record observations in notebooks or on chart paper.
Facilitate a discussion on patterns and similarities between sinking and floating objects.
Summarise buoyancy concept and encourage reflection on predictionsReflection-
Ask children to consider what materials they would use to construct a boat. Pose questions such as ‘ What other factors other than buoyancy would you need to consider in order to make a boat ‘ -
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Inquiry based space lesson in the classroom:
The children could create their own ‘solar system’. The children would be provided with different-sized balls for planets, paint, and information cards about each planet. Let the children explore and create their own mini solar systems while learning about the plants and their characteristics. It will spark curiosity and engagement in space science.
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Hello, my name is Clodagh and I will be teaching Senior Infants this coming year.
I love teaching about space and always find that the children are so engaged in it. I primarily use inquiry based discovery and story books to help my children understand.One activity that my class particularly enjoyed to realise the grand scale of space was to get some playdough and divide it into 51 parts. They then, in pairs, put them in two groups, one to represent the moon and the other to represent the earth. It is interesting to see their different understandings on the size difference.
The actual ratio is 50:1they have also loved investigations with different food and comparing the sizes of different planets.
I never realised how many resources were available on the esero website and particularly the Climate detectives initiative. I really look forward to trying them with my class in September
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A lesson that I have done before is to make bird feeders with my class. I started by posing the problem – “It is Winter and birds find it difficult to find food to survive”. We discussed what we could do to help and suggested making bird feeders. I had a variety of materials ready that children could explore and use when making the feeders. They worked in groups and decided on their plan. Some groups used an empty plastic bottle filled with seeds and made little holes for birds to feed from. Other groups used an empty toilet-roll tube, covered it with peanut butter and rolled it in seeds. They then threaded a string through this to hang it from a branch. We then hung them outside and eagerly waited for the birds to eat the seeds. We made predictions about the types of birds that we might see and were excited to see if our predictions were right or not. We also discussed which feeder we thought worked best and decided the plastic bottles lasted longer and didn’t crumble in the rain.
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My name is Laura and I will be teaching 1st class in September. My favourite space fact is that space is completely silent.
A lesson that I have done before is to make bird feeders with my class. I started by posing the problem – “It is Winter and birds find it difficult to find food to survive”. We discussed what we could do to help and suggested making bird feeders. I had a variety of materials ready that children could explore and use when making the feeders. They worked in groups and decided on their plan. Some groups used an empty plastic bottle filled with seeds and made little holes for birds to feed from. Other groups used an empty toilet-roll tube, covered it with peanut butter and rolled it in seeds. They then threaded a string through this to hang it from a branch. We then hung them outside and eagerly waited for the birds to eat the seeds. We made predictions about the types of birds that we might see and were excited to see if our predictions were right or not. We also discussed which feeder we thought worked best and decided the plastic bottles lasted longer and didn’t crumble in the rain.
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Hi Laura, I like your idea of making bird feeders with your class & how you went about it. We have bird feeders up in our school but shop bought ones as opposed to class made ones. I’d say the children are delighted with the end results and it must be lovely to hang them outside the window and see the birds feeding from them. I imagine the children really engage with this activity and come up with a range of different feeders. It must be good for their problem solving too and working collaboratively. Something I might borrow for next year. Thanks
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Hi, my name is Corinna. I’ve been working in SEN the last few years. Two of the children I work with in a 1 – 1 capacity have a great interest in space and I’m hoping what I learn here I can use to engage their interests next year.
My space fact is that over 1 million earths could fit into our sun!
Inquiry- based activity: Which ball is the bounciest?
Engage – Prompt question: We’re going to work on our bouncing and catching skills in PE. Which balls do you think will be bouncy and good for us to use. Show children a selection of balls – sponge, plastic, tennis, rubber, Play Dough ball etc
Investigate – Children get to feel materials, discuss, predict, conduct a fair experiment
Next step – talk about tennis games and which ball they use and why, balls are replaced when they lose their bounciness etc
Reflect – on my objectives, children’s progress and use of correct language, what went well?, what would I change? etc
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Hi Corinna,
you have identified one of the key ideas of the framework for inquiry -which is to let the children engage with the ideas that you want them to learn before carrying out the investigation. In this case, playful time with the balls may lead to the investigation quite naturally – as you model “I wonder…” statements and let the children tell you what they wonder, and what they think is going on.
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My name is Emma, I will be teaching infants this year.
My favourite fact about space is that every day, several tonnes of material falls to Earth from space and every time you’re outside, you stand a chance of catching some of this space dust in your hair. It’s highly likely you’ve already caught some and later washed it out without knowing it.
I would start with a story that incorporates push and pull, such as “The Little Red Hen” or ‘The Enormous Turnip a simple book about motion. We would discuss if they have ever pushed or pulled something. What was it? How did it move? I would record their answers.
As I am in infants I would use exploration Stations. I often like to use the morning time and I rotate me groups so they try one station each day. It also gives me time to really hone in, focus on a group, focus their learning by using the trigger questions and give me time to listen to their answers and their understanding.
Station 1: Toy Car Races. Encourage children to push the cars down the ramps. Ask them to observe how the cars move.
Station 2: Tug-of-War • Use a sturdy piece of string for a gentle tug-of-war game. Discuss the differences in movement when one person pulls harder than the other.
Station 3: Magnetic Push and Pull •
Let children explore how magnets can push and pull objects without touching them. Ask questions like, “What happens when you bring two magnets close together?” and “How do they move?”•Station 4: Water or Sand Play. Encourage children to push and pull the objects through the water or sand. Discuss how water or sand creates resistance and affects movement.
Gather the children and discuss what they observed at each station. Ask open-ended questions such as, “What was easy to push?” “What was hard to pull?” “Why do you think some objects moved faster than others?”
Encourage children to explain their thinking and make predictions about different objects.
Children could to draw their favourite push or pull activity from the weekly activites on Friday and I would read one of the stories I mentioned initially.-
Hi Emma,
thanks for sharing this detailed and useable plan. I like how you use “why do you think…” questions to help the children to articulate their science understanding.
Thanks also for sharing the space dust fact- it sent me on a “lets find out more” quest:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230915-the-cosmic-dust-sitting-on-your-roof
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Emma I love this idea of ‘Exploration Stations’ to start the day, based in science, but rooted in a book or story. The children in first and second classes would welcome this investigative start to their day, and they would subsequently be in a learning mindset and ready to continue their day after a positive start.
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I’m Jill. Next year I will be teaching Senior Infants. My favourite space fact: the sun is very big, one million earths could fit inside the sun.
Inquiry-Based Activity: My activity is based on light and exploring light with different materials. Before beginning the lesson I would tell the children a story about a little boy who is always woken up very early in the morning because he has no blinds in his room. He really wants to get some blinds but he does not know what material they should be made of. The children will have a range of materials to test and a flashlight. Before recording results they will predict if they think the light will shine through or not. Materials used will include, paper, newspaper, tissue, cardboard, and tinfoil. Using their results the children will decide on which material would be most effective to use as blinds to stop the light from coming through.
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Hi Jill,
this can be treated as an investigation activity or a design and make using the results of their exploration with the materials.
It can be connected to “• explore how shadows are formed” – if they treat the darkness of the shadow as the desired condition. (from Infants Science)
Please note that 1st/2nd class has “• investigate the relationship between light and materials” and that the activity you are planning is an exemplar for 3rd/4th class (design and make a light shade for bedroom), so I’d check with colleagues that they don’t plan to do this later in the children’s school years.
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Hi
My name is Helen O Sullivan and I am a Senior Infant teacher .I love every minute of teaching the seniors.I love their curious minds and their total lack of filter !!!
My amazing space fact :Myself and the1st landing on the moon are the same age !!!!
Inquiry based Activity
My children loved this
It provides plenty of scope for discussion and oral language. There is scope for worksheet activity after where they can write, label and draw their activity.
Title: Chemical Bonds: stretch when freezing so that ice becomes less dense that water
I have great fun asking them to explain how they can watch this property in action!
Activity
So we pour the water into a plastic bottle
We note where the water level is at.
After leaving in a freezer
We compare the volume of the liquid and solid after freezing.
I then ask them how can this work in reverse/where should we leave the water/how long should we leave it there for
We make a jug of ice water. Again mark the level the water is at.
Allow the ice to melt and note the new level
This whole activity allows the children to see two activities around one concept
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Hello
I’m Eleanor McCaffrey – a SET teacher in junior school in Donegal – I’ve always been intrigued about gravity since I was a child and my mum told me about Issac Newton and the Apple -was always looking at the Apple trees in our orchid after that 😀
As SET I go in and help the junior clsss teachers and this year in senior infants / first class we made a planet display – we integrated it into our maths by talking about shape and size and how far from the earth / sun the planets were – the children made the planets different colours and sizes and some in 1st class even worked on number of syllables in each planets name and we integrated this into our UFLI lesson ! By end of year most of the children could name the planets and their size – an enjoyable fun activity
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Hi,
My name is Rachel and I am excited to learn more about how the theme ‘Space’ can be used in the classroom.
Inquiry based activity- Floating Ice Activity.
• Talk to your students about the chemical bonds that hold water molecules together. Explain how those bonds stretch out when water freezes so that ice becomes less dense than liquid water.
• Pour water into a plastic bottle and then place it in the freezer. Compare the volume of the liquid and solid water after freezing.
• Fill a jug of ice water. Draw a line where the water level is before the ice melts. Allow the ice to melt into the water and make a second line where the water level is now. Compare the two.
• This activity could also lead onto “Floating & Sinking”- the children have large bowls of water. In each group they will have a number of materials. They will have a sheet predicting what will float and then they will record their results. This will encourage group work and co-operation as well as inquiry based learning and investigation.-
Rachel,
I’d be reluctant to mention chemical bonds to any class in primary, let alone a junior class. This language is very much second level. (see this Junior Cycle Science booklet).
5th and 6th class Science asks the children to “explore the effects of heating and cooling on a range of solids, liquids and gases” and includes expansion of water on freezing.
There is a floating and sinking of ice activity in ESERO called “The Ice is Melting” but it is more about the effects of land ice vs sea ice – and for older classes.
For a junior class, the changes that happen when ice is formed can be demoed, and linked to cooking (you shouldn’t fill the container when you freeze food!) – but noting the change is sufficient. Children might then explore if different liquids that are less water based (oil for example) also freeze the same way.
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Hi, my name is Rachael. I will be teaching Senior Infants. I am excited to learn more about how space can be taught in my class next year. My favourite space fact is that the surface of the sun is 60 times hotter than boiling water.
An inquiry-based activity that I would like to do with my class is ‘Dancing Raisins’. I will give each group two glasses- one glass of water and one glass of 7-up. I will give the children some raisins each and we will discuss what we think will happen when we put the raisins into the water- will they float/ will they sink? Will they move? Etc. Discuss what they think will happen when they put the raisins into the 7-up. They will then all get a turn at putting some of the raisins into each glass. They will see that the water has no affect on the raisins- the raisins just sink to the bottom and in the glass with the 7-up the raisins should be ‘dancing’ up and down. I would give out a sheet with an image of two glasses- one with a glass of water and one 7-up. The children will draw what happened during their experiment.
We will also discuss why the raisins were moving. When you first drop the raisins in the soda they sink to the bottom of the glass because they are more dense than the soda. But the carbonated soda releases carbon dioxide bubbles and these bubbles love to attach to the rough surface of the raisins. They act like tiny floatation devices that lift the raisin to the surface of the water. This is due to an increase in buoyancy. Once the carbon dioxide bubbles reach the surface of the soda they pop and the gas is released into the air. This makes the raisin lose buoyancy and fall back down to the bottom of the glass.-
Hi Rachael,
Dancing Raisins is great fun – both in English and in Irish. It is one of those really nice demonstrations that is easy to extend into an investigation, by responding to the children’s questions.
If they think the raisins are the key part – try with other small items. If they think the fizz is the most important – try with different levels of fizz (perhaps by mixing fizzy drink with water – or by stirring the drink to get the fizz out).
In all cases, the children’s science explanation can be modified in light of what they notice happening.
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Hello, my name is Ciara O Malley. I am currently on maternity leave but prior to this i was teaching 5th class. I like the space fact thatOn Mercury a day is twice as long as a year.
Prior to the inquiry based lesson to be thought about the size of planets the students would need to be familiar to the name and order of the planets in the solar system. I will assess this by using a KWLchart. The lesson would be introduced to the students by asking the students to line themselves up from tallest to shortest. Introduce the lesson by stating that we are going to put the planets in order from smallest to biggest using fruit. Watching the video on You~Tube students will be shown what fruit represents the planet. Students will math the planet to the corrrect fruit. Once completed they will put in order from smallest to biggest.
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My name is Clíodhna and I will be teaching 2nd class in September.
The activity investigating “Which material do you think might be best to soak up the spill?” is highly engaging for students as it involves hands-on experimentation. I would start with a discussion, asking them to predict which material they believe will be most effective and why. Have students work in small groups to test their hypotheses by pouring a measured amount of water onto a surface and using each material to soak it up. They will observe and record how much water each material absorbs. After the experiment, gather as a class to compare results and discuss which material was most effective and why, considering factors such as material composition and structure. The use of different materials and water captures their interest and curiosity. Using the scientific method allows Students to learn to ask questions, form hypotheses, conduct experiments, and draw conclusions. They develop critical thinking skills in making predictions and analysing results. And they also work in groups to promote teamwork and communication. I would also encourage students to think about other questions they could explore with similar experiments.
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Hi my mane is Mairead O’ Sullivan. My favourite space fact is that ‘Shooting stars blaze a range of colours based on the elements they’re made of’.
Inquiry Based Lesson: how sugar dissolves: Skittles Experiment 2nd class
Equipment Needed: skittle, plates, water, hot water and milk
I placed the Skittles into a white container and tried to alternate the colours.
I Carefully poured water into the container.
Then I handed out the materials to the children in small groups. They had to complete the experiment in groups.
We watched what happened.
We discussed their predictions, and the new language presented. The children recorded the experiment using pictures and labels. The children then peer assessed each others’ work. The children loved watching the colours. To extend the activity we used milk, and hot water to see if there were any changes to the experiment. I will definitely do this lesson next year. To extend this I would get the children to predict in written form. The children really enjoyed this experiment. It was hands-on, group accessible and easily differentiated.
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Hi Mairead,
thanks for sharing your space fact- I had thought it was just to do with the gases in the atmosphere- so looked it up!
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/15-awe-inspiring-astronomy-discoveries
I like the way you have extended the very pretty skittles activity to explore different liquids. That nicely ties into Materials>Materials and Change >explore the effects of water on a variety of materials and the careful observations even access parts of Light > dark and bright colours and different shades of colour.
I had read a while ago that gender affects colour naming, it has been established that from a young age girls name colours better. See this article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258831976_Gender_differences_in_colour_naming
have you noticed that?
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Hi, my name is Sarah and my favourite space fact is ‘There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth’.
Inquiry-based activity in the classroom.
Experiment taken from Discover Primary Science
Rocket Launch
Students will explore how a rocket launches through exploring forces such as push and pull.
Materials:
Large balloons (long shaped), Balloon pump, String 3-4 m long, Drinking straw, Clothes-peg, Sellotape,Two chairsIntroduction: Show a video of a rocket launching
Ask, “What do you see?, ‘How is the rocket launching?, ‘How does it stay in one direction?’Engagement: Show a video of a rocket launching
Discuss the terms push and pull
Exploration: Provide the materials
Blow up a long shaped balloon and let it go. Notice what happens.(The balloon will travel off in random fashion as the air rushes out the back of it.) Now control the path of the balloon by connecting it to a piece of string. (The balloon will whiz along the string).
Explanation: Gather students and have them share their models.
Discuss how the air coming out of the back of the balloon pushes the balloon forward. This is Investigating and experimenting how rockets work – the hot burning gases rushing out the back of the rockets push them forwards.Elaboration: What will happen if we use different shape balloons?
Evaluation: Ask students to draw their models and discuss if the balloon went further with more or less air in it.
Conclusion:
Reinforce the key points-
Sarah,
you have clearly outlined an inquiry approach to rockets, using a useful prompt, with time for the children to wonder and explore.
The investigation aspect is straight forward enough and I like the starter question you have implied – does a string make a difference to where a balloon rocket goes?
There are further starter questions that naturally arise as “take the next steps”
What will happen if we use different shape balloons?
Does the balloon go further if there is more or less air in it?
To assess how the children’s science understanding is changing, ask them to explain their prediction. Their explanations will then be supported or refuted by the activity.
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My name is Ciara and I will be teaching senior infants in September. I have really enjoyed teaching space in the junior end of the school and incorporated as an Aistear topic. However I felt that I could do so much more to bring this vast topic to life and I’m looking forward to gaining a greater insight and strategies on this course. The younger pupils really enjoy fun facts and are hooked when they find out that astronauts can’t burp in space!
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Hi Ciara,
you might want to share this with the burp-fascinated children
https://www.spacecentre.co.uk/news/space-now-blog/grossology/
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Hi Ciara
I am the same! Space was one of my Aistear topics this year. with Senior Infants. The children really loved it, but I wasnt sure myself how I could incorportate science and STEM more into it, at an appropriate level. Looking forward to learning more. I never knew astronauts can’t burp in space!
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Hi I’m Aoife and I have been teaching 3rd & 4th class for the past number of years. This coming September I will enter into a mixed junior & senior infants class.
My favourite science fact is that human teeth are just as strong as shark teeth! The children were given a task towards the end of the year in my class to complete a science experiment or conduct research into one area and this was something a child told us. How interesting!
Inquiry based learning in science is effectively done through science experiments. This allows children to ask themselves questions throughout about what might happen next or what they could do differently next time. An experiment that I conducted with my class was creating a parachute for an egg. The children were then asked to drop the egg from a height. If their parachute worked their egg wouldn’t break. Children participated in groups and it was so interesting to watch their thought processes throughout.
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Hi all, my name is Rhonda, and I am a 2nd class teacher with a passion for integrating science and inquiry-based learning into the classroom. I’ve always been fascinated by the cosmos and enjoy sharing that wonder with my students.
One of my favourite space facts is about the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Launched in 1977, it is the most distant human-made object from Earth, currently traveling through interstellar space. It carries the Golden Record, a message for potential extraterrestrial life, featuring sounds and images from Earth. This incredible journey not only highlights human ingenuity but also our deep curiosity and desire to explore the unknown.
One effective inquiry-based activity I use in my classroom revolves around the phases of the Moon.
I start by presenting a simple question to my students: “Why does the Moon change shape?” Instead of directly providing the answer, I encourage them to observe the Moon over a month and record their observations. They draw the different phases they see each night and note any patterns or changes.
In the classroom, we discuss their observations and compare them with each other. I then provide various materials (e.g., a lamp, balls to represent the Earth and Moon) for them to create models and simulations to test their hypotheses about the Moon’s phases. This hands-on investigation allows students to discover the concept of the Moon’s phases through direct experience and guided questioning.
Through this activity, students learn to gather data, develop hypotheses, and test their ideas. They also enhance their critical thinking and collaborative skills by working together to refine their models and explanations. By leading students to find answers themselves, I foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the scientific process, making the learning experience more meaningful and engaging.
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Hi Rhonda,
welcome to the course. Did you know that you can see where Voyager is at this site? https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/
The phases of the Moon is a tricky topic in the primary curriculum, since it doesn’t actually appear! (it is in Junior Cycle Science).
Geography expects that children will discuss the Moon, but says nothing about its changing appearance, and even at 5th/6th class it only has
develop a simple understanding of the interrelationship of these bodies, including day and night and seasonal movements (Planet Earth in space)
I do think it worth looking at the phases of the Moon, but treat it as Science / Light and shadow – • explore how shadows are formed.
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Hi, I’m Tracy and I’m teaching infants again next year.
One of my favourite space facts is that one million earths could fit inside the sun- and the sun is considered an average-sized star!
Inquiry based-learning: Forces/ Floating and sinking (Displacement idea from Irish Marine Institute)
Children love this activity. Trigger: linked to Green School/ MarineFlag/ Children have been learning about sea creatures…
Wonder: All the creatures we are learning about can float. I wonder why some things can float and other things sink? Brainstorm.
Explore the materials provided: e.g. cork, feather, stone, paper clip, coin, cotton wool ball, pencil.
Starter Q/ Prediction: Which of these will float/ sink? Why? Children may think that it is due to the weight of an object….
Conducting the investigation in groups. Does it sink straight away or does it take a little while? Does it float high up in the water? Record using smiley/ sad face. Were you surprised by what floated and what sank?
Apply the learning: Get the students to use plasticine to learn about displacement of water to float (flatten it)/ sink (rolled up in a ball). Also observe what happens to a balloon in water when it’s not blown up (solid mass) and blown up (expanded with air in it)
Children could also design and make their own boat from plasticine or any other material. (yoghurt cartons/ butter cartons, etc)
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Inquiry-Based Activity in the Classroom:
In senior infants we carried out an investigation to find out which materials would be best suited to make an umbrella and then had great fun making them! The pupils suggested a number of materials including plastic, tinfoil, cardboard, paper and felt and made predictions about which they thought would be most effective and why. They carried out in small groups so everyone got to be involved in all aspects of the inquiry-based activity. Then each group presented their findings to the whole class and we reflected on the results.I like the lesson in module 1 investigating how to clean up the spill and the use of The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework for inquiry which I wasn’t familiar with prior to the course. I will definitely be putting into practice going forward in my planning and utilising the fantastic classroom resources and activities.
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Hello, my name is Aoife. This coming school year I will be working as a supply panel teacher.
My favourite space fact is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches in the world.
One inquiry based lesson I have used previously is when learning about forces in second class. I introduce magnets to the students and give them a basket of items to check if they are magnetic. The students take some time testing the different items and I give them time to conduct their own experiments with the magnets around the classroom. Afterwards we discuss what was magnetic, if there are any patterns or similarities about the items which are magnetic. We also discuss if they discovered anything else about the magnets. Often they realise magnets can both attract and repel. They discover magnets can be used through different objects and that they attract metals. The children really enjoy the independence of getting to explore with the magnets. It is also a great way to practise collaboration in groups or pairs. It is fun to see them make these discoveries on their own.
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Aoife- you have inquiry practice perfectly described – children learning by exploring and testing and answering their own questions. As you lead discussion at the end the children can share what they have found out and you can help them to see the patterns in magnetic / non-magnetic materials and the extra feature that magnets can repel other magnets.
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Hi all
My name is Ciara and I teach some very inquisitive boys in 1st and 2nd classes.
One of my favourite space facts is that in space, sound cannot travel because there is no air or other medium to carry sound waves. Astronauts can only hear music inside their spacecraft or through headphones.
I love sharing Chris Hadfield’s videos and songs from space with children.Beginning with this topic of life in space, and specifically Music in Space, we discuss how astronauts listen to music inside the spacecraft.
I play a recording of music and ask students to imagine how it might feel to listen to their favorite songs while floating in space.
I then introduce the String Telephone, inviting the children to use plastic cups and string to create a simple string telephone. Subsequently, I let students experiment with speaking and listening through the cups to understand how sound travels through the string.
There is great chatter and engagement as they try to hear their partners across a busy room, or outside into yard if necessary. Advice is shared with each other on how to fix problems, or why one is functioning more successfully than another.Finally I encourage students to ask more questions and think about other challenges and solutions for living and working in space, finishing up with some more clips of Chris Hadfield and the practicalities of life in space.
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Ciara,
what a super way to connect an investigation to a space theme – around how sound travels through media and that vacuum stops sound!
I like this as a the prompt is clear and you have given lots of time for exploring. By sharing advice they are using their design and make skills to evaluate – great stuff.
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My name is Niamh. I will have 2nd class next year. I have had 3rd and 4th class for several years and they have always really enjoyed hands on science activities. Two space facts I found interesting were that about 14 tonnes of space dust falls on earth everyday landing on all of us and that precious metals like silver and gold are forged when dead stars collide.
Based on materials I already have and on the curriculum, I chose an enquiry based lesson on meteorites
Wondering : to get them thinking about what is in space and if space material lands on earth.
Exploring : A collection of different rocks. Background knowledge of space and planets using videos and the internet.Starter Question : Which rocks could come from space / be meteorites?
Predicting : Encouraging the children to look at colours, marks, hardness to apply their knowledge of space to their guess.
Pick: Encourage the children to explain their choices and record their prediction.
I don’t actually have a meteorite but I think leaving it unanswered can be a valuable part of a lesson at times. It can promote curiosity and critical thinking without the focus on correct or incorrect answers. It can encourage the children to look at the world with imagination and to think of the magic in the things around us. Perhaps not very scientific but …It may also introduce the idea of hypothesis. We could develop the lesson by searching for meteorites on the internet and finding out how they were discovered. The connection to the extinction of dinosaurs could also be explored.-
Niamh,
an interesting prompt for further investigation linked to this is “where in the world do we find the most meteorites?”
Because many meteorites look a lot like earth rocks, we find them in deserts and the Antarctic, where they stand out.
See this article: https://askanearthspacescientist.asu.edu/finding-meteorites
So as a next step, using their knowledge of meterorites, they can look at the map on the site and consider why meteorites were seen to fall in those locations.
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Hi my name is Fiona and I teach 2nd class in a Gaelscoil. My favourite space fact/piece of information is often a table quiz question; where is the sea of tranquility? The moon.
I would use this question to begin my inquiry-based activity about the moon.
I would make use of a KWL chart to determine what the children already know and what would they would like to know as well as recording what they have learnt.
My focus for the first lesson on the moon would be laid out as follows;
Resources:
KWL chart
PowerPoint on the moon
Faces of the Moon book
Black paper and chalkI would display the question about on the board and ask the class to discuss in their groups.
When or if someone comes up with the answer I will then ask them to discuss any other facts they know about the moon and to record them on their group kwl chart.
I would then show the class a PowerPoint presentation which introduces the moon; fun facts, short videos and photographs.
We would then focus on the facts etc in the PowerPoint and discuss the new information or delve in their previous knowledge about these facts where applicable.
The next part of the lesson would focus on what the class would like to know about the moon in future lessons we would undertake.
Our final task for the introduction of the moon and prepping for a follow up lesson on the phases of the moon; I would read the book ‘Faces of the Moon’ to the class and ask them to create a piece of art (black paper and chalk) in response to it.
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Hi Fiona,
what a lovely book – I haven’t seen it in a while, but when I checked the author’s site I recognised it.
http://www.bobcrelin.com/fotmpeek.html
There is a full teacher guide to it here.
Just note that phases of the Moon are not included in the Irish curriculum until Junior Cycle – for primary children should be aware of the Moon, but even in 5th/6th class the emphasis is
• recognise that the Earth, its moon, the sun, other planets and their satellites are separate bodies and are parts of the solar system
• develop a simple understanding of the interrelationship of these bodies, including day and night and seasonal movements
So treat the changing appearance of the Moon as shadows of itself. Misunderstandings of the phases of the Moon are common and discussion around them can be very useful for children to think of the Earth and Moon as objects in space, lit by the Sun, and day and night on the Moon causes it to change appearance for us.
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Hi everyone, I’m Niall and will be facilitating the second cohort of this course.
I am head of Research at MTU and work with Frances, Jane and Danielle at Blackrock Castle Observatory.I have facilitated other courses on Space with primary teachers and look forward to learning from you.
Please note that the forum is the same as course 1 (which ran from July 1 to now) so you may be responding to people who have already completed the course.
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Hi everyone, My name is Niamh and I am going into my 3rd year of having 1st and 2nd class. I love the fact the moon is lemon shaped!
I would love to use the inquiry based activity like we saw in this module with the missing sweets in the jar and fingerprinting! I thought this lesson was excellent and so engaging and I would love to do something similar with my class. One I might do with my class would be missing prizes from our prize box. We would make a mind map of what we know already, who was last to spot the prizes full/ empty etc. I would then show a picture of a fingerprint and we would explore fingerprinting and do similar activities to what we seen in the slides here. We would expand it to talk about the fingerprints of twins in our class and look at all the patterns and details of our prints.
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Niamh,
didn’t it look like the class were having fun! The teacher whose school hosted the filming is a facilitator for the Curious Minds teacher CPD that is offered all year. You can find details of that cpd here:
https://www.sfi.ie/engagement/curious-minds/professional-development-for-teachers/
It is either for whole schools, or for individual teachers.
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I love the inquiry based lesson about falling that we learned about in this module.
I would use a “prompt” where an item falls off my table to begin the lesson discussion. We would use a KWL chart to discuss what we know about falling and how it occurs.
We would use a prediction sheet to guess which way various items would fall, discussing differences in size, weight, width etc.
We would conduct the experiment by dropping items from the stairs in our school hall and observing how they fall, noting any spinning, floating etc.
We would mark where everything landed on the floor. This would lead to engaging discussion about how the different items fell.
The children would record results on their experiment sheet. Most importantly we would finish the KWL chart and add in all of the new information the children learned.
I’m looking forward to trying this lesson!
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Deirdre,
even though SESE Science uses the language of ‘guess’ when talking about predictions [Predicting • guess and suggest what will happen next in structured situations – Skills development for infant classes / Predicting
• suggest outcomes of an investigation, based on observations – 1st/2nd class]it is vital that the children justify what they think with reference to their scientific understanding.
If they understand very little about a topic and need to guess, then build in more time to let the children observe, explore and wonder and then they can try to explain the phenomena. From their explanation will come the investigation topic.
A child who notices that the tissue falls slowly and it floats down and the toy bear falls faster and straight down might form their own ideas about forces and can explore them by perhaps combining the tissue and the bear to make a parachute for the bear. Will it fall at an in-between speed? Will it fall faster than the tissue by itself?
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One inquiry-based learning activity I have done with my class is exploring the force of magnetism. We used magnets to discover whether objects were magnetic or not magnetic. We talked about magnets and magnetism at the beginning of the lesson and predicted whether items would be magnetic or not. I separated the children into groups and they played with the magnets, testing different materials to identify magnetic materials. They sorted the items into categories and reported their findings to the class. We discussed the characteristics of magnetic objects and noted what was similar in each magnetic object; i.e. they were all metal. The children noted that magnets can attract or repel depending on what end of the magnet they pushed against each other. I asked the children if they could think of any practical uses for magnets and we made a list. Then we watched a short video about magnetism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HHs98PBgk0&t=28s
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David,
you have the key part of the inquiry process, which is to ensure that the children are applying their understanding to make predictions which can be tested.
There needs to be this understanding “We talked about magnets and magnetism at the beginning of the lesson and predicted whether items would be magnetic or not.” for the children to be able to make predictions.
How much of the video would you show since electromagnets are topics for 5th and 6th class?
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Hi, my name is Muireann. My favourite space fact is that sunsets on Mars are blue.
An inquiry based lesson I have done before is making parachutes. We looked at a video of someone parachuting and examined photos of parachutes. I elicited the children’s thoughts on what makes a good parachute and they concluded it needed to slow a person’s fall. The class were then given a variety of materials (fabrics, newspaper, tin foil etc) to test. They also had string and a clothes peg to act as the person. I questioned the children on how we would test the best material and they decided they would use a timer and the best parachute would be the one that took the longest to fall. The children worked in groups to make their parachutes and test them out by standing on a chair and dropping them. They were encouraged to test all of the materials. Once every group had finished testing we had a class discussion on what worked the best and why they think that might be.
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Welcome to the course Muireann,
Parachutes and falling object make up part of the whole school Curious Minds CPD, and are an active way to help children use their science comprehension in a design and make task. In this example, they were designing the investigation to find the best way to determine if a parachute was good or not. They could also use their understanding to predict which material would make the best parachute by considering strength of material, flexibility of material, weight of material. For fair testing they would need to have the same design of parachute.
The class discussion after testing is a perfect example of “Sharing: Interpreting the data / results.”
You’ll find a completed Framework for Inquiry on this topic at
https://www.engineersireland.ie/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=0g0LZLmOFMQ%3D&portalid=0&resourceView=1
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Hi Everyone
My name is Sharon. This coming year I will be teaching Junior and Senior Infants in a small rural school. I have found over the past few years that children know quite a lot about space and wanted to find more out myself. My favourite thing about space is the moon and I like to observe the changes.
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Hi there,
My name is Órnaith. I will be teaching First Class again this coming academic year. It will be my third year teaching this age group. I don’t have a favourite space fact as of yet as the reason I chose this course is to up-skill and improve my knowledge in Space and STEM, and also feel confident teaching in this area.
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Hi everyone
My name is Sharon and I will be teaching Junior and Senior Infants this year. I love how the children know quite a lot about space and often surprise me with the knowledge they already have. My favourite thing about space is observing the moon and its different phases.Inquiry based learning is so important in Infants and is really a great starting point for our learning. This year we did a great investigation into the effects of vinegar on the shell of an egg. Materials needed – 2 eggs, 2 containers, water, vinegar. Describe the egg before beginning the investigation and talking about what would happen if you dropped it, left it in the sun…Put an egg into 1 container and fill it with vinegar, put the other into a container with water – talk about the idea of a fair test, how this is fair etc. Observe the changes over the coming days and describe what happens. After a few days the egg shell on the one in the vinegar becomes softer and eventually it will peel off letting us see inside the shell. The sheer delight on the children’s faces when they realised what was happening and why was great. Inquiry based learning is super for Science lessons but should also be used more across other subject areas.
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Sharon,
You have given a lovely example of discovery learning, of slowly allowing a process to happen and to let the children wonder and explore.
Depending on their understanding (since this is about how acids react with carbonates, which is very much 2nd level — see this article which gives the chemical reactions https://www.scienceofcooking.com/eggs/naked-egg-experiment.html), they may come up with additional questions that they could investigate.
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I made lava lamps with my senior infants this year. Before we made these, we explored some different reactions in the lead up to this lesson (mentos and coke, vinegar and and lemons). I began the lesson with a KWL chart. We also made some predictions on what we thought would happen. The children loved making their own lava lamps and were fascinated watching how the effervescent tablet created the lava lamp effect. We discussed why this happened afterwards and they children drew a diagram of their lava lamp and labelled it with my help. I thought this worked well. The children in my class love STEM and I think it is so important to foster a sense of curiosity for STEM in the children. I also think it’s so important to have hands on activities to promote the subject. You cannot underestimate the importance of learning through play when it comes to STEM for the younger classes and beyond.
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Marie,
you have it exactly. There needs to be background understanding for inquiry to really help children learn science content. By taking their prior experience with these reactions into account, you can offer them a challenging design and make activity that uses that science in a concrete way.
We used to make lava lamps with visiting children in our birthday parties at Blackrock Castle, using food colouring, oil and water with fizzy vitamin tablets. My colleagues learnt pretty quickly which were the nicest colours to use as the vitamin C tablet changed the colour of the food colouring.
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The inquiry based activity I would use and have used in the past with great success is in relation to forces and friction. Working in an all boys school they love their toy cars. They each bring in their favourite toy car from home and we investigate how different materials affect how quickly/slowly the car will drive down a ramp. I provide them with the ramp and materials such as cloth, sandpaper, tin foil, cling film and a smooth piece of plastic. They must predict which surface will be the fastest/slowest for the cars to drive down and why. After investigating this we come back together as a class and compare our results and discuss why they think this is the case. Depending on the classes ability I do sometimes discuss how the different cars they chose can impact the results due to the wheel material, weight of car etc.
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Michelle & Ellen,
Ramps have been suggested as one of the key topics to help young children directly experience forces in playful, unstructured learning. The team at Iowa’s Regent’s Centre for Early Developmental Education have done a lot of work on “Ramps and Pathways,” which you can find here: https://regentsctr.uni.edu/ramps-pathways/ramps-pathways
They state “Ramps & Pathways provide contexts for children to feel success, and also a context to understand how mistakes are opportunities to learn.”
and suggest that teachers should pay particular attention to vocabulary and avoid words such as acceleration, mass, velocity, and momentum, using instead :
Positional Words and Phrases
Higher, lower, next to, between, on top of, under or underneath, beside, behind, in front of, below, above
Directional Words
Down, up, forward, backward, sideways, through, over
Descriptive Words for Movement (or lack of)
Fast, slow, stable, steady, solid, wobbly, roll, slide, jiggle, tumble, teeter, jerky, bumpy, bouncy, smooth
Descriptive Words for Properties
Hard, soft, flexible, metal, glass, wood, plastic, heavy, light, hollow, solid, round, cylinder, cube, sphere
General Vocabulary
Incline, ramp, pathway, track, object, speed, system
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Hi, I’m Ellen. I’m going to be teaching Senior Infants in September. My favourite space fact is that the sun is actually a star. I’m looking forward to learning some new facts here 🙂
Frances from Blackrock Castle came to my school this term and ran through a few experiments with us. One of which was the forces. I thought the lessons for infants in particular were very good and I am planning to try them myself this year. We used cars and also the kits with the matching pictures and objects (marbles, hair clips, elastic bands etc). We started by trying to make the cars move in as many different ways as possible. This prompted a lot of discussion on what was actually moving the car, for example blowing on it, tilting the surface to create a ramp etc. This was also useful for using the language of push and pull to clarify understanding of the two words.
This was followed on by a lesson using the objects. We were able to explore dropping the objects investigating where they land, furthering this to try dropping 2 together to see do they fall at the same speed etc. Again this prompted a lot of discussion and comparison between the various objects. I can see in the classroom how this could then lead to a discussion on how all the objects fell down to the ground, and what gravity is. -
One simple inquiry based lesson I’ve done in the past is to show that water rises when ice melts. I know that this isn’t easy as many schools might not have a freezer but my old school was fortunate to have one.
Materials needed: Ice, water, container, marker.
Pour water into a glass and add ice. Use a marker to show where the water level.
Discuss with the children what they think will happen. Ask the children to predict what will happen/how far they think that the water will rise. Just wait and see how far the water rises as the ice melts.Extensions:
Ask the children why ice floats?
Put water in different size containers and add ice? Why does the water levels rise more in a thinner shape glass than in a wider shaped glass?
Time how long it takes for the ice to melt. Does it melt quicker/slower in different conditions? What are these conditions?-
Pol,
this is similar to an ESERO activity called “The Ice is Melting” that looks at the difference between melting sea ice and land ice.
Sea ice floats in water, so when the iceberg melts, it fills in the space that it was already occupying.
Water in a glass will increase in volume when it freezes, but there shouldn’t be an increase in volume when ice in water melts.
You could modify this plan to mark the water level before you add the ice – and then you are showing displacement in action. However, when that ice melts, it will not increase the volume any more.
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Hello everyone. My name is Síle and I teach Junior Infants for the past few years but taught the Senior classes previously. I love teaching the theme of Space in every class level. My class at the time and I loved everything to do with the Rosetta-Philae project. My fact is After bouncing off the surface twice, Philae achieved the first-ever “soft” (nondestructive) landing on a comet.
I love how easily the theme of Space lends itself naturally to inquiry based learning. I find children to be fascinated by rockets. It gives them lots of opportunity for hands on learning and loads of chances for trial and error. I usually start off making paper airplanes with the class and they get to investigate how to make them fly furthest. They quickly learn the impact wind can have when flying outside. I then tend to move on the paper straw rockets which are easy enough to do with Infants but also interesting for older children. I have seen children naturally investigate how straw width, size, weight and angles impact their rockets.
I have also experience of leading the activity listed on the website called Rocket launch with older classes. This activity lends itself to inquiry based learning because the children have a number of areas that they can investigate especially size and shape of balloon and length of string.
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Hi Síle,
are you familiar with the ESA videos that told the story of Rosetta?
ESA made a cartoon characters that voiced the different spacecraft.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2016/12/The_amazing_adventures_of_Rosetta_and_Philae
https://youtu.be/HD2zrF3I_II?si=HoJPXXLAiYzjsh4O
The “science” ones are here.
When we opened the science exhibition at Blackrock Castle in 2007, Rosetta was still enroute to Comet 67P, so we included an interactive game that was based on landing on the comet.
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My name is Niamh Doherty and I will be teaching Junior Infants in September. This is my second year with them so I am looking forward to it.
My fun fact about space is There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. This always fascinates my class – no matter what class I haveMy lesson on inquiry based learning:
We have a class teddy called Jacko. Jacko goes home with one child every weekend on an adventure and what he gets up to his recorded in a scrapbook – usually with photographs and drawings. The child then returns on Monday and present what Jacko got up to. Throughout the year we use Jacko as a stimulus for a lot of our lessons.
For a lesson on waterproof materials I would suggest we need to make an umbrella for Jacko for his weekend trips because he lives in Ireland after all!!
1. I would present the class with a problem – its raining and Jacko has no umbrella we need to make him one.
2. Using our water table the children would then investigate what materials were waterproof or not and also what materials they would suggest that would be a good idea. Here there would be lots of discussion and critical thinking and investigative learning and lots of predicting.
3. I would give the children lots of materials such as kitchen paper, cardboard, tinfoil, newspaper, plastic, and and other materials that the children could come up with!
4. All of the materials would be tested and we would discuss the term water proof and try and list objects/materials that were waterproof. Using construction straws we would make an umbrella and put the plastic onto it to create an umbrella for teddy. Teddy could be photographed then with his new umbrella.-
Niamh,
I like your relevant context for this investigation activity, which could be treated as both science content learning and as applying learning in a design and make.
Keeping Jacko dry is very important, and in the summer months you could revisit this to make a sun parasol to keep him from getting sunburnt.
A quick google search for an image to support your prompt gave me this:
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I created my mindmap using Coggle.it. I had never used it before. https://coggle.it/diagram/ZpVgCBm9nXuqNb6t/t/what-is-space/93a51871c30678db848c04f12dc9b126a596e6f9023080de8dfedd3303dd8654
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Assignment Module 1
Reflecting on the completion of Module 1 of “Teaching Space in the Junior Classes – The Curious Minds ESERO Inquiry Framework and Science Skills in Junior Classes,” I am excited to implement an inquiry-based activity tailored for junior infants. Focusing on the theme of “Day and Night,” this activity will be designed to engage young learners through hands-on, sensory experiences and visual aids, promoting curiosity and foundational science skills.
To begin, I would introduce the concept of day and night using a storybook that features characters experiencing different times of the day. This will capture the children’s imaginations and spark their natural curiosity.
Following the story, we would gather in a circle for a discussion, encouraging the children to share what they noticed and any questions they might have about why it gets dark and light.
Next, I would set up a simple, interactive model using a torch (representing the Sun), a globe (representing the Earth), and a dark room. I would demonstrate how the light from the torch shines on one side of the globe to create day while the other side remains in darkness to create night. Ensuring the explanations are clear and age-appropriate, I would allow the children to take turns using the torch to observe the changes themselves.
In addition to the model, we would engage in a craft activity where the children create their own “Day and Night” scenes using coloured paper, cotton wool, and stickers. This hands-on activity would help solidify their understanding of day and night while fostering creativity and fine motor skills.
Throughout the activity, I would use open-ended questions to encourage exploration and discussion, such as “What do you see happening to the Earth?” and “Why do you think it gets dark at night?” By guiding their observations and thinking processes, I aim to develop their inquiry skills and a deeper interest in science.
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Hello Sharon,
Have you a particular story book in mind? If you review some of the previous posts in the forum you will find a wealth of suggestions.
You could also look at the ESERO activity Day and Night in the World about nocturnal animals or What do you do in Day (part of Module 2’s downloads).
What do you expect the children will do with the cotton wool when they create day and night scenes?
You might want to look ahead to the Sun resource (also part of Module 2) from Dr Maeve Liston from Mary Immaculate that suggests:
Activity: The Day and Night Sky
You will need: Pictures of the day and night sky, paper and crayons.
1. Place different pictures of the day and night sky on display and ask the children “what are the differences?” between the two.
Questions: Describe the sky during the day. Describe the sky at night. What is the difference between day and night?
2. Ask them to list as many things they see in the sky at night (Moon, Stars) and during the day (Sun, Moon, Clouds). Get them to describe shapes, size, textures and colours of these objects and the sky using descriptive and comparative language for example light, dark, bright, shade etc. Discuss how we are never in total darkness because of the Moon and stars.
3. Ask them to draw pictures of a day and night sky or make a collage of a day and night sky as a whole class group.Your questions are interesting, we have found that in response to “Why do you think it gets dark at night?” young children tend to offer people-centric responses such as “So we can go to sleep”, and so we often re-word this to ask “What do you think is happening to the world when it gets dark?”
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Hi, my name is Robyn. I worked with senior infants this year and will be teaching 5th class next school year. My fun space fact is that astronauts grow taller when they are in space due to the lack of gravity.
An inquiry based lesson that I have done before was one involving magnets. Children watched a section from a video by SciShow Kids about magnets (https://youtu.be/5hH5radPWHo) and took part in a class discussion, facilitated by the teacher, about what magnets are and what magnetic means.
Students were then given the opportunity to play with magnets of different sizes, shapes, and strengths. They experimented in their table groups by using the magnets with different materials like paper plates, toilet paper rolls, iron filings, plastic counters, and paper clips. After being given time to use the materials, students discussed what materials they used that were attracted to the magnet and why that might be.
Students concluded that metallic materials were magnetic while paper and plastic were not. Students then discussed examples of magnets they have seen in their daily lives like fridge magnets, toys, and jewellery. They then drew pictures of the different materials in their copies and labeled them as magnetic or not magnetic.-
Robyn,
Offering children a playful opportunity to explore magnets is very much in keeping with the inquiry process as described by the Framework for Inquiry and perfectly fits the SESE Science Curriculum for Infants (• investigate the fact that magnets attract certain materials /• investigate materials for different properties, for example materials that are attracted by magnets )
Through their play they will explore and wonder. If they then form the mental model that metals are magnetic it is valuable to include some metals that are not magnetic in the materials that the children test. Coins are an easy option, as are jewelry items made from silver or gold, and aluminium cans.
The curriculum for 1st and 2nd class looks at specific metals: (• investigate that magnets attract magnetic materials, such as iron and steel). So, depending on the school plan for Science, you may want to plan for play with Infants and a deeper exploration at 1st/2nd class level.
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Hi my name is Felicity I am an SET teacher. I am the science coordinator and I ran weekly stem based lessons for all classes in the school last year and will do so again this new school year. We conducted many inquiry based lessons over the year. We entered ESB Science blast this year. Our investigation was do fruits and vegetables conduct electricity
The children had seen a tic toc about using a lemon to charge their phone and wanted to see if this was true. As part of their investigations they added in different fruit – bananas and also vegetables carrots than the standard lemon and potatoes
the initial investigation led to so many other predictions and investigations. The children led the lesson making and testing ideas as they worked. The science behind their findings was as taught and discussed as they progressed. The older children understood and gained greater knowledge of the science behind their findings throughout than the younger children but all learnt and made predictions which was the aim of the lesson
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Hi Felicity
I love that you used what the children were already interested in as a stimulus for your investigation.
I think it is so important that we try to extend the children’s interests, knowledge and inquiry methods. That said, I think certain topics e.g. space will always be able to be of interest to everyone in a class if you can just find the correct entry point for certain children.
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Apologies my fun space fact is that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on all of earths beaches.
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Hi Felicity,
please see this “What If” from the creator of the XKCD cartoons. It is all about your fun fact.
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Siobhan,
Science Blast brands itself as being for 3rd to 6th class. I’ve heard radio ads for it, and took our StarDome to it in 2023, in Dublin, Limerick and Belfast. It’s a pretty hectic experience in Dublin, which is the largest set up, much calmer in Limerick where it is more spread out and in Belfast where it is one day.
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Hi everyone my name is Eoghan and I teach first class. I am looking forward to learning about how I can teach my students next year about space. An interesting fact I know about space is that the largest volcano is on mars and is three times the size of Mount Everest.
An inquiry-based activity I would use to teach children about space would be a lesson on the effects of gravity.
Engage
Prompt: Drop a bouncy ball.
Wonder: What makes the ball drop?
Explore: Allow the children to drop balls.
Investigate
Starter Question: Do different objects fall at the same speed?
Predicting: Children share their predictions.
Conducting the investigation: The children will drop different objects and will observe whether or not they drop at the same speed.
Taking the next step:
Applying Learning: The children will work together to make a concluding statement on the effects of gravity on objects of different weights.
Making Connections: The children will make connections to real life, movies and stories they have watched where certain objects fall towards the ground and the different speeds that they fall at.
Thoughtful actions: The children will note how their learning will better allow them to understand the world around them in the future.-
Hi Eoghan, I love how you have laid out your activity. I should have done that myself. By looking at it in this way it really does simplify the task at hand. It leaves no stone unturned. It allows you to delve deep into the question at hand.
I will definitely be taking this approach in the future for breaking down a task.
Thanks
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Hello everyone!
My name is Elaine O’Donoghue and I am teaching 2nd class this year. My favourite space fact is that there are apparently more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on the Earth! There are apparently billions of galaxies in the universe each containing billions of stars. We are so small on the grand scale of things!
An inquiry-based lesson that I might do would be challenging the students to design something to float a lego man back to safety from the water.
I would engage the students by standing a lego man on the side of a clear basin of water and asking them to design something to allow him to travel across the water to the other side of the basin, without getting wet.
First, we would discuss the concept of floating and sinking, investigating what objects available to them sink or float. The students would then divide into groups with a variety of materials to design their raft (e.g. straws, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, foil, tape, etc.). Once they design their rafts, they could test their buoyancy and stability in the basin of water. Once they have successfully created a floatation vessel that works to keep the Lego man afloat, they could try optimising it, improving it and making its design more impressive, while other groups are finishing theirs. Each group would then present their raft to the class, discussing what worked well, what problems they encountered and how they overcame these problems.-
Hi Elaine,
I like how you have restricted the children to rafts, so that floating is the key issue, and the rather more complex ideas of buoyancy and boat design can be met when they are a bit older.
In Cork one of the local councillors has run a Model Boat competition for a number of years (14!). This year’s rules are here: https://corkharbourfestival.com/register-now-lord-mayor-kieran-mccarthys-make-a-model-boat-project-2024/
and previous year’s images can be found on his website.
https://youtu.be/JkAAhec70Cw?si=AoLijhjT2DKTw2sd
Have you a large pond nearby that they might use to float their boat?
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As a reply to this post, introduce yourself on the forum:
Hi all, I’m Siobhan, I teach in a special education school. I didn’t know what class I would have before I signed up to this course, and it turns out I’ll be in resource. However I carry out projects with some small groups and I have decided to use space as my theme this year. Teaching in special education means that despite this course is aimed towards infant level- it will have much relevance across the board in my school.
Share your favourite space fact:
Hmmm, my favourite space fact, I have become quite the “feminist” (i use this word in the lightest sense) in my later years, and I have always loved the fact that Valentina Nikolayev (Yes I had to google how to spell her surname) was the first woman to fly into space in 1963 (the year my mam was born, so I always remember this). I remember teaching this to the equivalent of second class in my school. We did a KWL chart about what we wanted to know- which was everything- but I remember the children asking the most interesting of questions (the nitty gritty) like, was she married, did she have children, what age was she when she passed, how did she pass, what did her husband do for a living etc. etc.
Anybody we studied over the course of the year we put up on a display board with a fact file. It was a great way to see and remember all the interesting people we learned about.
Add a reflection (150 words min) on how you would use one inquiry-based activity in your classroom:
(Assuming we have been covering the topic of space and the children are familiar with it)…
Using Buzz Lightyear figurine as the “teacher” giving instruction, the children would explore the wonders of the night sky. (Bearing in mind I come from a special ed setting).
I would create a starry night sky sensory bin. I would fill the bin with black rice to act as the night sky, and add glow in the dark, star shaped wall tiles, for the children to find amongst the rice. This lesson is tactile allowing the children to touch and feel “the stars”, whilst learning about the concept of of stars in space. during this interactive play teacher will explain how stars twinkle in the sky and exist far far away. The children can explore this with their eyes closed and then open. By closing their eyes it will stimulate their sense of touch.
I would darken the room, according to needs and project the night sky onto the ceiling of the room, whilst playing the lullaby of twinkle twinkle little star music in the background adding space themed cuddlies, to help ensue a comforting experience. the children would each have their own blanket and cushion to lay on to experience the night sky.
By using a multi sensory approach the children are more likely to engage and grasp the concept.
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Hi, I’m Áine. This last year I taught Senior Infants and I will be teaching First and Second class this coming year.
My favourite space fact and concept has always been that astronauts can float in space due to the minimal gravity.
A really enjoyable set of inquiry based lesson that I used with Senior Infants was called how will your roly poly move. https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/25804/how-will-your-roly-poly-move#&gid=2&pid=1 We first looked and explored a set of toys that roll – considering what elements were important for a wheel to roll. We listened to and read a poem about Three Roly Polys.
As part of these sessions we explored how different sorts of rolling motions and how these can be achieved by particular arrangements of wheels and axles. We also investigated three different ways of fixing a tube (axle) to a paper plate (wheel).
I loved that each group worked together to explore various methods of attachment. Afterwards we considered which method was quickest/longest, easiest/most difficult, strongest/weakest and which method they would choose.
In the following two sessions we designed and made our Roly Polys. It was great fun and the children enjoyed every single element of those lessons – in particular exploring and wondering if their creations moved in the desired manner.
I would quite happily use this lesson as far as second class and be quite confident they would enjoy it.
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Thanks very much for contributing this fabulous lesson idea, Áine, as well as the source website for it: https://www.stem.org.uk/primary/resources I’ve just been looking at it there, and it’s brilliant. I’ll definitely be using it this coming school year. Thanks very much for sharing!
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Hi everyone. My name is Elaine and I’m an infant teacher. When I was in 5th class my teacher was very passionate about space and spent a lot of time teaching about it. He taught us a phrase to remember the names of the planets. ‘Many very elegant men just stood up near Pluto’. More of a memory than a fact but it always stuck with me.
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Hi everyone, my name is Matk and I have been interested in space since I was very young. I have been teaching on the senior end for nearly 20 years and will be teaching on the junior end this coming year.
One very interesting thing about space that I recently learned is that our sun is falling through space at 70,000km per hour and it is dragging out solar system with it. If you haven’t seen the video please Google “the helical model” as it is really well demonstrate.A way in which I could promote inquiry based learning would be the following.
I would ask the children to imagine the they were standing in a trampoline. ” What would happen if I threw lots of small ball on the the trampoline?” ” Would they stay in the edge or roll towards you?”
The children, in groups of five, would then be given large pieces of fabric with in child holding each of the four corners. The fifth child would place a heavy object in the center and roll light balls onto the fabric.
The balls would roll towards the center and demonstrate the suns amazing pull on our planets.
The children could remove the heavy object and try the experiment again.” What happened this time” and “why did all the balls not roll towards the center?
This experiment can help to show the children the gravitational pull that larger objects have in smaller objects.-
Hi Mark,
a resource from Night Sky Network is here:
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=317
This has an activity outline and a power point, with a video of the activity in action.
We have a larger version of this gravity bucket that we used with summer camp children. Colleague Danielle and Cian used it with this short video on Jupiter.
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Love your space fact Mark!
The use of a trampoline and balls as an inquiry based learning to reinforce the sun and its gravitational pull would be very effective.
The video that Niall shared would be very interesting for the children to teach more about the gravitaional pull of Jupiter aka the vaccum cleaner of the solar system.
Deirdre
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An inquiry based lesson that i thoroughly enjoy doing with infants is the gummy bear experiment.
Each child is given a gummy bear as a treat to begin the lesson but before they eat it they must examine it and discuss what they think might happen if the gummy bear is left in the classroom in a glass of water.
The children’s predictions are then recorded on a flip chart and three gummy bears are put into three separate cups.Two with water and one without.
When the lesson is revisited the next day the children will see that two of the bears has gotten much bigger. They discuss how this might have happened and revisit their previous predictions. Which bear didn’t grow and why?
One of the bears in water is removed from the cup and one can be left for a further day. The children can see on the third day that each gummy bear is a different size depending on how long it was left to absorb some
Water. They are especially fascinated the second day when they see how the water has changed the jelly. It really is a fun lesson for them.-
Elaine,
would the children’s predictions at the beginning be based on anything more than a guess? If so, then this would make an excellent prompt – and they could be asked after a day what they think would happen the next day. In this way, their understanding is being tested, rather than them guessing and finding out.
One child might think: the gummy bear started small and it got big because it took in water, but it is like my stomach – there is a point when you can’t put any more in, so it won’t get any bigger.
Another might think: the gummy bear got bigger because the water went into it. The outside of the bear can still get bigger, so it will still get even bigger.
Another might think: the gummy bear is mixing with the water, so in another day the gummy bear will be sludge in the glass.
These three different predictions are based on their understanding and have testable results, which you then do over the next day so that they can share their results.
If a child has another question – I wonder if this would be the same in milk? (they might say that milk is mostly water, so yes) – then that would be a testable take the next step.
Here is an example of a home group that tried lots of different liquids.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Ciara and I have been teaching senior infants for the last 2 years and will be again next year. My favourite space fact is that 1 million Earths could fit inside the sun.
An inquiry based activity that I would like to try with my senior infant class is exploring the question of how do boats float?
I would start with a story as a trigger. We would then move on to wondering about the topic of floating and sinking and how boats stay afloat.
The children would then complete an investigation activity into creating a design for a boat that would hold the most passengers. In groups the children would be given playdough and dried peas. The children could try different shapes of a boat and designs until they are happy with their design. They would be trying to make a boat shaped design that would hold the most number of passengers (peas).
For a conclusion we would show the class the designs, discuss what worked best and what they would do differently. We would discuss the concept of upthrust.
An extension activity could be to put a peeled and unpeeled orange in water and see whether it floats / sinks.
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I really like that activity Ciara, it is bringing in a real- world problem that kids are likely to be familiar with to a smaller scale in the classroom. And the orange extension idea is brilliant… I can’t imagine the explanations the children would have for why the unpeeled floats despite it being heavier!
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Hi everyone my name is Deirdre and I’ve been teaching for nearly 20 years, I’ll be teaching 1st class next year
I’ve always been interested in the cosmos. We enjoyed a recent school tour to Blackrock Castle Observatory, my favourite school tour venue in Cork. I enjoy listening to Brian Cox and recently went to see his show which was fascinating.
One of my favourite space facts is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on earth. It really puts the vast scale of the universe into perspective.
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Following up from my introduction and space fact I have included an inquiry based activity looking at the orbit of space, planets and dwarf planets.
I like to begin a lesson with a KWL chart to elicit prior knowledge.
KWL Chart:
K (Know): Students share what they know about planets and the sun.
W (Want to know): Students ask questions like, “Why do planets orbit the sun?” and “How many planets are there?”
Hands-on Activity:
Use a large ball for the sun and smaller balls for planets.
Place the large ball in the centre of a clear space.
Arrange smaller balls around it to represent planets.
Students take turns moving their planet balls around the sun to simulate orbits.
Additional Materials:
Use string or a hula hoop to show orbital paths.
Discuss how each planet has its own path around the sun.
Revisit KWL Chart:
L (Learned): Students share insights like, “Planets move around the sun in circles,” “Planets are different sizes,” and “The sun is at the centre of our solar system.”
This activity makes learning about the solar system tangible, promotes curiosity, and encourages critical thinking.Linkage: song about the orbit of planets which the children in senior infants loved this year.
The Planet Song – 8 Planets of the Solar System Song for Kids | KidsLearningTube
To extend this lesson:
As an extension activity, introduce the five dwarf planets. Children are always fascinated to learn about these as many have only heard of Pluto. Use even smaller balls to represent them. Explain that dwarf planets Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris also orbit the sun but are smaller and not classified as main planets. Have students place these dwarf planet balls in the correct positions and discuss their unique characteristics. This adds depth to their understanding of the solar system and highlights the diversity of celestial bodies.
Linkage : linking to music the children in senior infants really enjoyed this dwarf planet song:
Dwarf Planet Song | Space Explained by KLT!
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Hi everyone, My name is Kayleigh and I am teaching Senior Infants in September. I love the fact Saturn’s rings are 90% water.
I would love to use the inquiry based activity like we saw in this module with the missing sweets in the jar and fingerprinting! I thought this lesson was excellent and so engaging for all class levels. I think it is so sweet to see a group of students with little magnifying glasses working on their fingerprint. I had completely forgot about this lesson until i was reminded in this module. I’m definitely learning that science doesn’t need to be so difficult and overwhelming. Breaking it into mini-lessons has definitely helped me to fit more science in over the years! One lesson I might do with my class in September would be missing prizes from our prize box. We would make a mind map of what we already know. I would then show a picture of a fingerprint and we would explore fingerprinting, the science behind it and do similar activities to what we seen in the slides here. We would expand it to talk about the fingerprints of twins in our class and look at all the patterns and details of our prints.
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Inquiry Based Learning: The Stars
I would engage the children with a prompt appropriate to their age group such as a story, video, photo etc. We would have a class discussion of various facts the children know about space and the Stars.
I would ask the children to make mind maps of everything they know about the stars and have a group discussion on the topic once everyone had completed their mind maps.
As we have access to technology in our school, after making a list of things we would like to find out, I would assign the children with the task of adding to the mind maps with information they find out online.
We would come back together as a class and share our findings. The children could continue to work on this with a visit to local library and research further with books about space and the stars.
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Bríd,
inquiry learning in the context of this course refers to the Framework for Inquiry, so I am glad to see you use a prompt to engage the children. With stars it can be tricky to carry out an investigation, so, children in an older class might pose a starter question that they can then explore by research.
So, a child might share that they know that some stars look different brighter in the sky. Another child might say “I think that is because they are different distances away – I have noticed that a car headlight looks dim if it is far, but brighter if closer”. They could then check data on the distance to stars vs how bright they look to see if this prediction is correct.
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Module 1: Assignment 3 –
Post a reflective piece on how you would use inquiry-based activity in your classroom to the forum (150 words min).
Inquiry-Based Science Lesson I Taught with First Class
Lesson Topic: Exploring the Sky
Objectives:
· Students will be able to identify objects in the sky during the day and night.
· Students will ask questions and make observations about the sky.
· Students will record their observations through drawing and discussion.
Materials:
Chart paper
Markers and crayons
Construction paper
Glue sticks
Torch (one per group)
Star and moon cutouts
Books or pictures of the sky (day and night)Engage:
Gather the students around the teacher and ask, “What do you see when you look up at the sky during the day?” , then ask about night time – record responses on whiteboard.
Show pictures/youtube video of the day and night sky to prompt further discussion.
Explore:
Divide students into small groups of ‘scientists’ and give them a torch, star and moon cutouts, and construction paper.
Turn off classroom lights and let students use their torch to explore how the moon and stars can be seen in the dark.
Turn on the classroom lights and discuss how the sun can be seen during the day but not the stars and moon.
Explain:
Students return to their sears and are iven paper and crayons.
Ask the to draw two pictures: one of the sky at day, one of the sky at night.
Conference around the room asking guiding questions, such as “what do you notice about the sun?”
Discussion:
Gather students around teacher and share their drawings.
Make observations about their drawings.
Encourage use of vocabulary like ‘sun’, ‘moon’, ‘stars’, ‘day’, ‘night’
Evaluate:
Review what was learned by asking students to recall one thing they notices in the sky during the day and one thing they noticed at night
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Ornaith,
the inquiry framework you have used is close to the 5E and shares some features with the Framework for Inquiry that is used by Science Foundation Ireland’s Curious Minds programme.
You have a prompt -picture or videos of day vs night.
I’d suggest that instead of “make observations about the sky,” that you make observations of the sky. The Moon can be seen in the daytime sky (see the material in Module 2) at some times of the month, this can be a direct experience that the children will remember.
It is less clear how working with torches and cutouts of the Moon and stars will help children to understand that the Moon and stars are luminous objects, since they will be lighting them up by shining a light on them, rather than observing them as lit objects of their own.
You might want to look as this ESERO activity Light and Darkness, to investigate “what objects look like when there is no light and look at
objects that give off light.”
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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!
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My name is Aaron and I will have 2nd class for the coming year.
My favourite space fact is that precious metals like gold and silver are forged when dead stars collide.
An inquiry based lesson I like to do with junior classes is to look at how forces act on an object and make a parachute/container to protect an egg from a fall.
I like to use the story of Humpty Dumpty to introduce the topic and begin a conversation on what happened Humpty Dumpty and why his shell broke. I then steer the conversation onto what could have been done to protect Humpty Dumpty.
I will then split the class into groups of 4 or 5 and have a range of different materials including plastic bags, string, containers such as pringle cans etc, and some cushioning materials like cut up sponges, cotton wool etc.
I then allow the children ample time to make their parachutes/containers. Once complete we throw them out of the window on our second floor classroom and see which eggs survive. This always creates great excitement. Once all eggs have been dropped we discuss which parachutes/containers worked and why we think they worked so well.-
Aaron,
this activity can be found in ESERO for older children as A Soft Landing.
I like the way you have structured it, since this allows the children to use their knowledge of materials as well as their understanding of forces.
A variant that we run at Blackrock Castle is to allow a small budget per group to ‘purchase’ materials. In this way, the children have to make decisions about what they think is essential. Top tip from my colleague is to have the string affordable!
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Hi all,
My name is Anthony and I am currently a support teacher with 3rd/4th but will be making the move come September to work with the younger classes in Junior and Senior Infants so thought this course choice would be a good way to get me thinking about the pitch of lessons going forward in my new role.
I think the inquiry based lesson on waterproof materials would be very effective in the infant classes. It is simple and does not require a huge amount of resources and those that it does require would be more than likely easily gathered.
I think the idea of getting the children to clean up small spillages would also tie in very well with the life skills they will be learning in the classroom and how to clean up after themselves which takes an awful lot of training.My favourite space fact is that the sun is in fact a star. Something that I do know but something that causes shock and surprise amongst children every year without fail.
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Anthony,
You will find a wealth of ideas from very many very experienced teachers who have taught in the junior end of the school in the forum, please do take the time to have a good look through.
You are quite right on the waterproof materials being easily accessible, this is one of the criteria of the Curious Minds programme, that the materials should be ‘everyday.’
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Hi everyone. My name is Marie Morgan and I’m teaching Senior Infants in September. One of my favourite space facts is that the sun is a star. Many of the children in my class always think the Sun is a planet so we always try and find out what makes it a star.
Inquiry-based learning can be an engaging way to introduce children to the wonders of science. The example I have chosen to share with you here encourages curiosity, observation, and discussion, key components of inquiry-based learning. I usually do this activity with any class level I teach in springtime when we plant seeds.
This activity is for senior infants level.
Topic: Plant Growth
Activity: Growing Cress Seeds or could be part of Aistear.
Question: I start with having a nature walk around our school grounds in Springtime with the children and ask the children questions to spark their curiosity. “What do plants need to grow?”
Hypothesis: Encourage children to share their ideas. “I think plants need…… water, sunlight, and soil to grow.”
Experiment: Provide each child with some cress seeds, a cup, soil, and water. Let them plant their cress seeds in the soil, water it, and place it in a sunny spot.
Observation: Over the next few weeks, have the children observe and record their plant’s growth. Prompt them to note changes in size, colour, and any other observations. Some children might put them in shade or give the pot no light.
As the weeks go by I have a discussion on their findings. “What did we notice about the plants that got more sunlight versus those that didn’t?”
By the end hopefully the children will conclude that plants need water, sunlight, and soil to grow well.-
Marie,
Growing cress seeds is popular activity, and separating the concepts of germination vs growth is structured in the curriculum where Infants are expected to “explore conditions for growth of bulbs and seeds” and 1st and 2nd class extend this with “explore, through the growing of seeds, the
need of plants for water and heat (design, make or adapt a suitable container for growing seeds) & investigate how plants respond to light”I’d be very clear in distinguishing between what is needed to get a seed to start to grow (germination) vs keeping the plant growing once it has sprouted.
I used to mark Junior Cycle science and many of those students were still confused about germination vs growth.
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Inquiry based learning activity for Junior Infants
1. Investigation of Day and Night
· Using the picture book ‘Goodnight Bear’ as a stimulus for establishing the children’s understanding of day and night and nocturnal animals
Sit in a circle with the children. Place the photographs of the diurnal and nocturnal animals in the middle of the circle. Ask if animals sleep at night, just like people. Which animals don’t sleep at night? When are they awake? Remove the photographs of the diurnal animals. Look at the photographs of the nocturnal animals and talk about how you can recognise a nocturnal animal. Come to the conclusion that nocturnal animals often have bigger eyes than diurnal animals so that they can see better at night. Sometimes they have adapted in other ways as well. Nocturnal animals can be recognised by specific features, because they live in the dark. The nocturnal animals in the photographs are the bat, the owl, the hedgehog, and the panther. The children investigate the difference between day and night in the world.
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Hello Everyone! My name is Maria and I’m moving from 6th class to 2nd class this year. I don’t have a favourite fact about space but I had the opportunity to meet Norah Patten last year at a STEM event for schools. She really inspired our students to become involved in STEM specifically women in space. And even better she’s a local girl!
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Inquiry based lesson: Does it float or sink?
Introduction:
Ask the children to think about materials that float or sink in water. We will now look at theses materials to see which ones float or sink. The children will be asked to guess what happens to the objects when placed in water.
Development:
The children will be divided into small groups. They will be given a basin of water and objects such as a straw, plastic bottle, pebble, ball, piece of lego, paper clip, shampoo bottle, metal spoon, plastic spoon, twig, plasticine, sheet of paper and a plastic cup.
A child will record which objects floated and which objects sank.
The children will then try to explore the idea of creating an object that will float from the materials.They will work in their groups to explore their ideas.
Conclusion:
They children will show their assembled objects to the class and demonstrate which ones floated most effectively.
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Hi everyone my name is Clodagh last year I thought junior infants. I will be teaching in SET next year.
An interesting fact I know about space is that asteroids can have rings and moons.An inquiry-based activity that I have used this year to teach a science lesson is my lesson on floating and sinking with junior infants.
Stimulus – teacher gives every student a random object (either a rock or a little ball) and student throws it into big see through bucket of water at the top of the class.
Questioning: What happened to your object? Did it stay on top of the water? (FLOAT) Or did it drop to the bottom of the bucket? (SINK). Discuss as a class sinking and floating.
Investigate:
Each child work with their table group – they have a checklist and items and a basin of water.
Before you carry out the experiment, guess (predict) which objects will sink and which will float.
Carry out the investigation in their groups. -
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Hi my name is Aideen and I am currently teaching Junior Infants. I am looking forward to completing this course and learning some new ideas about teaching the topic of Space. My favourite space fact is that shooting stars are not actually stars; when you see a shooting star, it’s not a star. It’s actually a tiny piece of rock or dust from space that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, creating a streak of light.
An inquiry based activity that I have used in the classroom was in relation to observing how different variables affect plant growth. The students were given seeds, soil, and water, and were tasked with designing an experiment to test how different variables (e.g., amount of water, type of soil, amount of light) affect plant growth. They then had to discuss the results in their groups, form hypothesis , collect data, and present their findings. The children really enjoyed the activity and loved comparing their predictions to the results.
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Hi, my name is Grace and I am moving from senior infants to junior infants this year. I’m hoping to get some good ideas from the course about how to introduce the topic of space in the younger classes. My favourite space fact is that stars only appear to twinkle once they have passed through Earth’s atmosphere.
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Hi all, my name is Eileen. I was teaching 1st and 2nd class this year. I am hoping to get some new ideas from the course for next year.
One of my favourite inquiry based learning science activities I have used in the past is a photo hunt. When teaching about materials and their properties, I first discuss what materials the children know about, their uses and where they might see them around school. Then we walk around the school and take photos of different materials with the iPads. When we get back to the classroom, we discuss & sort them by their materials or functions. We discuss why some materials are used for different things e.g. metal is used for the sink, why not wood or plastic?
Photo hunts are also great for Maths & are a great way of getting a movement break in too.
My favourite space fact is the average star is between one and ten billion years old!
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Hi, my name is Linda. I’ve taught Junior Infants for the past 5 years and will be teaching 1st class next year. My favourite fact about space is that the sun is so big it could fit a million planet earths inside!
After reading & listening to this module I would love to try the fingerprint activity. I think the children would really engage with it & enjoy it. It is suitable for lots of different class levels & can be adjusted accordingly. I love the idea of posing a problem for the children to solve e.g. Who stole the sweets from the jar? and then taking fingerprints to find out the culprit. It creates an element of fun & suspense in the lesson. There are also not too many resources needed for this activity which is good. It can be easily done with pencils, paper & cellotape!
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Hi, my name is Emma and I am working in SET this year. My favourite space fact is that 5 billion Suns could fit in one of the biggest known stars.
An inquiry based activity that I would use in the classroom is the fingerprint activity. I think trying to solve who stole the sweets really engaged the children and they were all interested in finding out what would be the best way to figure it out. It was a very easy activity to set up and could be done with older children and younger. The children can also use their prior knowledge on fingerprints and this further engages them in the learning process.
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Hi everyone,this year I will be teaching junior infants. My favourite space fact is that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the earth’s beaches!
An inquiry based activity that I have previously used in my classroom and which I would love to use again was based on how we would create a suitable home for a friendly alien here on earth. The children discussed what the alien might need to live here, the type of house he would live in, how he would communicate with humans, and so on. This also led to a discussion on how we could maintain the earth so as it is a welcoming place for others to visit, we linked in with caring for the environment, conserving water etc. The children also then designed a home for the alien using cardboard boxes and other materials. They discussed what materials would be best to use, what the alien might need in his house to adapt to life on earth and also what his options might be if he decided to return to his alien planet. This also led to a further investigation of space travel and how space travel and exploration has developed over the years.
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I completed an inquiry based lesson this year with senior infants that was similar to the waterproof lesson described in the module. Our ‘problem’ was that Teddy needed an umbrella to go outside in the rain. Children worked in groups to examine some different materials that might be appropriate. They predicted which ones would be waterproof and they constructed their umbrellas. We set up a “rain station” with water spray bottles and tested their umbrellas by placing their teddy bears under them and spraying water.
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Hello everyone!
My name is Aoife, and I will be teaching fourth class this year.
Here’s an interesting space fact: Did you know that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the Earth’s beaches? Scientists estimate that the universe contains around 1 septillion stars!
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Part 2 – Inquiry Based Learning Lesson
Inquiry-based learning is a dynamic and engaging approach I plan to use in my fourth class science lessons. This method encourages students to ask questions, investigate, and discover answers, fostering a deeper understanding and love for learning.
For instance, in a lesson about the water cycle, I would start with a thought-provoking question like, “How does water travel from the ocean to the sky and back again?” Students would then form hypotheses and conduct experiments, such as simulating evaporation and condensation with everyday materials. By observing these processes firsthand, students can draw connections and develop a clearer understanding of the water cycle.
Possible materials for this lesson might include:
- Clear plastic cups
- Water
- Food colouring
- Plastic wrap
- Ice cubes
- Small mirrors
- Flashlights
- Thermometers
- Sponges
Throughout the lesson, I would facilitate discussions, guide explorations, and encourage students to share their findings. This approach not only builds scientific knowledge but also enhances critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and collaborative learning. By actively engaging in their learning process, students become more curious and motivated, making science both fun and meaningful.
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An inquiry based lesson:
One lesson I have used in the past is how to keep Teddy dry – what will we use to make his raincoat?
First the children brain storm materials which they might use and discuss wither these would keep teddy dry – keep note of there predictions .
Next in groups allow the children to test the materials: wool, paper, tin foil, cotton, rubber etc by dropping water on them
in conclusion allow children to cut out a rain coat for teddy in their most suitable material & sick it on a premade teddy template.
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Hi,My name is Elaine and I’ll be teaching Senior Infants in Sept,the same as this year. Was in SET for years and before that I mainly taught the older classes. I chose this course as I struggled to find time to teach Science this year as there is so much to cover so I’m looking forward to seeing how I can integrate this into Aistear and other areas.
A fact about space that I think is cool is that on the planet of Mercury, a day is twice as long as a year!
One inquiry based activity we did this year was on the topic of floating and sinking. The prompt I used was ‘The float and sink’song from Pinterest. This really helped to stimulate discussion around floating and sinking and to elicit prior knowledge also. I work in a Deis band 1 school with a very high percentage of foreign national students. So it was important to make sure they understood the terms first! What do these words mean? We then conducted our experiments to see which materials would sink or float. We did 2 or 3 collectively as a class before they conducted their own in small groups. I gave them different objects and got them to group them into 2 groups- the ones they thought would sink and then the ones they thought would float( predicting). They then tested them to see if they were right and recorded their results on a chart with pictures. They loved doing this! They then told me their findings.
I finished the lesson off by focusing on the importance of weight and volume. As a class,we tested various materials that had the same volume but different weights and then vice versa. The next step was to do these experiments in their own groups in the next lesson.-
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I thought it was great here that the importance of ensuring children understand the language before engaging in the activity was highlighted. This is certainly something I will have to consider going forward too. It is worth spending the time on this to ensure that the children understand the concepts being taught.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Dayna and I will be teaching Junior Infants this year for the fourth time after a break last year when I went to second. I really enjoyed teaching an older class this year and we got to do a lot of very fun and interesting SESE lessons/projects!
My favourite space fact that a student shared with me this year is that you can fit one million earths inside the sun! I was as shocked as the rest of the class when I heard it. It really helped the children understand just how large the sun is and so they began to ask questions such as how much space is there in space? I am looking forward to this course and I hope I learn a lot that I can bring to my junior infant class in September and also go back to my 2nd class from this year with some answers to the their questions!
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Inquiry based activity for Junior/Senior infants.
I would introduce the lesson by having the children come in from yard to find teachers bottle of water knocked over and a puddle of water left in the middle of the classroom. I would then ask the children how are we going to clean this water up? In their groups they will come up with different materials we can use from around the classroom. Each group will then choose 4 different materials and using a worksheet will list them from 1-4 with 1 being the material they think will clean up the water best. Each group will chose one leader to try out a different material. After all materials are used the children can draw a picture of the material that worked best on the bottom of the worksheet to reflect on the experiment. As a follow up, a few days later I will do the same water bottle incident to see if the children will remember which material worked best last time to clean up the water.
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My name is Finola and I am teaching in Junior Infants for a number of years now. I love incorporating picture books as a stimuli for science lessons. Some that I have previously used were ‘Night Monkey, Day Monkey’, ‘Whatever next’.
My interesting fact on space is that the moon is shaped like a lemon, with flattened poles at each end.
A science in investigation that I have previously taught was on materials and their properties. The class teddy got left outside and was saturated one day during playtime. This prompted the children to wonder how they could keep teddy dry while outside. We decided to create a waterproof coat for teddy.We explored different materials to investigate which were waterproof. The children first predicted and recorded their predictions. After conducting our experiments, children reflected on their predictions. This lead us to creating a little coat for the class teddy. The children really enjoyed this investigation.
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Finola,
you have described an activity with all the features of the Framework of Inquiry. The children were engaged by a scenario from the real world (even if you might have accidently left teddy outside), and from this they are interested and want to wonder and explore the idea of ‘waterproofness.’
Did the children have to explain why they thought one material might be water proof compared to another? This gets to the heart of inquiry, where testable predictions can be made and then tested.
For a child who thinks that being waterproof means that the water does not escape (I’m thinking of nappies here), they may find that an absorbent material can soak up a certain amount of liquid and will then be saturated and unable to take in more, and this is not the same as repelling all liquids which a true waterproof material will do.
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Hey Fiona,
I love the idea of using pictures books as a stimuli for science lessons as this is a great way of integrating oral language into the lesson.
Your science investigation is very similar to the one I shared just with a different problem to introduce the lesson. I love the idea of leaving the teddy outside as this is much more visual then just giving the children an oral problem. I can just imagine how concerned/worried the children would be about the teddy bear therefore would be very eager/engaged to help the teddy.
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Hi, my name is Shona Murphy…..I am teaching in Co Waterford. I am currently in SET but am involved in promoting STEM in our school and I am also involved in Aistear and station teaching in the junior end so I thought this course would be interesting and helpful.
Space Fact :It would take over 1000 years for a spacecraft to cross our galaxy and we are like a grain of sand on an infinite beach …makes you feel small!!
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Hi,
My name is Colette and I’m doing this course because, every year, I plan to do a big thematic session on Space, integrating lots of play. It seems like the perfect topic to do so. But I never get to it. I’d love some ideas and guidance.
I’m fascinated by the moon and the stars, so it’s a topic I’d love to share with my Junior and Senior Infants. I know they’d love it. I just need to get started!
One interesting fact I’ve seen is that we wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface!
I’m generally interested in space and often wonder are we the only ones in this universe of ours!
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My name is Maeve and I will be teaching Junior Infants this year. My favourite space fact is that Saturn’s rings are made of ice particles.
Forces activity: Teaching Gravity.
I would begin by reading pages from the picture book “Gravity is bringing me down” by Wendelin Van Draanen.
The children will engage in simple activities to understand the concept of gravity.
Engage in discussion asking what will happen when this ball is dropped- drop and observe what happens, repeat with different objects of different weights. Ask students to think, pair share which object fell quicker. Give groups objects to test themselves. Have students draw the objects which fell on a piece of paper after the experiment.
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Hi Maeve,
here is a taster of the book you mention, which is a new recommendation.
https://youtu.be/22vszc4TEJA?si=n_XHcu5p7CyF_DJc
There is a read along here.
I like how gravity has been personified and is not being a good friend to Leda in the story.
Of note is the ramp that the library cart rolls down. Ramps are a nice way to slow down falling objects in order to measure the time they take to fall (roll). This is how Galileo was able to observe falling objects in the early 1600s and realise that velocity was proportional to acceleration.
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.galileoplane/galileos-inclined-plane/
We have mentioned before how powerful a tool ramps can be in the primary classroom, see https://regentsctr.uni.edu/ramps-pathways/ramps-pathways,
and ramps may be a way for the children to be able to see which object goes faster, since “Ask students to think, pair share which object fell quicker. Give groups objects to test themselves” In dropping pairs of objects to see which one lands first, they are likely to fall too fast to note unless one object experiences much more air resistance than another. If that happens, then it is the air resistance that is making the difference.
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Hi, my name is Lorraine and I’ve been teaching for 16 years in a boys school. I currently teach in an MGLD class. I love teaching science in my class as despite all of the children in my class being at different levels and having different needs, it is the one subject that interests them all. My favourite space fact is that one million Earths could fit inside the Sun – and the Sun is considered an average-size star, puts things into perspective!
One lesson I have completed in my class this year was learning about penguins and how they keep warm
Living Things> Plants and Animals
Know the characteristics of animals living in a cold environment
The original lesson came about after penguins came up in discussion in class from a boy who had watched a movie in which there was a penguin. We first brainstormed what we already knew about penguins and recorded as a class. We then completed the lesson, learning facts about penguins and watching a short video about penguins. I ensured that all the language in the video was pitched an appropriate level for my class. The children then were given the opportunity to share their favourite fact.
As an extension of this lesson we investigated how animals in colder environments keep warm. Our first activity was to examine photos of penguins and polar bears and list the physical things that could keep these creatures warm. Their fur and feathers act like a coat.
We then discussed the layer of fat some animals have to keep them warm. In order to demonstrate this I asked the pupils to dip their fingers into a bowl of iced water, covering one finger with fat and one without and describing the results. This is a fun way for the children to get involved and they really enjoyed it.
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Lorraine,
you’ll get a chance to meet some penguins and a polar bear in the fourth module. Simple inquiry activities arise from the questions the children ask, and in this example they have wondered how animals stay warm, have been given the chance to make a prediction (animals that have blubber can keep warmer than animals without) and then have tested it by using their own fingers coated with blubber.
Blubber glove is another variant on this, see https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/blubber-gloves for an example.
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Here is my inquiry based lesson on the moon:
Materials:
Pictures of the Moon
Playdough or clay
Plastic craters, rocks, and other small objects
FlashlightsIntroduction:
Show pictures of the Moon.
Ask, “What do you see on the Moon?” and “What do you think the Moon is made of?”
“What does the surface of the Moon look like?”Development:
Share a short video or story about astronauts on the Moon.
Discuss the features they observed, like craters and rocks.Exploration:
Provide playdough or clay and plastic craters/rocks.
Let students create their own Moon surface models.
Use flashlights to simulate sunlight and create shadows, showing how craters and rocks cast shadows.Explanation:
Gather students and have them share their models.
Discuss how the shadows helped them see the craters and rocks more clearly.
Explain how scientists study the Moon’s surface using similar techniques.
Introduce a simple experiment: Drop small objects into a tray of flour to create craters.
Observe the shapes and sizes of craters formed.Evaluation :
Ask students to draw their Moon models and label the features.
Have a brief sharing session where students explain their drawings and what they learned.Conclusion:
Reinforce the key points: the Moon has craters and rocks, and scientists use light and shadow to study its surface. Encourage curiosity and further questions about space. -
An inquiry based lesson that I would try with my Junior Infant class is ‘waterproof materials’. Science would not be one of my stronger subjects and that is why I decided to do this course. I have Junior Infants next year and really want to try my best at improving my teaching in this area as I understand and appreciate how wonderful ‘Science’ is as a topic.
The Trigger: Rain by Carol Thompson. We will read the book and then discuss what might help us keep dry in the wet weather.
I will share the learning objective with the children and then we will explore different materials that might help to keep us dry and what might not.The children will be able to name a variety of everyday materials and which ones keep us dry in the rain – rubber, wax and plastic. We will then look at items such as wellingtons/waterproof jackets/umbrellas and discuss what material we think they are made from.
From there we will start testing whether or not an item, such as a small toy figure, is waterproof. We will wrap it in different materials we have at hand and place them in water to see which one is most effective. We will then take it out to see if it is wet or dry. We will record our findings by drawing a happy or sad face beside the image of the material on a sheet reflecting what material protected the figure from getting wet and what material didn’t. I will then introduce a teddy to the children. In groups of three the children will think and decide upon what materials the teacher should use when creating a jacket for teddy. The teacher will create a jacket using the materials suggested. We will then explore how effective the jacket is by pouring water over the teddy using a watering can – simulating rain.
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Shulagh,
this will require some careful manipulation to stop a dripping hand getting the interior object wet. You might want to tie a string around the wrapped toy and dunk it in the water, think of your ‘biscuit dunking’ technique. (which could make a fun take the next step, see this now closed competition: https://community.stem.org.uk/blogs/tim-bradbury1/2024/01/17/student-competition)
Would you have the toy coated with something that would show clearly if it got wet? Depending on the toy, a coating of custard powder might be effective, since it changes to a bright orange once wet.
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I am currently teaching 2nd class in Galway – an interesting fact about space is that the coldest place in the universe can measure -252 degrees celsius.
Inquiry-based activities are an exciting way to engage the children’s curiosity and to better understand our universe. After introducing them to the solar system using a NASA video I would split the class into groups to explore information about one of the planets to fill in a space explorers logbook of facts. Using these facts they can prepare a presentation for the class using a 3D model that they create, a poster or report by an astronaut who has visited this planet. One child from each group would then come together with a child from each other group as a representative to discuss the similarities and differences between their planets. I find that children love to learn and share interesting facts about space and other planets!
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Nicola,
in this course when we are referring to inquiry based learning we are specifically referencing the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry that was developed in Ireland. Research can be an inquiry process, but the children should use their scientific understanding to make a testable starter question and then verify it with their research.
So, for solar system facts, a group might share that they know the order of the planets from the Sun and might suggest that the planet closest to the Sun will be the hottest, because…. (their own understanding). They could then research that to see if they are right. They will find that the hottest planet is actually the second planet from the Sun, because of a different reason (its atmosphere) and so they will have to modify their thinking in light of their investigation.
This could then lead to a next step where they model Venus’ atmosphere in some way, possibly by making a model greenhouse from a box and cling film and comparing the temperature inside the box vs outside the box, see this from ESERO: https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/47_The-ice-is-melting.pdf
Or see this activity for slightly older children from ESERO: https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/67_The-Greenhouse-effect.pdf
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After completing this module I feel much more comfortable with implementing more inquiry based learning into my classroom in this coming year. I will implement a floating and sinking lesson. I will start off by having a basin of water and spilling some coins into the basin to get the children’s attention. I will then use this to prompt some wondering questions and allow the children to make predictions on other objects. I will pose as question to the children about the objects floating and sinking. We will then investigate and record our findings. We will reflect on how the experiment went and compare our observations and findings which will hopefully lead on to new questions about other materials and the same objects being dropped in other places. I will finish off by reflecting on what went well and what didn’t go well in the lesson.
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Rachel,
you have captured the essential elements of inquiry learning in your summary of the lesson activity. SESE Science skills use the language of guess
Predicting
• guess and suggest what will happen next in structured situations
What will happen to the ruler if we place it in water?
I think it will float/I think it will sinkbut for children to improve their science thinking they need to use their understanding to make a prediction based on their understanding. This often means that the children will need to play with a bowl of water and a range of items to get a sense of what is happening before they pose a starter question and predict in relation to it.
The child who has noticed that it isn’t just the mass of the object that matters, but its density (phrased as ‘heavy for its size’) is showing a deep understanding of a complex idea, and an idea that can be tested.
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Hey my name is Lauren and I am a junior/senior infant teacher. I am also the newly appointed STEM coordinator in my school so I am looking forward to getting some great ideas to do with space as I would love for my school to take part in space week in the coming school year.
My favoutite space fact is that footprints left on the moon won’t disappear as there is no wind!
An inquiry based activity/lesson I use in the infant classroom is “What material is waterproof?”, we normally cover this when doing the theme of sea creatures/aquarium. The trigger I use is a note/letter from a mermaid who has damaged some of her tail and she is wondering what material would be best to repair it (and it needs to be waterproof). So first of all we discuss what waterproof actually means and highlight why it is important for her tail to be waterproof. Then as a class we make a list of materials that we think might help the mermaid, and then we investigate which of these materials are waterproof. We also discuss how are we going to test this. The children work in groups and record their results. We then draw a picture of the mermaids tail and stick down which material we discovered was best. Then a nice follow on activity is to design and create a waterproof jacket/umbrella for our class teddy bear.
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Lauren,
what an engaging prompt, although, as you have remarked in response to another teacher, an actual physical scenario can be striking too. I would expect the physical letter, (slightly water stained?) would be very effective.
The scenario you proposed would lend itself to testing materials that hold or surround the mermaids tail when it is submerse. Did you make the mermaid tail out of card or sugar paper? If so, it would be very easy to see if the tail had become wet when submersed.
I found this craft of making a mermaid from a paper towel roll: https://www.thecrafttrain.com/cardboard-tube-mermaids/
There could be an interesting discussion with an older class on the breakdown of plastic in the ocean. See this adult level article: https://www.kqed.org/science/1941258/after-3-years-in-the-ocean-these-supposedly-biodegradable-bags-are-still-intact
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Hi,
My name is Aideen and I currently teach Junior Infants. The push/pull lesson from this module struck a chord with me as this is a lesson that I taught last year. I incorporated it into our Aistear theme of ‘The Toy Shop’. The children had wind up cars and had to explore ways to make the cars go longer distances. This obviously related to how far back they pulled the car before letting it go. They absolutely loved this and had great fun. It prompted a lot of discussion among themselves and problem solving. I then extended this lesson and asked the children to make a slide for the cars using various materials. The children soon learned that the more steep the incline was the faster the cars would go. They also realised a steep incline meant that the cars were more challenging to control. It is definitely a lesson I will include again next year.
An interesting space fact is: Neptune has only completed one orbit around the Sun since its discovery!
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Hi
My name is Niamh. My favourite space fact is there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. That’s at least a billion trillion!
An inquiry based lesson I have done is making parachutes.
I elicited prior knowledge, asking pupils questions such as what will happen to a stone when you drop it VS what would happen to a feather if you dropped it?
Pupils stood on tables dropping various things. Firstly we discussed what way things fell, advancing on to discuss the role of weight on how fast things fall.
After deciding to use a timer to test how fast objects fell from a height, pupils were given a variety of materials to test.
Children worked in groups and were encouraged to test all the materials.
A class discussion was held discussing what worked best, encouraging pupils to give say why they think what they concluded.
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Niamh,
making parachutes to slow down falling objects is a good way to engage the children and to help them express their understanding of forces.
The connection between weight and falling is rather more tricky, and has been not well understood over the years until the 1600s when Galileo explored this with actual experiments. He used ramps and measured the time it took different balls to roll down a ramp. In this case the ball rolled slowly enough that he could measure the time it took.
See this Nova show that outlines the thinking of Aristotle and Galileo:
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvmm-math-fallingbodies/galileos-falling-bodies/
and includes the hammer and feather experiment from the Moon.
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Hi, I’m Deirdre and I will be teaching SET in September with the junior end of the school.
My favourite Space fact is Venus which completes one rotation every 243 Earth days has the longest day of any planet in our solar system.
One inquiry based activity that I would use in my classroom is exploring the concept of floating and sinking.
Activity: Float or Sink?Introduction:
Gather the children in a circle and introduce the activity. Show them the tub of water and the collection of objects. Ask them if they know what “floating” and “sinking” mean, demonstrating with a couple of objects.
Present each object one at a time and ask the children to predict whether they think it will float or sink. This encourages them to make guesses and engage with the concept.
Experimentation:
Each child will get a turn placing an object in the water. Encourage them to observe what happens.
Recording Results:
After each object is tested, help the children place a sticker or mark on the chart under “Float” or “Sink” corresponding to the object’s outcome.
Review the chart together, discussing any patterns they notice.
Conclusion:
Revision of the the activity by talking about why some objects float and others sink, introducing simple concepts like weight, density, and material properties.-
Deirdre,
Floating and sinking is a staple of the infant classroom and allows children to closely observe and describe what they see as they attempt to sense build around ideas related to materials and to forces.
I’d be cautious about accepting “guesses” (even though that is the language of the primary curriculum skills for infants in Science), since their prediction should be linked to their emerging science understanding. If they are merely guessing they might as well flip a coin to state if an object will sink or float, and they have no understanding that can be improved on.
I’d suggest that you let them play with a variety of objects, group them according to if they float or sink, use similarities between the floaters or the sinkers to establish a simple understanding, and then, with that understanding let them choose other objects (an ‘informed guess’) that they believe will behave in the same way – either by floating or sinking.
The glossary in Science states:
floating: the tendency of an object to remain on the surface of a liquid; an object will float if its density is less than that of the liquid; the weight of a floating body is equal to the weight of fluid displaced; the force up and the force down on the body are equal
This is the only place where density is mentioned.
In work on weight and capacity, density may be referred to, but generally children might refer to a material as being heavy for its size (a metal cube) vs light for its size (a plasticine cube).
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Hello, my name is Orlagh and I will be teaching first and second class this year. One amazing space fact that I discovered with the children this year was that one million Earth’s could fit inside the sun. The children found this fascinating.
One inquiry based approach to learning I have done with children in the past was about wellington boots. We had a child who has autism in the class and they were fixated on wellington boots so I used this within my lesson. First a read the children a story about Paddington Bear and of course Paddington wear Wellingtons. I then created a scenario for the children where Paddington had lost his Wellingtons and he was going to have to make some and what materials would be best for him to use.
The children were then divided into groups and each group was given a piece of rubber ( from a rubber glove), kitchen roll, tin foil, cling film and toilet paper. They had to predict which would work best. It was amazing the amount who thought kitchen roll as their parents etc use it to clean up spills.
The children then carried out the investigation and discovered that in fact rubber was the best material.
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Orlagh,
thanks for sharing your specific experience with inquiry, where a scenario has been used as the prompt and children have had the opportunity to link their everyday understanding (that paper towels soak up water, so must be waterproof) to a prediction for an investigation. As you have commented, the discovery of the results helps children to discover new science.
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Hi Orlagh, that is such a creative and age appropriate idea! I love how you used Paddington Bear and his wellington boots to make the lesson engaging. The hands-on investigation with different materials is a great way to spark curiosity and critical thinking. I could see how this approach could be integrated with maths, like exploring capacity or measurement with the different materials. I’m definitely going to try something similar in my class. Thanks for the inspiration!
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Hello I’m Josie, I will be teaching 3rd class in the coming year.
An interesting space fact; There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the Earth’s beaches. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the Earth’s beaches. It really reminds me of the expanse of the universe.
As an inquiry based lesson for my class next year I will intend to engage the children in next year is the following;
· Firstly, I’ll will explore space with the children by engaging them in an experiment, thereby discovering interesting facts about planets, stars, and the moon.
· We will start by looking at pictures of space and brainstorming questions the class have about it. I will ask, “What do you wonder about space?” and we’ll list our questions on the board, such as “What makes stars shine?” and “Why does the moon look different each night?”
· We will then explore our model of the solar system. We will investigate how the planets move around the Sun using small balls and a light. I’ll ask questions like, “How does the distance from the Sun affect each planet?” and “What happens if we change the order of the planets?”
· The children will then engage in the experiment to use a flashlight and a ball to simulate the moon’s phases. They will write down their questions before engaging in the activity. They may come up with the following; “What happens when we move the ball around the flashlight?” and “Why does the moon change shape?” They’ll experiment with different positions and observe the results.
· They will draw their favourite discovery from today’s exploration and write a few sentences about what they learned. They’ll share their drawings and findings with the class, discussing any new questions that arose.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Mary Murphy.
The number of stars in the Milky Way is probably higher than the number of humans that have ever been born, is a pretty mind- boggling thought about space, for me.
I’ve been in learning support for many years so I haven’t had a chance to try out science lessons yet. I will be moving to a junior class next year and hope to try this lesson.
Force and Mass
Students can consider of force and mass and discuss how those two factors work together to create acceleration when I try to move a piece of furniture to get their attention on the issue.
The object of the lesson is to help pupils understand the acceleration of an object depends on how much force is exerted, as well as the mass of the object. Pupils wil discover that you must exert more force on an object with a lot of mass than you would on an object with less mass.
Then I would facilitate pupils in experimenting with this by providing objects they can compare as they exert force. e.g. a balloon and a basketball, a book and pencil case, toy car and lorry and other objects to hand. I would encourage them to exert as close to the same force as possible on each object when moving them.
We would then discuss how many real-life examples your learners can find of force and mass in action e.g. in the playground see saw going up and down, swings going back and over.
Children would record their observations and share them with the class to promote further discussion.
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Hi My name is Marguerite. I have taught Junior Infants for the last three years and I will be teaching this age group in September again. My interesting fact is that in 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a ‘dwarf planet’ after 76 years classified as the outermost planet in our solar system since its discovery in 1930. Looking forward to the course.
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I’m Finuala and my favourite was space fact was the mission to Mars, was truly devastated when they kept pushing it out originally from 2022 to 2025 now. We had so much work done when I was teaching in 5th Class. Wonder what planet those kids think I’m on now!!
How would you use this in your jnr infant classroom?
Begin with a question: “Who has heard of the planet Mars? Show images of Mars and a short video clip to capture their attention. Explain that Mars is sometimes called the “Red Planet” because it looks red.
Read a picture book about Mars or space, such as “There’s No Place like Space: Solar System” by Tish Rabe. Discuss the story, focusing on what makes Mars special and interesting. The class could make a rocket to travel to mars. Each child would cut out a circle to represent mars and then decorate it with pre-cut out images of rockets, dust storm, volcanoes, and valleys
The class would take part in Imaginary Space Travel using the story of “Roaring Rockets” by Tony Mitton.
After the story, ask them to close their eyes and imagine they are astronauts on a mission to Mars.
Guide them through a simple visualization: Describe the countdown, the rocket launching, the journey through space, and landing on Mars.
The children would share what they imagined and what they think they would see and do on Mars.
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Introduction:
Hello, I’m Shauna, and I teach first class. I am passionate about inspiring curiosity and a love for exploring the world around us.
Favourite Space Fact:
If you could fly a plane to Pluto, the trip would take more than 800 years. I like this fact as it highlights just how vast the solar system truly is.
Reflection on Inquiry-Based Activity:
One of my favourite inquiry-based activities would revolve around the Northern Lights. Inspired by my recent sighting, I would introduce the topic by showing images of the Northern Lights as a stimulus and asking the children what they think is happening/causing this.
Using coloured cellophane and flashlights, children could create their own light displays, shining the flashlights through the cellophane to see how different colours appear on white paper. This hands-on activity would help them understand light refraction and the science behind the Northern Lights. For infants, I would focus on the visual experience and a basic explanation of light and colours. I think this lesson would integrate with geography well as we could partake in a country study of Iceland and even art with using black paper and pastels to create a northern lights landscape.
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Breeda,
here is a video (and article) about this!
https://www.watchmojo.com/articles/how-long-would-it-take-to-cruise-the-solar-system
and you might like to explore this scale model of the solar system
https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html
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Shauna – you saw the northern lights! Lucky you, we were so clouded out here in Cork!
There are range of activities on the Northern Lights in the PolarStar project that BCO participated in a few years ago. I had help with the translations (not having any Irish myself), so you might find them useful with Irish as well as English.
The suggested age range is older than this course’s focus, but adaptable.
See: https://polar-star.ea.gr/content/northern-lights-0
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<p style=”text-align: right;”>An inquiry based activity that I have done was based on the book How to Catch a Leprechaun written by Adam Wallace. It linked both STEM and Literacy. The children were asked how would they catch a leprechaun. Firstly they designed their own plan on paper. They were allowed to use their imagination for this (lots of explosions etc!!!). Then during another lesson they were given a choice of resources that they could use ( egg boxes, small plastic containers, cups, string, straws, masking tape etc). They planned their design and chose which resources they would use. This was in Junior Infants and some of the children really amazed me!! (Using the masking tape as a sticky substance to catch the leprechaun- creating a drop down mechanism using string). It was really fun and they children worked in pairs. They got an opportunity to speak about their trap at the end of the lesson.</p>
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Margaret,
that sounds like a super Design and Make, and I love the way you provided simple materials, and let the children think through all sort of possibilities without you constraining their ideas.
Sharing their trap at the end gives them the opportunity to discuss their science understanding and reflect, which is key to inquiry learning.
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My Name is Martina and my space fact is ‘Shooting stars blaze a range of colours depending on the elements they’re made of’. I am curious to engage in this course to expand my knowledge on space and to find resources that can help in teaching of space related topics. I like the lesson and resource for Investigating Gravity on Curious minds that uses the Inquiry Framework, outlining strand, strand unit, learning objectives and skills development. It would be a good hands on lesson for junior classes. The prompt could be teacher dropping an item and then engaging class in discussion, and then to wonder and question leading to brainstorming of falling objects, pushing/pulling, and exploration. Ask for predictions. Teacher ensures that there is materials available to use for class, dropping from various heights, dropping two objects to see which lands on floor first, paper vs stone etc. Groups of children could work together, exploring, recording, questioning, predicting, communicating and then presenting information to class. Pupils could try further investigations at home with other materials and report to class. Then as teacher, reflection on the inquiry, as to what worked well, what should change for next time, and seek opportunities for cross curricular integration.
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Martina,
as I have commented earlier, dropping objects has a great link to objects rolling down ramps, and ramps has the advantage of slowing it all down so that children can really compare the effects of different masses, different materials etc and how gravity pulls them down.
If you use marbles or balls of similar size but different mass, the air resistance will be minimal, which will allow the role of gravity to come through more clearly.
This is a complex topic, and was not well understood for thousands of years, so children do need time to explore and develop their own understanding.
See Peeps (https://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/en/educators/teaching-strategies/1/family-child-care-educators/2/learning-environments/17/ramps/) and and example in a class (https://wondersinkindergarten.blogspot.com/2015/04/ramps-and-pathways-play-based-learning.html)
all of which use the ideas from Iowa Regents Centre for Early Development Education. (https://qappd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/fun_physical_science.pdf)
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I can envisage using an inquiry-based activity on Gravity with my class.
Firstly, we would investigate ‘What way will gravity act in different parts of the Earth?
I would use differentiate questions to ascertain what the children already know about gravity. I would make a list with them to include what they would like to find out about gravity.
Then I would talk the whole class through what experiments we were going to do and what we were investigating. I’d use google slides and a video clip of the set up. I would pause video at point where the actual results of the investigation were visible.
I would remind them that we are now scientists and that we were asking questions and experimenting and would be drawing some conclusions!
I would then divide the class into groups of four and hand out the materials: paper, pencil, orange, plasticine. I would circulate as they carried out the activity and help as necessary.
I might record some of the action! Then we would pause and discuss what was happening and draw some conclusions.
We would record the experiment using a diagram in a science copy!-
Hi Breeda,
Are you thinking of exploring the model of the earth as an orange and which way the people would stand from Gravity?
The diagram is from the ISS Education Kit, (Chapter 1 – page 11) where children are asked to draw raindrops falling on the children who are holding the umbrellas. This resource has some really nice additional background for teachers and suggestions for questions for the children to help them frame their thinking.
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Hi there,
My name is Celine and having taught mainstream for almost 30 years I opted to move to SEN last year and will be there again this year. I am linked with the Junior Infants. Although I enjoyed the change, I missed using inquiry based activities to trigger the children’s curiosity about aspects of space, science and their environment.
A fact that I find fascinating is that when viewing Venus, it appears to spin backwards.
I have used some of Frances wonderful lessons previously at different class levels and both myself and the children have learnt so much from our explorations and wonderings. I have found the DPSM framework document invaluable in planning these lessons.
I am hoping that during this course I will find inspiration as to how I could use some inquiry based activities with Junior Infants in SEN. Last year I explored materials with one of my language groups- it was a simple grouping activity based on texture. I think that this year I might try the approach outlined in the Mighty Materials framework and use a more exploratory approach starting with a simple trigger questions based on a situation “Oops I’ve spilled my drink – I wonder which material would I use to mop it up?”
The DPSM promoting inclusion section will be helpful to focus me on how best to support the children.
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Hi,
My name is Maeve and I will be teaching first and second class this coming year. I am really looking forward to be back in the mainstream classroom as I was working as an SET the last school year. The main reason I am so excited as I look forward to the inquiry based approach.
My favourite science based fact is That you wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface.
An inquiry based activity I used in the classroom was how plants absorb water and nutrients.
We used white flowers, food dye, clear glass jar.
I began the lesson by discussing with the children that plants drink water through their stems, similar to how we drink through a straw I then showed the children the flowers and asked what they think will happen if the flowers drink colored water.
The children came up with many ideeas. We completed the experiment and afterwards the children recorded their results.
Throughout the lesson the children were predictiong, observing, discussing, concluding etc.
It was a particularly enjoyable lesson and the children learned in a fun and inquiry based way.-
Maeve,
Looking at how stems are like straws is a great example of inquiry. You have offered a suitable prompt that helps the children get interested, and given the analogy of ‘straws to stems’ so that the children have a scientific explanation that they can test.
With an older class, they might have further ideas — what happens if the stem is bent? what happens if you make a little nick in the flower stem? what happens if you split the stem and put half in one colour and half in another?
Steve Spangler has some suggestions around this: https://stevespangler.com/experiments/colorful-carnations/
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Hi my name is Mark and I will be teaching 5th class this year, however, I have recently moved from a senior school (3rd to 6th) to one that has junior infants right up to 6th. Therefore a course specifically dealing with teaching junior classes appealed to me.
My favourite space fact is one popularised by Carl Sagan. It is that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on all of Earth’s beaches. While I have since heard that this may not be true, I still love it and use it to try to contextualise the vastness of space to the children in my class.
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Mark,
the stars and beach of sand analogy has been wonderfully visualised by Randall Munroe (of XKCD) as
“Our Sun isn’t a grain of sand on a soft galactic beach; instead, the Milky Way is a field of boulders with some sand in between.”
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Hello My name is Denise. I will be twaxhing First Class next year. It will be my third year. I have taught space facts before but really feel I need more confidence with the topic. I do feel I need to upskill in this area. I have helped my own children with space projects. In doing so I have learned that over a.million earth’s would fit inside the moon. Also the first dog in space was called Lakia !
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Hi my name is Laura and I am going into my second year of teaching Junior Infants. My favourite space fact is that, there are more stars in space than grains of sand on all of the beaches on Earth.
A inquiry based lesson I love is, using the book How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace. I have conducted this lesson in junior infants all the way up to second class and the children’s ideas never fail to amaze me. I use the book as a stimulus, following the story the children brainstorm, plan and design their traps (in groups or individually). Once the children are happy with their traps, they can use a variety of materials to bring it to life. To conclude the children discuss their trap to the class and explain how it works, this promotes scientific talk and ideas.I love how you can integrate the lesson with so many curricular areas e.g., procedural writing in English.
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Hi Laura,
another teacher shared this book and her class’ Leprechaun traps just a few days ago. I’ll have to check out the book,
Design and Make that uses the children’s understanding is a great way to use the inquiry process. The investigation step looks slightly different, instead of
- Starter Question
- Predicting
- Conducting the Investigation
- Sharing: Interpreting the data / results
You have
- Explore
- Plan
- Make
- Evaluate
In both formats the children should refer to what they know and what they find out from the investigation/design as they incorporate their new understanding into their science modelling of the world.
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Hi Patricia here, I teach in a Junior School with classes ranging from Junior infants to 2nd Class. My interest in this course revolves around Space as a theme to develop the use of STEM activities and resources with Junior classes. I especially wish to explore the spiral approach, also linkage and integration as part of planning and implementation due to such time constraints in recent years in delivering the whole curriculum. Quite simply as a fact the sheer expanse of space is truly amazing and will we ever really know just how expansive it is!
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Using an inquiry-based activity to teach children about space fosters curiosity and deepens understanding. I would begin by presenting an engaging question, such as “What would it be like to live on Mars?” As there have recently been new findings about mars I think this could be a very interesting question to pose. I would then encourage students to brainstorm and share their initial thoughts and questions and various resources like books, videos, and interactive simulations to help them explore the topic further.
I would then guide them in forming a hypotheses and to begin planning investigations. This could include creating models of the solar system, observing the night sky, or conducting simple experiments to understand gravity. I would allow students to collaborate, discuss their findings.
Throughout the activity, I would guide the students in asking questions, researching and collaborating. A nice way to finish this activity, would be to allow the students to present their finishing a/projects. This approach not only teaches about space but can also foster essential skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and scientific inquiry.
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Robyn,
with inquiry in this course we specifically refer to the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry. We tend not to refer to hypotheses, which they will meet in second level school, but to making predictions based on their scientific understanding.
They may well use “books, videos, and interactive simulations to help them explore the topic further” to help them find out answers to their questions, particularly their own (or teacher guided) “starter question.”
So, if you planned to use “What would it be like to live on Mars?” as the prompt, the children may then wonder and explore their thinking as they share questions/ find out facts to frame a starter question.
This might be around: Is there water on Mars? – and they might use the Mars activity set at spaceweek.ie to explore how water channels are formed and if Mars images have those types of shapes.
The more general activities you have described might form part of the “take the next step” as they might consider how Mars is like/unlike other planets,. or consider how the distance from the Sun to Mars is greater than the distance of Earth from the Sun and how that affects Mars – it is colder.
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An inquiry based approach I would take to a lesson with Senior Infants would be to discuss how wearing a coat in winter helps to keep us warm.
I would start with a question- Is it better to wear a light jacket or a thick coat on a cold winter’s day? Children will think/pair/share and explain their thoughts to the class. A good time to do this is when Autumn is coming to an end and Winter is approaching as a lot of the children will start to wear warmer coats to school.
Children will be provided with a template and have materials to choose from to make a warm winter coat, it’s a good opportunity to observe and assess children, can they justify their choice? Are they choosing the materials for the correct purpose- i.e, it’s warm, rather than I like the colour, etc.
Key Objectives are that the children will learn that it is their body that is warm and that they are trying to block their bodies heat from moving to where it’s colder. A thick, woolly coat will do this better than a light, thin jacket.-
Carolann,
would you ask them to practically determine if the coat is better at keeping something warm? A common way to do this is to connect the insulating properties of keeping a warm thing warm by not letting the heat through, will also keep a cold thing cold, by not letting the outside heat through.
This then gives you the ice cube in different types of socks. Offer thin socks, tights, thicker sports socks and hiking boot socks. Which will keep the ice cube from melting?
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A lesson for Junior Infants about the moon, moving from the child’s own experience/knowledge forward
Introduction
Look out- can you see, what do you see, why do you see
Close your eyes – can you see, what do you see (or not), why do you think
Talk about the opposites – differences between bright/light, day/night
Focus
Play the Nursery Rhyme “The Man in the Moon” (Time for all children to be in bed)
Is there really such a thing as a man in the moon? Who lives there? How do you get there?
Using lower to higher order questions, discuss the children’s own experience and knowledge about the moon
Children create their own image of the moon on a black background using a variety of materials.
Consolidation
Get the children to talk about the moon in small groups. Feedback to class
Follow up
Ask the children to look at the moon that night before bed and report back next day
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Patricia,
we visit the Moon in module 2, so you may want to incorporate some of the suggestions that teachers have made in that module into this very nice activity for infants.
I like the comparison between seeing with eyes open and not being able to see when your eyes are closed, and making that connection to light being needed to see something. Then, the changing appearance of the Moon is linked to the lack of light on one side of it.
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My name is Dan, and I just completed my first year teaching last year with second class. My favourite space fact is that if you take Earth, and shrink it down to the size of a snooker ball, it will be a more perfect sphere than an actual snooker ball, even taking into consideration the terrain of Earth itself.
An engaging inquiry-based activity for a primary school classroom is the “Plant Growth Experiment.” Students start by asking questions like, “What do plants need to grow?” In small groups, they plant seeds and place them in different conditions: some get more sunlight, some less; some get more water, some less. Over a few weeks, they watch and record how their plants grow.
As they observe, students make guesses and learn from what they see. They talk about their findings with classmates, helping each other understand why some plants grow better than others. This hands-on activity makes science fun and relatable, teaching kids about plants and how to think like scientists. Through this experiment, students learn to be curious, work together, and enjoy discovering new things about the world around them.-
Hi Dan,
where you have ‘students make guesses and learn from what they see- – this is part of the explore section of the Framework for Inquiry. When the children are carrying out their investigation, if they have no clue what will be happening and are just guessing – then their science understanding isn’t engaged. They need to have a bit of background to be able to build on.
I’d offer children a class plant that needs to be looked after – and you can do this as a class for a month. Then they might wonder — does it need to be watered every day? What if we do / do not water it? Then you might grow some cress seeds (and treat the germination as a separate issue) that they can then use to test their ideas.
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Aoife,
there is a playdoh solar system that you could create with an older class who are happy with fractions and dividing into parts. We have used it with ages 8+
Here is one version of it: https://www.schoolsobservatory.org/sites/default/files/activ/playdohplanets/PlayDoh-Solar-System-Instructions.pdf
and the original one that we have used (we did write it up with pictures!) https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/classroom/scales.shtml
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Hi, my name is Amy and I will be teaching Junior Infants this year. I currently don’t know too much about space but I am looking forward to learning and creating some great space themed lessons for the children to enjoy.
a space themed fact: if you were to fly a plane to Pluto it would take more than 800 years! -
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Hi, my name is Conor and I will be teaching first class next year. My favourite space fact is that Olympus Mons on Mars is the biggest mountain/volcano in our solar system.
Here is a link to my mind map:
An inquiry based activity that I would use in my class would be the gravity inquiry.
I would first prompt the children by droping something I would then get them to have a look at various different objects, predicting how they would fall.
After that the children would carry out an investigation on each of the objects and discuss their results – Did they all fall at the same speed? which direction did they go, did they spin or float?
We would then go further by promting the children again by showing them the globe and asking how things would fall in australia? or about how things fall in water (floating and sinking) or on the moon.
We could then watch some suitable videos about gravity.
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Hi everyone my name is Erika, and I have just finished my first year teaching, I will be teaching 2nd class next year. One of my favorite facts about space is that Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system, nearly three times the height of Mount Everest.
Inquiry-based learning is a powerful educational approach that encourages students to explore and investigate topics. I think an effective inquiry-based activity to implement would be centered around the question: “What would it take to live on Mars?”
I would present this question to the students and get them to discuss in pairs or groups things like atmosphere, climate, surface conditions, and available resources. They would explore questions like: How would we obtain water and oxygen? What would we eat? How would we protect ourselves from radiation?
Students would work in small groups, each focusing on a specific aspect of the problem. They would use a variety of resources, making use of digtal resources such as ipads.
Each group would present their findings to the class, proposing solutions to the challenges of living on Mars. This collaborative learning process allows students to engage with the material actively and learn from each other.
Finally, we would reflect as a class the real-world implications of living on Mars. By incorporating inquiry-based activities like this into the curriculum, I aim to create an engaging learning environment.
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Erika,
in this course we are specifically referring to the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry. Using that framework, your suggested lesson plan for a 2nd class works really well.
Children will engage with an interesting scenario as a prompt: “What would it take to live on Mars”
They would then wonder and explore “How would we obtain water and oxygen? What would we eat? How would we protect ourselves from radiation?”
They can define their own starter question based on their interests and use secondary resources to investigate. If you would rather treat this as a design and make, then they can explore what is needed, plan a Martian habitat, make it and then evaluate their making.
Or they could Share: Interpreting the data / results.
And, as you have stated, reflect on their learning.
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My name is Catherine and I’m a learning support teacher. Last year, I taught 1st class. I teach in a DEIS 1 school. I have always been interested in Space/ the Solar System and my favourite fact is that the planets within our solar system produce sounds (which are not audible in a traditional sense as space doesn’t carry sound waves). They are plasma waves which have been converted to an audible frequency which can be listened to on NASA’s channel and social media pages.
In inquiry based activity which I love to teach and facilitate within the junior classes is the Floating and Sinking experiment. The children sit in groups and each group is given two clear plastic tanks; one filled with soda water, the other filled with still water. The Children are each given two raisins. They drop one raisin into the soda water and the other into the still water. In their groups, they then make predictions. What will happen to the raisins? Will they float or sink? Will the raisins act differently in each tank? If so, why? They then discovered that the raisin ‘dances’ in the soda water and we discuss the reasons for this. We then record our findings on the Whiteboard and in their Science copies
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Hello everyone, my name is Caoimhe and I teach senior infants.
I don’t know a lot about space but hope to learn a lot more over the duration of this course but one fact that I read about is that the International Space Station takes 90 minutes to complete an orbit of Earth.
An inquiry based activity that I would use in my infant classroom would be based on the Esero support document “What does gravity do?”. We could investigate using the prompt activity “oops I dropped it” to compare the effects of gravity on various objects. These objects could come from what is already available in the classroom. The activity is broken down into several parts, ensuring that the children engage, investigate, take the next step and that the teacher reflects on their learning. The use of collecting and interpreting data would be a useful link to the maths curriculum.
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I think most younger children love learning about gravity. I like the experiment of dropping things to the floor to see how gravity influences different objects based on their size and weight. I love Chris Hadfield’s videos on YouTube where he does everyday tasks such as brushing his teeth or sleeping. The children found them funny to watch and there was opportunity to ask the children what problems they thought they would be brushing their teeth in Space based on what they know about gravity.
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Hi, My name is Aoife, and I will be teaching first class in September!
I have a big interest in STEM and Inquiry-based learning, and also in Space. My favourite space fact is that the sun is actually a giant star!
My favourite inquiry-based lesson which i have taught before would have to have been the fingerprints lesson. I taught this lesson with 1st class, and they loved it! We arrived back from breaktime and discovered that someone had stolen all of our sweets from our rewards jar, and we concluded that someone from 2nd class had stolen them. The children already had investigated fingerprints the previous lesson, by scribbling thickly with a pencil on white paper and imprinted, and examining their fingerprints from there. They invited the 2nd class in, and we examined their fingerprints and compared those to the fingerprints left on the car, and found our culprit! The children loved this lesson, and I found that they were really engaged and using their own inquiry skills to investigate.
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Aoife,
you have commented on a key aspect of inquiry type lessons – the children will be verifying and applying their understanding – so they need to have had some experience of the topic to have something to build on. In this case, they had examined (or explored) fingerprints in advance, so were building on their expectation that different people have different fingerprints to investigate the theft of the sweets.
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A relatively simple inquiry- based activity that I have done with several classes involves predicting and then observing the comparative speed with which ice melts. In younger classes, I tend to keep the predictions fairly simple. The children will predict which will melt the ice more quickly, warm or cold water. With older classes (usually 3rd class and up), I have added some complexity. With this activity, we have four bowls of ice (usually I colour the ice with food dye and use molds to make the ice into interesting shapes). One bowl is left alone completely and the second bowl of ice has salt added to it. The third bowl has the ice in fresh water and the fourth bowl has the ice in salt water. The children are then asked to predict the order in which the ice in the bowls will melt. Usually, there is a mix of predictions, with some children believing the water will make the ice melt more quickly, while others predict it will make the ice melt more slowly. However, nearly always the general consensus is that salt will make the ice melt more quickly. This is true for the first and second bowls, as the salt will melt the ice in the second bowl more quickly than the ice in the first bowl. However, interestingly, the ice will melt more slowly in salt water than in fresh water. This realisation makes the class discussion on our conclusions very interesting, as the children develop an understanding of how different properties and circumstances can affect how materials react to their environment.
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Mark,
the prompt for this could be pictures of icebergs in salt water — where the ice has obviously not melted. If they can make the connection between that visual and the activity, then they will be connecting to their science understanding. I suppose children could look at the movement of the hotter/ cooler water by watching the colour from the ice move through the water. That would push this very much to 5th/6th class as they are looking at heat transfer.
Here is an article that then connects this to oceans and melting icebergs.
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Hi, my name is Leanne and I will be teaching multiple classes this year as a Supply panel teacher.
My favourite fact about space is that a day on Mercury lasts longer than its year! Mercury moves around the sun faster than any other planet – making its year the equivalent of 88 Earth days. While a day on Mercury – the interval between one sunrise and the next – lasts 176 Earth days!
An inquiry-based activity that I taught this year involved the children in exploring forces. Strand: Energy and Forces. Strand unit: Forces. Learning outcomes: Explore, through informal activities with toys, forces such as pushing and pulling. For the lesson, we discussed forces and the effects they had on objects. The children then got involved with using forces to move toy cars. We drew a line on the tables and the children took turns to explore the amount of force needed to help our toy cars reach the line. The children loved to experiment with different ways of pushing and pulling the cars to get them to move just enough to reach the line and not fall off the other side of the table.
I look forward to learning more about space throughout this course.
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Leanne,
that sounds like great fun, trying to balance the initial push to give enough speed that friction will slow them down to stop at a given point.
Nice possible links to stopping distances for cars in the dry vs the wet, and lots of opportunity to look at how well the wheels turn on the vehicles.
I’d take care that the children realise that once they have pushed their car, it will keep moving unless another force (in this case friction) acts on it. I’d consider trying to make a really slippy table (furniture polish) and let them explore the frictionless world. It is all to easy for them to conclude that they have to ‘keep pushing’ to keep the car going. In fact, they have to keep pushing to overcome friction.
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My name is Hilary and I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. I find Space fascinating and sometimes it is hard to imagine how dark space is. One interesting fact about Space is that you become taller in Space. Less gravity changes mean the spine straightens out as it is not pushing you down. You can be up to as much as 5cm taller in the Space! I think the structure of the DPSM/ESERO framework would be very useful for planning lessons for Junior/ Senior Infant classes. So much of our STEM learning is through play so the structure of the framework would ensure that any play is meaningful, planned and has a specific learning outcome. The format of the lessons was similar in some ways to the structure of Aistear in my classroom. In Aistear the children normally listen to a story on the topic, discuss the topic, plan before play in the groups, begin their activity and then report back on their play/ activity. I think this structure is very similar to engage and explore, investigate, take the next step, reflect. The Mighty Materials lesson and the lesson on Gravity are definitely ones I would use in my class. I liked the idea of a picture as a trigger. I would normally use a picture storybook to start a topic but the picture could trigger so many responses and questions. I liked the idea of the teacher having a store of materials on hand for various lessons. I would probably divide into groups for the investigation part of the lesson when we have discussed and brainstormed what we are trying to find out. My school have a large EAL population and many pupils in Junior Infants would have little or no English so I like the idea of reinforcing the vocabulary around the learning. I like using smiley faces on the investigation sheets. It means pupils of all abilities can report back. I think I would ask each group to have a reporter to orally report back too. I think this can reinforce the language and also gives the teacher another chance to assess understanding. I would do a follow up lesson on making a waterproof coat for a teddy to apply their learning.
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Hilary,
I’m interested in knowing how you structure Aistear in your classroom, and glad that you feel the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry has similarities.
The fact that space is dark has been used as evidence that the Universe must have had a beginning! See this answer to “Why is space black?”
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Hello, My name is Jennifer Falvey and I am in SET. I mostly teach the junior end of the school. My fun fact is that Jupiter and Saturn are made of gas and don’t have a solid surface. My neurodiverse Junior Infant who is obsessed with space told me this and many more space facts. I can’t wait to go back in September and impress him with some information I will learn on this course. He’ll be absolutely delighted I can converse with him on this topic 😉
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One of my favourite inquiry-based activities is building bridges. I completed this with a more senior class but I believe all ages would gain a lot from this activity. The activity was based around building and designing the strongest bridge. The activity is a great way to support the teaching of forces. Having looked at a variety of bridges and the way they are built to support a load, the children were allowed to brainstorm, design and explore how to build the strongest bridge – making decisions on design and materials used and why. The children were able to use critical thinking, problem solving and creativity to design their bridge. The results were amazing and they presented their finished work to the class, incorporating a question and answer session. Giving children the opportunity to have autonomy over their own learning is so important for their development and self-esteem. It allows space for creativity and control, and in my experience really gets the children excited about the project and new learning.
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Deirdre,
bridge building as a design and make is a lovely way to let the children bring their understanding of materials and forces into play. I’m glad that you think it worth explicitly showing different styles of bridges and I would suggest that you offer a relatively weak material as the bridge surface (paper is good) so that they have to consider how to support it. The child who brings in a plank of wood for a toy truck to move over hasn’t really engaged to the fullest extent in the activity!
You can find the Curious Minds version of Make a Bridge in English and Irish, I’d expect the Irish one will soon be updated.
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I did a lovely science lesson with Junior Infants and based it on the story on Whatever Next. The children pretended to go to space like the bear in the story and we talked about what we might see in space. This made for great discussions and investigations on the solar system and what they might see from their ‘box’ and exploring the moon.
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Hi my name is Sheelagh. I have taught infant classes in my school for over 10 years. For the past two years and again next year I am teaching the Autism class in my school. The children are of first class age and we engage with activities at a range of different levels. One of my students loves space so I’m looking forward to learning more. All the children love science lessons which is great!
My fact about space is that space is completely silent because it is a vaccum and no sound waves travel through. Great to suggest let’s pretend we’re in space if you want a quiet classroom to engage with an activity!
Inquiry based lessons in my classroom are slightly different to mainstream but one that was very successful was ‘Bouncy bubbles’. From building relationships with the children I knew bubbles were a favourite activity of a lot of the children. They love catching, blowing and popping bubbles. I mixed warm water with sugar and fairy washing up liquid (you can also use dish soap), I placed a sock on my hand and showed the children how when I blew from this mixture I could make the bubbles bounce. The children loved it and their were a lot of excitement. Some children tried on the gloves and more watched closely as I bounced the bubbles. Language is limited for some children in my class but we used simple words to explain what was happening through speech or AAC devices. One student who is very verbal compared the bouncy bubbles and the bursting bubbles. We examined why the bouncy were bubbles. I then showed the children how to make the mixture and we again experimented. Some children then tried to make the mixture with some adult support. We spoke about why the bubbles were different and experimented blowing both types of bubbles. We discussed the shapes of the bubbles. We tried putting more and less sugar and fairy liquid in to see if it had a difference. We revisited the lesson a number of times and by the end some children were leading with how much of each ingredient we needed. I was deligthed when at the end of our year I asked the students will we do normally bubbles or bouncy bubbles and they could distinguish between the two as well as letting me know they wanted Bouncy bubbles.
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Sheelagh,
great description of how you used bubbles with your class. Varying the proportions is such an easy way to incorporate inquiry (since you already have the materials!) and lends itself to simple predictions.
Children could time how long the bubbles last with sugar in the mix and without.
This site suggests that the sugar slows down evaporation, so bubbles should last longer.
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Hi my name is Meadhbh and I have worked in SET for the last two years and I’m moving to junior infants in September. My fun fact about space is that there is 293 moons in our solar system.
An enquiry based lesson that I would use in the Junior infant classroom would be based on Sound – this activity is based in exploring different sounds. The children would explore and identify a range of different sounds through a sounds investigation. I would use a mystery box as a stimulus to engage the students in the lesson. The box would be wrapped like a present and I would ask one student to shake the box. the aim of the lesson would be to discover what might be in the box that would be making the noise. The students would then each get their own wrapped box to discover what sounds they hear. Then they would engage in a matching activity and match pictures of items that might be in the box. Throughout the lesson I would encourage students to use vocabulary such as rattle, swish loud and soft. The children would also identify everyday sounds in their lives making a connection between their lives and the area of different sounds.
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Mystery boxes are great. Have you used them in the original sense? In that, the children do NOT ever open them, this is said to mirror Science, in that we can NEVER be entirely sure that we have it right.
The sound mystery boxes are a great prompt. From their initial exposure to the mystery sounds, children can explore the sounds that different materials make when hit, thumped, struck, bashed, clinked… so many words!
This also covers the whole Energy and Forces > Sound area of the infant Science curriculum.
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Hi, my name is Catherine. I have taught Junior Infants for two years. After a career break last year, I will be back teaching Junior Infants in September. I am excited to learn more about incorporating lessons on Space in the classroom. I always feel the topic is a hit with students.
An interesting fact about space is that one million Earths could fit inside the sun and the sun is considered an average size star.
An enquiry based lesson that I would carry out in the classroom would be learning about space suits and the children designing their own space suit. The children would sit in a circle and we would start by asking the clothes they wear to suit when it’s raining or sunny, clothes that keep them warm. Asking why we wear a raincoat etc. Explain that the clothes we wear can be based on the weather. Show the children a picture of a diver. Explain that the diver needs to take air with them to breath under water. Explain that it’s the same in Space. Show the children a picture of an astronaut. Ask the children to describe the suit. Explain that astronauts don’t breath the same as the do on Earth and that they need the special suit. They also need to keep warm. The children will then get a chance to design their own astronaut suit using various materials. The suit must have its own air supple and must be able to keep the astronaut warm. The children then share their designs with the class.
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Hi Catherine,
Design a space suit is a great example of a simple design and make for young children. Do you use the template from the ESERO activity: https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20_A-real-spacesuit.pdf
This offers the suggestion that the suit
the suit must be able to stop the astronaut losing heat;
so children might explore various materials to see which keeps something warm longest. A slightly safer activity (no hot water needed) is to see which material can keep an ice cube cold longest – and this really connects the material to how heat moves through it.
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Hi Catherine,
I love this idea as it seems it could be so child led and really allow them to use their own imagination and skills to learn from themselves and each other so meaningfully. I’m a firm believer that we learn through making mistakes and I think investigating which designs are most effective would really consolidate this learning so well for the children.
I also think your idea lends itself really well to differentiation. Just from reading your post I was imagining the links to fabric and fibre, drama/ aistear, SESE etc. I know in the past I’ve been doing the SESE objectives relating to different types of clothes for different places but I’ve never thought to incorporate space into these lessons. This is definitely something I will try in future.
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Hi – I’m Emma and I will be teaching Senior Infants in September.
A fun space fact – if you were to fly a plane to Pluto the journey would take more than 800 years!
I plan on using the hands on activities outlined on the Curious Minds website with my students when teaching science. I particularly liked the lesson plan for Mighty Materials (Junior Classes) and planning a Trigger to get them interested such as videos or books relating to the topic – this is of particular importance with the younger classes. I have got some great ideas also on this forum which I will definitely be using in my classroom such as the lesson based around The Stars and the experiment for the Volcanic Eruption in a Jar. -
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Hi, my name is Amy and I will be teaching Junior Infants this year. This will be my fifth year teaching Junior Infants and they are a class group that I really enjoy teaching.
I really do not know much at all about space and all the different elements to it so I am looking forward to learning and gathering lots of knowledge that I can share with my students.
A fact I know about space is that if you were to travel by plane to the planet of Pluto then it would take you over 800 years to get there.
An inquiry based lesson that I have done in the past is the ‘Egg Drop Challenge’. The children were put into groups and given a variety a different materials. They then had to sit down and design a contraption that would prevent a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a a certain height. They then went about putting their designs together before we tested them to see which designs worked and which failed. The children noted and recorded the results and we worked together to figure out why some worked better than others.-
Amy,
Egg-stronauts is a favourite of mine too! I like to show them the spacecraft that some astronauts use to return to Earth as a prompt towards designing a good seat for their eggs.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2014/05/Alexander_last_check_of_Soyuz_TMA-13M
This is ESA’s Alexander Gerst, checking the Soyuz a few days before his flight in 2014.
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The Egg Drop Challenge is a favourite of mine too. It really engages the pupils and allows them to explore the concept in a fun and interactive way. It is so interesting listening to, and observing the pupils designing and creating a model to prevent the egg from breaking! It affords them the opportunity to explore the characteristics of a variety of materials and what is effective/ineffective.
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My name is Coral. I taught Third Class for the past few years but will be taking Junior Infants class in September.
One of my favorite facts about space is that on Neptune and Uranus, it rains diamonds. The extreme pressure and temperature inside these planets can turn carbon into solid diamonds, which then fall like rain.
I chose this course because I wanted some ideas as to how best I could teach a topic like Space to the younger children.
A simple inquiry-based activity I frequently used in Third was growing seeds in various conditions:
Introduction: Discuss what plants need to grow (soil, water, sunlight) and the concept of an experiment.
Hypothesis: Students predict the outcome of seeds grown under different conditions (e.g., no sunlight, too much water).
Setup: In groups, students plant seeds in labeled pots and place them in different environments (dark cupboard, extra water, sunny spot).
Observation: Students water the plants as needed and record daily observations about growth and health.
Analysis: After two weeks, students compare observations, discuss which conditions were best for growth, and why.
Conclusion: Groups present their findings, compare predictions to results, and discuss the role of experiments in learning.The children loved checking the progress of their seeds each day and changing their predictions depending on what they noticed!
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Coral,
I think it is worth splitting this into two different inquiries, since the requirement for seeds can be quite different from plants.
Some seeds can start to grow in light, but most need darkness (which is why we plant them!) Seeds generally need water, oxygen and a suitable temperature.
See this resource: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/gpe/case3/c3facts3.html
Once the seed has sprouted, then the growth of the plant can be investigated.
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Hi, my name is Clodagh. I have recently just completed my NQT year. I had a senior infant class and I will also have a senior infant class for the next school year.
I am looking forward to learning new ideas while completing this course that I can use in the classroom.
My interesting space fact is if you were to watch the sunset on Mars it appears blue.I have loved the different enquiry based examples that module 1 has discussed so far like the finger print balloon, designing a rain coat for Teddy, Gravity – push and pull forces. I think this type of learning is so important in the classroom and helps create inquisitive learners.
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Inquiry based activity.
Experiment to see whether objects sink or float.
Beginning of lesson: get children to name a list of objects that they think can sink or float. Introduce the new vocabulary density, more dense and less dense.
Middle of lesson: get children to pick an object to see whether it sinks or floats. Children can choose from the following objects: an orange, a metal spoon, a plastic spoon, a football, a lollipop stick, scissors, a plastic cube, a wooden fork, a pencil, a metal sharpener and an apple. Children can take it in turns to test these objects in a basin of water. They can discuss which objects are less dense and which objects are more dense than water.
End of lesson: Children will be given lots of lollipop sticks and blu tack to make their own rafts which they can let float in a large basin of water. Children can also watch a video on youtube about sinking and floating such as the one on the Dee Dee Show.
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Aoife,
Floating and sinking and observing different objects to see if they float or sink is a standard of infant classes- and has some lovely complexity to if you choose flat objects like plastic rulers – where surface tension comes into play.
I’d be sure to ask the children to give a reason why “they think [it] can sink or float.” Then you are connecting their understanding to the investigation. If they are only guessing, then give them some time to play with water and objects and see what they notice and what concepts they form to explain what they see.
I’d be cautious about density as a concept – it appears nowhere in the Science Curriculum for primary school except in the glossary as
floating: the tendency of an object to remain on the surface of
a liquid; an object will float if its density is less than that of the liquid; the weight of a floating body is equal to the weight of fluid displaced; the force up and the force down on the body are equal.You might use “heavy for its size” “light for its size” instead, considering that measurement of weight and measurement of capacity is higher up the progression criteria in Maths / Measuring.
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An Inquiry based learning activity I have used before is one I got years ago from the old Primary Science website – keeping the damp out (I think). It links in well with the themes of homes or water, especially on a rainy day. The rainy day can start of as the prompt or as in the presentation on materials- something has spilled. What materials could we use to water proof our homes / books / belongings.
The children could suggest and list different materials that could be waterproof or ones that do or don’t absorb water. The children would work in groups and be given as many of the materials they suggested as possible, eg plastic, paper, kitchen roll, tissues, grease proof paper, cloths, wool etc. They could explore and feel they objects and make predictions.
NNext pupils would be given a dish with some water with some red food colouring added. Different group members would place sugar cubes onto the dish – pupils would predict and observe as the cubes absorb the colouring as it travels up. Next pupils test the different materials by placing them between another set of sugar cubes. Which materials prevent the red water being absorbed? Pupils get the chance to predict and explore the different materials.
We would then discuss the results, draw diagrams of the experiment, list the items that are waterproof and those that absorb water.
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Hi, I’m Ciara and this year I will be teaching first class.
My favourite space fact is that Venus is the hottest planet even though it isn’t the closest to the sun.
A way of approaching IBL which I have enjoyed in the past is using drama for the engagement stage. I think this would link really nicely with the fingerprint example which was shown in this module whereby the children were trying to investigate the case of the stolen jellies using fingerprints. I think that using a structed drama lesson whereby we could uncover the case of the stolen jellies to spark the children’s interest and then asking them to plan in role how we could investigate is a good way of getting the children to think of themselves, removing the pressure of needing a ‘right’ answer or needing teacher’s help (as teacher would be in role). This task could then be extended within or outside of the drama and it lends itself to reflection thereafter. This is also a really easy way of differentiating for the children as their interests can be incorporated by swapping out the jellies for a medal/ a match attack card/ a bracelet etc.
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Hi Ciara,
you make a point about ” removing the pressure of needing a ‘right’ answer, ” that I frequently make in teacher training sessions.
Nobody ever got a Nobel Prize for knowing the answer before they started!
I advise putting on an air of a slight befuddlement when carrying out investigations — tell the children that last time you did this activity with a class the weather was different / the class chose to use XX instead of YY and so YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER. This means they aren’t trying to get the “right” / “teacher” answer.
With the jellies, the technique of getting fingerprints should be given to the children, they can then consider if they could improve the technique in some way and then go on to use the technique to tell them something new about fingerprints that they have predicted based on their understanding. It could be something simple like — does the size of a fingerprint depend on the size of the person (do tall people have big fingers?)….
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Hi my name is Catherine and I’ll be teaching Junior Infants again this coming year. I love facts that connect with real life experiences so one of my favourite ones related to space is that precious metals like silver and gold that many of us wear every day in our jewellery are created when dead stars collide.
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An inquiry-based activity I would use with my Junior Infants class is from Curious Minds and is based on animals in the cold https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/animals-in-the-cold.pdf
The activity links in well with learning about the seasons and weather. The children will discuss what animals they know that live in cold or hotter places and will sort a selection of photographs of different animals e.g. polar bears, penguins, camels etc. into which live in colder/hotter habitats. Then the children will work in small groups to discuss the similarities and differences of the animals that live in colder habitats (they will discuss the animals that live in hotter habitats as an extension activity another day or as early finishers work). The teacher will prompt the groups with questions such as how do the animals keep warm and ask the children to add to the Wonder Wall (e.g. I wonder why they have fur?) All the questions on the Wonder Wall will be discussed as a whole class group and children will be able to share their ideas and knowledge. The teacher will explain that the animals have a thick layer of fat under their skin to keep themselves warm and that where the polar bears and the penguins live is so cold that this thick layer of fat is not enough. That’s why the polar bear also has a thick coat of fur and the penguin has a thick layer of feathers. The teacher will then ask the class what do people do when they feel cold? People put on an extra jumper or a thick coat. Polar bears and penguins don’t put on a coat. Their fur and feathers act like a kind of coat that they are always wearing. The penguin’s feathers and the polar bear’s fur are also covered in a layer of grease to repel water. The teacher will put some Vaseline on one of each child’s hands. Now the children also have a greasy layer on their skin and will see what happens when water drips on their hand. They will see that the water rolls off the hand with the greasy layer. Discuss with the children what they have learned. Come to the conclusion that the penguin and the polar bear have three ways to keep themselves warm: a thick coat of fur or feathers, a thick layer of fat under their skin, and a greasy layer on their fur or feathers. Explain that the animals have adapted to the conditions that they live in.
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Catherine,
using a Wonder Wall sounds like a great way to include the children’s ideas and wondering.
Do you implement in it in this way? https://artsintegration.com/2018/09/01/a-low-prep-strategy-to-cultivate-inquiry-voice-and-choice/
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Hi, my name is Ailbhe and I will be teaching 2nd Class this year. My favourite fact about space is that the sunset on Mars appears blue.
An inquiry-based lesson which I would use in my classroom is to design a bridge out of paper.
The trigger questions that I would use are: Where do you find a bridge? Do you know the name of any famous bridges?
The groups will be given two sheets of A4 paper, 5c coins, and a collection of books to create a road/riverbank. The groups will be asked to try to make the strongest bridge possible. They will be required to predict and reflect on their predictions throughout the experiment using WWW/EBI? The data will be collected as to what worked well within the groups. They should record how many coins their bridge could hold and analyse the results. This experiment can lead to a design and make experiment where the groups collect materials to design a bridge.-
Ailbhe,
the bridge making activity from Curious Minds (and in Irish ) uses paper to make bridges – and I have tried this with 7-8 year olds and they find it surprisingly hard to get bridges made and tested within 40 minutes. As long as you allow plenty of time (perhaps over a few weeks) this can really work. Amazing triangles / (in Irish) is a good initial activity, to help the children explore what structures are strong.
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My name is Ciara Kelly and I will be teaching Junior Infants in September. This will be my first year with them so I am looking forward to it.
My fun fact about space is There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. This always fascinates every child no matter what age they are!My lesson on inquiry based learning:
We will have a class teddy and he will go home with one child every weekend on an adventure and what he gets up to will be recorded in a scrapbook hopefully with photographs and drawings. The child will then return on Monday and present what Teddy got up to. Throughout the year we will use Teddy as a stimulus for a lot of our lessons.
For a lesson on waterproof materials I would suggest we need to make an umbrella for Teddy for his weekend trips because he lives in Ireland!1. I would present the class with a problem – it’s raining and Teddy has no umbrella we need to make one.
2. Using our water table the children would then investigate what materials are waterproof and also discuss any other materials they suggest would be suitable. Here there would be lots of discussion, critical thinking, investigative learning and lots of predicting.
3. I would give the children lots of materials such as kitchen paper, cardboard, tinfoil, newspaper, plastic, and any other materials the children come up with!
4. All of the materials would be tested and we would discuss the term waterproof and list objects/materials that were waterproof. Using construction straws we would make an umbrella and put the plastic onto it to create an umbrella for teddy. Teddy could be photographed then with his new umbrella.-
Ciara,
I love your plans for the teddy to visit with each child, and how natural to make him an umbrella.
Using
discussion, critical thinking, investigative learning and lots of predicting.
can be structured with the framework for inquiry with the prompt of teddy’s umbrella, lots of wondering (as discussion) and then exploring at the water table. This could be a design and make if they find out which materials are waterproof, then consider what other requirements there are for an umbrella. They might look at a material being flexible so that the umbrella can fold, or light weight, so that teddy can hold up the umbrella, or they might look at the colour being a colour that they like…
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I love this idea. I have toyed with the Teddy going home at weekends idea for many years and always came to the conclusion that I would be creating stress for families!! However I do think if Teddy basically became a member of the class and part of investigations this would be super for all the students. Teddy gives another voice/motive besides me talking and trying to drill them!! Love this idea- well done!
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Hi. My name is Emma and I am looking forward to teaching First Class in September.
My fun space fact is one million Earths could fit inside the Sun!
An example of an inquiry based activity that I would carry out with my class would be ‘Tornado in a Bottle’. This is based on a lesson plan from Science Foundation Ireland
https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/sci_at_home_tornado.pdf
This would involve discussing the steps of the process with the pupils and discussing what we all know currently about tornadoes through a KWL process.We would also discuss what we would like to find out and how we might carry out the experiment.
1. Equipment-gathering the necessary equipment needed for the experiment i.e. clear plastic bottles, water, food colouring, glitter and tape.
2.Experiment-The pupils will orally predict how to use the equipment create a tornado and once it has been confirmed, the pupils can create their own tornadoes in a bottle following the steps as outlined in the Tornado in a Bottle experiment.
3. Results and Conclusion-the pupils will observe and discuss what happened and why it happened.
The pupils will also draw a picture/pictures sequencing the steps involved. The pupils can reflect on what they learned as part of the KWL process.
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Hi, my name is Rachael and I’m working in a junior school as a SET teacher. I think it’s cool that worms have 5 hearts! We do a lot of Math and Literacy based in class so a lot of the time I’m combining Math and Science lessons together.
My favourite inquiry based lesson to do in school and at home is floating and sinking. An oldie, a classic but you can elicit so much from the children and they usually have a lot of previous knowledge on the topic because of water play in the infants classrooms. I like to introduce this by talking about different objects and predicting if they’re going to float or sink and discussing the language of floating and sinking, like what does it actually mean. I usually bring in the kid’s experiences of swimming in the discussion. We observe and investigate what happens when the children place different classroom items in the water like rubbers, rulers all different materials and heavy and light items. We’ll discuss our findings and take note of them. Usually we would watch a video at the end to sum up our findings.-
Rachael,
I like how you have planned to include their experience in swimming. You could link in how the arm floats that they might have used when they start swimming help them to stay afloat in the water.
Although – in searching for an image that could be used as a prompt, I came across this scary article: https://weaquatics.com/blog/are-arm-floaties-safe/
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As we all know, children are like metaphorical sponges, absorbing information at all times. However, to ensure all children are concentrating and taking in information, teachers must plan engaging and ‘fun’ lessons. Inquiry based activities ensure that all children have the opportunity to question, ponder, investigate, and analyse a theory put forward to them.
I like to begin all SESE and STEM activities with a prompt. Previously I have used songs, videos, pictures and oral or visual scenarios. I have found that the more dramatics surrounding the ‘problem’ the more engaged children become. I would use the format of the ‘Framework for Inquiry’ to structure my lesson. When completing a lesson on space exploration, I would use a story book such as ‘Chicken in Space’ as the prompt to begin the discussion on space, allowing the children to wonder and explore the idea of travelling to space.
I would then pose the problem of how a rocket travels to space. Using balloons, the children will predict how the balloon will move forward, which resembles how the hot gases at the back of a rocket push the rocket forward. The children will investigate the theory and use iPads to picture and document their learning. -
Orla,
thanks for sharing the story of Sam and Zoey going to space
“Chicken in Space” by Adam Lehrhaupt.
https://youtu.be/LtL0jj1u3iU?si=ou59yxErzTuOXtpM
very imaginary and lots of opportunity for the children to share what they might know about real asteroids, comets or alien attach vessels.
We meet the Balloon Rockets in Module 5: https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/rocket_launch.pdf
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Hi! I’m Pam, a teacher in a DEIS school who has had infants for 15 years but moved to 2nd class last year and will continue with 2nd next year. I picked this course as my own kids are crazy about science and space in particular and I wanted to wow them with some new facts! I always share the fact that the sun is actually a star with kids, it never fails to amaze!
My idea for an inquiry based activity starts with a discussion about what they know about space. They share their ideas about planets, stars, and the moon, and I record them on the board. Explain that they will become scientists exploring different aspects of space.
Studends get divided into small groups, and each group picks a space-related topic such as the phases of the moon, planets, or stars. Each group should come up with a question they want to answer, like “How do the phases of the moon change over a month?” or “What are the differences between the planets?” Provide materials like posters, markers, and books or websites for research.
Over time, students gather information, make observations, and record their findings in copies/journals. They can create visual aids, like drawings or models, to show what they have learned. I will encourage them to ask more questions and explore further.
At the end of the week, each group presents their findings to the class, discussing what they learned and how they answered their question. This activity makes learning about space fun and helps students develop critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills.-
Pamela,
I recommend explicitly setting out the inquiry steps for children, and ask them to engage, (with a prompt, wondering and exploring) and then set up a starter questions that they make a prediction based on their own understanding.
If they are doing research from books, then they will have to refine their starter question and use the knowledge to verify their own mental models – this is different from doing research to find out facts.
So, in response to
What are the differences between the planets?
children might wonder: does the distance from the Sun affect the temperature of a planet? and predict that closer to the Sun will be hotter, and can then check that.
The next step could be finding out why the 2nd planet from the Sun is hotter than the closest planet to the Sun.
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Hi I’m Aoife and I will be teaching Infants in September. I am looking forward to gaining more insight into space. One of my favourite space facts is the number of stars in the Milky Way is probably higher than the number of humans that have ever been born. This shows how incredibly vast space is and that there is so much to learn but also so much is still unknown.
One inquiry-based lesson that I enjoy doing with my classes is exploring how shadows are formed and how their properties change based on the position and distance of the light source, the object creating the shadow, and the surface on which the shadow is cast.
Activity: Investigating Shadows
I usually start with a brief discussion about shadows. Show examples of shadows in different settings (e.g., outdoors under the sun, indoors with a lamp).
I ask the children what they already know about shadows and how they think shadows are formed.
I like to generate questions about shadows like-How does the position of the light source affect the shape and size of the shadow?What happens to the shadow if the object moves closer to or farther from the light source?
How do different objects create different shadows?I usually divide the class into small groups of 3 or 4. Each group picks one question to investigate.
Each group then discusses their question and predicts the outcome of their investigation.
Each group gets a light source i.e. a torch and various objects (toys, shapes, everyday items), a white surface (paper or a wall), rulers, and notebooks for recording observations.
Each group sets up its light source and places an object between the light and the white surface to create a shadow.
Groups conduct their experiments by changing the position and distance of the light source and the object. They will observe and record how the shadow changes in size, shape, and clarity.
I like to encourage the children in younger classes to draw the shadows they observe. Older classes can measure the length of the shadows using rulers.The groups present their findings to the class and compare their results of the other groups. Discuss why shadows change based on the position and distance of the light source and object.
This inquiry-based activity not only teaches children about how shadows are formed and manipulated, but also engages them in the scientific process, promoting critical thinking, collaboration, and hands-on learning.
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Aoife,
it’s interesting that you have given the children everyday object to make their shadows ( compared to Luke who has used balls) – that will make a big difference to how the shadows appear.
I like that you have used a prompt ( Show examples of shadows in different settings (e.g., outdoors under the sun, indoors with a lamp).) and have explicitly elicited the children’s understanding by asking
the children what they already know about shadows and how they think shadows are formed.
If they then explain what they expect to happen (their prediction) as a result of their understanding then they are fully carrying out inquiry learning in science.
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Hi Aoife, this is such a lovely idea. I love working with shadows with the pupils in my school too. We recently had lots of fun in our Junior infant classes working with shadows when one of the children used a dinosaur toy to create a shadow and we realised we could make a somewhat life sized dinosaur in the classroom using distance from the light source. We have also played guess the object based on the shadow and on very sunny days we give children chalk to trace each other’s shadows in the yard. It is such a lovely activity and the children really understand how what they learn in the classroom can be transferred to real life as they realise that shadows come and go based on the light source (which can be frustrating if a cloud passes in front of the sun while in the middle of tracing a classmates shadow).
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Hi, my name is Luke and I will be teaching 3rd and 4th class this coming September. My favourite space fact is that it would take 1.3 million Earths to fill the Sun’s volume. Which is astonishing when you consider that our sun is only an average sized star compared to others.
An inquiry based lesson I have done a few times is to investigate how light from the sun creates shadows and how the angle of light affects the length and position of shadows. To do this I turn the lights in the room off and pull down blinds. Children investigate shadows using torches and spherical objects. They then measure with the torch at different angles to the sphere. I would then discuss with children how the the experiment relates to the movement of the sun in the sky and the changing length and direction of shadows throughout the day. -
Hi, my name is John and in september I will be working with 1st class. A space fact I was told years ago by a child was that if you had a broken bone, you could not travel to space.
I think inquiry is a great vehicle to teach the topic of space and science through and many of the reasons can be seen in the lessons presented in this first module. For inquiry, it is important to get the interest of the child so the use of a trigger. This can also be an important step to gauge the knowledge level of your learners. Sometimes you may have children who have more knowledge than expected so it can be beneficial to know that they can be stretched.
I think it is also important that activities are kept active as much as possible where the children are able to experiment. This way children learn by doing as much as possible and it can help them retain the new information too. The reflection step and the teacher are important at the end also in ensuring the correct information and understanding is developed. As was touched in the gravity lesson, it can be easy for the wrong or a partial understanding to be taken.
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Hi everyone, I’m orla, loved all the posts. So many inspirational ideas.
Space Fact: The Biggest Volcano in the Solar System
Did you know? The biggest volcano in our entire solar system is on Mars! It’s called Olympus Mons, and it’s about 13.6 miles (22 kilometers) high. That’s nearly three times taller than Mount Everest, Earth’s highest mountain! Not only is it tall, but it’s also very wide, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) across. That’s roughly the same distance as driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco!This is my favourites class activity. Pupils love it and repeat it at home….
making a volcano.
Creating a volcano model in the classroom is a fun and educational project for kids. Here’s a simple guide to making a baking soda and vinegar volcano:
Materials Needed:
A plastic bottle (small soda bottle works well)
Baking soda
White vinegar
Red food coloring (optional)
Dish soap (optional)
A large tray or baking sheet (to catch the mess)
Construction paper, clay, or papier-mâché (for the volcano structure)
Funnel
Measuring spoons and cups
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Prepare the Volcano Structure:Place the plastic bottle in the center of the tray.
Use construction paper, clay, or papier-mâché to create a volcano shape around the bottle. Leave the top of the bottle open. You can paint and decorate the structure to make it look more like a real volcano.
Add Baking Soda:Use a funnel to add 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda into the bottle.
Prepare the Vinegar Solution:In a separate container, mix 1 cup of white vinegar with a few drops of red food coloring to make the lava look more realistic.
You can also add a few drops of dish soap to the vinegar mixture to create more foamy lava.
Eruption Time:When you’re ready to make the volcano erupt, quickly pour the vinegar mixture into the bottle with the baking soda.
Step back and watch the chemical reaction create an exciting eruption!
Explanation:
The eruption occurs because baking soda (a base) reacts with vinegar (an acid) to produce carbon dioxide gas. This gas builds up pressure inside the bottle, causing the liquid to foam and overflow, mimicking a volcanic eruption.Safety Tips:
Make sure to do this experiment in a well-ventilated area and on a surface that can be easily cleaned.
Supervise the kids to ensure they handle the materials safely.
This project not only demonstrates a fun chemical reaction but also provides a great opportunity to discuss real volcanoes and how they work! -
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An Inquiry based activity that I have done with senior Infants is this:
The effects different liquids have on an egg – transferring this knowledge then to the effects these liquids have on our teeth.
I place 4 eggs in 4 cups with milk, water, juice and coke.
I ask the pupils to make predictions as to what effect each liquid will have on the egg and record their responses.
After 24 hours we observe the cups of liquid and note any observations of changes to the liquid or the eggs.
Link/connect observations with predictions and then apply what this tells us about what is healthy for our teeth.-
Niamh,
would they be using their understanding of ‘good’ drinks for teeth to predict what happens to the egg? If they are only guessing with their predictions, then I would use the egg and liquids as the prompt, and then extend their learning once they have seen the effects.
They could wonder – will the egg break down more if we leave it longer? Or, will another type of juice that tastes tangier make the egg break down faster?
Then they are applying their understanding and testing out their ideas.
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Hello my name is Roisin and I’m a 1st and 2nd class teacher which is mixed. One science fact I like is that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a giant storm that has been raging for over 350 years? It’s so big that three Earths could fit inside it!
Inquiry-based learning is a fantastic way to get pupils engaged. I would introduce a question to pupils such as “How can we reduce space junk?” Students could research the issue and brainstorm potential solutions. By taking ownership of their learning, students and working tigether as a team they will be able to develop a deeper understanding of complex problems and gain the confidence to tackle challenges.
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Roisin,
space junk is a very real issue, and ESA are working to reduce space junk. They recently created a resource around it, which can be found with an inquiry framework at esero.ie
https://esero.ie/upcoming-workshop/engineers-week-2024-space-debris/
https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SpaceDebris.pdf
With a 1st/2nd class I would structure this inquiry as a design and make, and once the children have researched (by watching videos
such as
https://youtu.be/vU8ZwsHjvi0?si=BZ4n9fu1Kj3CUnst
or
https://www.pbs.org/video/its-okay-be-smart-space-junk/
(for a slightly older class: BBC Learning English: Junk in Space: https://youtu.be/74JqU9MNclc?si=RAMmAjcs3Ya9dhxU)
or reading)
They can carry out some simulations to check their understanding.
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My name is Lorna and I am a teacher in an infant school. I am currently in learning support and focus on maths recovery and maths team teaching. As a qualified geologist, support teachers with space week and science week in my school. My favourite space fact is ‘there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth’.
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I posted about in another comment, but can’t find it.
Personally I think I have always managed to apply inquiry based learning to sinking and floating with good outcomes. There is so much scope for this topic and children always love it because what they deem as playing with water is actually embedded in so much learning opportunities. To start we would identify items we would like to test out and have a discussion around whether they will float or sink. Including lots of related vocabulary to build understanding and drawing on their prior knowledge. I like to link it into swimming as the children I teach go swimming for the first time in first class. Within the learning the children explore, wonder, predict and reason what will happen to each object. I love the discussions the children engage in with each other and how they communicate their understanding to each other. The children love to then test out and draw conclusions. I often find children will go home and test further items out and will be so excited to share with their peers the next day.
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Laura,
as you have said, in the infant and junior classroom, lots of learning takes place through play. A teacher who can pick up on the explanations the children are offering each other as they play can easily help the children to move into an inquiry activity as they play.
It sounds like they are naturally eager to ‘take the next step’ at home.
A lovely material to offer to float/sink is an orange, unpeeled vs peeled.
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One inquiry-based activity that I would like to use and have used in my classroom is growing beans while reading Jack and the Beanstalk. This is similar to the growing tomatoes experiment from the curious minds teacher guidelines however we often hypothesise and experiment with what might happen to the beans under a variety of different conditions such as no water, no light or no oxygen and of course the children’s own beans have access all three. The children love watching the progress and keeping an eye on their experiments.
In previous years this experiment has also led to a further inquiry led experiment as the bean without light grew to huge heights but was white due to a lack of chlorophyl. The children (and staff) all guessed or hypothesised if the plant would turn green if allowed in the sunlight and how long it would take. There was great excitement monitoring the plant each day when it was placed in the sunlight with surprising results.
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Lorna,
are you referencing this https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/growing_tomatoes.pdf
also in Irish https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/irish/col/tratai_a_fhas_o_shiolta.pdf
This is one of the older Primary Science activities, presented much as a task list. As you have said, the learning comes about when the children ask their own questions and extend their learning by looking at unusual cases or unexpected results.
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Hi, I’m Dawn. I have taught Junior Infants up to 4th class. I have loved Space since I was small. My favourite fact, particularly to explain to students, is how the length of the days on different planets can be longer or shorter than Earth. Jupiter only has 10 hours. Imagine trying to cram everything into that day!
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Hi, my name is Edel and I will be teaching Junior Infants in September. My favourite space face it that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. Thats at least a billion trillion, it’s hard to believe that there is that many and so difficult to comprehend the vastness of space.
Inquiry based learning:
Infant classes are more than capable of participating in these lessons and they tend to get very excited about the process and the outcome. A lesson I always conduct with the infant classes is to ask ‘how could we make ice melt fast’:
– ask children to brainstorm within their groups
– record possible suggestions on the board:
place near radiator
put into the dark cofra
leave out on the corridor
add salt (teacher-led suggesetion)
leave outside in the garden
leave in a schoolbag– each child records their prediction through a drawing a picture in either a copy or handout
– the predictions are recorded on a chart/interactive panel
– each group is given 4-5 ice-cubes and plastic see-through containers
– each group decide where to place their containers
– the class are given opportunities to check on the melting progress at intervals throughout the morning/afternoon
– results are analysed and compared with the predictionsThe children love this experiment, it’s easy to set up and engages everyone in the class.
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Edel,
thanks for sharing how this has worked for infants. The discussion around why they think the ice will melt faster in one place than another is the vital part of the inquiry.
The plastic containers are essential – I have seen this done with plastic bags, and the heat from children’s hands as they check the level of melting affects the speed of melting. Ice cubes that you would have expected to melt last because they were insulated were checked more frequently, so melted first!
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Hi Edel,
I love that science fact too in relation to the grains of sand and the number of stars – it really does help us visualise the vastness of space.
I like your inquiry based learning activity and all the variables with regard to melting ice and prior predictions. I have used salt and ice and food dye in the past particularly where it has been a cold winter and the roads have been gritted and I wanted the children to understand the impact of the salt on ice. However, I really like the idea though of including more variables and predictions and analysing the outcomes for this type of experiment – I will do this for sure next time round.
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Hi my name is Valerie. I’ll be teaching 1st class in September. My own kids love space so I read and discuss it with them and wanted to learn more for them and my teaching. One of my favourite facts about space is that astronauts can jump 4 metres on the moon! Not so favourite info is how much litter we have left behind on the moon!
An enquiry based lesson I did with 5th class was when we were looking at composting. We wanted to see what would happen to different materials if they were composted. So we got lots of glass jars and collected a variety of material like paper, card, a marble, orange skin, apple core… We put some soil in the jars, put in the item and covered with soil. WE discussed their predictions. We prayed the contents of the jars lightly every week. After three months we turned out each jar to find out what had happened to the contents. Had they broken down completley, partially or no change.
This helps children realise the impact we are having on the planet.
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Hi Valerie,
Composting can open up a world of inquiry. Children might have observed a compost heap, or read an information leaflet about composting (like this one: https://compostingireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Compost-Booklet-Web-Version.pdf)
They then might look at how shredding improves the break down of brown materials, or explore the mix of brown and green materials to see which breaks down the best.
When it comes to composting, the smaller the particle, the faster it will break down. This is because composting works from the surface of materials inwards.
This statement could be explored – how small is small enough…
If they are looking at the breakdown of materials under soil, then they should reference their understanding of the various materials, perhaps sorting them into green or brown materials and non-green/brown (like the marble).
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One exciting inquiry-based activity I would love to implement in my classroom is exploring the concept of gravity through hands-on experimentation.
First, I would start by engaging the students with a simple question: “What happens when you drop different objects?” This would spark their curiosity and encourage them to think about gravity and how it affects various objects.
We would gather a variety of objects such as feathers, balls, paper, and stones. I would ask the students to predict what they think will happen when each object is dropped. These predictions would be recorded to compare with the actual outcomes later.
Next, we would conduct the investigation. Each student would take turns dropping the objects from the same height while others observe and note how each object behaves. Does it fall quickly or slowly? Does it float or spin? This hands-on activity would help them understand the concept of gravity in a fun and interactive way.
After the experiment, we would discuss our observations. Why did the feather fall slower than the stone? What did they notice about the shapes and materials of the objects? This discussion would help students reflect on their findings and understand the principles of gravity.
To take the learning further, we could explore what happens to objects in different environments, such as underwater or in space. We might watch videos of astronauts on the Moon to see how gravity affects them differently than on Earth. This would not only deepen their understanding but also keep their enthusiasm for science alive.
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Grainne,
using scrap paper is a great way to implement this, since if you require each drop to be the same size paper, the children can really see the effects of air resistance without getting tangled up in the science around mass and weight.
Children can scrunch the paper, fold the paper, leave it flat, drop it sideways….
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Hi there. My name is Leah and I will be teaching first class in September. I love this age group in relation to Science as they are so fascinated by space, living things and they can get very excited and engage well with experiments too.
A favourite fact about space is that precious metals like silver and gold are forged when dead stars collide. The remnants of exploding stars – neutron stars – will sometimes collide, producing and releasing vast quantities of precious metals among many other elements. It’s pretty cool to think that the precious metals we frequently adorn ourselves with are linked to the stars.
Inquiry Based Activity: Forces/Environment
Skills: Observing, measuring, investigating (what do we keep the same? What do we change?)
Equipment: Large tray, flour, newspaper, plasticine (or else different-sized spherical objects, e.g. marbles, balls, beads), drinking chocolate powder, metre stick, cm rulers, sieve.
Trigger Questions accompanied by 2 images on WB – swiss cheese/moon surface
Have you ever heard someone say that the moon is made of cheese? Does anyone know what those sunken parts of the moon that look like holes are called ? Craters – a crater is a hollow formed on the moon’s surface.
Even though the craters on the surface of the moon resemble holes in Swiss cheese, we know that this common myth is not true. (The children may already know about a crater being the hollow at the top of a volcano – so it is important to emphasise that the two types of crater are completely different).
Wondering : I will let the children know that we are going to consider how craters are formed and why they are different sizes.
Questions before the brainstorm: What happens if you drop something heavy onto soft sand on the beach? What happens if you drop something heavy on the kitchen tiles at home or a wooden floor? Will you get the same result ?
In groups with assigned roles, I will engage the children in a brainstorm to consider and come up with theories as to how they think that craters are formed on the moon.
After each presenter from the group has relayed their theories, we will discuss the following background information and which group’s theory was closest to these facts while commending all groups for their efforts and putting on their science hats!
Why does the moon have craters?
Craters are the result of a collision between the moon and asteroids or meteorites. These craters were formed millions of years ago when meteorites hit the Moon’s surface. The moon, unlike the Earth, does not have an atmosphere that can protect itself from the debris of space, so it happens much more frequently. The impact of the meteorites caused the hollows to form and some of the surface to be thrown up and out around the crater. This is called ejecta (because it was ejected from the surface). Meteorites are bits of rock in space, which people think may have been left over from the start of the solar system (the planets and moons). There also is very little geological activity on the moon, for instance earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, so the craters can remain the same on the surface for many years.
Next I will let the children know that they will work in groups, taking turns and modelling creating craters on the moon using flour, hot chocolate, marbles/plasticine balls.
Spread the newspaper onto the table or floor, put the tray on the newspaper and put some flour onto the tray, until it is about 5 or 6 centimetres deep. Make the flour as smooth as possible without packing it down. Hold the sieve over the flour and put some drinking chocolate into it and shake it until you get a thin brown layer on the flour.
Make different sized balls from plasticine (these are the ‘meteorites’). Use ‘meteorites’ of different weight and note if there is any difference in the craters.
Drop one of the balls onto the moon’s surface.
Draw what happens.
Drop a different ball onto the moon’s surface.
Does it make a bigger or smaller crater?
Drop some more balls and draw a moon surface.
My first class loved this for Science week last year and engaged really well. We completed the experiment in the classroom and once you have newspaper it is not too messy.
After engaging in the investigation:
Ask the children to reflect on how they dropped the rocks on their ‘moon surface’ and what variables they would change to gain a different outcome.
Follow-up activity: Throw the ‘meteorites’ (gently!) at different angles onto the flour and notice if the craters are any different shape./ Throw the ‘meteorites’ at different speeds to see if that makes any difference to the size of the crater./ What happens if we change the shape of the meteorite (easy if it is made of plasticine)?
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Hi Leah,
dropping to make craters is a great inquiry activity, since the children can play with the equipment for a bit to get a sense of what is going on, then make a starter question with a prediction based on what they understand.
There is the Curious Minds Activity: https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/meteorites_activity.pdf
I make one change, since I keep the material around for my next visiting school – so I use different colour sand as the impact surface. This way I don’t have a food product hanging around all year. If you get sand from a local builder’s providers or hardware supplier, allow time for it to dry. The bags are often stored outside and the sand is too wet to flow when you first get it.
There is a nice ICT extension: https://down2earth.eu/impact_calculator/planet.html?lang=en-US
that lets you vary the mass, diameter, material of impactor and material of surface and then see the size of crater that gets created!
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Thank you Frances for the tip on the use of coloured sand and needing to let it dry – makes sense, is less wasteful and more practical. I am always conscious too when using food items that perhaps some children are not always afforded the luxury of things like hot chocolate – and there we are using it in an experiment for a whole class !
Am grateful for the nice ICT extension too. You are a mine of information, endless resources and wonderful insights.
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Hi everyone! My name is Katie, and I’m a Special Education teacher. I’m really excited to explore the topic of space with you all!
One of my favourite space facts is that Ireland and particularly Birr Castle was once home to the largest telescope in the world. It was so powerful that it could see distant galaxies long before most people even knew they existed. It’s amazing to think that some of the first big discoveries about our universe happened right here in Ireland.
In my classroom, I love using inquiry-based activities to spark curiosity and hands-on learning. One of my favourite activities involves a rainy day adventure with a teddy bear. We start by reading a children’s book about a teddy bear caught in a rainy day without a hat. The story sets the stage for our inquiry: How can we help our teddy stay dry?
To explore this, we turn to a practical investigation. Students work in small groups to find the best material to make a waterproof hat for the teddy bear. They test various materials using spray bottles as rain, observing which materials would keep the teddy dry. This experiment involves critical thinking and problem-solving as students analyse their results and draw conclusions.
The hands-on nature of this activity not only makes learning fun but also encourages students to ask questions, test their ideas, refine their designs and learn through discovery. By engaging with both literature and scientific exploration, students see how their creativity and curiosity can lead to real-world solutions. This lesson has proven enjoyable and meaningful.
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Hi Katie,
I love that you have brought Ireland into your space fact. This is a very interesting fact and one that I will definitely share with my students.
Your rainy day adventure is a wonderful idea, and it opens up a lot of opportunity for integration between the subjects. It would be lovely to start this lesson off using a character from a book the children have read!
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Helllo, I’m just posting a screenshot of my response as I appeared to be ‘blocked’ when trying to post! Hope it’s clear enough!
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thanks Jane,
please do email cpd@teachnet.ie if you need help with the forum. Since you could post this much directly, there is probably some very odd little quirk that is affecting your ability to post.
I LOVE your 3 little pigs in Ireland plan. There’s so much to it, with great connections between Geography and Science and a super Design and Make from the children’s findings.
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Hi,
My name is Rohana and I am teaching Senior Infants this year. I love Science and I am looking forward to learning news ideas to implement in my class this year. The interesting fact on space is about shooting star and how they are made up of various different colours based on what they are made of.
An inquiry-based lesson that I have used in my class before is the Dancing Raisons experiment. The children absolutely loved this during Science Week last year. You fill up a glass with still water and put a handful of raisons in. The children observe what happens to the raisons. No movement takes place. Then we fill a glass with fizzy drink like 7Up/sparkling water and put a handful of raisons into this glass. The children watch what takes place. The raisons begin to float and dance.
In the glass of still water, the raisons sink because the raison is denser than the water. In the fizzy drink, the raison is denser than the water but the bubbles get trapped in the indents of the raison. This makes them float up to the top of the glass. Once the bubble bursts, the raison sinks back down. The children loves predicting what would happen and they got so excited once the raisons started floating up and down.
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Rohana,
Dancing Raisins (Irish version) is a great prompt for an inquiry. The children can be shown the phenomena and asked to try to explain what is going on in their own words. From that you can pull out a suitable starter question.
They might wonder
- does the 7 up work if it has been open for a day? (and think – not as many bubbles, so no).
- do other fizzy drinks work? (and think – yes, the bubbles are there)
- do other small objects dance – or is there something special about the raisins and try currants, dried apricots, peanuts etc.
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Hi Rohana! I love this idea- the infants would love this! Sounds like a great experiment with lots of fun involved for the children. It would encourage great oral language too with lots of new movement and positional language vocabulary too! Also, love this video Frances would be super to use in the lesson to evoke interest in the children and get their attention!
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Hi everyone! My name is Oisin, and I’m 26 years old. I’m thrilled to be part of this course about space as I’ve always been passionate about astronomy. One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus!
Reflection on Inquiry-Based Activity:
In my classroom, one inquiry-based activity I would implement revolves around the phases of the Moon. I would begin by posing an open-ended question, such as “Why does the Moon change shape?” Students would work in small groups to investigate this question through exploration and hands-on experiments. Each group would utilise materials like a flashlight, a basketball, and a smaller ball (representing the Earth and the Moon). They would recreate the positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun to observe how the Moon’s position relative to the Earth and Sun affects its appearance.
Students would be encouraged to document their observations and share their findings through visual representations, such as diagrams or models. This activity promotes critical thinking, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of lunar phases. I would then facilitate a class discussion, allowing students to reflect on their discoveries.
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Oisín,
since phases of the Moon appears in second level not primary, looking at the phenomena with a view to light and shadow is the best way to examine it.
From doing a similar activity with secondary students, there is a lot to it, and children need to take the time to explore. I would suggest starting with New Moon and Full Moon, and if you can, go outside with Moon balls (styrofoam on a stick) and let the actual Sun light up the Moon ball so that the children can directly connect the source of the light (the flashlight if you are inside) with the Sun.
Night Sky Network / Astronomy Society of the Pacific has a simple overview of this activity:
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/MoonPhases1.pdf
and the overview with video support is here: https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=329
https://youtu.be/ai9VcMLBiQg?si=n-RYAcfKFix8jjs4
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Hi my name is Harriet I am a infant school teacher in deis school. I am excited to be apart of this course about space. My favourite fact is that space is silent- I would love a few days up there!!
I was teaching my first class about shadows and used inquiry-based activities to investigate shadows. We conducted a fun and interactive shadow exploration experiment.
I introduced the lesson with an open ended question about shadows and made a whole class mind map about what we already knew about shadows. I set up a simple experiment area in the classroom with a light sources (e.g a torch or a lamp) and various objects of different shapes and sizes for the children to investigate. The children explored the experiment area and manipulated the objects to observe how their shadows changed in size, shape, and position based on the light source’s direction. Afterwards we joined for reflection and discussion! By engaging infants in hands-on inquiry-based activities like investigating shadows, we as teachers can foster their natural curiosity and scientific thinking. -
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My name is Sam, I have 1st class next year. I am nervous but excited to return to the junior end of the school! My favourite science fact is that hummingbirds flutter their wings 80 times per second!
I know that the class I have next year enjoyed a lot of water-based play in Aistear in JI & SI. On top of this, 1st class become more involved in our school’s green flag committee, which is currently focusing on marine environmental care. I feel that these combined could be a great trigger for engagement in relevant STEM lessons, such as a float/sink lesson. They can use prior knowledge to make predictions as to what will sink/float and stimulate discussion in the wondering section of the lesson. They can also use what they are learning about weight in maths to justify their predictions. Finally in the exploring section the children would engage in a fun, inquiry-lead activity in which they explore what classroom objects sink and which float.
I am very excited by the framework for inquiry that was introduced to us in this module, as I feel it will guide me in structuring Science lessons this year. It is the one subject I am not always confident teaching.
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Sam,
the joy of the inquiry approach is that you can take children’s ideas and explanations and help them structure them into testable investigations.
If a child sees that an unpeeled orange floats, but when you take the peel off and make it lighter it sinks, they then have to work into their thinking the idea of buoyancy. You might help them think of the peel as being like a life jacket.
We wear life jackets on the water, but they make us heavier! and more floaty!
You don’t need to be the expert on the science, in fact I often recommend being slightly baffled — tell the children that last year the class did something different so you aren’t sure.
When I make paper – straw rocket with a group, many of the children will ask me if they have done it right. My only answer to them is “try it and see.”
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An inquiry-based activity I would use to teach children about space would be a lesson on “a real spacesuit”
Engage
Prompt a picture of an astronaut and a diver
Wonder / Explore / predict Discussion about weather and what clothes we wear. Picture of the astronaut and the diver -Show the photograph of the diver. Explain
That a diver has to take air with him to be able to breathe underwater. People in
space cannot breathe like they do here on Earth. That is why astronauts have to
take their own air supply with them. It can also be very cold in space. That is why
the astronauts wear special suits. Show the photograph of the astronaut. Explain to the children that they are going to make a spacesuit that will keep the
astronaut warm and have its own air supply.
Experiment and Investigation :Allow the children to design clothes for the astronaut and give them a copy of a template of an astronaut.Discussion and applying learning: Encourage them to describe what their
astronaut is wearing. Why did they choose this? Can their spacesuit keep the astronaut warm? For example, did they use lots of cotton wool? Does their astronaut
have a helmet?-
Kathy,
you’ve shared a lovely simple resource from ESERO (https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20_A-real-spacesuit.pdf) that can be used to support a design and make. The children are given the criteria for the space suit:
that will keep the astronaut warm and have its own air supply.
and then the children can Explore Plan Make Evaluate their model space suit and explain why they chose certain materials based on their properties.
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Hi, my name is Michelle. I have found over the years in the classroom that children are so fascinated by space. I’m looking forward to learning more and picking up some more ideas to use in the classroom. My space fact is “The sun is a star- the sun may look like a big, bright circle in the sky, but it’s actually a giant star. It’s the closest star to Earth and provides us with light and warmth.”
Inquiry- based activity: Make a bird feeder using a recycled bottle.
Engage – Prompt question: What kind of birds do we see around us? Chat about birds they see in the school yard. Do a bird hunt using a tick sheet to see how many different birds you can see. Discuss winter, bad weather, why birds find it hard to get food at this time of year, how can we help?
Activity- Make a bird feeder using an empty plastic bottle with cap, a pencil, some twine and fill it with seeds.
Reflect- Hang the bird feeder on a tree where you can view the birds from your classroom. Enjoy watching the birds feed and take note of the different types of birds visiting.
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Michelle,
there is a Bird Feeder activity in Curious Minds, in English and Irish.
It is one of the options for the Whole School CPD offered by Curious Minds.
Making the bird feeder can be a Design & Make, with links to materials and to forces, and once the feeder is made it can be the subject of many inquiries – where is the best place for it? how many birds can use it? are different seeds better or worse….
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Hi,
My name is Aisling. I teach 6th class. I have always had a interest in space and find the sheer vastness of it mind boggling. One of my favourite facts is that the number of stars in the Milky Way is probably higher than the number of humans that have ever been born.
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I am teaching Senior Infants this year for my second year in a row. This is my third year working in an all boys Junior school. One of my favourite space facts is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the Earth’s beaches combined!
Last year I found inquiry-based activities worked really well to engage pupils. I would introduce a “Planet Exploration Station” in the classroom. Each child could select a planet to investigate, using a mixture of books, videos, and hands-on materials representing different planets. They could draw their planet and describe its colours, size, and any unique features, allowing them to express their understanding through art. I would prompt them with questions like, “What do you think it would feel like to walk on that planet?” or “What animals do you imagine live there?” As children research, share findings, and engage in discussions, they will while foster a sense of curiosity about the cosmos. This approach not only nurtures their love for science but also empowers them to take charge of their learning in a fun and engaging manner.
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Niamh,
when we talk about “inquiry-based activities” in this course, we are specifically referencing the Framework for Inquiry that is outlined in this module.
So, your planet exploration can be based on a prompt – what is it like to live on another planet (would you make it just our solar system – or consider some of the vastly different types of worlds that have been discovered around other stars? – if you did, then the ExoPlanet posters could make a great prompt).
Children should then share what they currently understand and share their questions as they wonder and explore. Then they can structure a starter question, make a prediction based on science about that starter, then investigate to check if their science is a good model. The next step might be “what animals might live there” or some other ‘thoughtful action’.
If you do want to include art, you might look at adapting this resource (on how features of art are connected to science) https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/art-the-cosmic-connection/
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Astronaut Training
To understand what astronauts do and the physical skills needed for space travel.
Materials:
Simple obstacle course setup (e.g., cones, hoops
Pictures or videos of astronauts in space
Paper and crayons for drawing
Show a short video of astronauts working in space. Ask, “What do astronauts do in space?”Investigation:
Set up an obstacle course that simulates astronaut training (e.g., crawling under tables, balancing on a line).
After the “training,” have students draw themselves as astronauts, showing what they would do in space.Students share their drawings and describe their astronaut tasks.
Discuss what skills and tools astronauts need and why training is important for space travel.
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Hi Mike,
there is a STEM activity based on physical activity like an astronaut. It was designed for slightly older children, but could be adapted for younger classes.
You can find it as Mission X, Train Like an Astronaut, and a summary pdf is here: https://www.stem.org.uk/system/files/elibrary-resources/2020/12/English_all%20activities.pdf
With the Olympics this summer, astronauts on the ISS have been doing space Olympics again! Here they are in 2021: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2021/08/Space_Olympics_full_video
and this summer:
https://youtu.be/ycDoaIn6wuk?si=uyib_AXynFzF08QH
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Hello there,
I loved all the ideas for inquiry based teaching in this module; the stolen jellies, push and pull, soaking up a spill lesson; they all depicted great teaching and learning based on inquiry based teaching. To teach a floating and sinking lesson, which I have peviously done with first and second class, I would entice and engage the children in more before the lessons with ‘I wonder’ comments and ‘What if’ etc. I would engage the children more through means of prompting, wondering and exploring. We would then investigate different materials for floating and sinking such as big items, small items, all filled items, dense items, long, short, heavy, light items etc. I would get the children to predict what they think would float and sink, would the amount of water have an impact on whether an item floated or sank etc., could an item float at first and then sink or vice versa. After this we would conduct the investigation in groups and interpret the data then. As a whole class then, we would discuss our findings and go on to discuss why arm bands, life jackets, life buoys etc all stay afloat. I would record a personal reflection then myself afterwards on what part of the lesson went well and what could be improved on the next time.-
Irene,
those “I wonder..” and “what if..” are so useful with inquiry activities. The children should feel that their ideas are valuable and can be tested, and that they don’t need to keep checking with teacher if they are ‘right’.
I like the discussion on staying afloat as the next step – so relevant to the many of us who live near the coast or on a river.
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Hello everyone,
My name is Laura and I have been teaching Junior Infants for the past three years and will teach them again this coming September.
Space has always been one of my favourite topics to teach the Infants over the years. One Space fact that I find interesting is that driving a car to the nearest star at 70 mph would take more than 356 billion years! I just find the vastness of Space so interesting and so hard to comprehend.-
Hi Laura,
making those comparisons is fun. I sometimes ask second level students roughly how big they think the world is.
We start from – how long does it take a plane to get to Australia- which is half way around the world. They say – about a day or 24 hours. (ish)
Then I ask – how far does a plane go in an hour (ish). If they don’t know (and they usually don’t) we break it down to – if you took a plane from Cork to Dublin, how long would it take once you were in the air – and how far is Dublin – so that’s roughly the speed of an airplane.
It’s all very ish. Then we look at going to the Moon, since the Moon is 30 Earth diameters away (or 10 circumferences), so if it takes a day to get to Australia in a plane, it will take 20 days to get to the Moon (ish).
If you want to look at a bigger comparison table:
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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.
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Susie,
in this module we have introduced the Framework for Inquiry as a guide for inquiry in Irish classrooms.
The structure of Engage / Investigate / take the Next Step and then Reflect can be used to centre the learning on the child, with their own science understanding being improved and consolidated through the inquiry steps.
If you have stations set up, a shared prompt through a picture book (see the many suggested ones here: https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/SpaceWeekJunior-1.pdf) can be ideal to engage the children.
I’d choose open ended activities, and perhaps share ‘task descriptors’ that give the children the method to make a thing, and let them then explore their understanding through play.
We will meet rockets in Module5, planets in Module2, stars in Module3, so you may want to incorporate some of those specific activities into this plan.
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Hi! Lauryn here. Here is my mind-map and my reflection.
Mind Map:
– Planets in our Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
– Stars and Constellations: The Sun, Orion, Big Dipper
– The Earth’s Movements: day and night, seasons
– Space Exploration: Astronauts, Rockets and SatellitesInquiry based activity:
For an inquiry-based activity, I would focus on the concept of moon phases. I would introduce the activity by discussing the moon and showing them images of the different phases. Then, I would provide each student with a very simple “Moon Diary” where they could draw what they observe about the moon each night for a week or so.
This activity is beneficial because it encourages daily observation and reflection, encouraging a habit of inquiry. The students will hopefully begin to notice patterns in the moon’s appearance, leading to questions about why the moon changes. This inquiry-based approach engages students in active learning and helps them develop a deeper understanding of the moon’s phases through personal experience and observation.
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Hi Lauryn,
I produce a Moon calendar each year for Blackrock Castle and Space Week.
Last year’s is here: (
Scroll down this page and you will find the next’s years when we publish it shortly
https://www.spaceweek.ie/for-organisers/for-teachers/
With this Moon calendar we decided to simplify the main phases of the Moon and include just some of the main events over the year.
The next one coming up is the partial lunar eclipse on September 18 (Partial Lunar Eclipse on 17–18 September 2024 – Where and When to See (timeanddate.com)
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Hi everyone,
I’m Danielle, I work with Frances, Jane and Niall at Blackrock Castle Observatory.
As you might be able to tell from my photo, I started out in the US, but have been living in Cork for years now.
I am very involved in Space Week and operate the Big Bertha telescope at Blackrock Castle, as well as my own personal telescope. -
An inquiry based approach I would take to a lesson with Junior Infants would be demonstrating how the Earth orbits the sun using our own shadows.
I would start the lesson with a question – do we think that the Earth spins slowly or stands still. Children use the think/pair/share to come up with their answers and reasons as to why. I will then explain to them how the Earth moves very slowly everyday around the sun which is why we have day and night.
Each child would be provided with a piece of chalk on a sunny day. We would head out to the yard three times on that specific day for example at; 9am, 11am and 1pm. The children would each be given a specific space on the yard and they would have to draw their own shadows. They would do this three times in one given day at the times mentioned above and it would show them how their shadow has moved as the sun has moved during the day.-
Laura,
I’d try to be very careful with the language around “The Earth moving” and distinguish between orbiting the Sun (which it does every year) and rotating on its own axis, which it does every day.
During one rotation, the Earth moves 1/365th of its orbit around the Sun. It is the rotation that gives us day and night. At the same time, we move a little bit around the Sun, which after a few months gives us a change in season.
This What if from the creator of XKCD has some really fun numbers in an answer to a ‘what if’ question that include the speed of the Earth’s surface.
and this video answers the ‘what if the Earth suddenly stopped spinning?’
https://youtu.be/gp5G1QG6cXc?si=IPQMueSPzTHJbqqP
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Hi all, I am Marcella and will be teaching 2nd c;ass again next year. My favourite space fact is that a day on Venus lasts longer than a year on Earth!
Mind Map:
<p style=”text-align: center;”>What is Space?</p>
<p style=”text-align: center;”>Outer Space</p>
<p style=”text-align: center;”>The Universe
Stars and Planets
Black Holes
Mysterious Stuff (Dark Matter & Energy)
Space Exploration</p>
<p style=”text-align: center;”>Exploring space
Satellites and telescopes
Traveling in space
Problems we face in space</p>
For an enquiry based activity in my class, I would start with the prompt question: “How do rockets fly?” Introduce the concept by showing a simple video of a rocket launch. Ask students what they think makes the rocket go up.
Next, conduct a hands-on activity where students build and launch their own mini rockets using materials like paper, straws, and balloons. Guide them to observe how the rocket moves when air is released from the balloon, demonstrating the principle of action and reaction.
Encourage students to modify their designs to see how changes affect the rocket’s flight. Discuss why some rockets go higher than others, linking this to the forces acting on the rocket.
This activity aligns with the SESE Science curriculum, specifically the Energy and Forces strand, promoting inquiry, experimentation, and understanding of scientific principles through active engagement and hands-on learning.
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Hi my name is Orla and I will be teaching Senior Infants. My favourite Space fact is …There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. That’s at least a billion trillion!
This is how I have used an inquiry-based activity in my classroom. We have made Colourful Flowers to learn how water travels through plants.The children learn what happens to plants when they are given water. They are able to see processes like transpiration and cohesion as the water moves from the glasses up to the stem of the flowers and upwards towards the flowers. I introduce the topic with the children through picture books. Examples of these books are
1.Usborne book – How do flowers grow?
2.Step into Science – Plants by Peter Riley
I encourage the children to predict what will happen and in groups they record their findings through simple pictures to show the results of the experiment.You need 3 or 4 white flowers, food colouring in different colour, 4 glasses and water. I give a glass of water to each group. I pour food colouring into the glasses, so that each glass contains a different colour. We cut the flowers so they fit into the glasses. Then we gently place the flowers into the glasses. We then watch as the flowers begin to change colour! During this I ask the children to make predictions and also also many questions to encourage them to talk about what they are seeing and what they think is happening. The children then record what they have observed using simple pictures or sometimes I draw out flowers for them to colour in and show our results. I have also discussed how the children could make a multi-coloured flower. The children always enjoy this inquiry and they get very excited seeing the flowers change colour!
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Orla,
the demonstration of the flowers changing colour is a great introduction to some key ideas of how plants take in water. In inquiry learning as we are using the term in this course, the children should be using their own science understanding to predict an outcome and then verify their science by carrying out an investigation activity.
When the children make predictions there needs to be some reason behind their predictions. If they have to guess, then the inquiry process isn’t being fully used. This means that some initial discussion and elaboration of idea needs to happen – this can be in the wonder and explore section of the Framework.
I’d modify this lovely activity to show an example of a flower changing colour, then allow the children to set up more flowers, with perhaps the split stems and different colours in the jars to see how their ideas of the water movement are correct.
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Hi, my name is Niamh and I am a Special Education Teacher. I have always been fascinated by Space. My favourite Space fact is that there is a possibility that it rains diamonds on Neptune. This is due to extreme weather conditions.
I have used an inquiry-based activity in my classroom on the topic of planets.
Search for the Planets. Can you identify the planets in our Solar System?
We looked at photographs and pictures of the planets and discussed each planet in detail, talking about the various colours we could see, size, patterns and rings. Each of the children drew a planet and coloured it in. We then stuck the planets onto a piece of card and placed the card under a glass dish of water. We added black paint to the water and some glitter to represent the stars. The children used a plastic cup to press down on the bottom of the dish, which would make the planets visible. There was a poster beside the dish displaying pictures and names of the planets. The pupils were then able to match the planet they ‘discovered’ to the planet on the poster. The pupils really enjoyed being astronauts and discovering planets through the night sky. -
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Topic: Plant Growth and an example prompt might be.
“What do plants need to grow strong and healthy?” Have a little potted plant. Encourage students to ask questions related to the topic. You can facilitate a class discussion to brainstorm these question; What happens to a plant if it doesn’t get enough sunlight? How does the type of soil affect plant growth?
Can plants grow without water?Set up a small garden in the classroom with different conditions: one plant with sunlight, one without, one with regular watering, and one without.
Read books or watch videos about plant growth and photosynthesis.
Use magnifying glasses to observe plants’ parts, like leaves and roots, in detail.
Investigation
Allow students to conduct experiments/investigations based on their questions. Experiment: Have students plant seeds in different soil types (sand, clay, garden soil) and monitor their growth.
Hypothesis: Each group can develop a hypothesis about which soil will produce the healthiest plants.
Procedure: Students will water the plants equally and place them in the same light conditions to control variables.
Data
Students collect data during their investigations. They can record their findings in charts, graphs, or journals. Measure and record plant height every few days,
observe leaf colour and number of leaves weekly, take photos.Have students reflect on their findings and the process. Encourage them to think about what they learned and how it relates to their initial questions.
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I have used some of the activities mentioned by posters in this forum in the past- such as floating and sinking and making a volcano.
We too would try to implement STEM across the curriculum and have found that the pupils engage really well with the hands-on, active lessons.
An inquiry based activity that I would like to use in my classroom this coming year is the gravity and fallings things following the curious minds/esero framework. I really like that the key language is explicitly taught and that the children are given time to explore how forces make things move as an introduction to this topic (linking with play) The prompts are helpful and the whole framework is structured very well with starter questions and predicting. I feel that the pupils would enjoy conducting the investigation and interpreting the data and results. I feel like this framework lays out and progresses the inquiry based activity very well and I look forward to using it with my class.
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Hi, my name is Niamh and I work in a DEIS Junior school. I am carrying on my class to Senior Infants.
An inquiry-based lesson that I carried out with the children is what is the best way to melt ice.
The topic we were learning about topic was winter. We were learning about polar bears and the Artic region. We read the story ‘Big Bear Little Bear’ by David Bedford. We discussed how snow is made and different ways we can melt it. We discussed what items we could use to melt it (hairdryer, radiator, water, child friendly knife – plastic)and then predicted how long it would take. We carried out this experiment during our Aistear. The children carried out the experiment in small groups. We put small animals in small see through containers with water and I put them in the freezer overnight. Each group used a different way to melt the ice while I timed it. They were very excited when they saw the ice melting and the closer they got to the toys the more excited they got. Once all the ice was melted and the toys were free we all discussed what was the best and quickest way to melt the ice. -
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Hi,
My name is Lorraine and I teach multigrade juniors in a rural school. My favourite Scientific fact is that your brain is constantly eating itself in a process called phagocytosis!!
My Inquiry Based Activity was a series of lessons on Pollination and the Decline of the Bee. Through games and interactive quizzes and activities the learners could understand several reasons why honey bee populations are declining due to predators or limiting factors, and the possible consequences. I used SciShow kids Youtube video to follow the life of a bee.
https://youtu.be/ta154f5Rp5Y?si=uJvGxAER12QESbzO
The children researched plants/flowers that are known pollinators and we planted a selection of these in our sensory garden ay school.
We invited local beekeeper Mr Damian Nugent into our class for a Q&A which was super exciting and informative.
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Hi my name is Emer. I teach in a junior school. My interesting fact about space is Stars come in different colours depending on their temperature. Cooler stars appear red, while hotter stars look blue or white. Our Sun is a medium-hot star, so that’s why it appears yellow.
This year I am teaching Junior Infants. An inquiry based lesson I hope to teach is in relation to the effects of sugar on teeth enamel. I will start with a prompt of showing the children my old fashioned silver filling on my tooth and ask the children why they think I have it? This will start the wondering phase for children and make them begin to think about possible causes.
Next we will start to investigate. I will bring in a number of hard boiled eggs and explain to the children that the shell of the egg is similar to the enamel on our teeth. I will also bring in a number of drinks, clear plastic cups and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
We will put a different liquid in each clear glass but we will measure the same amount in each glass-drinks will be milk, water, cordial, coke, red lemonade
The children will predict what they think is going to happen to the shell of the egg.
We will wait 48hours. The children will then take the eggs out and observe the difference in colour and texture of the egg.
The can compare the differences and analyse why they think some have change colour or are less firm.
We will then use tooth paste and a toothbrush on the eggs. The children can predict what they think will happen and then see if they were correct.
We will discuss how this applies to our teeth and make connections. The children will then apply their learning to their everyday life.
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Emer,
this activity naturally lends itself to a discussion of fair testing. The children can predict if one liquid will more of an effect than another, based on their experience and understanding. If they find another liquid has a greater effect, they might discuss if the test was ‘fair’. Were all the egg shells the same thickness at the start? Were the jars kept in the same conditions, was the same amount of liquid added etc.
The next step arises perfectly from the activity.
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Hi my name is Mags, I am teaching 1st class for the first time this year.
An enquiry based activity I would carry out with my class is What a plant needs to grow?
I would discuss what a plant needs to grow – soil, water, light.
WE would read books, watch videos about plant life.
I would divide the class into groups and set up different scenarios, with soil, without soil, watered – not watered, in sunlight out of sunlight. We would make predictions and observe our plants. We have a control plant and discuss where to place the plant for optimal growth and discuss this based on our previous research.
We would create a pictogram of the plants week on week, and discuss which plants were progressing and how and hypothesis reasons for plants growing and appearing differently.
We would finally compare our predictions to end results and compare our control plant to our experimental ones and identify differences and reasons why?-
Hi Mags,
did you know that you can add a space twist to growing plants with this ESA Education Resource:
and it comes with a supporting video
https://youtu.be/YpGdgY-eCXI?si=gQPDFB1I_E-VI3Pp
There is also a challenge with Astrocrops, where plants are grown from seed.
For children to use the inquiry process in this investigation they would need to have some background understanding, so that they can make testable questions and improve their understanding. You might do this by having a class plant, and they might notice that it doesn’t look as healthy if they forget to water it, or that leaves that are away from the window look paler etc.
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Hi my name is Mags, I am teaching 1st class for the first time this year.
An enquiry based activity I would carry out with my class is What a plant needs to grow?
I would discuss what a plant needs to grow – soil, water, light.
WE would read books, watch videos about plant life.
I would divide the class into groups and set up different scenarios, with soil, without soil, watered – not watered, in sunlight out of sunlight. We would make predictions and observe our plants. We have a control plant and discuss where to place the plant for optimal growth and discuss this based on our previous research.
We would create a pictogram of the plants week on week, and discuss which plants were progressing and how and hypothesis reasons for plants growing and appearing differently.
We would finally compare our predictions to end results and compare our control plant to our experimental ones and identify differences and reasons why? -
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Hi everyone.
My name is Úna and I am working as Junior School SET for the past few years. I have had experience working with some kids who have a fascination and keen interest in Space, I look forward to gathering some facts and ideas for the year ahead.My fun Space fact – There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. That’s at least a billion trillion!
I really enjoyed this module and have reflected on my many years of teaching Infants. The inquiry based learning approach leads way for plenty of opportunity for hands on learning and trial and error analysis.
I recall reading the Big Book “Whatever Next” by Jill Murphy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za-g9y0_Y1s .
This naturally led their inquisitive minds to the fascination of rockets and their need to build their own rocket. This develops the Strand: Energy and Forces and Strand Unit: Forces, Curriculum Objectives: Identify and explore how objects and materials may be moved. The amount of cross curricular teaching that can be carried out through this theme is immense; Irish – Roicéad (Rocket), Lainseáil (Launch), Maths – 2D and 3D shapes, measurements, angles; History of flight; PE – throwing and kicking balls.
Trigger questions / wondering e.g. How do rockets work? Gases going out the back of the rocket push it forward, like an untied blown up balloon goes forward when you let it go and the air goes out the back.
Plan, make and evaluate and launch the rocket. A great material/way for building rockets is insulation pipe together with an elastic band taped to one end. They can then use their rockets to conduct a fair test investigation for launching a rocket. Discussion before they start regarding impact of launch conditions, design features etc. Predict the outcome. Conduct the investigation. Sharing their data & results and outcomes.-
Hi Úna,
we’ll meet rockets more extensively in Module 5, but you have described perfectly how inquiry learning can be used with rockets as the activity.
The launch of a rocket makes a perfect prompt, and then the design and make acts as the investigation section. As the children play with their rockets they can make changes to improve the rocket’s flight, based on what they notice about the rocket. This gives immediate feedback.
We make a lot of rockets with children, and the excitement they share when they get the rocket to launch is very real. We find the foam rocket is good for 1st class (at the end of the year) if you have some extra hands to help with the duct tape. 2nd and up are fine with it, and 3rd class children usually have the record for how fast they can make one (an entire class in about 23 minutes).
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Ive been interested in all things space from a young age and have always wanted to visit a planetarium. I find it fasciniating and i always find that children love to learn about the solar system, rockets, astronauts and partake in sciencd activities. Last year, I taught 1st class for the majority of the year before moving to SET. They adored science and we used to check NASA live, use images from NASA hubble (as lesson prompts for Visual Art, Mindfulness, Drama and oral language activities to name a few) and I found a wonderful picture book which they loved called Little Comet by Autumn Publishing. I read it to infants and first class and they were intrigued by the asteroids in the story and the story of the little comets journey around the sun. Id highly recommend this book for the early years!
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Thanks for sharing that book link,
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Hi everyone, my name is Chloe and I will be teaching senior infants this September.
My favorite space fact is that the sunset on mars appears blue in colour.
An inquiry based activity that I have done previously was looking at gravity, skydiving, and parachutes. The children experimented with a variety of different everyday materials such as tissue paper, plastic bags, straws, old pillow cases etc. Children used a variety of materials to try and build the best parachute (the parachute that fell at the slowest speed). The children created a plan for their parachute stated what materials they were going to use in their parachute, and gave their opinion’s on why they thought their parachute was going to work the best.
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Mindmap:
https://mm.tt/app/map/3391660439?t=s9VmKCxX1FIntroduction:
I teach in a Gaelscoil in Cork city. I will be teaching Rang a hAon next year.Favourite Space Fact:
There is no sound in space!- How you would use one Inquiry-Based Activity in your Classroom:
https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/curious-minds-resource-explore-your-environment-using-your-senses-hearing.pdf - https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/an-tsraith-um-iniuchadh-a-dheanamh-ar-do-thimpeallacht-agus-usaid-a-baint-agat-as-do-chuid-ceadfai-eisteacht-explore-your-environment-using-your-senses-hearing.pdf
Engage
The Trigger: What do we use our ears for?
Wondering: Can we identify things using our ears? What things are best identified using sound? e.g. a dog barking, an ambulance;
Exploring: Pupils close their eyes while the teacher holds up an item. They identify what the teacher is holding while their eyes are closed – can sound help us to identify items? Ask pupils to cover their ears – can they identify a sound being made by the teacher?Investigate
Starter Question: Our ears are great at telling us what something is when we cannot see it, like an ambulance siren or a dog barking. How good are our ears at identifying something that normally does not create a lot of sound?
Predicting: Pupils listen to the sounds of different objects/foods and predict what they are.
Conducting the Investigation: Teacher shakes non-transparent sealed container and pupils predict what the item is before it is revealed. Teachers reveals the contents and sees how many were correct. Then pupils break into groups and repeat the investigation themselves with different materials. Pupils record how they would describe the sounds of the objects as they are shaken e.g. high, low, loud, soft. Once the objects are revealed, pupils record words they would use to describe how the objects look.
Sharing, Interpreting the Data/Results: Create a word cloud of most used words to describe the sounds of objects. Do the same but with the descriptive words for how the objects look. Do any of the words cross over? How does the sense we use change our perception of the objects?Take the Next Step
Applying Learning: Use these words to describe sounds we hear around the school on a sound walk.
Making Connections: Make connections with words we use in music e.g. high, low, loud, soft and for describing in English and Gaeilge (N.B. description bubble)
Thoughtful Actions: By investigating the world around us using other senses we can expand our understanding of how someone with impaired hearing, sight, smell, taste or touch navigates the world. How could we make our school more accessible for people with limited hearing, e.g. learn to use some sign language. - How you would use one Inquiry-Based Activity in your Classroom:
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My name is Maria, I’m teaching Seniors and First Class for the second year in a row in a rural Cork school.
My favourite space fact is about the rings around Saturn.These rings are made up of ice, dust, and tiny rocks, and they sparkle like glitter when sunlight hits them. Saturn is so big that over 760 Earths could fit inside it! I explain to the children that even though it’s far away in space, scientists have sent special spacecraft to take pictures of Saturn and its amazing rings.
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