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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.
Use of AI Tools: Our facilitators occasionally observe that course reflections may be generated with the assistance of AI tools. While AI can be a helpful support for drafting ideas or exploring different ways to express your thinking, it is essential that your forum posts reflect your own understanding and engagement with the course content. This is in line with the Department of Education and Youth’s Summer Course guidelines.
Before posting to the forum, we encourage you to take a moment to review your contributions and, if necessary, revise them to ensure they are appropriate and authentically your own. -
Hi my name is Evelyn Kennedy, I will be teaching 1st class next year. Space has always fascinated me so I thought this course would be interesting and help me to learn more.
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Hi Eimear. You will be delighted to hear that there is an entire week dedicated to Space outside of Science week every year! https://www.spaceweek.ie/
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Junior infant lesson: Magnets- What sticks?
Learning objectives:
Use science vocabulary like magnet, magnetic, sticks not sticks.
Explore magnets through play and investigation
Identify objects that are magnetic and are not.
Materials:
Magnets, coins, paperclips, keys, plastic spoon, rubberbands, lego, tin foil, thumb tacks.
Sort the materials under labels Magnetic or Non Magnetic. Predictions can be recorded pictorially too.
Inquiry Question: What is a magnet? What does it do?
Introduction/ raising curiosity:
Show a magnet ? What is it? Have you ever seen one at home etc What does it do ? What might stick to it?
Magnetic detective:
What objects will stick? Pupils choose objects such as plastic spoon, thumb tack etc. Children could work in pairs . one investigates and the other records. Pupils than swop roles. This could be further elaborated by going for magnetic hunt around the classroom. Drawing the pupils attention to key words as magnetic, sticks, non magnetic, falls off .
Cross curricular links:
Oral language-describing observations.
Social and emotional development: working in pairs or small groups
Maths: counting and comparing number of objects that are magnetic and non magnetic
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This is a great inquiry lesson and would work really well in Senior Infants too. Children love being magnetic detectives and can explore magnets through play and testing. I feel it could link nicely to aistear such as in the construction area, children build towers and test which parts are magnetic, and in small‑world play, children could use magnets to move tools or treasures in a pretend space station. Another activity could be to sort objects into magnetic and non‑magnetic which would supports talk, maths and teamwork.
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Hi Mary,
I really like this activity as it is so hands-on and engaging. The “Magnetic Detective” idea encourages children to make predictions, test their ideas and communicate their observations, which fits well with an inquiry-based approach. I also like the cross-curricular links, particularly the opportunities to develop oral language and mathematical skills alongside science learning.
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Hi Mary, thanks for sharing some lovely ideas. This sounds like a lesson that children in Infants would really enjoy. I really like the idea of having a magnetic hunt in the classroom. I never thought of doing that and might use it in the future. It’s nice to do this activity to include pair work which you mentioned. I feel children can learn alot from sharing their ideas with others and learning to listen to their friends share their thoughts top.
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Hi Mary,
That is a super infant lesson on Magnets. Some really great ideas to keep the children engaged and active in their own learning in the classroom environment. They really enjoy being detectives which can lead to some great discussion points on materials that they think might be magnetic but transpires that only part of the object is magnetic, some examples being the handle on a window or also not all coins aren’t completely magnetic (€1, €2 coins). An extension to this activity is to find something in their home which is magnetic. Magnets is a fun activity which all pupils can take part in and ideal as it is cross curricular too.
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My name is Aoife. These are great ideas. The children in my class have always loved when we do a Magnet lesson. They are all fully engaged. It is wonderful to hear them use the scientific language within the lesson. It is a lesson that can be easily differentiated too, allowing the children from the AS class to take an active role in the lesson.
A magnet lesson can be easily adapted to any class that is being taught. The children’s responses can be more age appropriate, starting from smiley faces for a positive magnetic force to a sad face for an item that is not magnetic. The older classes can use more specific language.
It allows for cross curricular involvement. Oral language and the mathematical language are key to the lessons on magnets. It is a lesson that is highly sociable. The children are engaging with one another in a fun, learning way. It allows for different roles to naturally evolve while they work in groups.
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Hi Aoife, delighted you’re getting some great ideas from the forum. I like the flexibility of the approaches you refer to with the magnets and how it’s cross curricular and involves oral and maths skills. Neither the Moon nor Mars posess a magnetic field, so does your class think a compass would work well there and can they think of other ways to navigate (e.g., by the stars).
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As a Special Education teacher, I believe that inquiry-based learning is a powerful approach because it allows students to explore, ask questions, and learn through their own experiences. One activity I would like to use in my classroom is a simple investigation about magnets. Students could become “science detectives” and explore different objects to discover which materials are magnetic and which are not.
This type of activity encourages curiosity, communication, and problem-solving skills. It also provides opportunities for students to make predictions, test their ideas, and discuss their findings with others. For children with additional learning needs, hands-on activities like this can be especially motivating because they involve movement, observation, and practical experiences.
I would adapt the activity by using visual supports, clear instructions, and cooperative work so that all students can participate at their own level. I think activities based on investigation help children develop confidence and understand that making mistakes is part of the learning process. Science can become an inclusive and enjoyable experience where every student feels successful.
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Children always enjoy lessons involving magnets. They love predicting and exploring items in the classroom that will stick. Your lesson is very well adapted to Junior Infants. I can see them having great fun and being very involved in this lesson. I love the way you have included cross curricular activities
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I really like how this lesson allows children to learn through exploration rather than simply being told the answers. The hands-on investigations and opportunities to make predictions naturally encourage curiosity and discussion, while the pair work helps children learn from one another. It is a simple but engaging inquiry lesson that develops both scientific thinking and confidence
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Hi Sharon, That sounds wonderful! What’s cool about choosing a rocket launch site is that we tend to favour sites on the equator, by the ocean and where we can launch rockets eastward!
As we know the earth rotates on its axis (one rotation being a day) but this speed is not the same everywhere – the highest speeds being at the equator this gives rockets an extra ‘push’ when launching.
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Hi Doireann, Thank you for your fact. It is quite normal for moons to move around like this in the solar system and beyond. Quite the opposite is happening to one of the moons around Mars – Phobos. This moon will fall closer to the planet and maybe even get ripped apart! https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/mars-tear-phobos-apart-could-happen-sooner
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Hi Doireann, Thank you for your fact. It is quite normal for moons to move around like this in the solar system and beyond. Quite the opposite is happening to one of the moons around Mars – Phobos. This moon will fall closer to the planet and maybe even get ripped apart! https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/mars-tear-phobos-apart-could-happen-sooner
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Senior Infants Science Lesson: Floating and Sinking
Learning Outcome
Children will investigate and identify that some objects float and some objects sink. They will make simple predictions, carry out an investigation and talk about what they discovered.Materials
Clear container filled with water
Small objects (e.g. plastic spoon, coin, cork, toy block, leaf, stone, sponge, bottle cap)
Towel for spills
Prediction chart with two columns: Float and SinkInquiry Question
What makes some objects float while others sink?Introduction (5–10 minutes)
Show the children the container of water and a selection of objects.
Ask:
“What do you think will happen if we put this object in the water?”
“Will it float or sink?”
Encourage children to make predictions and place each object on the prediction chart before testing.
Investigation (15 minutes)
One at a time, children choose an object.
They predict whether it will float or sink.
Place the object carefully into the water.
Observe what happens.
Sort the objects into two groups: Float and Sink.
Encourage children to use simple scientific language such as:
float, sink, heavy, light, water, predict, observeDiscussion (10 minutes)
Ask questions such as:Which objects floated?
Which objects sank?
Were any of your predictions correct?
Did any objects surprise you?
Do all heavy objects sink?
Do all light objects float?
Guide children to notice that weight alone does not always determine whether something floats or sinks.Conclusion (5 minutes)
Review what the children discovered.
Reinforce that scientists make predictions, test their ideas and observe carefully.
Finish by asking each child to name one object that floated and one that sank.
Extension: Invite children to find another object in the classroom and predict whether it would float or sink before testing it later. -
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Hi Doireann. I think this inquiry question is very appropriate for Senior Infants. I like that you challenge the common misconception that all heavy objects sink and all light objects float. As a follow-up to a floating and sinking lesson I did with SI last year, I got my class to design and test a small boat using different materials to see which one could hold the most counters before sinking.
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This is a lovely, practical lesson that is very well suited to Senior Infants. I like how it encourages children to make predictions before investigating, helping them develop curiosity and scientific thinking. The hands-on nature of the activity will keep pupils engaged, while the discussion questions encourage them to reflect on their observations. I also like the extension activity, as it gives children the opportunity to apply their learning by making and testing their own predictions using classroom objects.
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Hi Doireann,
Thank you for sharing this detailed lesson. It is certainly very hands on which children love. I particularly like the time given for discussion and predictions and ‘what ifs’. I also like how you bring to their attention that not all heavy objects sink and all light objects float. Your extension activity also gives the children a great opportunity to choose their own objects , predict and test out the theory reinforcing the main concept of the lesson.
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inquiry-Based Science Lesson: Exploring Gravity
For my inquiry-based science lesson, I would focus on teaching children about gravity. I believe gravity is an ideal topic because it is a concept that children can easily relate to through their everyday experiences, while also sparking their curiosity about the world around them. The topic naturally encourages children to ask questions, make predictions, and investigate through hands-on learning.
To begin the lesson, I would introduce the topic by discussing space and exploring the children’s prior knowledge. I would ask open-ended questions such as, “What do you know about space?” and “Have you ever seen astronauts floating?” This would help to activate their existing knowledge and encourage discussion.
Next, I would show short video clips and images of astronauts floating, eating, drinking, and sleeping aboard a spacecraft. The children would be encouraged to observe carefully and discuss what they notice. I would ask questions such as, “Why do you think the astronauts are floating?” and “Why don’t they stand on the floor like we do?” These discussions would naturally introduce the concept of gravity.
Following this, we would watch a short, age-appropriate song about gravity to reinforce the concept in an engaging way. We would then discuss gravity as a force, explaining that a force is a push or a pull, and that there are many different types of forces that help objects move. Together, we would brainstorm examples of pushes and pulls that children experience in everyday life.
To make the learning more meaningful, the children would participate in a simple practical activity. They would stand up and jump into the air before discussing what happened when they jumped. I would guide them to recognise that they always return to the ground because gravity pulls them back down. We would also throw a variety of objects into the air and observe how they all fall back to the ground. This would reinforce the idea that gravity acts on all objects and keeps people, animals, and everyday objects on Earth’s surface instead of floating away.
The main inquiry activity would involve children working collaboratively in pairs to investigate how different objects fall. They would be provided with a selection of materials of different sizes, shapes, and weights and asked to make predictions before testing each object. They would observe whether some objects appear to fall faster or slower than others and discuss possible reasons for their observations. Through questioning and discussion, children would be encouraged to consider factors such as an object’s size, weight, and shape, and to think about whether there are ways to make an object fall more slowly, such as by increasing its surface area. Throughout the investigation, children would record their observations and share their findings with the class.
To extend learning, a follow-up lesson would introduce magnets as another example of a force. Working in pairs or small groups, children would use magnets to investigate which classroom objects are magnetic. They would test a range of materials, record their results, identify patterns, and discuss why some objects are attracted to magnets while others are not. This follow-up activity would help children understand that gravity is one of several different forces that influence how objects move and interact.
Overall, this inquiry-based approach encourages children to ask questions, make predictions, investigate through practical activities, communicate their ideas, and develop a scientific understanding of gravity through active exploration rather than direct instruction alone.
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Hey Sharon, This is fantastic! some of my favourite space videos involve how water moves on the ISS
Water on the ISS – for Science!
Karen Nyberg Shows How You Wash Hair in SpaceIf you do use the international space station as an example it might be interesting to know that they plan to decommission the space station and deorbit it by 2030!
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Hi Sharon,
This is a great lesson. Children love astronauts and seeing them floating around is a great prompt that would really grab their attention.
I love that the follow up activity would be magnets as it makes the links between different types of forces. Definitely a lesson I will use next year. Thank you.
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Inquiry-Based Science Lesson (2nd & 3rd Class)
Topic: Which Materials Are Waterproof?
Curriculum Area: Science – Materials
Class Level: 2nd & 3rd Class
Duration: 45–60 minutesLearning Intentions
By the end of the lesson, pupils will:
- Predict which materials will keep water out.
- Carry out a fair test.
- Record and discuss their observations.
- Explain which materials are waterproof and suggest where they are used in everyday life.
Success Criteria
- I can make a prediction.
- I can test different materials fairly.
- I can record my results.
- I can explain which materials are waterproof.
Materials
- Small pieces of:
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Cotton fabric
- Plastic bag
- Aluminium foil
- Sponge
- Pipettes or teaspoons
- Water
- Paper towels
- Recording sheet
- Pencils
Engage (10 minutes)
Show pupils a teddy bear or small toy that needs to stay dry in the rain.
Ask:
- What could we wrap the teddy in to keep it dry?
- Which materials do you think would work best?
- Why do you think that?
Allow pupils to make predictions.
Investigate (20 minutes)
Inquiry Question
Which material is the most waterproof?
In small groups:
- Place one material on the table.
- Put the same amount of water on each material.
- Observe whether the water soaks through.
- Record what happens.
- Repeat for all materials.
Encourage pupils to think:
- Was it fair?
- Did we use the same amount of water each time?
- What did we notice?
Record Results
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<td>Material</td>
<td>Prediction</td>
<td>What Happened?</td>
<td>Waterproof?</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Paper</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Plastic</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cotton</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Foil</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sponge</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cardboard</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Discuss (10 minutes)Questions:
- Which material worked best?
- Which surprised you?
- Which materials absorbed water?
- Why are raincoats made from waterproof materials?
- What other waterproof objects can you think of?
Extend the Inquiry (10 minutes)
Challenge pupils:
Can you design a waterproof coat for the teddy?
Provide:
- Plastic
- Foil
- Fabric
- Tape
- Scissors
Pupils test whether their coat keeps the teddy dry.
Assessment
Observe whether pupils can:
- Make a prediction.
- Work collaboratively.
- Carry out a fair test.
- Explain their findings using scientific language such as waterproof, absorbent, material, predict, test, and observe.
Cross-Curricular Links
- Maths: Create a class pictogram showing which material performed best.
- English: Write two or three sentences explaining the investigation.
- Visual Arts: Design a waterproof umbrella or raincoat.
- Geography: Discuss why waterproof clothing is useful in Ireland’s climate.
Higher-Order Thinking Questions
- Why do you think some materials absorb water while others do not?
- Would your results change if it rained for an hour?
- How could we improve our investigation?
- Can you think of jobs where waterproof materials are important?
This lesson follows an inquiry-based approach by encouraging pupils to ask questions, make predictions, investigate through hands-on exploration, analyse evidence, and communicate their conclusions
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One inquiry-based activity I would use with my 2nd class is an investigation on which materials float and sink. I would begin by showing the children a selection of everyday objects and asking them to predict whether each object will float or sink. They would record their predictions before testing the objects in small groups using a container of water.
After the investigation, the children would compare their predictions with the results and discuss why some objects floated while others sank. I would encourage them to use simple scientific language such as predict, observe, test and results. We would finish by sorting the objects into two groups and talking about the properties of the materials.
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i would use this inquiry activity too as this has an excellent cross-curricular applications with Maths, SESE. It also is a great way for the kids to identify with Gravity and floating and sinking on the different planets.
I particularly liked the posing the question by the kids themselves. This i liked because it can lead the discussion with the kids own prior knowledge. Then i agree with Nicole in that the kids can then make their predictions about the activity and see then at the end whether they were correct or not. This is great for the Junior classes as this is what they are all about, wondering, thinking and exploring. The prompt is nice also, as this can be the teacher led inquiry.
I like then the applications of the knowledge gained. It brings a practical and useful integration of the knowledge learned. I will be downloading and using the curios minds template too. Nice resource.
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Hi, My name is Amanda Sweeney. Next year I will be working in SET as part of a cluster.
My favourite space fact is that space is a vacuum and sound cannot travel in a vacuum so space is completely silent. Therefore all the explosions and gunfire noises in Star Wars other space movies are all impossible in real life.
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Hi My name is Geraldine Fahey. This year I am teaching in SET. I have always been interested in Space as it is the great unknown. When I think about the Earth and how tiny a mere speck it is in the grand scheme of things it makes my mind boggle. Looking forward to this summer course and all it entails.
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My Mind Map Space After Module 1
Introduction my first thoughts when I think of Space:
Unknown, Vast, Sun is central to our Solar system.
Earth is a mere speck, Space Exploration is exciting we learn about the universe and our place in it through exploration. International Space Station is in the Earth’s orbit sometimes visible in the night sky.
Moon is Earth’s Satellite.
Space is cool and learning about it is so interesting.
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Inquiry-based activity- Infant Classes- Floating and Sinking
I would use a floating and sinking activity as an inquiry-based learning experience with my Junior Infants. I chose this activity because it is a simple but effective way to encourage children’s natural curiosity and allow them to learn through exploration. Young children are naturally curious and enjoy finding out how things work, so this activity gives them the opportunity to investigate and discover ideas for themselves.I would begin the lesson with a simple prompt to encourage curiosity and discussion. For example, I could show the children an object and ask, “I wonder what will happen if I put this into the water?” The children would be encouraged to share their ideas, make predictions and explain their thinking. We would then test the different objects together and discuss what happened. Children would have the opportunity to ask questions, share their observations and reflect on whether their predictions were correct.
I like this type of activity because it allows children to be active participants in their own learning rather than just listening to information. It develops important STEM skills such as questioning, problem-solving, observing and communicating ideas. It also supports language development as children discuss words such as float, sink, heavy, light and materials.As a Junior Infant teacher, I think inquiry-based learning works very well because it links with play-based learning and allows children to learn through hands-on experiences. It also allows for differentiation, as every child can contribute ideas and observations at their own level. This activity would help develop curiosity, confidence and a positive attitude towards STEM from an early age.
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Fab Activity Ciara! What might be cool is introducing the concept of measurement as well. Filling up a tub placing it in a larger one and seeing how putting in different objects displaces water. This would be demonstrating Archimedes principle.
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Hi! Great to see another SET teacher here 😊. I think the space theme will work really well with the pupils we support. The hands-on and visual activities make it much more accessible, especially for children who benefit from practical learning. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the course!
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Hi Emma fantastic fact!
We know the main factor determining the shape of celestial bodies is how they spin on their own axis – this explains how the earth slightly bulges at the equator.
Early in the moons life it was closer to the earth and mostly hot liquid surrounded by a thin crust; it was also spinning much faster than it is today. We understand that this is an important chapter in the history of its shape!
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Junior Infants Inquiry Based Learning Activity: Melting Ice
Subject: Science
Strand: Materials
Strand Unit: Changing Materials/Heating and Cooling
Skills Development: Questioning, observing, predicting, investigating, estimating, and measuring.
The Prompt: Freeze small world characters in large ice cubes- “Oh no! Look what happened overnight. Our classroom dinosaurs got trapped in a sudden ice age! They are freezing. How can we save them quickly without hurting them?”
Gather children on carpet to let them feel how cold the ice is. They can examine the ice through magnifying glasses and predict what will melt the ice fastest (eg warm water, cold water, salt, warmth from own hands). Create a simple tally chart on the whiteboard. Every child votes for the method they think will win.
Divide the class into groups of 4/5 students. Give each group a block of ice, pipettes/ small spoons and magnifying glasses. Assign a different method to each group.
Encourage them to look for clues. “Is the ice dripping? Are bubbles forming? Can you see the dinosaur’s tail yet?”
Conclusion: Gather back on the carpet. Look at the whiteboard prediction tally. Discuss what actually happened. “Which group rescued their toy first? Why do you think the warm water/salt worked so fast?” Explain in simple terms that heat makes ice turn back into water.
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Hi All
My name is Siobhan. I am an EAL teacher for Junior classes. I do some in-class support for language development. Space is a theme we cover. When my siblings and I were young my dad would take us outside to look at the night sky, showing us the galaxy and Mars. My little sister asked “where was bounty?”! So at her wedding we gave mini mars bounty and galaxy bars as favours!
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Hi my name is Hannah. I will be teaching senior infants next year. I dont know a huge amount about Space so hoping I will know plenty of fun facts by the end of it. Please see below my IBL responce.
For an inquiry based learning approach I would use picture stimulus. For example if I was planning a STEM lesson on bridges I would give each group (3 or 4 children) a picture of a famous bridge around the world. I would use the See- Think -Wonder template and they could record their ideas or I would act as scribe for smaller children. Then I would distribute materials- cardboard, carrots, spaghetti blue tak, jaggo blocks and children could plan and build their bridge factoring in something- e.g it must be able to hold a toy car or it must be a certain height. Then we would test our bridges and record using drawing, photos or record on Seesaw. I would consult the NCSE documents to be sure I am mindful of inclusion for all learners.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Eleanor and I teach Junior Infants in a DEIS 1 primary school in Cork. I am looking forward to learning new ways to make space engaging and accessible for young children. My favourite space fact is that the footprints left by the astronauts on the Moon could stay there for millions of years because there is no wind or rain to wash them away. I think this is a fascinating fact that always captures children’s imaginations.
One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is a “What makes shadows change?” investigation. After reading a space-themed story, I would ask the children what they notice about shadows and encourage them to share their own ideas and predictions. Using torches, toy astronauts and different objects, the children would work in small groups to explore how moving the light source changes the size, shape and position of shadows. They would be encouraged to talk about what they observe, compare their findings with their classmates and explain their thinking using simple language.
This activity supports the Junior Infants curriculum by promoting curiosity, observation and communication. It also develops oral language, cooperation and problem-solving skills through play. In a DEIS 1 setting, I find that practical, hands-on activities allow all children to participate successfully regardless of their language or literacy level. The activity can be extended through drawing, role play or creating simple picture records of their discoveries, giving every child an opportunity to share their learning in a way that suits their needs.
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Hi! My name is Rachel, and I am a primary school teacher in Galway.
One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus. It was actually a child who told me this in a class one day and then we researched it. I think this is a fascinating fact and one that young children always find surprising.One inquiry-based activity I would use in my Senior Infant classroom is a ” Moon Investigation” I would begin by showing the children photographs of the Moon and asking open-ended questions such as, “Why do you think the Moon changes shape?” and “What do you notice about the Moon?” Rather than immediately providing answers, I would encourage the children to make predictions, draw what they observe and discuss their ideas with a partner. We could then observe the Moon over several weeks, recording its appearance in a simple Moon diary using drawings and photographs. This would help children develop observation, communication and prediction skills while encouraging curiosity about the world around them.
The activity would integrate naturally across the curriculum. In SESE, children would learn about the natural world; in English, they would develop oral language through discussion and questioning; in Visual Arts, they could create Moon pictures using different materials; and in Mathematics, they could sequence the Moon’s changing shapes. Using digital photographs, short videos and the interactive whiteboard would also support our school’s Digital Learning Plan by giving children opportunities to use technology to observe, record and share their learning.
I like that inquiry-based learning places children at the centre of the lesson, allowing them to investigate, ask questions and discover answers together, making science meaningful and enjoyable from an early age.
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One inquiry-based activity I would use in my Junior Infants classroom is investigating how shadows change throughout the day. I would begin by asking the children, “Why do we have shadows?” and “Do shadows stay the same all day?” The children would share their ideas and make predictions before going outside to observe their own shadows.
At different times during the day, the children would look at their shadows, notice any changes and record their observations through drawings or photographs. We would then come back together to discuss what we noticed and compare our findings. This would encourage the children to ask questions, observe carefully and communicate their thinking.
I think this activity reflects the inquiry-based approach because it begins with the children’s own ideas and encourages them to investigate through first-hand experiences. As a Junior Infants teacher, I know that young children learn best by exploring and talking about what they see. This activity also develops scientific skills such as observing, predicting and communicating while helping children to build an understanding of how the Sun affects our everyday lives. -
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Module:1 Assignment – How I would use one inquiry-based activity in my classroom.
Activity: Making a boat (Float or sink)
Materials: paper, lollipop sticks, metal spoons, lego bricks, playdough, peas, basins of water, jugs.
I would introduce the lesson by asking the children what material is this made from as I held up a different object each time for them to discuss. Next I would say, I wonder which ones can float and which can sink. Childern would share their thoughts and predict what would happen. I would take one child’s prediction from each of the 5 tables in my room. Next, the children would be given a sheet to fill in. They will draw all 5 objects in the left boxes and nect fill in their predictions by writing yes or no under the words float or sink or they could place a tick for yes or an x for no. Each table will get a set of objects and a basin of water. They will collaborate as a group and each child will have a turn to place an object in the basin to see if it floats or sink. In a final box on their sheet, they will record their findings in a coloured pencil or twistable of what happened to the object and if it did float or sink. The children will share their thoughts on the activity and summarise what happened each object. I will finally ask them why they think some things floated and why some floated.
An extension of this activity to follow on in the next lesson is to summarise what capacity means. I will use a video from SciKids on capacity as a stimulus to the lesson. Children will share new learning and what capacity means to them. Next, I will explain that they will work in pairs to make a boat out of playdough that needs to stay dry and carry a pea as a pretend passenger. The children will then watch my attempts to make a boat and we will test it to see if it floats or sink. Then children will go back to their tables and work in pairs to design, make and finally record the findings of their experiment as they have the opportunity to test their boats out in a basin of water. They will be handing a sheet before they begin their work, to draw their design first. I will provide other materials such as paper, lollipop sticks etc. They will build their designed boat and handed a pea to make sure it fits safely in their. When all are finished. their will be time given for the children to test their boats as each pair comes to the basin. Children will be encouraged to give praise for efforts made even if the experiment fails. They will finally record their own findings on their sheet of their design. The lesson will be finished with a summary of how capacity works.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Laura and I’m a primary school teacher in a DEIS Band 1 school. I currently teach Senior Infants and also work as a SET. I really enjoy using practical, hands-on activities in my teaching, especially ones that get the children asking questions and figuring things out for themselves. I’m looking forward to picking up some new ideas from this course and hearing what everyone else does in their classrooms.
One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is actually longer than a year on Venus. I remember hearing that years ago and thinking there was no way it could be true!
One inquiry-based activity I think would work really well in my classroom is investigating what makes a paper rocket travel the furthest. I’d give the children different materials and let them work in small groups to design and test their own rockets using straws. Before they start, I’d ask them to make predictions about which rocket they think will travel the furthest and why. After each test they could make small changes to their design and see if it made a difference.
I think this kind of activity is great because the childrens learning comes from trying things out themselves rather than just listening to an explanation. It also naturally leads to lots of discussion as they compare results and explain why they think one rocket worked better than another. It links really well with Science, Maths and oral language too. From my own experience, the children are usually much more engaged when they feel like they’re discovering something for themselves, so I think this would be a really enjoyable way to introduce the topic of Space.
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Inquiry-based activities changes the role of the teacher from a direct lecturer to a guide. Instead of the teacher telling students how things work or giving them step by step instructions, it lets them experience it first-hand. Inquiry based learning builds critical thinking and resilience. It teaches children that mistakes are a way of learning. Working in small groups helps children practice communication and listening skills. They learn independence and autonomy in their learning.
Teaching fractions for example, I would give the class a range of materials broken into halves and quarters and I would see what they come up with. Will they see the connection between halves and quarters? Will they break the halves into quarters and put the quarters together to makes halves? The teacher would have explained that a fraction is equal parts of a whole.
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Hello everyone,
My name is Tommy and I have been teaching Senior Infants for the past 3 years. This September I will be teaching Junior Infants which I am very excited about. I am very excited to introduce the children to inquiry-based learning. One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is longer than a year.
The inquiry based learning activity I would like to sue in my classroom this incoming academic year is the Curious Minds Framework for Inquiry supported by the ESERO resources. It aligns with our school culture where students are encouraged to ask questions, answer their own questions and investigate. With Junior Infants I would introduce inquiry based learning through Picture Books about the moon/space etc. We could record their questions on a I Wonder Wall and through conversation and investigation attempt to answer these questions. I think by adapting the Curious Minds Framework for Inquiry as a learning resource in the classroom, curiosity would be fostered and planning would by supported.
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Class- Juniors and Seniors.
Learning objectives-
Explore magnetism, magnetism as an invisible force, learn that magnets push and pull, predict and check what things might be magnetic.Tell the children you have magic powers. Have a paperclip attached to thread taped to a desk.
Hold (concealed) a strong magnet just above the paperclip so it floats in the air.
You could also put on a glove with the magnet inside and pretend it is your glove.This should lead to some discussion/ questions. Students might want to try the glove. You could give it to them with or without
the magnet. However you proceed, eliciting or showing it, the children find out you used a magnet.
This would generate a discussion into magnets at home and in school. How do magnets work? What would happen if you put two magnets
together?
If you have them, the red and blue clearly marked poles magnets are perfect for exploring pushing and pulling.
Allow the children in pairs or groups plenty of time to explore. What can you do? Let them come to the idea that the magnets will
push each other or pull each other. If that’s not the language they use, mirror theirs and use that language.
Recap – what have we found out? Magic? No, a force. Magnets can push and pull. I have not taught a class at this level for many years,
but I will be next year. Perhaps you can introduce “poles” if they are able/ understand or are using another word to describe this, if
they have noticed the correlation.Referring back to your earlier discussion magnets at home and school- are there some things a magnet will stick to (is attracted to)?
Select whatever items are handy for you in your classroom, magnetic and non- magnetic. Arrange the children in their groups.
You could give doubles of each item to do a simple prediction sheet. A large x and tick on a sheet divided in two. Before they
test the items they make their predictions by placing them on the correct side of the sheet. If you only have one item, you could photograph
the prediction sheets before they start.Extras-
We have a lovely magnetic car set, where you put the magnets in the cars and can investigate the push and pull this way.
Children could design simple fridge magnets. You can buy suitable packs in art & craft shops. You just need some stiff card for their designs.
Children could use the knowledge from the materials tested to make a simple game- how many paperclips can you attach in a line. This
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Good morning. My name is Bernie Mc Goldrick and I will be teaching 1st class next year. I have always had an interest and fascination with space, especially the night sky. There are so many interesting facts about space , its difficult to choose one. But from a personal point of view I took my son to NASA in Cape Canerval in Florida when he was 9. A family member worked there. Part of his job was the retrival of rocket parts after lift…fascinating to say the lease!
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Hi everyone,
One inquiry-based activity I would use with a 1st class is “What would happen if we lived on the Moon?” I would begin by showing the children a picture of the Moon and asking them what they notice. They would then work in small groups to think about questions such as: Could we breathe there? What would we wear? How would we eat, sleep or play?
The children would share their ideas before we investigated the answers together using books, short videos and simple facts about the Moon. They could then design and draw their own Moon house, spacesuit or Moon playground, explaining why they included certain features.
I think this activity would work really well with younger children because it encourages imagination while also developing their questioning and thinking skills. Rather than giving children all the answers, they have the opportunity to explore, make predictions and discover new information for themselves. It also links science with art, oral language and writing, making it an engaging cross-curricular activity. I believe children are more likely to remember what they have learned when they have explored a question that sparks their curiosity and creativity. I feel it might be a nice introductory activity to exploring more about space.
Space Fact; As I said above its difficult to choose favorite Space fact but in addition to rocket launch facts I believe there could be as many as 10 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way! -
Hi Evelyn ,
My name is Esther and I am a Special Education teacher currently working in Ireland with autistic children. I am passionate about creating inclusive learning experiences that meet the individual needs of my students and help them enjoy learning.
I joined this course because I would like to discover new ideas and practical activities to teach space science in an engaging and accessible way for all learners.
My favourite space fact is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus. I think it is amazing how different the planets in our Solar System can be.
I am looking forward to learning from all of you and sharing ideas throughout the course.
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Hi my name is Stephanie and I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. The children always show a great interest in Space and I want to learn more so that I can expand their learning further as many come to the classroom with so much knowledge already.
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Hi Amanda, fab mind map!
Pluto getting reclassified as a dwarf planet is a really interesting one! People often cite it being too small which is only part of the reason! In 2006 the international astronomical union IAU decided to create criteria for planetary status
The body must;
- orbit the sun
- reach hydrostatic equilibrium – basically have enough mass for gravity to cause it to be shaped spherical
- Have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit – this means be able to move other bodies out of its own orbit
Pluto doesn’t meet number three.
Did you know that Pluto has its own moons?
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Hi Amanda, fab mind map!
Pluto getting reclassified as a dwarf planet is a really interesting one! People often cite it being too small which is only part of the reason! In 2006 the international astronomical union IAU decided to create criteria for planetary status
The body must;
- orbit the sun
- reach hydrostatic equilibrium – basically have enough mass for gravity to cause it to be shaped spherical
- Have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit – this means be able to move other bodies out of its own orbit
Pluto doesn’t meet number three.
Did you know that Pluto has its own moons?
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Hi my name is Sarah and I’m teaching Junior and Senior Infants. The children always love learning about Space and I would really like to come up with new and engaging lessons to teach them.
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Hi, I’m Sinéad. I will be teaching 1st to 3rd next year. I find that the children always love anything to do with space and planets and I’d love to get some new lesson ideas.
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Hi. My name is Fionnuala and I teach SET. I have a child who has a particular interest in Space and look forward to using ideas and resources with hime next year.
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Hi my name is Aisling and I teach Senior Infants. I have always had an interest in STEM. One of my favourite space facts is that space is completely silent.
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Hi my name is Sarah. I teach Junior and Senior Infants. A fact I find interesting is that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on earth
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Inquiry-Based Science Lesson: Solids, Liquids and Gases (Junior Infants)
Begin by showing the children an ice cube, a cup of water and an inflated balloon. Ask open-ended questions such as, What do you notice? Which one can you pour? What is inside the balloon? Encourage children to make predictions before investigating.
Provide a range of everyday objects for the children to explore and interact with in pairs and as individual learners. They can then sort items into solids and liquids by observing whether they keep their shape or can be poured. Next, children pour water between different containers to see that liquids change shape. Finally, they squeeze an inflated balloon and discuss how air, although invisible, takes up space.
Bring the class together to share their observations and introduce the words solid, liquid and gas. Finish by asking children to sort picture cards into the correct group and explain their thinking. This lesson develops observation, prediction and communication skills through hands-on inquiry.
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Hi,
My name is Lorraine and I am hoping to be teaching in an Infant class next year.
Using STARS as the focus of an inquiry based lesson would foster students’ natural curiosity and encourage scientific thinking. By exploring questions such as “What do stars look like?” Or “Why can we only see stars at night?” they would have opportunities to observe, predict and share ideas. I could use storybooks, songs, sensory play and simple art activities to support their investigations. I would This multi sensory approach to a scientific question would also promote language development, encouraging the children to describe their observations and share their thinking with their classmates. I would initiate open ended questioning and further exploration to the lesson by introducing glow in the dark stars and torches.
FUN FACT FOR INFANTS: Stars are not actually “star shaped” They are giant glowing balls of gas!
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Hi Lorraine,
These are some brilliant questions and this activity sounds great. Integrating this information with the song twinkle twinkle little star might be of use to you!
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Inquiry Based Lesson: Floating and Sinking
Class: Junior and Senior Infants
Time: 30 minutes
Learning Outcome: To find out which objects float and which objects sink.
Materials:Large bowl or tub of water, stone,cork,plastic toy,wooden block,metal spoon,leaf, sponge,coin
Inquiry Question: Which objects will float and which will sink?
Introduction (5 minutes) : I will show the children the objects. I will then ask what do they notice about these objects?Which ones do you think will float?Which ones do you think will sink?
The children will be given pictures of smiley and sad faces and make their predictions. These will be recorded on the WB for the end of the lesson.
Investigation (15 minutes)
1. One at a time, children place each object into the water.
2. After each object, I will ask: Did it float or sink? Was your prediction correct? What do you notice?
3. The results will be recorded on a simple class chart with two headings:Float or sink
Discussion (5 minutes): We will look at the chart together and I will ask ,Which objects floated?Which objects sank?Did anything surprise you?What did we learn today?I will explain that some objects float while others sink because they are made from different materials.
Conclusion (5 minutes): I will ask the children:Can you name one object that floated?Can you name one object that sank?What did you discover today?
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I think this is a simple, engaging, and age-appropriate inquiry-based lesson that encourages children to make predictions, investigate, and discuss their findings. I like that the lesson begins by encouraging pupils to share their own ideas before testing them, helping to develop curiosity and scientific thinking. Recording predictions and comparing them with the results is a great way to reinforce learning. One idea I would add is to allow children to work in small groups so that everyone has an opportunity to investigate the objects themselves. As a teacher in a Special Class for children with Autism, I also appreciate how easily this lesson could be adapted using visual supports, clear routines, and hands-on learning to ensure all pupils can participate successfully.
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I really enjoyed reading your idea. Investigating which objects sink or float is such a simple but engaging inquiry-based activity for young children. It encourages them to make predictions, test their ideas and discuss their findings, helping to develop both scientific thinking and oral language skills. I also like how easy it is to use everyday classroom objects, making the activity accessible and fun for all learners.
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Sinking and floating is always a favourite lesson in the junior classes I find, perhaps due to the investigation with water element which lends itself to water play. It’s also very easy for the children to predict, record and compare their results. It’s easy to set up as a group activity which again is an element that is always enjoyed by the children.
If completed in groups the children could then come together with their results and see if they can group or make connections between objects that they found would float or sink. This can then be further investigated i.e. what happens paper objects, what happens metal objects, how about plastic? Why does one group of objects float but another sink? And so forth. It could possibly extend beyond one lesson if a variety of objects were used by each group.
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This is a lovely lesson idea, floating and sinking is always a class favourite in my room. I like how you are incorporating the different materials into your lesson, it provides a wonderful opportunity for the children to investigate. Your range of questions will enable good critical thinking and it is a good opportunity to target different learning levels and abilities. Also, the opportunity to use water in the classroom is always appealing to the children.
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Hi Sarah, I agree that sinking and floating is a particularly engaging investigation for young children. The water element naturally sparks curiosity and encourages hands-on exploration, making it both enjoyable and meaningful. I also think the group work aspect is very valuable, as it allows children to share predictions, compare results, and begin identifying patterns between different materials. Extending the investigation by grouping objects and exploring why certain materials float or sink provides excellent opportunities for deeper scientific thinking and inquiry over several lessons.
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Inquiry-Based Lesson Plan: Moon phases (1st–3rd Class)
Topic: Why does the Moon change shape?
Learning Intention: Pupils will investigate why the Moon appears to change shape by asking questions, making predictions, observing a model, and sharing their findings.
Begin by showing pupils pictures of the Moon in different phases.
Ask open-ended questions such as, What do you notice? Why do you think the Moon changes shape? Pupils share their ideas and make predictions.
Working in small groups, pupils use a torch to represent the Sun, a small white ball as the Moon, and one pupil as Earth. They move the Moon around the Earth while observing how the light falls on the ball. Encourage discussion with questions like, What do you notice? What changes as the Moon moves?
After the investigation, groups discuss their observations and compare them with their original predictions. Introduce the concept of the Moon’s phases, linking it to the pupils’ discoveries.
To assess learning, pupils complete a simple drawing of the Moon’s phases and write or say one new fact they learned. This inquiry-based lesson promotes curiosity, observation, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication while developing pupils’ understanding of basic space concepts through hands-on exploration.
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I really like how Sinead’s lesson encourages children to explore and discover the Moon’s phases for themselves rather than simply being told the answers. The use of the torch, ball, and pupil as a model makes an abstract concept much more concrete and engaging. I also think the open-ended questions are an effective way to promote curiosity and critical thinking while giving children the confidence to share their own ideas.
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I love this lesson idea, I remember when I first started teaching I was trying to demonstrate this with very limited resources, just flat 2D yellow card for the sun and a teacher designed flat 2D earth. I soon realised the need for investing in flashlights and 3D spheres to make for a much more engaging hand on meaningful lesson.
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Floating and Sinking (Junior Infants)
I would use an inquiry-based activity to help children learn about floating and sinking through play and exploration.
I would begin by showing the children different objects, such as a cork, spoon, leaf, toy car and stone.
I would ask simple questions like:What do you think will happen?
Will it float or sink?
Why do you think that?I would encourage every child to make a prediction before testing the objects.
The children would work in small groups and place each object into a tub of water.
I would give the children time to observe what happens and talk about their ideas with each other.
I would ask more questions during the activity, such as:What did you notice?
Were you surprised?
Can you find another object that might float?
I would encourage children to explain their thinking instead of just giving the correct answer.
I would support children who need extra help by asking simple questions and giving them time to think.
I would praise children’s curiosity, effort and teamwork throughout the activity.
Reflection
I think this activity would be fun and engaging for Junior Infants.
The children would learn by doing, rather than just listening.
They would develop important skills like predicting, observing, questioning and talking about their ideas.
The activity would help build confidence because every child can share their own thoughts.
Working in groups would help children learn to take turns and listen to others.
I would learn about the children’s understanding by listening to their ideas and questions.
Next time, I could extend the activity by asking the children to collect their own objects from the classroom to test or by creating a simple chart showing which objects floated and which objects sank.
Overall, I think inquiry-based learning is a great way to make science enjoyable, meaningful and suitable for young children.-
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I really like how Sinead’s lesson encourages children to explore and discover the Moon’s phases for themselves rather than simply being told the answers. The use of the torch, ball, and pupil as a model makes an abstract concept much more concrete and engaging. I also think the open-ended questions are an effective way to promote curiosity and critical thinking while giving children the confidence to share their own ideas.
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Hi Sinead, this is a really engaging and well-structured lesson. I like how it encourages your pupils to explore and discover the concept themselves rather than being told the answer. I particularly liked the hands-on activity using the torch and ball, as it makes the learning very visual and helps pupils clearly understand how the Moon’s phases occur. It’s a great way to promote curiosity and active learning.
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The two lessons – “floating and sinking” and “moon phases” are great examples of how the same approach to enquiry-based learning works in apparently very different scenarios. This is a valuable early learning for the pupils and should build confidence that similar approaches can be used again and again to help record and understand diverse physical phenomena. Both lessons enable and indeed encourage individual and group reflection. Really nice.
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Hi everyone, I’m Wendy. I work in SET, and I’ll be working with junior infants in September. I’m really looking forward to learning with you all. A fact I find interesting is that we can see stars that are millions of years old because their light takes so long to reach Earth.
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Hello everyone! My name is Emily, and I am a primary school teacher working in a Special Class for children with Autism in a mainstream primary school. From September, I will be teaching the junior-aged pupils, so I am looking forward to learning new ideas and practical activities that I can use to make STEM and space education engaging, accessible, and enjoyable for my pupils. A space fact I find interesting is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus!
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Hi my name is Colin and I work in SET. I look forward to learning lots about space. One interesting space fact; you wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn or Neptune because they have no solid surface.
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<p style=”text-align: left;”>Hi my name is Gemma. Ive had first class for the last few years. Space is a topic that children tend to adore. I always feel behind in my knowledge so hoping this course will help me in feeling like I can teach them something new!!!</p>
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One inquiry-based activity I would like to use in my classroom is a space investigation based around the story Whatever Next!. I would begin by reading the story to the children and encouraging them to think about what it might be like to travel to space. After the story, I would ask them what they already know about space and what they would like to find out. I would then set up a space investigation area with books, pictures of the planets, toy rockets, astronaut costumes and “moon rocks” for the children to explore.
I think this would be a lovely way to encourage children’s curiosity while making learning fun and meaningful.
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Hi Emma. I think storytelling is a powerful way to teach enquiry-based problem solving. Lots of options to ask the kids questions about why their story developed in the way it did, why they chose to visit the places they did, how they imagined those places, etc. Huge scope for them to be creative thinking which is then balanced by enquiry based on what they’ve learned about the way the universe behaves.
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Hi my name is Sinead. I’ve taught in an ASD class for the past two years and will now be starting in SET in Septemeber. Many of my children last year had a particular interest in space.
My favourite space fact is there is more stars than sand!
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Hello. My name is Alyson and I will be teaching 2nd class next year. I love Space and teaching about it. I love the opportunities space has for integration across subject areas. My favourite space fact is over one million earths could fit inside the sun!
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Inquiry-Based Lesson Plan (Junior Infants – STEM/Science)
Topic: The Moon and the Night Sky
Learning Intention: Pupils will explore what we see in the night sky and recognise the Moon and stars.
The lesson begins by showing pictures of the night sky. Ask: What do you notice? What can you see in the sky at night? Pupils share ideas and make predictions.
Pupils are given black paper and star stickers (or chalk) to create their own night sky. The teacher shows a picture of the Moon and asks: Does the Moon always look the same? Pupils discuss their ideas.
Using a torch and a ball, the teacher briefly demonstrates how the Moon can look different. Ask: What do you notice?
Pupils share their observations and compare them with their ideas. The teacher introduces simple words like “Moon” and “stars.”
To assess learning, pupils draw the night sky and say one thing they learned.
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Inquiry-Based STEM Lesson: Exploring the Moon’s Surface
Class: Junior Autism Class (Junior & Senior Infants)
Time: 30 minutesLearning Outcome: Explore what happens when different-sized objects make craters in “the Moon.”
Materials: Tray of flour with cocoa powder on top, small balls, toy astronauts, visual choice cards.
Inquiry Question: What happens when different objects land on the Moon?
Introduction (5 minutes): Show the “Moon” tray and the objects. Encourage pupils to look, touch, and choose which object they think will make the biggest crater using visuals or gestures.
Investigation (15 minutes): Pupils take turns dropping the objects into the tray from the same height. Observe the craters using simple language and visual supports.
Discussion (5 minutes): Ask, “Which crater is big? Which is small?” Compare the marks left in the “Moon.”
Conclusion (5 minutes): Pupils indicate their favourite object using pointing or speech. Explain that the Moon has many craters made by rocks from space hitting its surface.
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Inquiry Based Lessons – Investigateing Fingerprints
Through play I would give the children an opportunity to investiagte whether fingerprints are all the same. Prompt questions might include; what are fingerprints? Are all fingerprints the same? Why do we need fingerprints? How can we record finger prints?
I would show the children some examples of finger prints printed off and I would give them time to investigate. Through play, People who Help us – The Gardaí, the children dressed up would invesitage.
Show the children different ways to get finger prints – ink, rubbing a pencil area and then onto sticky tape, looking through a magnifying glass.
Get the children to record the fingerprints of the children in their class and then talk about the differnt prints they found – whirls, arches, loop.
Follow on activty could be to record the data on a chart and find which fingerprint must children had in the class.
This lesson promotes curiosity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.
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An inquiry based activity I would use in my class is the different planets and their distance to the sun. I would prepare for this activity by printing out a photo of each planet and their distance from the sun on a flash card. I would elicit the children’s prior knowledge by discussing what we already know about the plants and the sun. Questions such as which planets are hot? Which planets are cold ? And so on. I would then split the class into groups to make predictions on the distance of planets to the sun. I would ask the children to predict which distance applies to which planet. Once done I would get feedback from the children. I would then get a student to represent each planet and a student to represent the sun by holding up their photos. I would get the children to line up accordingly based on their distance to the sun. By doing so, it is visual for the children to see the closest planet and the planet that is furthest away. Whole class discussion would occur surrounding this and the goal would be that children would see the relationship between planets such as Mercury and Venus being the hottest and being closest in proximity to the sun. The children are also active, engaged and moving around the classroom. There is linkage with maths and the use of number and distance also. Overall, I think this lesson could work very well in the middle of the school perhaps for a 2nd or 3rd class. At the end of the lesson, I would ask questions to assess the children’s learning. It could be a good lesson to introduce space as a lesson group.
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I’m drawn to this activity because as a very young child I could recite the distances of every planet to the sun accurately!! Now I can’t tell the distance from the school door to the gate 🙂
This a very engaging activity which the pupils would enjoy with lots of talk, discussion and active learning.
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Hi my name is Irene, for the next academic year i will be teaching junior classes. My favorite act about space is that one million earths could fit inside the sun
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Using Gravity for our inquiry based learning lesson.
the theme we will use is “why things fall”
To spark interest and curiosity i will start by asking the question; What happens if this falls? while holding different objects. I will ask questions like why do you think things fall down and not up? Ask the children to make predictions.
then using hands on investigation i will ask children to predict what they think will happen before they drop different objects.
The children really enjoy the hands on experiments and this sparks lots of emerging interests, we could further develop the lesson by moving it to the playground and talk about force, push and pull.
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Hi everyone, I’m Ríona and I’ll be teaching First Class next year. I don’t have a fun space fact just yet, maybe I’ll have one as we progress through the modules! My Mind Map is simple and quite basic at the minute, I’m looking forward to seeing how much I can add to it after each module.
I’m going to try an inquiry based activity around gravity with my class in September. I love the idea of using a prompt as a picture, or alternatively I think I will cause an accidental fall of jellies onto the floor by bursting open a bag. That should engage their interest fairly quickly! I will use language prompts as suggested in the module, starting with the open ended statement: ‘I wonder …’. I will introduce the scientific language of gravity and check that they understand the idea of pushing and pulling that would have been covered in JI and SI. We will investigate both the idea of forces on an object e.g. a toy car and also the effects of gravity on the flow of blood around our body, using the one arm up, one arm down experiment, the legs up against a wall experiment and putting their head between their legs (if they feel comfortable to do so). We will examine and discuss what has happened to the flow of blood and why. Next, we will return to the jellies to drop them from a height, along with other objects, to see what way they fall, how they land, etc. My next steps will include looking at the Curious Minds Gravity Activity and moving into the strand unit floating and sinking.
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Hi Riona, welcome! I’m sure you’ll come up with a fun space fact by the end of the course. Does gravity on the Moon or in space affect the way blood flows in the body? Or on a planet larger than Earth, such as the giant planet Jupiter where the gravity is much stronger. Could there be world’s where aliens evolve to take account of gravity and what might they look like?
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Hi everyone, my name is Marcia. This year, I have been working in SET and Nurture within a Junior school. We have been creating collages and projects based around the topic of space with the children as it’s something many of them are fascinated by.
My favourite space fact is that the light from the Sun takes about eight minutes to reach Earth. So basically, we are seeing the Sun as it was eight minutes ago.
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Enquiry based activity
Age: Senior Infant
Investigation: what would happen if we lived on the moon.
I would begin asking the children do they know anything about the moon. Followed with showing them images of the moon.
I would introduce simple facts about gravity, air and temperature. Children could discuss and record what they would need to survive. They could also compare their predictions with other groups.
To finish we could design moon shelters using blocks, junk art or paper. I think this would encourage children to communicate in groups and engage in space talk.
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This is a great open-ended activity Sinead. Especially ideas around what good (and not-so-good) moon shelters would look like. There’s lots of different options for designs that all have their strengths and weaknesses, which is often a part of the scientific method that gets overlooked – there isn’t always a single or perfect answer … and that’s ok!
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One inquiry based activity I would use in my classroom is the Falling Things activity, which explores the concept of gravity. I think this would work well with Junior Infants because it encourages children to investigate through play which is always engaging.
I would begin by asking the children to predict which objects they think will fall the fastest and why. They could then test their ideas and compare the results with their predictions. This would encourage them to ask questions, make observations and explain their thinking. I also like that there is no pressure to get the right answer straight away, as the children learn through exploring and discussing their ideas together. The activity could also be linked to maths by comparing and sorting objects and using simple language such as heavier, lighter, faster and slower. Overall, I think this inquiry based approach would make science enjoyable and engaging while helping children develop curiosity , confidence and important scientific skills from an early age.
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Inquiry-based activity: exploring waterproof materials
Prompt: Present a picture with a spillage at lunch time and a statement ‘Oops, my water bottle spilled on my jumper!’
Think- pair-share: I wonder what happens if a spill water on this plastic bag, piece of cotton wool, tin foil, bubble wrap, tissue etc.
Explore the names of different materials
Explore the meaning of waterproof and why some things are waterproofStarter question: What would happen if my water bottle spilled over these materials
Work in pairs to make and document predictions of materials that are/ are not waterproof
Conducting investigation: Every child will have a spoon or a dropper. They will also have a container of material and a series of materials each. Share predictions with one another and proceed to investigate. Compare findings with classmates as they investigate. Pose questions to each group such as ‘What happened when you placed water on the bubble wrap? What does this tell us about bubble wrap’.
Interpret data as a whole class using Maths chat language ‘ We noticed, I agree/ disagree because…. Ask the class if there were any surprising findings. Discuss the need for understanding the meaning of waterproof and why we need to know what materials are waterproof.
Next steps: This would lead nicely into a further investigation about floating and sinking and also they might discuss why we in Ireland would need more waterproof clothing than other countries in the world. This could extend further into play time as they explore additional materials.
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Hi, my name is Siobhán. Looking forward to getting some good ideas to use in the classroom. My space fact is that space is a vacuum where sound cannot travel so it is completely silent.
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My name is Kate and I am a mainstream class teacher. I am interested in this course because I feel as though children are always asking questions about Space and love learning new things. One fascinating fact about space is that light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth. This means that when we look at the Sun, we are actually seeing it as it was over eight minutes ago! In my classroom, I would use this fact as the starting point for an inquiry-based activity. I would ask students, “If the Sun disappeared, would we know immediately? Students Could first share their predictions, then investigate using videos, diagrams, and reliable science resources about the speed of light and distances in space. Working in small groups, they would discuss their findings, create simple models, and present explanations supported by evidence. Finally, the class would reflect on how asking questions, gathering information, and testing ideas helped them understand the concept. This inquiry-based approach encourages curiosity, critical thinking, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of scientific concepts through active learning.
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Hi my name is Emma and I am a mainstream class teacher in first and second class, who will be jobsharing next year for the first time. As It will be my second year to have my second class group (them being first class last year) I am hoping to get some fresh ideas from this course and some new investigations to complete in the classroom this year.
I found the fact about why astronauts faces and why they can appear puffy interesting and I think my class will be interested to learn this next year too!
I would use this fact as a stimulus for a gravity based investigation. I like the idea of allowing the children to safely stand at a height and to drop items exploring how they fall, how fast they fall etc. I think this could be tied in with mathematics and objects that fall in a similar way could be weighed to see how weight can impact the pull of an object towards the ground. Children could then go on to predict how quickly objects will fall from a height based on their weight.
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I really enjoyed reading your post. The fact about astronauts’ faces appearing puffy is a fascinating way to introduce gravity to young children.
I like how you linked the investigation with Mathematics through weighing and comparing objects. It sounds like a fun and engaging inquiry-based activity that would encourage lots of prediction and discussion.
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My name is Rachel. I will be teaching Senior Infants in September. I love teaching the children about space so I chose this course to extend my own learning
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Hi Pat and course crew,
Reintroducing myself again!
Im Gemma, teaching first class! I never feel like I know enough about space and the classes ive had are always hungry for facts!!!
My favourite fact is also that the sun is a star! Looking forward to learning more in this course!
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Hi Gemma. Thankfully you don’t need to know lots about space to use it to teach enquiry-based learning. If you don’t know something you can always turn it into a series of questions, as if you and the class were explorers who were trying to discover something for the first time – which is one of the exciting elements of enquiry-based learning – and when you’re exploring you don’t always know the answer. As long as your approach is well grounded, such as using the ESERO Framework, then the richness will be in the conversations and interactions and observations and conclusions.
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I would use an inquiry-based rocket activity with my junior class. To introduce the lesson, I would show the children a simple paper rocket and encourage them to ask questions about how rockets travel. Together, we would discuss possible answers and make predictions about which rocket might travel the furthest.
The children would work in small groups to test rockets made from different materials, such as paper and card. Before launching the rockets, they would record their predictions. They would then carry out the investigation, observing carefully and comparing the distances travelled by each rocket.
After the activity, the children would discuss their findings and compare the results with their original predictions. This would help them understand that scientists learn through questioning, investigating and testing ideas.
This activity would develop important science skills, including observing, predicting, investigating and communicating. It would also encourage teamwork, problem-solving and discussion while making learning about space engaging, practical and fun.
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Your inquiry-based rocket activity is engaging and provides children with opportunities to develop key scientific skills through hands-on learning. I like how predictions are made before testing and then compared with the results. The activity encourages curiosity, teamwork and problem-solving while making learning about space meaningful, enjoyable and evidence-based.
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Thanks Fionnuala. Rockets are always a great starting point. Many kids will have seen some sorts of reports about the recent Artemis mission which sent four people around the Moon and that makes for an interesting and contemporary context. Also allows you to ask what is it that the class think satellites or people do in space, or what would they like to see them do. Remember, some of your class might even go to space one day!
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Hi Fionnuala. I like the ide of your activity activity because it encourages the children to make predictions and test their own ideas in a fun, hands-on way. Using different materials for the rockets is a great way to introduce fair testing and scientific investigation. It also sounds like an activity that would really capture the children’s interest while developing teamwork and problem-solving skills.
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Good afternoon. My name is Eileen and I will be teaching in SEN next year. I am hoping to learn lots about space for report writing. I have children who are really interested in this topic and would love to have lots of ideas to teach across the curriculum based on Space.
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The inquiry-based activity I would use is the one involving liquids. I think this would work well in many classrooms, but especially Junior rooms, as there are generally plenty of real-life examples to draw on every day!
The prompts for this activity could come from home or school. Children would all have a real-life example to share and would enjoy the class discussion on this.
Working in groups, this activity lends itself very well to exploring the different methods of soaking liquids, the recording of soakage efficiency through smiley faces makes it accessible for everyone as full attention can be given to the experiment rather than literacy issues presenting a difficulty or a block to participation. Involvement in reporting findings is also facilitated nicely.
I like the extension activity of waterproof coats for teddies. During the summer term, we had teddies coming in for picnics, story-telling, sports events, etc. This experiment would integrate successfully with any of those and make it more impactful for the children.
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I really liked your activity and lesson and it is very suitable for Junior classes. It is hands-on and connects with children’s everyday experiences. The group work and teddy extension (my two boys are in Senior Infants and they love teddy bear picnics in school!) make the investigation fun, engaging, and easy for all children to participate in. A great idea!
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Hi my name is Niamh. I have 2nd class next year. My favorite space fact is VENUS is the hottest planet.
Enquiry based investigation- exploring properties of materials.
To introduce the lesson, the children are told that Paddington Bear is excited to go exploring on a rainy day, but he has forgotten to pack his wellies. Their challenge is to investigate which material would be best for designing and making a new pair of waterproof wellies for him. The materials provided are newspaper, tissue paper, cling film and tinfoil, along with water. Working in small groups, the children begin by discussing the meanings of the words waterproof and absorbent. They then make predictions about which material they think will keep Paddington’s feet dry and explain the reasons for their choices. During the investigation, each group tests equal-sized pieces of each material by adding the same amount of water and carefully observing what happens. They record their findings, compare the results with their predictions, and decide which material would be most suitable for Paddington’s wellies, explaining their reasoning using the evidence gathered from their investigation.
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Hi Niamh,
I really like your idea of introducing your inquiry-based activity with Paddington Bear! This would definitely engage the class with the topic as they would all love to help him solve the problem of forgetting his wellies.
It would be a great art activity extension to create the new wellies for Paddington.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Áine and I will be teaching in our ASD class again this year. Some of the children in my class have a special interest in Space so I am looking forward to learning new ways to engage with this topic in the classroom.
My favourite fact about space is that there is little to no gravitational force and objects float!
An inquiry-based activity I would like to focus on in my classroom would be a sink or float experiment. We would use a few common items like rocks, a toy, cutlery, plastic balls etc. and ask the question “Which items do you think would float?” and “Which items do you think would sink?” “Why/why not?”.
We would predict and then observe and record the results. It would work well for my class as they would each get the chance to be hands on with the experiment and there would be a clear outcome at the end. I have a number of children with limited verbal language but they would be able to communicate via a tick box activity whether the objects floated or sank or they could sort the objects into 2 groups “sink” or “float”.
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Welcome Aine! Nice activity and great related space fact. What would happen to objects which sink and float on Earth, if they were in space? With no gravity you could ask the class to predict what they think will happen. Even though they can’t test their answer with an experiment, it will encourage discussion and prediction, in line with the rest of your activity. And enquiry-based learning sometimes leads to answers which need further experiment – and that’s fine, it’s not a weakness in the method or a comment on personal ability.
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Inquiry based activity! SENIOR INFANTS
Oh no… there’s a water spillage by table 2… what will we do to sort this problem!
The teacher will get the children into pairs and they can discuss what their next steps will be!!
The teacher will ask each pair to report back to the class om what material they should use to sort the spillage. The teacher will make a list of all the suggestions!!
The pairs will then get a chance to see if their suggestion works… suggestions may include: toilet roll, hand towels, face cloth, tin foil, cling film. The teacher will encourage use of vocab like absorb, , better, worse etc. I think the hand towel works best because it absorbs the water, i wouldnt use the tin foil as it doesnt soak up any water.
In pairs the children will get a chance to see which material works best (before they start they will make a prediction on what materials they think will do the best or worst at absorbing the water!!)
Once everyone has had a turn wr will have a full class discussion on what material worked best at absorbing the water.
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Hi,
My name is Amy and I will be teaching 3rd class next year. Space is a fascinating topic to teach. My space fact is there are more stars than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world!
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Hi
I’m Nicola. I’m teaching in a DEIS 1 Junior School in the Midlands.
I had to look up some space facts just to remind myself!
This is my favourite one so far:
‘The highest mountain discovered is the Olympus Mons, which is located on Mars. Its peak is 16 miles (25 km) high, making it nearly 3 times higher than Mount Everest!’
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Welcome Nicola. That’s such a surprising fun fact. If Olympus Mons was on Earth, what would be the challenges of climbing it? Might be an opportunity to discuss how the Earth’s atmosphere gets thinner and thinner the higher we go and climbers already often need oxygen to climb Everest – imagine if it was 3 times higher, would that make it more difficult?
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How I would use one enquiry based activity in the classroom:
I liked the approach outlined for the lesson on materials which are/are not absorbant.
I would begin by using the prompt, I particularly liked the idea I having an “oops” moment, children love when teachers make mistakes, we are only human after all! But I feel it would really get them interested and the more dramatic the better!
Then comes the brainstorming and the questions to get them thinking, what can we do now to clean up to mess teacher has made? What could we use?
Looking at four different materials (newspaper,plastic,paper towels,magazine),explore them,name their properties,record the similarites the differences
Predict outcomes using the different materials,record predictions.
Conduct investigation using the four different materials. Record outcome using smiley/sad faces to indicate if material obsorbed liquid or didnt.
Interpret and display data collected using a pictogram.
I really liked this enquiry based acitvity and can see how children would enjoy all aspects of the lesson outlined.
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Hello all,
Welcome to the course and I hope you are enjoying the course so far.
My name is Alan Giltinan from Blackrock Castle Observatory (BCO) and along with a few other colleagues from the observatory (Caoimhe, Niall, Melissa) we will be moving around the forums over the coming days/weeks and are always happy to discuss and chat astronomy and education. So keep an eye out for us, whichever module you are in. -
Hi everyone, My name is Louise and I am a Junior Infant Teacher. My favourite space fact is you could fit about 1.3 million Earths inside the Sun!
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Inquiry-Based Activity: Exploring Magnets
Begin by showing the class a picture of a treasure chest containing objects such as paper clips, coins, a teddy bear, scissors, a pen, a sharpener, and a rubber. Ask children to think, pair, and share their ideas about which items a magnet might attract. Introduce the term *magnet* and encourage children to discuss where they have seen magnets in everyday life.
Working in pairs, children predict which objects are magnetic by drawing a smiley face beside the items they think a magnet will pick up. Each pair then receives a magnet and a selection of objects made from different materials. They test each object, observe the results, and compare their findings with classmates. Prompt discussion with questions such as, “What happened when the magnet touched the paper clip?” and “What does this tell us about the material?”
As a class, create a simple chart showing magnetic and non-magnetic objects. Extend learning by exploring everyday uses of magnets and organising a magnetic treasure hunt during playtime.
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Hi Louise, lots of great prompt ideas. Your activity encourages classes to think about categorising objects and possibly the materials they are made of into groups. And the same materials can look very different, but have the same magnetic properties. Could this be used to generate some further prompts about how the students think about materials? For example, a hard plastic sheet and a soft plastic bag might look and feel very different, but their magnetic properties are very similar (they’re not!). So depending on how you categorise something, objects can be considered similar or different.
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Hi, I’m Grace and I will be teaching Senior Infants for the 2nd year. I thought this course would be great as I found this year that younger children are just as interested in space as middle and upper classes!
I think it’s fascinating that even though the planets in our solar system seem huge to us, they are surprisingly small when compared to the vast emptiness of the cosmos and all 7 could fit lined up between Earth and the moon!
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Hi Grace, welcome. That’s super fun space fact. Allows you to explore the emptiness between things (planets in this case) and the relative scale of their separation from each other compared to their own physical size. Allows you to also explore the idea of large scales, which is theme that’s recurring already on the forum.
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Hi I’m Zara. I will be teaching 2nd class next year but I’ve been in the senior end of the school for a while so I’d love to get some new lesson ideas for going back to the junior end of the school. Children always seem to be enthusiastic about anything to do with space and planets no matter what their age!
I liked Amy’s fact so I’m going to go with that one too – there are more stars than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world!
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This is a lesson I did many years ago while completing TP!
Inquiry-Based Lesson: Shadows and Weather (Junior/Senior Infants)
Topic: Shadows and Weather: How does light and weather affect shadows?Firstly we talked about shadows. To show the shadow I used a torch, a toy car, duplo block, a doll, a teddy and my hand in a dimmed classroom. The blinds were closed to make the room darker so the shadow could be seen clearly. The children watched how the shadow appeared and talked about what they noticed. They loved the dark classroom!
Then I put the children into pairs and they used torches and different classroom objects to make shadows. We explored what happened when they moved the torch closer or further away and when they changed the position of the object.
I explained that light is needed to make a shadow and clouds or sunlight outside can affect how clear shadows are.
Then we had a group discussion at the end. They all shared one thing they learned about shadows and light. They talked about when shadows were strong or weak and what changed them.
Then the children took part in a shadow matching game and for art we made simple shadow puppets using paper and sticks.
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A simple inquiry based lesson I would teach based around the theme of forces :Push and Pull
Class Level: Junior Infants
“How can we make things move?”
Allow children to suggest ideas before introducing the words push and pull.
Items that we will use for our investigation:
Toy cars, Small balls, Building blocks, Chairs ,Teddies, String attached to a toy
Pictures showing people pushing and pullingAt the start of the lesson we will all gather together in a circle.
Place a toy car in the middle. We will discuss
How could we make the car move? Can you show me without touching it first?
What do you think will happen if I do this? Then I will push the car.
What happened? How did I make it move?
Now pull a toy attached to a string. Questions used such as :
Was that the same or different? What did I do this time?Children then uses the resources to explore: push and pull
Push
Toy cars, Balls, Empty boxes
Questions:
Which objects move easily? Which are harder to push? Can you push gently? Hard?Pull
Toys with string, Small baskets
Questions:
Which toy is easiest to pull? What happens if you pull quickly? What happens if you pull slowly?At the end of the lesson we would complete a picture sorting activity together.
Picture sorting activity.
Children sort pictures into:
Push or Pull
Examples:
Closing a door, Opening a drawer, Shopping trolley, Pulling a suitcase
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In Senior Infants this year, we carried out a number of inquiry-based activities in our SESE lessons. One that most springs to mind involved investigating floating and sinking objects.
Using big water containers, during out ILTP (Aistear) time, groups of children were given various items to play with in the water. (lego bricks, feathers, paper clips, sponges, erasers, pencils, leaves, tinfoil balls etc.). There was no particular question asked of the children at this point. The experience served as an initial prompt to stimulate the children’s thinking about objects and how they behave in water.
The next step involved wondering how the different objects would behave in the water?
The children were asked to narrow their focus a little to explore if any of the objects behaved in the same way in the water.
The children were all then fully engaged in the inquiry process. We then entered the investigation stage.
Other objects were then presented: small wooden, plastic and metal toys, ball of playdough and an empty matchbox without lid. Children were given time to explore the items without water and then a question was posed. Which of these items will float and which will sink?
The children were then asked to predict and record their predictions on a picture worksheet.
We then conducted the investigation in a whole-class setting. As we tested each item, the children completed their worksheets to record the actual outcome for each test.
At this point further discussion occurred as to why we thought each item behaved the way it did. We noted similarities and differences in the materials that made up each item. We also noted similarities and differences in the shapes of the items. This completed the investigation stage of the inquiry.
I have to say, the final stage (as outlined in the inquiry framework) was not very detailed when we conducted this inquiry and I feel it is something I could revisit when teaching this topic again.
Applying learning: I think I would like to follow up by asking children to design an make a boat that floats.
Making connections: Building on this, the children would compare their boats with each other and identify those that were most successful and infer why this is the case.
Thoughtful Actions: When investigating floating and sinking with playdoh, no matter what shape we created, it never floated!
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Hello, Aoife is my name. I am teaching infants next year. I have the junior infants for 3 years now. Prior to teaching I studied early childhood education where we studied a module on inquiry based learning. I feel like space is a fantastic area to learning about with the infants and encourage lots of inquiry based learning opportunities in the classroom. Space fascinates the children from a very young age and I feel this course will provide me with new ideas for the classroom.
A lesson to encourages inquiry based learning Explore the night sky: Children observe pictures, videos, and books about space, then share questions and ideas about planets, stars, and astronauts.
Ask and investigate: Children choose a space question to explore (e.g., “Why does the Moon change shape?”) and investigate through experiments, discussions, and play activities.
Create and collaborate: Children work together to design rockets, planets, or space stations using recycled materials and explain their ideas.
Reflect and share learning: Children discuss what they discovered, record their observations through drawings or stories, and share new questions they have about space.-
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Hi Zara, I well remember that advert. For those not familiar, well worth googling! It’s also relevant because there will be an almost total eclipse of the Sun visible from Ireland on 12th August, from 6 to 8pm with maximum eclipse of about 94-96% occuring at about 7:15pm. Keep an eye out for updates and visit https://www.bco.ie/solar-eclipse/ as we upload information. This is the last big solar eclipse until 2090, so it’s really one NOT to be missed.
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Hi Aoife, I really like the construction element of this for Infants, great hands on activity and really lets their creativity go wild. They could also use big and small lego or shape magnets to create rockets/spaceships for astronauts.
The reflection through their drawings is useful also and a tool for assessment.
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Hey Aoife this sounds fantastic! Some resources for exploring the night sky
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Inquiry Based Lessons – Solving the crime using fingerprints
I really liked the idea in the module about solving the case of the stolen jellies by using finger prints.
Good motivation for the class to work together to solve a crime!
Prompt questions might include:
How would finger prints help us solve the crime?
What are fingerprints?
Are all people’s fingerprints the same?
How can we record finger prints from the crime scene?
I would show the children some examples of finger prints printed off and I would give them time to investigate and to make some prints themselves using eg. ink, rubbing a pencil area and then onto sticky tape, looking through a magnifying glass. I liked the idea in this module of printing the finger print on a balloon so the more air added to the balloon the bigger the finger print becomes.
They could record the finger prints of all of the people in the classroom and solve the case of teh stolen jellies in a fun, scientific way.
This lesson promotes critical thinking, playfulness, curiosity, collaboration and communication.
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Welcome Katie. That’s a fun fact that is likely to surprise the kids! It’s possibly a tricky one to discuss, but worth noting that the blue sunset on Mars happens for the same reason that the daytime sky on earth is blue. Conversely, it’s also the same reason why sunsets on earth can be red and the daytime Martian sky is red! https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/sunset-on-mars/
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Hi. My name is Caitriona and I am a class teacher at a special school for the severe to profound. Before teaching at my current special school I was a post-primary teacher for science and home economics. I have always had an interest in space as topic however, I look forward to new ideas and methods of teaching space to younger children. I love how space creates and inspires curiosity in the classroom and hope I can bring it in as new sensory experiences for my students. My favourite fact about space is that Venus is the hottest planet. Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun, Venus has a really thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide that traps heat (temperatures up to 467°C). This really reminds me that we really have to keep an eye on our carbon dioxide levels and do the best we can to reduce global warming.
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Hi Caitriona, that’s a really important fun fact. Venus is an example of just how hot a planet can get with too much greenhouse gases in its atmosphere. We worry, rightly, about 1.5 – 3 degrees of warming, but as you say Venus has reached 467 degrees C.
In terms of the importance of senses, the surface of the moon has more craters on the far side and less on the near side. Perhaps an opportunity to make surfaces of different roughnesses and enquire which the class think better represents the near side and the far side of the moon. Also, asteroids come in weird shapes and sizes and can be made from papier mache, or alternatively represented by stones and rocks. And a dark coloured material gets hotter than a light coloured material, and this can be sensed and introduce questions about melting snow and the earth getting less reflective as a result. Lots to think about!
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Hi I’m Elaine and I will be teaching Senior Infants in September. I have taught infants for years and they all love the topic of space. It’s because of their enthusiasm that I have chosen to do this course and get more ideas for teaching the topic. I enjoy showing them clips of astronauts in space.
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Hi, I’m Alison. I am teaching Senior Infants next year. My class last year loved learning about space. A fact about space is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the earth.
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Inquiry Based Lesson: Properties and Materials
Class Level: Senior Infants
Learning Outcome: Which materials are good insulators?
Prompt: How can we stop Jack Frost’s Hand from melting?
Materials: Plastic gloves, food colouring, plates, water, cotton wool, newspaper, paper towels, plastic, tinfoil, clingfilm (use whatever materials that can cover a hand)Fill a glove with water and add food colouring. Each table group will get their own hand so they need to be different colours. Put them into the freezer and leave overnight. The next morning, when the children come into school they will have a frozen hand on their table. Jack Frost has left them a hand and they need to try stop it from melting. Can they find a material that can do this?
I will show the selection of materials to the class and we will discuss which materials we think will stop the hand from melting. We will record our predictions on the whiteboard. I will also explain to them about the control experiment.
Each group will decide the material they want to investigate. They will cover their hands in that material. We will also have a control hand, which will not have anything covering it. These hands will be placed at the back of the room and children can observe them during the day.
Before going home, they can remove their materials and observe any changes. If the changes aren’t too noticeable the hands can be taken out of the gloves and put back into the freezer and the investigation can continue the next day.
When we have carried out the investigation, we will discuss the results. Were the children surprised by the results? Were their predictions correct? Which material was the best at keeping Jack Frost’s hand frozen?
I have done this investigation with my classes for a few years now and they love it. They are all very engaged and always surprised by the results.-
Hi Elaine, I love that the students been given a mission to help Jack Frost. It is such a creative idea to get them engaged with the lesson and come together to problem solve. It would be great to see if different types of gloves (material, branded and variety of prices) would impact and show any difference in insulation.
It’s a great idea and I’ll have to give it a whirl with my own class! Thanks very much!
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Hi, my name is Sarah. I will be a Special Education Teacher supporting 1st class. My favourite space fact is that Space is completely silent. Sound needs a medium like air or water to travel. Space is nearly a vacuum so, astronauts cannot hear each other without radios.
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One inquiry-based activity I enjoy using in my classroom is exploring which items and materials will float and which ones will sink. This activity encourages curiosity and hands-on learning. I start by showing the children a basin of water along with a selection of everyday objects (e.g. plastic spoon, cork, pebble, sponge, metal key, rubber duck). Before testing, I encourage the children to make predictions: “Do you think this will float or sink? Why?” These questions promote observation, reasoning, and communication.
Children then record their predictions before testing each object. They observe what happens, and record the results results using a simple tick the box worksheet. This activity supports early scientific thinking, vocabulary development (e.g. float, sink, heavy, light), and collaboration.
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Hi
I’m Aislinn. I will be booking in SET next year. Space is always a popular topic and I am interested to learn more.
An interesting fact I like is that shooting stars are not stars.-
Hi Aislinn, that’s a very interesting fun fact. It’s a good example that a simple observation does not always lead to the correct interpretation. Meteors do look so much like shooting stars! Doing different experiments to understand what’s happening is often needed if the inquiry is to result in valid results. How might the children determine that meteors are not actually shooting stars? (Prompt/hint might involve whether you’re looking at shooting stars from the ground or from space.)
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Inquiry Based Lesson – What material would be best to make an umbrella for teddy?
I would begin the lesson by telling the children a story about our class teddy bear going on a trip to visit his family on a rainy day.
We would have a whole class discussion about the properties of materials that are waterproof. In small groups the children could handle and examine different materials. What does waterproof mean? Can you think of anything you own that is waterproof? What does it look/feel like? Is the material strong? What is it made from?
I would show the children some examples of different umbrellas and in groups they can sketch and design an umbrella. The children are then given a variety of materials to choose from that they can make their umbrella.
The children will perform a fair test on the umbrellas using water to test their durability and see if they keep our teddy dry. The children will discuss what made the umbrellas fit for purpose or what could be improved in their designs.
This lesson promotes creativity, collaboration and cooperation, critical thinking, and communication.
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This is a gorgeous lesson, the kids would love it! Especially the prompt/hook, they idea of an umbrella for teddy is so well for infants. There’s lots of language here too, guided by questioning which would lead to great discussions. This lesson really gives the students to engage, investigate and extend their own knowledge.
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Hi,
My name is Louise and I am a second class teacher.. I particularly enjoy teaching the class about space so thought this course would be a good fit.. I look forward to learning more in the topic!
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Hi, I’m Sinéad and I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. The children are always fascinated with space and I am looking forward to gaining some new ways of teaching them about it, and learning more myself! I love the fact that space is totally silent !
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Hi my name is Jade and I will be teaching Junior Infants for the second time this September.
I am looking forward to becoming more confident in teaching about space as the children are utterly fascinated by it, and i felt that i wasnt knowledgeable enough to do a full thematic unit on it last year!
My favourite fact is that humans are working hard to be able to lanf on Mars!
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Hi Jade, that’s great that you’ve now got more confidence and knowledge to do a full space unit. I’m sure you’ll become even more confident after completing the course. That’s a great fun fact. What do the children think it would be like to live on Mars, soon after the first landings and then maybe 10 years later? What type of habitats do they think are needed and what might they imagine? This inquiry would have been somewhat theoretical in the past, but becomes ever more a possible reality.
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In June we did inquiry based learming based on mini beasts!
Who Lives in Our School Garden?
We asked a ‘VIP Question’: What animals and insects live around us?
We went on a bug hunt with magnifying glasses.
We observed without disturbing habitats.
We sorted creatures by legs, wings, or where they live in maths. We had little coloured inseccts in our maths resources that we used for this!
We drew simple pictures and labelled them -
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I really like the idea of exploring which material absorbs best. This is a lovely enquiry based learning activity that allows for integration with many curriculum subjects. As discussed in the module, I would use the prompt of ‘oops, there’s been a spill in the classroom’ as a way to introduce the lesson. I would invite the class group to discuss in pairs or groups what we could use to clean up the spill. When conducting the investigation I would use a variety of materials. I really like the idea of the students using a smiley face or a sad face to make their predictions. When taking the next steps in this enquiry based learning activity I would invite the students to bring in their favourite teddy from home or choose their favourite teddy in school to design a waterproof coat for. I would take photos throughout the learning process for assessment.
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My name is Michelle and I will be teaching Junior Infants next year. One interesting fact is that sunlight still takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach your eyes on Earth.
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Enquiry-Based Lesson Plan: Floating and Sinking (Junior Infants)
Learning Intention:
Pupils will investigate what sinking and floating means and predict and investigate what objects float and sink.
I will begin by showing pupils a selection of everyday objects (e.g. stone, cork, plastic toy, spoon, leaf).
I will ask sample questions like: What do you notice about these objects? What do you think will happen when we put them in water? Why? Pupils share their ideas and make predictions about whether each object will float or sink.
Working in small groups, pupils will test the objects in a basin of water. They take turns placing objects into the water and observing carefully what happens.
After the investigation, groups discuss their observations and compare them with their original predictions.
To assess learning, pupils complete a simple drawing of one object that floated and one that sank, and write or say one new fact they learned (e.g. “The cork floated” or “The stone sank”).
This inquiry-based lesson promotes curiosity, observation, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication while developing pupils’ understanding of basic scientific concepts through hands-on exploration. -
Hi, my name is Lucy. September class level TBC. I’ve chosen this course because this year in school it was a topic that was adored by my class, and I feel I want to know more myself, particularly around active and investigative approaches. Favourite space fact (thanks to my 5 year old!) is that there is a huge storm on Jupiter called the Great Red Spot that has been going for over 150 years.
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Hi Lucy! Well done to your five year old for the fun space fact. That’s a new one on the forum. Can the children compare the size of the Great Red Spot to hurricanes on Earth, maybe using pictures of both? Can they compare the time that the GRS has lasted (hint: since at least the time of Galileo) compared to the longest lasting hurricanes on Earth.
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Hi Lucy! The age of the GRS is actually contested. Up until 2024 we were certain it was just under 400 years old however a new study might suggest the age of around 190 years old. Here’s a cool article discussing this.
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Inquiry-based activity for an infants classroom.
Based on- Curious Minds Resource, exploring the environment using the sense of smell
Engage/Prompt: blind smell testing, e.g. coffee, flower, soap, lemon, mint. “I wonder” type questions e.g how did you smell it, can you describe the smell, how did you know what it was, what things in our classroom/yard/field can we smell, how does our nose help us?
Investigate: (pre-teaching and modelling of target vocab.) Children collect items to share and smell, describing each one. Guess which item I am describing from its smell. Sorting items by scent, e.g. sweet, strong, unpleasant. Design a perfume challenge.
The next step: reflecting on why smells are useful. Linking to smells and danger. Does the container/amount of water/covering effect the scent.
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One inquiry based activity I like to use in my classes involves students investigating how the shape of an object affects it’s fall rate…
Strand: Forces – Investigate how forces act on objects.
Students are grouped into small teams. Each student is given a sheet of A4 paper. Students drop the paper from as high as they can safely reach and time the fall using a timer on the whiteboard. (Later discussions on fairness and method of the drop can be entertained “Is everyone the same height? etc). Next I ask the students if the paper will always fall at the same time (touching on the idea of reliability and replication).
Students then fold the paper in two and repeat the experiment, observing that the paper now falls faster. We ask questions about what changed and what didn’t change. This can be repeated several times and the paper should fall faster. Pupils can be directed towards reflective questions like ‘does the amount of paper matter’, ‘what is causing the change’, ‘is there a maximum speed’ etc.
The inquiry can be linked to the students’ studies of the moon with questions about air resistance and how the moon is different in this respect from Earth.
As a fun extension students can design and build small parachutes for lego figures and drop them.
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Hi everyone, I’m Noreen. I teach a junior ASD class and I’m looking forward to getting new ideas for teaching STEM through fun, hands-on activities. My favourite space fact is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on earth.
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I would use the Gravity and Falling Things activity in my junior ASD classroom as children learn best through practical, hand on experiences. I would begin by letting them explore different objects before asking them what they think will happen when each one is dropped. The children could make simple predictions using pictures or by pointing to their choices, making the activity accessible for everyone. After testing each object, we would talk about what we noticed and compare it with our predictions.
I like that this activity encourages curiosity and gives every child the opportunity to participate at their own level. It also supports the development of communication, observation and turn taking skills alongside science learning. I could extend the lesson by sorting the objects or counting how many predictions were correct, linking it with maths. I feel this type of inquiry based learning keeps children engaged as they are actively involved in discovering the answers for themselves rather than just listening to an explanation. -
Hi my name is Denise and I am in SET. I will be with the same group I was with last year and I noticed a few showed a particular interest in Space: always looking for ways to engage them so thought this course might be handy! Fun fact about Space is that it is silent 🤫🤫🤫!
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Inquiry Based Lesson: magnetic and non-magnetic objects
Class Level: Junior Infants
Learning Outcome: Which materials are magnetic and which are not?
Prompt: Which objects will our ‘magic’ magnetic wands pick up?
Materials: ‘Magic’ magnetic wands and a collection of magnetic and non-magnetic objects spread out on tuff trayBegin by discussing magnets in everyday life and see what the children already know about them. Use fridge magnets and magnetic letters when discussing as these would be most familiar to them.
Next show the children the ‘magic’ magnetic wands and ask them to think and chat about which items on our tuff tray they think we could pick up with them. Record their predictions on white board, putting smiley/sad faces next to pictures of items.
Giving everyone a turn, get the children to use the ‘magic’ wand to test every item to see if it is magnetic or non-magnetic and check results against their predictions.
In small groups, get the children to record their findings on a poster of ‘magnetic’ and ‘non-magnetic’ items; a paste the pictures task. (Leave the ‘magic’ magnetic wands and tuff tray of items for them to continue testing and playing with to help them make their posters.)
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Hi my name is Caroline and I teach children from Junior Infants up to 6th class. My favourite fact about space is about a constellation of stars called Matariki also known as the seven sisters. Each star represents something e.g. Wellbeing/health, crops, winds, rainwater, growth, people who have passed and future wishes.
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Hi Caroline. Welcome and thanks for that fun fact. It’s a really good example of how different cultures have looked at the skies above and connected humanity to them in different ways. The Matariki is a Maori word, while the ancient Greek word for this group of seven stars is the Pleiades. And when I was young we learned of these as the Seven Sisters because most people can see seven stars in the cluster. It’s possibly even something to ask the class to do in the winter months, to see if they can find the Matariki and see how many stars they can count.
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Inquiry Based Lesson: Animals in the Cold
Having been made aware of the Esero website in this module I was looking at resources that I would use and I think this “Animals in the Cold” lesson is a highly effective resource for a junior classroom with the topic of polar regions as it introduces children to cold climates and how animals survive in them. Beginning firstly talking about the weather and cold environments allowing the children to make connections and asking children how we as people stay warm in winter by wearing coats and layers linking learning to their own experiences. I would then use visual images of animals such as Penguins and Polar Bears and discuss how children think the animals keep warm in Winter. Following this children can creatively through experimentation explore how animals keep warm by means of fur, feathers, and layers of fat which children learn during the lesson is called blubber. A hands-on ‘Keeping Warm Experiment’ experiment using Vaseline and water helps children understand how animals stay warm and dry. I would choose two children.
Put Vaseline on one child’s hand
Leave the other hand dry. Drop water onto both hands then ask questions so the children can decide Which hand feels warmer?
Which hand keeps water off better?
Through discussion I would explain that the greasy layer acts like protection and can be linked to
penguins and polar bears as they have oily fur/feathers that help repel water and keep them warm in winter. This experiment supports active learning, observation, creates meaningful discussions and scientific thinking, making it an ideal lesson for Junior Infant children.-
Caroline I love this lesson idea. So much fun involved and so much learning. The children will all be eager to have a go of having their hands covered in Vaseline to see how their hands would keep warmer and keep the water off. Its such a playful lesson for them and something that they would definitely remember. I teach my Junior Infants about the polar bears each year but have never thought of linking it to a Science lesson before so this is definitely an experiment I will incorporate into the lesson next year.
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This is a great interactive lesson. You could also ask the class if they think this would be useful or even important in space, whether they think the space between the planets is hot or cold, and whether an astronaut far from the Sun would need more insulation. This helps them examine concepts of distance. It even opens the possibility to discuss how earth’s own insulation blanket, our atmosphere, is so important.
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This is a great interactive lesson. You could also ask the class if they think this would be useful or even important in space, whether they think the space between the planets is hot or cold, and whether an astronaut far from the Sun would need more insulation. This helps them examine concepts of distance. It even opens the possibility to discuss how earth’s own insulation blanket, our atmosphere, is so important.
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Hi everyone! My name is Alison. I will continue to teach a Junior Autism Class in a mainstream school setting next year. I will have pupils from Senior Infants to Second Class in my class. My teaching is generally based on thematic units so I am really looking forward to getting stuck in and bringing a great Space themed unit of learning back to my class.
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An experiment that I tried with my autism class last year was creating teddy bear ziplines to test which material created the most amount of friction. We had already learned about what friction is and played with cars to experience frictin. It was great fun and there was a lot of ‘engineering’ involved to calculate the findings.
Lesson: Zip line friction
Learning outcome: Investigate which string / rope creates the most / least amount of friction.
Materials: string / rope, straw, pipe cleaner, small teddy, chairs, table, stop watch
Prompt: Introduce the class to a new teddy and explain that the teddy loves new adventures. Discuss further. Introduce 3 types of string and a harness made from a straw and a pipe cleaner. Elicit fromt the pupils what could the teddy do and discuss zip line.
Starter question: Which string / rope will allow teddy to zip line the fastest?
Learning: Each pupil will add a smiley face to a pictogram to indicte their predicition. Introduce maths vocab – more than, less than, equal, how many etc.
Tie a string / rope between two points, one higher than the other e.g. a chair on a table and a chair on the ground. Thread a straw throught the string and thread a pipe cleaner through the straw to make a harness.
Attach the teddy to the harness on the string and allow the teddy to slide down the zip line. Record the time.
Repeat for two different strings / ropes. Record the times.
Elicit from the pupils that the string / rope that had the slowest time created the most friction. The string that had the fastest time created the least amount of friction.
Discuss the effect friction has on speed.
Extra activity: disuss times and figure out time differences.
Skills such as predicting, making, observing, recording, investigating, problem solving, creativity and critical thinking were all utilised during this experiment.
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Hi I’m Olwyn and I will be teaching Junior Infants next year. My favourite fact about space is that shooting stars aren’t actually stars but pieces of rock burning up!
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Welcome Olwyn, your space fact shows how we can fooled when we make an observation! And therefore the importance of trying different ways / experiments to make sure that we’re not being mislead. It’s a great example of the importance of asking the children to present their ideas if they think they have an explanation which either supports or differs from others. And to know it’s ok if one’s explanation turns out not to be as good as someone elses. We learn by trying, not only be succeeding. Even Albert Einstein made mistakes (which he later said he regretted)!
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Inquiry-Based Activity for Junior/Senior Infants:
What objects can float and what objects sink
Learning objective:
· Children will develop an understand of what floating and sinking means
· Children will investigate which object can float and which object will sink
Lesson:
Discuss with children what they think floating means and what they think sinking means. Refer to their own lives. I can float when I do swimming lessons etc.
Group children and allow them to collect items in the classroom that they will investigate with e.g. feather, lego, coin, pencil, spoon, toy car)
Pose a question to the children. Which object do you think will float? Which objects do you think will sink? Children to group objects into two groups.
Allow children to investigate with their objects and a basin of water. Which objects floated? Which object sunk?
Allow each group to feed back to the class on which objects were able to float and which sunk.
Assessment: Give children pictures of different objects from the investigation and get children to cut and paste into 2 groups i.e. float/sink
Extension: Leave a basin of water and different objects out during Aistear/yard time and allow children to investigate further
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Hi my name is Karen and next year I will be working in the junior end of my school. My favourite space fact is that it is completely silent
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Welcome Karen! And as Paula says, sometimes a bit of silence is a good thing! You can also discuss whether the Moon is silent and Mars is silent. The Moon has no atmosphere. Mars has a very light atmosphere. Do the children think you could communicate by sound on either or both? And if you were an alien who grew up on one of those planets, how would that affect your biology? If “voice” wasn’t possible, what do the children think would be used instead to communicate?
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Enquiry based learning
Floating and sinking
Floating and Sinking – Enquiry Activity (Senior Infants)
Ask the children: “What do you think will float? What do you think will sink?” Show a bowl of water and a selection of safe objects (e.g. cork, spoon, leaf, toy block, stone, plastic lid).
Children predict whether each object will float or sink by giving a thumbs up (float) or thumbs down (sink). Record a few predictions.
One child at a time places an object into the water while everyone observes what happens. Discuss the results using questions such as: “What did you notice?” “Was your prediction correct?” “Which objects floated? Which sank?”
Sort the objects into two groups: Floating and Sinking. Finish by asking children to name one object that floated and one that sank, reinforcing the vocabulary float and sink. -
Hi my name is Ciara and I am a NQT! A space fact I find interesting is Saturn would probably float in water as its made from mostly gas.
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Hi Ciara, welcome! Yes, that’s a great fact and hard to get one’s head around. Even though Saturn is HUGE compared to the Earth, it would still float on water due to its low density. This seems remarkable when a small pebble sinks, and it’s tiny. But it’s dense. This highlights that size and density are different and that’s why we need different ways to measure the different properties or behaviours of things.
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Inquiry-Based Learning Activity: Floating and Sinking (Junior Infants)
I would teach floating and sinking through an inquiry-based investigation where the children discover the answers themselves. I would begin by showing the class a selection of everyday objects, such as a cork, stone, spoon, leaf, sponge and plastic toy. I would ask open-ended questions such as, “What do you notice about these objects?”, “Which do you think will float?” and “Why do you think that?” The children would make predictions before testing each object in a tub of water. As each object is placed into the water, I would encourage the children to observe carefully and discuss what they see with their classmates. I would ask questions such as, “What happened?”, “Was your prediction correct?” and “What do you notice about the objects that float?” At the end of the activity, we would compare our predictions with the results and discuss what we discovered. This inquiry-based approach encourages curiosity, observation, communication and critical thinking while allowing children to develop scientific understanding through hands-on exploration and active participation. -
My name is Colin and I am a primary school teacher. Im looking forward to learning more about space and discovering new ways to make science engaging and enjoyable for my pupil. One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is actually longer than a year on Venus! Venus takes about 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis, but it only takes around 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun. One inquiry based activity I would use in my classroom is having pupils investigate why the Moon appears to change shape throughout the month
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Welcome Colin. That’s a great fun fact and a really interesting classroom activity. Some interesting comments about measuring and predicting the shape of the Moon already in the forum. It’s one of those experiments that can be done by the kids by just looking out at night and recording how what they see of the Moon changes. It can be sometimes cloudy in Ireland – understatement – but you can always discuss how cloud has helped or hindered capturing Moon phases.
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Hi there, I’m Eimear- I work in a special school. I love students studying space it’s such a great way to combine maths with creativity.
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An inquiry based activity I have done is with 2nd class. Our topic was Irish seals.
As part of learning about Irish seals we explored how seals stay warm in the cold Irish waters.
Lesson: What is insulation?I introduced the lesson by letting children choose the best clothes for keeping us warm in winter. Each child came up and picked an item of clothing from the basket and explained why it good to wear in cold weather. Examples to choose from gloves, snow boots, hat etc.
Experiment: Melting Ice experiment
Learning outcome: The children will learn which materials are the best insulators.Question: which materials will best slow down the ice cube from melting.
Materials plastic cups, ice cubes, a timer. Materials: wooly hat, bubble wrap, newspaper etc.
Steps.
1.Wrap one material around each cup . Leave one cup with no material as the test cup.
2. Place one ice cube in each cup.
3. Start the timer, observe and record every 5 minutes.
4. Analyse the results. Which material was the best/ worst insulator.-
Hello Sharon,
Welcome to the course, and thank you for sharing your activity. This is a great lesson for helping children explore different materials and understand why we wear certain types of clothing in different weathers.
As an extension, you could show the children a range of environments (e.g. the Arctic, a desert, a rainforest, or outer space!) and ask them to decide which clothing would be most suitable for each setting and explain their reasoning.
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Hi, I’m Lora and I’m the SET teacher. As I live by the sea I find the relationship with the moon and the tides fascinating so my fun fact is how the moon’s gravity pulls on the earth’s ocean causing the tides.
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Hi Lora, that’s a really good fun fact. You could ask the class what they think would happen to the tides if the Moon disappeared. (It turns out that tides are really important for the evolution of life on our planet, and it’s an example of the importance of the Moon. It’s not just a lifeless Moon, even if life itself doesn’t exist on the Moon.)
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Exploring Space: The Sun, Moon and Stars
Class: Infants
Learning Objectives:
- Recognise the Sun is seen during the day and the Moon and stars at night.
- Observe and describe the sky.
- Ask questions and share their ideas.
Inquiry Cycle
Activities:
- Show pictures of the daytime and nighttime sky.
Discuss: What can you see? What is different? - When do we see the Sun, Moon and stars?
Investigate
Use a torch (Sun) and globe/ball (Earth) to demonstrate day and night.
Children sort picture cards into Day and Night and explain their choices.
DiscussShare observations.
Introduce vocabulary: Sun, Moon, Stars, Day, Night, Sky, Light, Dark.
ReflectChildren draw a daytime sky on one half of a page and a nighttime sky on the other.
Follow on activtities:Observe the sky at home or school.
Read a space-themed story or explore shadows outdoors-
Hi Laura, Welcome to the forum.
This is a great activity well matched to infant classes and provides plenty of opportunities for observation, discussion, and questioning. The use of the torch on a globe is an effective way to make this abstract concept more relatable for young learners.
The drawing and observation activities are a great way to encourage children to connect what they have learnt with their own environment.
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Hi Laura, Welcome to the forum.
This is a great activity well matched to infant classes and provides plenty of opportunities for observation, discussion, and questioning. The use of the torch on a globe is an effective way to make this abstract concept more relatable for young learners.
The drawing and observation activities are a great way to encourage children to connect what they have learnt with their own environment.
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Hi all, my name is Caoimhe. I will be teaching Junior SET next year and take a group of children for social groups and I think space would be a lovely topic to explore and investigate together.
My favourite fact is that we have our own female astronaut from Mayo!-
Hi Caoimhe, welcome to the forum! When I was a kid the idea of going to space was almost impossible. It is becoming increasingly possible, especially if you have the finances. We know that kids are fascinated about going into space and we always tell them that the technology has now reached a level that anyone with minimal training can go, so they can really imagine a future where they also get a chance to see the Earth from space.
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Exploring Waterproof Materials
Class: Junior Infants
Learning Objectives:
Identify and explore the characteristics and properties of various materials
Identify which materials are waterproof through investigation
Understand what makes a material waterproof or not
Activities:
Teddy is going for walk in the rain and needs an umbrella. Which material could we use to keep teddy dry?
Show the children different materials and ask them which materials they predict will keep teddy dry and why?
Put the children into groups and give each group a teddy in a clear jar and a jug of water. Give each group different materials to investigate with.
Have the children place different materials over the top of the jar and pour the water on top of teddy.
Which materials works best to keep teddy dry?
Discuss as a whole class which material worked best and why the children think it worked. Why did other materials not work?
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Hello Caoimhe,
This is a wonderful activity that encourages prediction, observation, and discussion. I especially love the teddy bear element, as it gives the children something meaningful to connect what they are learning with. Wanting to keep Teddy dry and comfortable adds meaning to their investigation.
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Hello, I teach 1st Class in a primary school. I’m looking forward to learning more about space and discovering practical ways to bring this exciting topic into my classroom. My favourite space fact is that the sun is a star!
One inquiry-based activity I would use with my 1st Class is **”What makes day and night?”** I would begin by asking the children what they already know and encourage them to share their own ideas and questions. We would then use a globe and a torch or pen light to investigate how the Earth’s rotation causes day and night. The children could predict what they think will happen before observing the demonstration and discussing their findings. Afterwards, the pupils could draw and label pictures showing the Earth, the Sun, and the difference between day and night. More confident pupils could explain their thinking to the class, while others could use sentence starters or picture prompts to support their learning.
This inquiry-based approach encourages curiosity, questioning, and active learning. I think this type of hands-on learning is particularly effective for young children and helps them build confidence as they explore the world around them. -
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Hi, I’m Ellen and I’ll be teaching the middle classes this academic year. I decided to enroll on this course as I was fascinated with the Artemis II mission at Easter and wanted to learn more about the topic of Space.
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Hi Ellen, welcome to the forum. The Artemis mission has sparked a renewed interest in human space flight. I remember Apollo, and that left a lasting impression. As Artemis moves into the phase of landing humans on the Moon in the next few years, it will likely have a massive influence on our kids, and it’s a real opportunity to inspire and encourage them. And as per an earlier post, perhaps one of them will become a genuine astronaut who goes to the Moon.
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Hi,
I’m Emma and I will be teaching Junior Infants this year. I am moving from 5th class and have covered the theme of Space with my previous classes and so I am really looking forward to adapting my lessons to suit the younger children. My fun fact about space is that Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet.
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Welcome Emma. Poor old Pluto got demoted, at least that’s how some people feel! But it’s a great fun fact. It turns out that Pluto isn’t the largest object in the outer solar system, so far away from the Sun that the Sun would be a very bright star. You could get the children to imagine/draw how the Sun might look in the sky in going from Mercury all the way to Neptune and beyond.
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My inquiry based lesson would be centred around the moon and as a class we would explore why the moon changes shape. It would be a very open ended lesson where the children try to formulate their own understandings before being though about how the sun and the moon interact resulting in the moon changing shape. The children could be given opportunities to get creative and show the moon phases using materials of their choice – show and tell could follow.
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An inquiry based activity that I would consider with middle classes would be floating and sinking but with fresh waters Vs salty water from the Strand: Energy and Forces and Strand Unit: Forces.
I would begin with a brief discussion about the sources of fresh and salty water and the obvious similarities and differences between both.
I would then concentrate the discussion on the topic of the lesson which is floating and sinking items in fresh Vs salty water. I would show a variety of items that students could use for the experiment and then record predictions and brief discussion around that.
During the active experiment I would ensure that children record their results and I would ask students in their groups about their findings and anything particular they noticed.
In the group discussion it would be good opportunity to compare predictions and results, allow students to explore why somethings may have sank slower in the salty water and would lead to ideas for future lessons looking at density or linking it with falling and timing items sinking in the different water types.
I think it would a really engaging inquiry based activity as children may not have thought about less obvious differences between different water types. -
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Icebreaker: Hi my name is Mags and I am teaching Junior Infants. My favourite fact about space is that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sands on earth.
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Hi Ellen, I really love this idea as a lesson but especially as a different take on a floating and sinking lesson. Children would find this very interesting as it isn’t something that would naturally occur to them about fresh vs salty water. I think it’s so important to teach children these things about the environment around them.
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Hi all,
My name is Elaine and I will be teaching First Class in September and have taught First Class for the past number of years. The Over the Moon chapter on astronauts first sparked curiosity in my class and has since become a popular annual theme. I look forward to learning more about space and adding to the thematic unit.
Space Fact: Mars is home to the largest volcano in our solar system, Olympus Mons. It is nearly three times taller than Mount Everest.
Inquiry-based Activity
Title: How to Stay Warm in Cold Weather?
Engage: Tell the students you forgot your coat and you are on yard duty. Ask for ideas to keep warm. Create a mind map displaying the different suggestions.
Investigate: Gather different pieces of clothing from all seasons i.e. swimsuits, scarves, shorts, jumpers, caps, hats, sunglasses, gloves, etc. Explore the items by touch. Maybe use a mystery bag where students touch and describe the items unseen first. Then have the students try some items on and test them against the elements. Have the students design an experiment that could fairly test and rank all items. With the junior classes perhaps a simple happy or sad face and with the older classes perhaps a rating out 5 for effectiveness.
Next Step: Sort all fabrics by their properties. Discuss fabrics and their properties that are most effective against the cold weather.
Reflection: Consider extending this inquiry i.e. hot weather, cold water, windy, sunny.
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Hi Elaine, that’s a great chapter and great to know it sparked curiosity amongst your classes. Your space fact is one of those surprising ones and allows the kids to ask questions about “what would it mean to climbers if Olympus Mons was on Earth”. If they had to go three times higher, how would that challenge them?
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Inquiry based experiment: Exploring fingerprints
Prompt:
I would show the children the mirror in the classroom. Talk and discussion about how it looks different to usual- it has been covered in fingerprints using paint.
Discuss fingerprints- questions that I would ask would include do we all have fingerprints? Do all fingerprints look the same? Describe the fingerprints that are on the mirror- are they big or small? Could they belong to an adult or a child? Discuss the lines on the fingerprints.
Demonstrate a variety of ways in which we can create fingerprints e.g. ink etc.
The children would then create fingerprints onto chartpaper and work together to identify who left the fingerprints on the mirror. While working to identify who owns the fingerprints, I would encourage the children to look at the lines, the direction of them, identify if they are wavy or swirly etc. Do all the fingerprints look the same or are they different?
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Hi Margaret,
Welcome to the course.
I like this activity as it offers lots of opportunities for discussion about how unique every fingerprint is, and how unique every human is. It’s also a little messy, which children tend to enjoy!
Older children might also enjoy playing detective with a few extra steps. They can press their fingers onto a hard, smooth surface (like the mirror in your example) and then lightly brush cornflour over the print using a fluffy paintbrush or makeup brush. The natural oils in the fingerprint will catch the flour particles. The excess flour can be blown or tapped off. Next, place a piece of Scotch tape over the fingerprint, gently press it down, and lift the print with the tape. The tape can then be placed onto dark card to make the fingerprint easier to see.
You could then ask the children why being able to lift and examine fingerprints might be useful.
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I really like how this activity begins with curiosity and encourages children to investigate a real-life mystery. It provides excellent opportunities to develop observation, prediction, comparing, and communicating skills while promoting discussion and teamwork. The hands-on nature of the investigation makes learning engaging and supports children’s understanding that everyone’s fingerprints are unique.
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My name is Glenys Healy and I’ll be teaching first class next year. Children are always curious about space and I wanted to acquire exciting ideas and practical activities to help me expand their knowledge. My fun fact is that the footprints left by the Apollo astronauts will remain preserved for millions of years because there is no wind or weather on the moon to erode the surface.
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Hi Glenys, your fun fact underscores one of the big differences between the Moon and Erath and is a great one to add to the forum. You could ask the kids how long they think a footprint would last on the Earth and maybe even ask if it matters whether it’s on grass, in mud, on sand, etc. You fact allows you to ask the kids how they think weather influences the world we see around us, and how this is very different on the Moon (and to a lesser extent Mars, which has a very thin atmosphere and SOME weather, notably dust storms).
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Hi, my name is Gail Kennedy and I will be teaching 2nd class next year after over 10 years in infants. I’m looking forward to learning information on this course to bring with me into 2nd class. I think the boys in my class will be really interested. One interesting fact is that I have visited the Air and Space museum in Washington DC and loved seeing all of the rockets close up! The space shuttle Discovery was my favourite.
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Hi Gail, welcome to the forum! Let’s hope we all get to inspire and enthuse the girls and boys about inquiry-based learning using space as the catalyst. I was at the Air and Space museum many years ago, but what an amazing place for capturing what we humans can achieve when we work together and solve problems together.
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Inquiry lesson on Magnetism
Question: What do magnets attract. Why do some things stick while others don’t.
Make predictions before carrying out experiments.
Provide a range of objects made from different materials for the children to test out.
Children sort the objects into magnetic/non-magnetic categories.
Teacher circulates around the room when children are on task asking relevant questions and fleshing out answers.
Towards the end of the lesson, teacher gathers the children on the mat to discuss their findings. Give them the explanation “a magnet is something that can pull certain metals towards it. Magnets have a force that can pull these metals without touching them.”
Children note their findings in a journal.-
Hello Gail,
Welcome to the forum. I think this is a great activity. It encourages children to make predictions, investigate for themselves, and discuss their findings. Through the activity, they may discover that only certain metal objects are attracted to magnets, which can lead to further questions.
I also like how the lesson helps children explore the idea of forces. We cannot directly feel the force of magnetism ourselves, but we can observe (and feel) its effects on objects that experience it. Recording their findings in a journal is a great way to encourage reflection and develop their scientific thinking.
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I would conduct an inquiry based lesson on floating and sinking with second class. I would show the children a mystery bag filled with objects such as a toy boat, a paper clip, a stone, a metal spoon, a plastic spoon. I would engage the pupils by asking them to explore the materials and I would ask them to predict in their groups which items would float and which ones would sink. They could record their predictions on whiteboards.
The pupils would then conduct the investigation in their groups and record their results on a whiteboard. The class would then get together to discuss the results of their investigation. I would prompt the children by asking if it was always the heavy items that sank and if any of the large objects floated. A further lesson/challenge could be to ask the children if they thought a ball of modelling clay could float? They could be prompted to see if they could manipulate the clay into a shape that might float .I did this lesson with my 5th class and it was interesting to see how many of them understood that by reshaping the clay into the shape of a boat that they could make the clay float. 5th class children could pair up with a younger class during Science week to help with this investigation.-
Really nice idea about how changing shape matters! That’s such a crucial – and possibly surprising – observation. As your students found out, place a lump of metal into water and it sinks, but reshape it into a massive ship and it floats. For many of us, that’s counterintuitive. There’s an opportunity to discuss the idea of density here, though it might be tricky depending on the class.
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Hi my name is Laura and I’ll be teaching Junior Infants in September.
My favourite space fact is that it rains diamonds on Neptune!
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Hi I’m Edel teaching in Limerick. My favourite fact is one million Earths could fit inside the sun !
I think one activity I would use with my class is asking pupils to investigate why astronauts float in space. Instead of simply telling them the answer, I would encourage them to ask questions, make predictions and work together to find information from age-appropriate books, videos and trusted websites. They could discuss their ideas in small groups before creating a poster, drawing or short presentation to explain what they have discovered.
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Hi Edel, welcome to the forum! Astronauts floating in space is really interesting. It offers lots of possibilities for engaging with the children and there’s also interesting side effects on the human body, such as loss of bone mass, that the kids might discuss – if we go to space for long periods where we float, what would that do to our bodies?
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Inquiry based Lesson in Senior Infants
Theme ; Floating and sinking.
Materials: A selection of test materials such as wood, pencil, metal spoon, plastic ruler, a ball, piece of paper, wooden block, large bowl of water.
The children will be asked whether these items will float and sink after a discussion as what floating and sinking means.
Investigation; The children will predict whether the items will sink or float. They will record their predictions on a pre -prepared worksheet. The items will then be tested one by one and the findings recorded. The children will compare the findings to their own predictions.
A class discussion will follow where the children will discuss the material involved. The children will identify which items floated or sank and which might have surprised them. We will establish what we have learned today. Does size impact floating, or is the type of material involved more important? We will discuss common items in our homes that we have noticed in water and determine whether they float or sink… toys in the bath, items in the sink etc.
I will conclude with a summary of our findings.
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My name is Paula. I will be teaching in a SET position. My fun fact is that is that on the planet Venus, a day is longer than a year!
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Hi Paula, Venus is a planet of extremes. It also rains sulphuric acid and has a surface temperature of over 450 degrees celsius. Could humans live there? What would be needed to do so? Would it be easier to live on the Moon where there’s no air and the daytime temperature reaches 120 celsius and the nighttime temperature drops to below 150 celsius. Comparing the properties between planets is a great way to showcase how wonderful our Earth is suited to our needs and the needs of the creatures we share it with.
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Inquiry Based Activity: How do fish live underwater?
Class Junior Infants
Engagement/Wonder
Begin by showing the children pictures and short videos of fish swimming underwater. Questions for the pupils could include Where do the fish live?, How can they breathe underwater? How do they move in the water? What do you think fish need to stay alive?
Investigate/Explore
Encourage the children to move around like fish/ask them what they need to do to move in water (what body parts do they need to use?) Can they move if they keep their arms/legs still? Can they breathe in and under the water? How? Can the fish breathe in the water? How?
Discover/Explain
Provide the children with pictures of fish and magnifying glasses. Encourage the children to look closely, identify the fins, tail and gills and ask if they can explain what they are and what the fish use them for
Record their findings
The children could record their information by writing a simple sentence “I learned that fish have gills”, by drawing a picture, or by delivering a one sentence oral presentation
Reflection
Extend this inquiry to other animals that can live on land and water.
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Hi Paula, that’s a very nicely laid out approach which uses the ESERO framework very well. Interestingly there are other objects in the solar system that might have oceans of water beneath their surface – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa (all moons of Jupiter) and Enceladus (a moon of Saturn). Imagine what fish might live there!
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My name is Emily, and I’m a primary school teacher in Dublin. I currently teach in an autism support class and am looking forward to exploring ways to bring space education into my classroom.
One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus! I think this is a brilliant fact because it surprises children and encourages them to think differently about how planets move.
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Hi Emily, that’s a great way to think about why the length of the day on venus is very different to the length of a day on earth. It does indeed encourage them to think about how unique the earth is and how different other worlds are. And we only know that by exploring and trying to imagine what the rest of the universe beyond earth is like.
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Inquiry-Based Activity: What Makes a Rocket Travel the Furthest?
One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is an investigation into what makes a rocket travel the furthest. I would ensure the lesson is highly visual, practical and accessible, with plenty of opportunities for hands-on learning.
Materials: Balloon rockets (balloons, string, straws and tape), visual prediction cards (e.g., “far” and “near”), measuring tape or floor markers, visual timetable, and a simple recording sheet with symbols or pictures.
Investigation: I would begin by showing the children the balloon rocket and asking, “What do you think will make the rocket go further?” We would discuss their ideas and make simple predictions using pictures, symbols, speech etc. Together, we would test one variable at a time, for example comparing a fully inflated balloon with a half-inflated balloon. This allows children to focus on one change and observe its effect. Each child would have the opportunity to launch the rocket, watch how far it travelled and compare the results.
Reflection: At the end of the lesson, we would compare our predictions with the results. Pupils could sequence pictures, choose the rocket that travelled the furthest or place a symbol on a simple chart to show what they discovered. .
This inquiry-based activity encourages pupils to ask questions, make predictions, test their ideas and reflect on the evidence they have gathered. By using concrete materials, visual supports and differentiated methods of communication, every child can actively participate while developing early scientific inquiry skills in an engaging and meaningful way.
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For my inquiry based lesson I would look at the idea of Gravity. This is something that I feel always piques the interest of children and even at infant level. We would begin the lesson by talking about Space and seeing what the children’s prior knowledge is around space. I would then show the children a video of things floating around in space and ask them if they know why this happens. This would lead us onto the idea of Gravity and the lesson of What does Gravity do?
We would start by looking at a song on gravity and then discuss both gravity and the idea of forces and what a force is and how there are different forces. We would brainstorm different forces and how things move by push or pull. I would then ask the children to stand up and jump in the air asking them what happens when they jump up? We would explain that gravity pulls them back down and that is why they come back down. We would look at also throwing different items up seeing that they too fall back down due to gravity. I would explain that gravity holds people and animals on the ground so we don’t all float around in the air. Children would then get the chance to work in pairs to explore how different items fall. They will discuss how different items fall faster/slower and also look at it they all fall in the same direction. They will be asked to think of reasons why they think something might fall faster or slower being encouraged to think of the size or weight of an object. We will also think if there are ways which we can speed up or slow down how an object might fall.
As a follow up lesson on another day I would introduce the magnets here showing the children how the magnet will attract the paperclip, explaining to the children that this is due to the force from the magnet. Children in pairs or groups will then get the opportunity to explore with the magnets to do the ‘What do Magnets Do?’ part of the lesson. They will be given a magnet and a variety of objects to see which are attracted to the magnet and which aren’t, making two separate piles with the magnets. They will also be given time to go around the room exploring with the magnets to see what else they can find that the magnet is attracted to. Children would then discuss their findings with the rest of the class.
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Hi, My name is Chantelle and I will be in SET next year.
My favourite space fact is that astronauts returning from spacewalks report that space has a very distinct odor, often described as a mix of ozone, hot metal, and seared steak.
Post a reflective piece on how you would use one inquiry-based activity in your
classroom to the forumActivity: What do plants need to grow?
Engage: I would show the class a seed and a fully grown plant. I would ask open-ended questions such as, “How does a tiny seed grow into a plant?” and “What do plants need to live?”
Investigate: Children would plant seeds in small pots. To support inquiry, we could create simple comparisons—for example, one plant placed in sunlight and another in shade, or one watered regularly and one left dry.
Reflect and Share:
The children would discuss their observations and compare results. I would support them in using new vocabulary such as seed, roots, stem, grow, and sunlight.
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Hi Chantelle, that’s a new space fact on the forum and it’s intersting that space has an odour. I wonder what the odour would be like on the Moon (no atmosphere) or Mars (thin atmosphere) or some alien planet. What makes odours and why do humans have a sense of smell? Lots of questions to build off the fun fact.
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For my Senior Infants classroom, an inquiry-based activity should be playful, hands-on, and encourage children to ask questions and explore. Here’s an example using the topic “What Floats and What Sinks?”.
ENGAGE – Prompt / Wonder / Explore
Show the children a bowl of water and a selection of objects (stone, leaf, spoon, toy boat, cork, coin, sponge).
Ask:
What do you notice about these objects?
What do you think will happen when we put them in the water?
Why do you think that?
Let the children handle and discuss the objects before testing them.INVESTIGATE – Starting Question / Predicting / Conducting the Investigation / Interpreting Results
Starting Question:Which objects will float and which will sink?
Predicting:Children predict whether each object will float or sink by placing it under a “Float” or “Sink” picture card.
Conducting the Investigation:One at a time, children place the objects in the water and observe what happens.
Encourage discussion:
Did it float or sink?
Was your prediction correct?
Interpreting Results:Record findings on a simple chart with pictures.
Discuss patterns:
What kinds of things floated?
What kinds of things sank?
Did anything surprise you?
TAKE THE NEXT STEP – Apply Learning / Making Connections / Thoughtful Learning
Challenge children to build a boat from foil or recycled materials that can float and carry counters or toy animals.
Ask:
How can we make our boat hold more?
Where else do we see floating and sinking in everyday life? (e.g., bath time, boats, ducks).
REFLECTION
Gather the children together and ask:What did you learn today?
What surprised you?
What would you like to investigate next?
Children can draw one object that floated and one that sank and explain why they think it happened.
This activity develops scientific inquiry skills, including questioning, predicting, observing, recording results, and reflecting, while matching the learning approach recommended for Senior Infants. -
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Hi, I’m Kevin and I am teaching 3rd class next year. I am interested in space and wanted to learn about some activities/ideas I could use with my class for the coming year and ideas to share with my colleagues in other classes.
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Investigate a variety of materials and see if they are waterproof or not.
Could base it off a real life scenario – we were on a nature walk and ___’s coat kept him dry whilst __’s coat didn’t etc. Why do you think that is? What was different about their coats?
Get them to have a look and feel of the different materials, get them to compare them and then when that is done, they can predict and put them into two categories. Waterproof / Not Waterproof. You could introduce the language permeable vs impermeable but it doesn’t have to be the sole focus of the lesson depending on their age and readiness.
Conducting the investigation could involve spilling a bit of water onto each material and seeing if it stays intact or rips etc.
Get them to record the data into two sections as mentioned earlier in the prediction section.
I enjoyed the idea mentioned in the slides of designing a coat for teddy – this could be a nice junk art idea where you could integrate your lesson here.
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I really like how you’ve connected the investigation to a real-life situation, as it gives students a meaningful reason to explore the properties of different materials. Having them make predictions before testing encourages critical thinking, and I like the idea of introducing terms like permeable and impermeable in an age-appropriate way. The “design a coat for Teddy” activity is a great extension that allows students to apply what they’ve learned in a creative, hands-on way. This sounds like an engaging inquiry-based lesson that would keep students actively involved throughout.
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Hello everyone!
My name is Michaela, and I’m delighted to be part of this course. I enjoy finding creative ways to make science engaging, practical, and relevant to everyday life. I’m looking forward to sharing ideas with everyone and learning new inquiry-based strategies that I can bring back to my classroom.
One of my favourite space facts is that neutron stars are so dense that a single teaspoon of their material would weigh around a billion tonnes on Earth. I find it incredible that something so small could have such an enormous mass, and it reminds me how fascinating and mysterious our universe is.
One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is a Design a Mars Lander Challenge. In this activity, students work in small groups to design and build a model spacecraft that can safely land a “Mars rover” (such as a small toy or marshmallow) from a set height. They would be given a variety of everyday materials, such as paper, straws, cotton wool, string, and tape, and challenged to create a lander that protects its payload during impact. Before building, students would discuss what they already know about Mars, gravity, and space exploration, then ask questions and make predictions about which designs might work best. After testing their landers, they would evaluate the results, identify what worked well, and redesign their models to improve their performance.
This activity reflects inquiry-based learning because students learn through questioning, investigation, testing, and reflection rather than following a set of instructions. They take ownership of the learning process by developing their own ideas, collecting evidence from their tests, and using that evidence to improve their designs. The activity also integrates STEM while encouraging collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. As the teacher, my role would be to guide students with open-ended questions, encourage them to justify their thinking, and support them in reflecting on their results. I believe this type of hands-on investigation would make learning about space exploration exciting and meaningful while helping students develop resilience, creativity, and critical thinking skills that they can apply across many areas of learning.
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Hi Michaela, welcome and thanks for that amazing fact. The Universe is truly bizarre when compared to what happens on Earth. We’ve had facts about the number of stars in the universe compared to grains of sand on beaches (which enables the discussion of just how big numbers can get and how we can try to visualize them); the number of earths that would fit into the Sun (which enables a discussion on relative sizes and perhaps volume differences); and now your neutron star fact (which enables a conversation about how heavy things can get and the idea also of density, which comes into all of the lessons related to floating and sinking).
Your lander idea offers a huge range of options. It certainly has open ended possibilities, prediction, experimentation and reflection. Check out also how this can be done with eggs. https://www.spaceweek.ie/events/eggstronauts-workshop/
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My name is Jessica Markey and I am a Senior Infant teacher in a DEIS Junior school. I decided to do this course to expand my knowledge on space and hopefully use that in my current teaching position. My favourite fact about space is that it is completely silent.
An inquiry based activity that I would like to do with my Senior Infants is “storm in a glass”. I have done this experiment with older children and think that it would be a great hands on activity for an Aistear based lesson.
The trigger for this inquiry based activity would be a previous Literacy lesson about the book “One Stormy Night” and a follow up activity to the theme of weather/Winter.
Throughout my years of teaching, I have seen how children wonder and often question where rain comes from or “why is there more rain today?”. I would begin this activity by showing the children a wet sponge and say “let’s pretend this is a cloud”. By adding more water to the sponge, more water comes out etc. This would give children a little idea of what happens when it rains more – more water/rain comes down. We would then move onto a glass or clear container 3/4 full of water. We would make a “cloud” using shaving foam. I would ask though provoking questions such as “what do you think will happen if I add water to the cloud?” “what would happen if I add more water?”. Eventually the children will be able to identify what happens to the cloud when we add more water or “rain”.
I think this is a brilliant hands on and “messy” water activity for infants.-
Hi Jessica, a great fun fact. And your water activity sounds like a lot of fun (and messy!). You could ask the kids if they think there could be clouds in space, or on the Moon. Do they think there’s water in space and on the Moon and if not can there be clouds? NASA’s Curiosity Rover has captured images of clouds on Mars. (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-curiosity-rover-captures-shining-clouds-on-mars/ ) What does that tell us about whether there’s water on Mars. Do the clouds look thin or thick? What does that tell us?
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I would focus on the idea of gravity in my lesson, which has been an area that I probably have not given enough focus on in the past. I would begin with asking the children questions like; what they think happens when different objects are dropped? I will have them record their predictions as it is gives them a good opportunity to reflect and compare. I would use the 10 objects that were suggested in this module to see the effects of gravity.
We will not only focus on what they think will happen (they will fall) but how the different objects may differ. The speed in which they will fall, where do they think they will land? Will they all fall? If we were outside what might happen? The children will be provided with the opportunity investigate what happens when each object is dropped from the same height. Working in small groups, they would observe, compare, and discuss their findings while recording their observations through drawings or simple charts.
We will look at appropriate scientific vocabulary such as gravity, force, predict, and observe. Through guided questioning, I would support the children in understanding that gravity is the force that pulls objects towards the Earth. Rather than simply explaining the concept, I would encourage them to develop their own understanding through discussion and investigation. I really liked the idea from the module of extending their understanding by asking what will happen to objects if they were in dropped in Australia? This will be give me a good opportunity to see if they can understand the Earth’s gravitational pull. I think this would be a really interesting way to engage the children and get them thinking outside the box. Also, it would hopefully be a very hands on lesson and give me the opportunity to target the different learning style and levels in my classroom.-
Hi Mairead, thanks for the fun fact about Venus. And if you were on Venus and could see the Sun (which you can’t, because it’s permanently covered in thick cloud) you would see it take 58.5 earth days for the Sun to rise in the West and set in the East. Can the class imagine such a long day? How would that affect humans. Can we stay awake for 58.5 earth days? If school started in the morning and ended at lunchtime, that would be about 20 Earth days! And every night on Venus would be 58.5 earth nights!
Amazingly, Venus rotates in the opposite direction to Earth. Only Uranus does that also. Hence the Sun rises in the West, not the east.
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Hi, my name is Siobhán Keenaghan. I will be teaching 2nd class next year. I have done space projects with this class level in the past but always wished my knowledge was greater to be able to share interesting facts with them and I thought this course would be ideal for that. My favourite fact is that after almost 50 years, Voyager 1 is still only one light day away from Earth!
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Hi Mairead, I also really liked the idea of asking the children what would happen if we did the same experiment if in Australia. I loved the map shown in the slides where we see where Australia is compared to Ireland and like you said, I think this will really get them thinking outside the box and give them a sense of the shape of Earth and pose great questions for the about the strength of gravity. I also agree that it is an activity that would engage many different learning styles and keep them interested and enjoying the lesson.
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Science Lesson: Floating and Sinking
Senior Infants & First Class
Learning Intent
Children will investigate why some objects float while others sink by making predictions, carrying out a fair test, recording their observations and discussing their findings using appropriate scientific language.Success Criteria
I can predict whether an object will float or sink.
I can test my ideas safely.
I can observe and describe what happened.
I can sort objects and explain my thinking using words such as float, sink, heavy, light, material, surface and observe.
Materials
Large transparent tub of water, towel, prediction chart, recording sheet, assorted objects (coin, cork, plastic spoon, stone, leaf, sponge, wooden block, bottle cap, toy car, rubber ball, shell etc.).
Inquiry Question
What features of an object help it float or cause it to sink?Introduction (10 minutes)
Display the objects and encourage pupils to handle them. Invite children to discuss what they notice about each item. Ask: ‘Which objects do you think will stay on top of the water? Which will go to the bottom? Why do you think that?’ Record each prediction on a class chart and encourage children to justify their ideas.Investigation (20 minutes)
Working individually or in small groups, children choose one object at a time, predict the outcome, gently place it into the water, observe carefully and record the result. Pupils then sort the objects into ‘Float’ and ‘Sink’ groups and compare their findings with their original predictions. Encourage repeated testing and discussion if results are unexpected.Discussion (10 minutes)
Which objects floated? Which sank?
Were your predictions correct?
Did any results surprise you?
Do all heavy objects sink? Do all light objects float?
Does the material or shape make a difference?
What did you learn from today’s investigation?Differentiation
Senior Infants: focus on predicting, observing and sorting using simple vocabulary.
First Class: encourage children to explain reasons for results, compare materials, record findings independently and identify simple patterns.Conclusion and Extension (10 minutes)
Review the investigation and emphasise that scientists make predictions, test ideas and learn from evidence. Invite pupils to find another classroom object, predict whether it will float or sink, explain their reasoning and test it. Extend learning by asking children to design a small boat from foil or recycled materials that can float while holding counters.-
Floating and sinking is a great lesson and offers huge possibility for cross curricular work in more senior classes also.. Make and design the tallest ?narrowest object to float. In Maths problem solve -How many paper clips can I add to a raft before it sinks -calculate optimum weight each raft can hold. Debate in literacy is it more valuable to sink or float . Look at travel by sea past and present and see how they compare and use the floating and sinking techniques. The possibilities are endless
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I would like to do an inquiry based activity about gravity and the speed of falling objects.
First I might show the picture of the cream and cookies falling as it really grabbed my attention and I think it would do the same for my class and get them talking about things falling and perhaps discussing the speed in which things fall.
My question to them then would be ‘What falls fastest?’ and we would wonder if all things fall at the same speed.
We would arrange a variety of materials for examples: paper, a pencil, a rubber, a piece of lego. We would compare these, perhaps as a whole class or maybe in groups. Next we would make predictions about which one would fall the fastest.
To investigate this, someone in the class, or one student in the group, would drop the objects from a height and the rest of the children would record which fell the fastest. To vary it up I might get the groups to drop from different heights – a chair, a table, an outdoor slide, a second level window or from the top of a stairs (Making sure safety was paramount.
Then we would discuss and I would ask the children what they noticed and what they surmised from their investigation
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My name is Siobhan and I had first class in September. I previously had third class for the past eight years. I am looking forward to the new challenge of a junior class. One of my favourite space facts Footprints on the Moon will last forever: Without any wind or water to erode them, the footprints left by the Apollo astronauts will remain pristine for millions of years.
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I love this type of activity. The children have such fun predicting and can get very competitive in who was correct. It really gives them a good sense of how to prove a theorpy when they carry out the experiment themselves and and focusses the mind on fair testing which is the basis of all scientific exploration.
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Hi Siobhan, thanks for that fact. It truly is amazing to think nothing might be happening over millions of years to those footprints. You can ask your class if they think they can see footprints on the Moon from Earth and do an experiment to see just how far away you CAN see footprints. The craters on the Moon have been there for millions, sometimes billions, of years and we can see them from Earth! It’s like looking back in time – the Moon’s surface is like a snapshot from millions and billions of years ago.
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Activity
One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is a Moon Observation Journal. Over several weeks, students would observe the Moon, record its shape, draw what they see, and note any patterns they notice. Rather than providing answers straight away, I would encourage students to ask questions such as, “Why does the Moon change shape?” and “Does it appear in the same place every night?”
This activity allows students to investigate a real-world data by collecting evidence, identifying patterns, and developing explanations based on their observations. It encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning while also integrating literacy through journaling and mathematics through sequencing and pattern recognition. We could also read lots of books about the moon to spark their interest and curiosity futher.-
This is a lovely idea – completing a Moon Observation Journal it gives the children a chance to look up at the sky, notice changes and talk about what they see. It could be easily adapted to use in SET, I would make it more accessible by using picture supports, simple moon phase cards. I would also link it with familiar stories such as Goodnight Moon and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.
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I would use gravity as an inquiry based activity in my junior infant classroom. I would create curiosity by showing the children different objects for example: a feather, ball, car, counters, lego and ask the children to make predictions on what they think will happen when I drop these objects. They will share their predictions in their groups and with the class. The children will then test out their predictions by dropping each object and observing what happens. The children will discuss what happens to each object and record what happens. We would then have a discussion and I would ask questions such as ‘why do you think they fell down?’ ‘Can you make something go up instead of down?
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Hi my Name is Tanya I’ve just finished teaching 5th and 6th class this year and return to SET next year. Science fact my gap year in Australia I was always watching the water swirl down the drain in reverse -this amazed me !
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Welcome Tanya! Great science fact. Kids can do this at home and see for themselves which way the water drains when a sink is emptied. They can also swish it with their hand in the opposite direction to see if they can reverse the direction of emptying. It can be done! This is an example of a bigger force – your hand – overcoming a smaller force – the rotation of the Earth.
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Hi all, my name is Fiona and I will be teaching in SET next year. I have a student who is very interested in space and I am looking forward to getting some ideas here. One interesting fact – there is a ‘giant red spot’ storm on jupiter for hundreds of years.
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Inquiry Based Lesson: Water and Air
Class: senior classes
Time: 30 minutes
Learning Outcome: To discover the relationship between water and air
Materials: 200ml bottles all same shape with hole at base, hole on side and 3 holes on side 2l water bottle with 3 holes on side, card ,tape ,ruler ,measuring jug and sink or basin to do investigation over
Inquiry Question: Will WATER SPILL FROM A BOTTLE WITH A HOLE ?
Introduction (5 minutes) : look at a concept bottle with a hole of water with a hole which is tapped over. Pupils must discuss what will happen when the tape is removed?
The children can draw or write predictions. These will be recorded on the WB for the end of the lesson.
Investigation (15 minutes)
1. In groups pupils fill water into a bottle with hole at bottom /1 hole at side /hole at bottom /3 holes in bottle and tape over holes. Fill bottles with water and put on lid . Repeat but this time half fill the bottles.
2. Remove tape from bottle and see what happens.
3. The results will be recorded on a simple class chart my bottle with 1 hole at bottom / or 1 hole at side or/ 2 holes at side
Discussion (5 minutes): What happened -did it matter where the hole was? Did it matter if lid of bottle was on or off? Did is matter if bottle was full or half full? Would it matter if hole was bigger?
Conclusion (5 minutes): I will ask the children: What does this show us -Is air heavy….do we know what this is called in science ….can they come up with surface tension…refer back to learning outcome. Rotate groups and try with bottle and hole in different positions.
Results record all results on one chart. Record in picture and digital format.
Extension : where does this theory come into play in world around us ?
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My favourite space fact- Venus rotates so slowly that one day lasts 243 Earh days, while one year is only 225 Earth days
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Welcome Caitriona. This is a popular and impressive space fact on the forum. You could ask the kids to put a list of the length of days on different planets in their order from big to small. And see where earth sits in that list! Nice lesson here: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/days/en/
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One inquiry-based activity that I feel my students would enjoy best is based on gravity and falling objects where my students would learn through exploring, observing, and asking questions. I work with some students in the junior end of the school where hands on activities work best. I would begin by showing the class a variety of objects, such as a feather, a toy block, a tennis ball, and a crumpled piece of paper, and ask them which ones they think will hit the ground first. Making predictions is a great way to get the students engaged and promotes chat and speculation among the students and it gives every student the chance to share their ideas without worrying about getting the “right” answer.
Then I would get the children to test their predictions by dropping two or more objects at the same time and watching what happens. I would encourage discussion amongst the students, by asking them to describe what they notice and by asking open-ended questions like, “What did you see?” or “Why do you think that happened?” This gives students the opportunity to think for themselves and learn through investigation instead of simply being told the answer.
In order to include all of the students with special education needs that I work with I would adapt the activity by using visual supports, simple recording sheets, and plenty of modelling. Some students could draw pictures instead of writing, while others could work with a partner or use communication supports to share their ideas. I would also repeat the experiment several times so students have multiple chances to observe and discuss the results.
I like this activity because it is practical, engaging, and easy to adapt for different abilities. -
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Hi, my name is Sarah Feeney. I’ll be teaching 1st and 2nd class next year. I’m doing this course as space always seems to facinate children and I need to upskill to satisfy their curiosity! Fun fact – sunset on mars is blue.
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Hi Sarah, great to have you on the forum. Thanks for the science fact which itself provides opportunities to ask the children to do comparisons of colours. Is the Earth’s sky always blue – what about sunset or sunrise? What do they think the colour of the sky is on the moon? (Without an atmosphere it’s black, all the time, lunar day and lunar night.)
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Hi, I’m Sarah and I am working in SET next year. I’ve always loved using Space as a theme, I find I enjoy it just as much as the children! My favourite space fact – One million Earths could fit inside the sun!
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Welcome Sarah! Your fun fact is a great example that the Earth is not the biggest object in the universe. There are other comparisons you can make between the earth and sun. For example, you can ask if the sun is hotter or colder than the earth – with all the heatwaves across Europe, does this mean the Earth is as hot as the Sun? How many times hotter do they think the sun is? You can also discuss how the Sun is the source of all renewable energy on earth (except for nuclear!), including wind and solar PV and even dams (which rely on the sun to evaporate water and generate clouds which eventually fill rivers that fill dams).
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Hi, my name is Ciara. I am teaching Junior Infants. My favourite fact is there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches.
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Welcome to the forum Ciara! A great space fact. You could ask the class how many stars they think they can see at night. Surprisingly the number is only about 2500. If that’s the case you could discuss how with telescopes we can see fainter and fainter stars, which opens a discussion about distance and how things appear smaller (and fainter) the farther away they are. You can also ask the kids if they look at stars at night if they see any differences (e.g., some stars look blue, some a bit redder).
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Use of the curious mind framework for enquiry to teach about the sun and day and night.
The prompt: show a photo of the world , half dark, half in light.
Discuss and brainstorm what they see. What do you think is happening??
Wondering: I wonder whats happening on each side of the picture.
What happens differently during day and night – sleep, workers, using lights, animals etc.
Exploring: Using classroom items explore how they can get them to look light and dark in different parts of the classroom and yard.
Starter question? Why is it bright during the day and dark at night?
Predicting: with a torch as the sun, globe as the earth predict what will happen when the earth moves around on its axis.
Conducting investigation: Working in 3s, one child holds torch and pretended to be the sun shining on the earth and doesn’t move (sun doesn’t move), one child hold globe and moves around its axis and 3rd child records observations and shoults out daytime when torch is shining on the globe and nighttime when torch is facing away.
Sharing / interpreting data and results: Children draw their observations and discuss with other groups.
Applying learning: Explain why you have day and night to partner. Making connections: Discuss longer summer nights and shorter winter days and why this might happen. Move earth around the sun and discuss if this could make seasons.
If cousins in Australia find out when they winter and summer. -
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There are several different ways I have used hands on learning and inquiry based learning to teach space in Senior Infants. One of the lessons children really enjoy is learning about the first man on the moon. I show them a clip on youtube of the moonlanding. Our school is very close to the town park where there is a walkway called the Neil Armstrong way so we normally go down here and imagine what it would have been like to take steps on the moon. We have also used toilet roll tubes, bottle tops and foil to make rockets and to tie in with maths use 2d shapes to make rockets. I also find that a role play area in the classroom is a great way to get children interested in space. We purchased a set of Space helmets that we get great use out of between the various classes but particularly the infants up to 2nd class. Space is a lovely topic that can be taught with lovely hands on inquiry based learning.
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Hi Sarah,
Love the space fact you have there and the activity. Fab that you can link it to somewhere nearby and have a set of space helmets too! Astronaut gloves are heavily pressurised making grasping objects quite difficult on space walks: https://news.mit.edu/2010/astronaut-gloves-1013 You could demonstrate something similar by getting the kids to wear multiple gloves and try to perform a task requiring some dexterity.
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Exploring Space: The Sun, Moon and Stars
2nd Class
Learning Objectives:
Pupils will recognise that the Earth’s rotation causes day and night, identify the Sun as visible during the day and the Moon and stars at night, and observe and describe the sky using scientific vocabulary.Lesson:
Begin by showing pictures of the daytime and nighttime sky. Encourage pupils to compare the images and discuss what they notice. Use a torch to represent the Sun and a globe to demonstrate how the Earth’s rotation creates day and night. In pairs, pupils sort picture cards into Day, Night or Both, explaining their choices. Introduce key vocabulary including Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, Day, Night and Rotation. To conclude, pupils draw and label a daytime and nighttime sky and write one sentence explaining why day and night happen. As a follow-up activity, pupils keep a simple sky observation diary at home or school for one week. -
My name is Marcella and I’m teaching senior infants next year. I am looking forward to gathering a few hands on lesson ideas for my younger class. My favourite space fact is that stars are different colours based on their temperature.
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Hi Marcella, welcome and thanks for that new space fact. You can ask your class to see if they can see different colours in stars at night. Encourage them to give their eyes 10 minutes to adapt to the dark – definitely no phones or other artificial light as these destroy your night vision. And then just look up and record what they see. It is often cloudy in Ireland as we all know, but you can get the children to record that, so it’s not a waste of time. And ask them why they think you can’t see stars through clouds, or if they try to look through a sheet of paper, a window, some cellophane, etc. This allows them to predict, observe, record and reflect on how light interacts with materials around them.
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Hi, my name is Irene and I am currently teaching in our autism class. My favourite space fact is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth.
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Inquiry based activity ideas for the children in my autism class…
Topic – Shadows
I would introduce the topic through a song about shadows, as I find music and song is a great way to settle the children, and to spark their interest and engagement in a topic/lesson/learning activity.
Along a similar vein – stories are really enticing and engaging for the children in my class, so we would read and enjoy various stories about shadows e.g. The Day I Met My Shadow in the days and weeks that we would be exploring shadows.
I would provide opportunities for ‘wonder’ questions, including through looking at visuals/pictures, looking at real items e.g. torches, and I would ask simple, short I wonder questions e.g. I wonder what would happen if I put this pencil in between the torch and the wall?
The children and/or I would record our ideas and predictions in different ways, including writing, drawing, movement/acting it out…
I would provide opportunities for lots of hands on play and exploration. The children would have free choice as to the items they would like to use to create shadows using torches and the sun, including their own bodies, and various items from around the classroom and local environment. Activities like shadow puppets using their hands or pieces of paper or other items, doing shadow art, waving at our shadows/playing chasing with each others’ shadows on the ground outside in the sun…,
We would record the experiences in different ways including taking photos as a record and talking point, drawing, labelling, writing….
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My name is Jen and I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. I am hoping to expand my knowledge of the theme of space and allow me to share that knowledge in a fun and interactive way!
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My name is Ruth and I will be in S.E.T. this year. My favourite space fact is there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all of the beaches on Earth.
Inquiry based lesson: If I was teaching a Senior Infants class, I would use an inquiry-based STEM activity where the children work in small groups to build a bridge that can hold a teddy using materials and recycled materials such as blocks, cardboard, paper, cups and tape. I think this would be a fun way to get the children thinking and working together while also learning through trial and error.
I would let them explore the materials and come up with their own ideas. I would ask questions like, “Why did you choose that?”, “What could you do if your bridge falls down?” or “Do you think there’s another way to make it stronger?”
After each group had finished building, we would test the bridges to see if they could hold the teddy. If a bridge didn’t work, I would encourage the children to talk about what happened and see if they could improve it before trying again.
This activity gives the children the chance to investigate, solve problems and work together in a meaningful way. It also allows them to explain their thinking and listen to the ideas of others. My role would be to support their learning by asking questions, encouraging discussion and giving them the confidence to test their own ideas rather than telling them exactly what to do.
I would finish the lesson with a class discussion where the children could share what worked well, what they found difficult and what they might do differently next time. This would give them a chance to reflect on their learning and learn from each other’s ideas.-
Hi Ruth, welcome and thanks for the fun space fact! I really like the idea of encouraging the children to discuss why their bridge didn’t work as planned. This teaches them that it’s not a failure if their bridge didn’t work, that “failure” is such a critical part of the scientific method (as long as there’s some learning from it). Predicting how something will work/behave/change/etc., always comes with an element of uncertainty. That’s exciting, not worrying. Of course by observing what happens and understanding why it happens should ideally lead to better predictions over time.
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Inquiry based activity with Junior Infants.
Dancing raisins.
Materials: Plastic cups, raisins and sparkling water.
I would draw or make an image of dancing raisins to prompt discussion.
Questions-What do you think will happen if I put these raisins in to the water? Do you think they will move?
Invite predictions for, the children- will they flat, sink or move?
Investigation
Ask the children to place the raisins in the glass of sparkling water and observe closely.
Talk to them about what they see and ask them to describe it. They should see the bubbles attach to the raisins causing them to rise and fall repeatedly.
Challenge
Compare still and sparkling water, what is the difference?
They could also test different small objects to see if they dance too.
Reflection
Discuss what surprised thgem, why do they think the raisins move?
Explainn or illicit from the children that the bubbles lifter the raisins to the surface and when the bubbles pompes the raisins sank again.
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Hi, my name is Catherine. I teaching senior infants. I am looking forward to learning more about space and how to teach it effectively in the classroom
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I teach 2nd class. My favourite space fact is that footprints remain on the moon for millions of years.
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Engage (Prompt & Wondering): I will show the class a picture of Neil Armstrong’s footprint on the Moon and a picture of a footprint left in the school sandpit or garden. I’ll ask them: “I wonder what will happen to our footprints outside if it rains or gets windy today? Why do you think the footprint on the Moon doesn’t change?”
Investigate (Exploring, Starter Question & Predicting): We will set up trays with fine sand or flour to act as the “moon dust.” The starter question will be: “What happens to our footprints when we add wind or rain?” Children will make their own mini footprints using their fingers, and then predict what will happen when we blow on them through a straw (wind) or spray them with a water bottle (rain).
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Inquiry based learning in my Senior Infants classroom
Topic: Sinking and Floating
Engage the children with a visual prompt of the sea/ocean. Have a discussion about water/ocean – elicit their prior knowledge and understanding of the sea. Talk about what happens when you throw a stone in the water – What happens to the stone? Explore ideas about other items that you might see on the water. Discuss the floating and sinking – allowing the children to use this vocabulary when talking about things in the water.
Investigate their knowledge of floating and sinking – what do you think would happen if I put a an object in the water? Get the children to work in pairs and look at some various objects – what are they? Do you think they will float or sink – make predictions for each object.
Conduct the investigation – allow the children the opportunity, resources and information needed to test their predictions – They can record their results on an age appropriate result sheet. Circulate the room asking questions and allowing the children to give reasons for why they are making their decisions. Collate the information as a class
This is a great way to teach using a fun and interactive method – the children will be engaged and using paired work will allow them to collaborate and discuss ideas.
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Hi my name is David and I am excited to get stuck into this course. My fun fact about space is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth.
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Inquiry-based activity:
I would ask my senior infant class “What Can We Discover About Space?”. I would begin by showing pictures of planets, stars, astronauts, and rockets and asking open-ended questions such as, “What do you notice?” and “What do you wonder?” The children would share their ideas and questions, helping to guide our learning. In small groups, they would explore books, videos, and simple models to investigate topics such as the Moon, planets, or how astronauts live in space. They would sort pictures, create space-themed artwork, and build rockets using construction materials. Throughout the activity, I would encourage discussion, prediction, and problem-solving by asking questions that extend their thinking. At the end, each group would share what they discovered with the class.
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Hi David, thanks for the fun fact and the lesson idea. These are big open-ended questions, but fundamental to the way we approach discovery. After some discussion you could encourage the class to focus on one or two topics that particularly interest them, to narrow the scope and dive a bit deeper. One thing which is very poorly understood, according to repeated research on the matter, is how kids (and adults) perceive and understand the solar system, our galaxy and the universe.
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Inquiry-based learning would be an effective approach to introducing the topic of space in a junior classroom. I would begin by asking the children, “What do you think space is?” and encourage them to share their ideas through discussion and a simple class mind map. Using picture books, photographs and short videos, the children would explore their own questions about space and add new learning to the mind map. My role would be to facilitate learning by listening carefully, asking open-ended questions and providing opportunities for children to investigate and talk about their discoveries. This approach values children’s curiosity, voice and active participation in learning. It also supports the development of key competencies such as communicating, thinking and learning, and working with others. Reflecting on this activity, I believe it would create an engaging, inclusive learning environment where children feel confident to explore, question and make meaning together.
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My name is Louise and I will be teaching 2nd class. My favourite space fact is that space is silent!
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Welcome Louise. Thanks for the fun space fact. It’s a popular one and opens up possibilities to discuss how sound travels and what is needed to make it possible. You can ask if you think the Moon is silent place, and why. And what this means for communicating there, given that astronauts will go there soon.
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Hi. My name is Laura. I have been teaching Senior Infants. I always love teaching Space. Looking forward to seeing other ways of incorporating it into my teaching.
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My name is Linda, I teach Second Class. I’m looking forward to learning more about space and picking up practical ideas that I can use with my class. I enjoy planning hands-on lessons that encourage children to ask questions, explore ideas and learn through discovery.
One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is actually longer than its year! Venus takes about 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis, but only about 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun. I think this is a brilliant fact to share with children because it always surprises them and sparks lots of questions about planets and our solar system.
One inquiry-based activity I would like to use with my Second Class pupils is a “Design a Space Suit” challenge. Instead of starting by giving the children lots of information, I would begin with the question, “What would an astronaut need to survive on the Moon?” The children could work together in small groups to investigate the Moon’s environment, thinking about things like the lack of air, extreme temperatures and the rocky surface. They would then design and label their own space suits, explaining how each part would help an astronaut survive.
I think this activity would work very well with Second Class because it combines science with creativity, problem-solving and teamwork. It gives children the opportunity to ask questions, share ideas and explain their thinking while developing their scientific vocabulary. I could also link the activity with art by creating models of the space suits and with English by having the children present their designs to the class. At the end of the lesson, we could compare our ideas with real astronaut suits and discuss what we learned. I feel this type of inquiry-based learning encourages children to become active participants in their own learning and helps to develop curiosity, confidence and critical thinking skills.
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Hi Linda, welcome to the forum and thanks for the fun space fact. I really like your lesson plan and it’s also highly relevant at the moment as a return to the Moon by humans looks to be ever closer. Lots of the kids to consider, from understanding the lunar environment (e.g., over 100 degree celsius during day, minus 150 celsius at night, no air, no running water, no plants or insects or animals, etc.) to what humans need to survive or have fun (e.g., how would we have sports on the Moon if our spacesuits are too bulky?!).
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I think Linda’s idea about designing a space suit is brilliant. It’s a really creative way to get kids thinking about what astronauts need to survive in space. I love that it’s hands on and encourages them to ask questions and come up with their own solutions. It sounds like it would be a really memorable lesson for the children, and it’s great that it combines science with other subjects like art and English. Again it’s another activity that if they enjoy the can do it at home with their families which I think is a lovely idea.
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An inquiry-based activity I would like to use with my 2nd class is ‘What makes the moon shine?’ As a stimulus, I would darken the classroom and display a torch, a white ball and an image of the moon. I would start with the question; ‘Does the moon make its own light, or where does its light come from?’ I would begin by asking pupils to share what they already know about the moon and record their ideas on simple mind-maps in their groups, before having a whole-class discussion on what they know already. The children would then predict why the moon appears bright, and I would record these ideas in a mind-map, before observing a torch shining on the ball to model the sun and moon. Working in small groups, they would investigate, using a ball and torch in each group, how the position of the light changes what they see and talk about their observations. I would facilitate these discussions using open-ended and prompting questions. To conclude, we would discuss our findings and conclusions, and revisit our thoughts before our investigation to see how they are similar or different to what we found out during our investigation.
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Hi, I’m Méabh. I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. A fact that I like is that a day on Venus is longer than its year. I had to look up the specifics but because Venus rotates so slowly, it takes about 243 Earth days to complete one rotation on its axis, but it takes only about 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun. Bonus fun fact, Venus also spins backward compared to most planets in the Solar System.
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Hi. My name is Laura and I will be teaching Junior and Senior Infants in September. I am looking forward to learning lots of new ideas to teach my class about Space. Interesting fact about space- The Moon doesn’t make it’s own light, it reflects light from the Sun.
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An inquiry based activity I would use in my classroom would be the Mighty Materials investigation which was explored in this module. I would use this activity as follows to help children explore the topic and ideas using science and numeracy skills in an integrated way:
ENGAGE – prompt/wondering/exploring
• I would begin by engaging the children by dramatically spilling some water. My ‘clumsiness’ will draw their attention.
• I will ask for their by wondering – what am I going to do? How will I clean up the mess?
• I will create a mind map from the children’s suggestions of what to use to soak up the water. We could use a tally to count how many children agree with the individual suggestions
• I will have some pre-selected materials for the children to examine. Enough for each group of children to share so that every child can have a hands-on opportunity to explore them.INVESTIGATE – starter question/predicting/conducting investigation
• My starter question for the children is: Which material will do the best job at soaking up the water? What do we mean by best? Absorbent/strong etc
• I will introduce vocabulary – absorb / most absorbent / least absorbent
• Children make predictions from previous knowledge and their exploration of the materials.
• Conduct the investigation by using the materials and observing the results. The concept of fair testing will also be introduced at this stage.
• The results are recorded and displayed visually using a pictogram.TAKING THE NEXT STEP- applying learning/making connections/ thoughtful actions
We apply this learning through understanding and using the observations recorded – the best way to soak up the spill. Further exploration could include comparing brands of kitchen roll for thickness and effectiveness. We have a place in the classroom beside the sink for the Blue Roll of paper in case of further spills. We can further apply this learning through a challenge – making a rain coat for teddy. This involves understanding why particular materials were chosen for our rain coats because they are bad at absorbing water – they are water resistant. -
Hi, I’m Sarah. I am working in SET in a junior school. I am interested in ways to integrate STEM across the curriculum. My fun space fact is that I was fortunate enough to witness the Artemis II launch from Florida in April this year which was very special.
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Hi Sarah, that’s a fun fact to make us all jealous. What an experience! Artemis is a programme to put humans on the Moon permanently. So it heralds an exciting new chapter in space exploration. You could ask the children to compare life in 1969 when we first landed on the Moon with life in 2030 when we might next land on the Moon. Would be fascinating to see what they think and understand.
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Push and Pull- Junior and Senior Infants
“What Happens When We Push or Pull?”
Begin by gathering a variety of classroom objects, such as a toy car, toy train, a small box, a chair, a soft ball, 3D shapes, pram, and a basket. Ask the children, “How can we make these objects move?” Encourage them to predict whether each object will need a push, a pull, or both. Working in small groups, children test each object by pushing and pulling it, observing how it moves on different surfaces such as the floor or a mat. Invite them to compare which objects are easier or harder to move and discuss why they think this happens. Record their observations using simple pictures or symbols. Introduce vocabulary including push, pull, force, move, stop, heavy, and light. Conclude by encouraging children to identify examples of pushes and pulls in their daily lives, such as opening doors, pulling toys, or pushing swings. This hands-on investigation develops curiosity, prediction, observation, communication, and problem-solving skills while introducing the concept of forces through meaningful, playful exploration. -
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Hi everyone,
My name is Pearl. I will be teaching Junior Infants, Senior Infants and 1st class this coming school year. I have always had a fascination with space and love watching to see when the ISS is passing over Ireland using https://issinfo.net/passes/ireland/dublin .
When teaching space to older classes 4th, 5th and 6th class, we followed Chris Hadfield and the children were fascinated by his videos from Space.-
Hi Pearl, welcome to the forum. Thanks also for the link to the ISS. When it does pass over ireland it’s really visible, the brightest moving object in the sky. Incredible to think there are humans living there. With so many satellites now in orbit it’s also possible to see many of these “moving points of light” on any clear night. It could form the basis for an evening activity for children to go outside and see how may satellites they see in 10 minutes. Could compare how many are seen where the kids live in rural areas with less light pollution compared to urban areas.
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I learned how space can be used as a theme in a wide range of curricular contexts. Curious minds/EsERO Framework for Inquiry, Links for SESE science to the curious minds activities, Mighty materials and gravity and falling things experiments. I will use the resources and suggested experiments to engage, investigate, and take the next step in the children’s science and space learnings.
I have no concerns or issues.
The course will help our schools digital learning plan by adding a wealth of new digital resources which can be used and linked across the curriculums of math’s, science, ethics and SPHE.-
One inquiry-based activity I would use with my 2nd class is an investigation on Gravity and falling things experiment. I would do a KWL chart in advance of the lesson.
I would give the children a range of materials to create parachutes in their own unique ways, exploring materials. For example lighter and heavier materials. They can construct these in pairs. We will then drop them from a height in the stairwell.
After the investigation, the children would compare how some children’s parachutes fell more quickly than others. I would give some question prompts including, why?
They will then return to filling out their KWL charts.
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Hi Anna-Rose
This sounds fab! In my experience getting children to create parachutes to protect eggs is a great one (albeit a bit messy). Be careful to express the difference between air resistance and the fact that all objects fall at the same rate. The rate of gravity 9.8 m/s²!
It might be cool to tie this into a history lesson.
This experiment was also demonstrated on the moon during apollo 15 in 1971 where a feather and a hammer fell at the same rate.
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Hi Niall,
I am confused to where I upload my mind map?
It will now allow me to here for some reason?I have replied to a post, introduced myself and added my reflection.
It is my first time to do a Teacnet course and I am not use to the layout.
Thank you,
Anna-Rose. -
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Mind Map
What is Space, Solar system, planets, stars, galaxy, astronauts, will we be able to visit, another realm, abstract, mysterious.
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Hi Anna-Rose, great to see Caoimhe was able to help and apologies I didn’t get to reply sooner. The mind map encourages your students to look for connections and to build a mental model of how the universe is put together. Do they think there might be other building blocks in the universe that are unknown to us? And how might we go about making measurements to test our ideas? This question helps to think about the need to continue to explore and use inquiry-based approaches because we don’t know what we don’t know! That makes it fun to ask questions.
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Hi my name is Emma, I had Junior Infants this year and will be teaching 1st class this year. I find the kids always love learning about space as it’s such a vast and interesting topic. A day on Venus is longer than a year!
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Hi Emma, I agree children of all ages seem really interested in learning about space. This year was my first time having Infants and I was shocked at the in depth knowledge some of them had about the universe at such a young age! I can’t wait to cover the topic properly this year with Infants again.
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Reflective Piece:
Inquiry-based activities in junior classes are effective in allowing children to take an active role in their own learning. I would use a “What is in Space?” investigation, where children explore questions about planets, stars, and astronauts through discussion, books, videos, drawings, and hands-on activities. I would begin by writing the word space on the board and asking students what words they think of when they hear the word space. I would then present a question mark and write up questions that students have about space. Their questions would guide the direction of the activity and encourage curiosity and creativity.
Inquiry-based learning would help children develop problem-solving skills, communication, and confidence when sharing their ideas. It would also allow me to observe their interests and support learning through play. Rather than simply giving children information, I would act as a facilitator, encouraging them to investigate, explore, and discover answers together. This approach would create a meaningful and engaging learning experience.
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An inquiry-based activity I would like to use with my Senior Infants is Which Material Keeps Teddy Dry?
ENGAGE
The Trigger: I would introduce the lesson using a teddy bear dressed innapropriately for a rainy day (shorts, t-shirt, sun hat, etc.) I would tell the children that Teddy wants to go outside but it’s raining and he doesn’t know which material will keep him dry. I would show different materials such as tissue, paper towel, newspaper, plastic, foil, cotton fabric and felt.
Wondering: We would discuss where children have seen waterproof materials in everyday life, such as raincoats, umbrellas, wellington boots and tents and I will create a mind map of their ideas.
Exploring: Children would handle each material, describing how it feels and discussing whether they think it would keep Teddy dry.
INVESTIGATE
Starter Question: Which material will keep Teddy dry in the rain?
Predicting: Each child chooses one material they think will be waterproof and explains their thinking, drawing on their real world knowledge, e.g., I think plastic will keep Teddy dry because raincoats are made from plastic. I think tissue won’t keep teddy dry because when it’s wet it tears easily.
Conducting the Investigation: Working in small groups, children stretch one material over the top of a cup using an elastic band. Using droppers or small pipettes, they carefully add water and observe whether the water stays on top or passes through the material. They repeat this with each material. The children record their findings on a record sheet using smiley faces, ticks and crosses, or simple drawings.
Sharing: Interpreting Results: Groups compare their results and discuss which materials absorbed water and which were waterproof. We introduce vocabulary such as waterproof, absorbent, leak, dry and wet. Discuss whether anything surprised the children.
Together we conclude that some materials are better suited for different purposes because of their properties.
NEXT STEP
Applying Learning: Children design and make a raincoat or umbrella for Teddy using the material they discovered was most waterproof.
Making Connections: We discuss where waterproof materials are used in everyday life, including clothing, umbrellas, school bags, tents and outdoor equipment. Children explain why different materials are chosen for different jobs.
Thoughtful Actions: Children discuss how keeping dry helps us stay healthy and comfortable.
Maths link:
Children estimate and count the number of drops of water each material absorbs before it leaks through. They record the results using cubes or tally marks and create a simple class pictogram or block graph to compare which material was the most/least waterproof.Considerations for Inclusion:
Provide mixed-ability groups, visual supports and real materials to handle. Model the investigation step-by-step and use picture vocabulary cards (e.g. waterproof, absorb, wet, dry). Children with additional needs can contribute by pouring water, placing materials, recording with symbols or verbally sharing observations. -
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I’m Jacob, and I’m a Special Needs Teacher in a primary school. One day on Jupiter lasts only about 10 hours, making it the fastest-spinning planet.
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Hi Jacob, welcome to the forum. Great fun fact! It’s usually harder to make big things move quickly, so the fact that the biggest planet in the solar system also spins the quickest seems counter to what we experience usually. This opens a discussion about why observing something can always be usefully accompanied by asking “does that look right, or seem right?” Often the greatest discoveries happen by someone observing something which seems small and unimportant, but which turns out to be anything but! It’s a useful lesson that careful observation is key to inquiry-based learning.
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Hi my name is Miriam, I’ll have second class. I wanted to learn more about space to allow the children to develop an interest for it and to learn all about it
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Hello everyone! My name is Edwina, and I teach Junior Infants. I’m looking forward to learning more about how to make science engaging and meaningful for young children through this course. My favourite space fact is that the footprints left by astronauts on the Moon could remain there for millions of years because there is no wind or rain to wash them away.
Reflecting on the inquiry-based approach from Module 1 and the Curious Minds ESERO framework, I would use the “Day and Night” inquiry activity with my class. I would begin by encouraging the children to ask questions such as, “Why does it get dark?” and “Where does the Sun go at night?” They would predict their ideas before exploring with a torch and a globe to model how the Earth rotates. This hands-on investigation develops important science skills such as observing, predicting, questioning, communicating, and recording findings through drawings and discussion. The activity is child-led, encourages curiosity, and allows children to build their understanding through exploration rather than simply being given answers. It also supports oral language development, collaborative learning, and links naturally with play-based learning, making science enjoyable and accessible for young learners.-
Welcome Edwina. It’s astonishing to think of footprints lasting for so long. You can ask how long footprints might last on different places on Earth. What about on Mercury (which is very similar to the Moon in many ways) or Mars or Venus. This would allow the kids to first discuss and understand what might erase footprints (wind, rain, frost, ice, even tectonic plate activity) and therefore what they should look for on other planets to see if those planets would destroy footprints quickly or over very long periods.
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Inquiry Lesson based on Properties of Materials :
Begin by dropping something in the classroom that is not precious, e.g. two blocks together/two pieces of Duplo/cubes etc. The objects will come apart and this will serve as the prompt. Have you ever dropped something and had it break? What is something we can do to protect fragile objects? I will lead the children into the idea of protecting objects from damage.
Can you think of objects we do this with? Cases on phones, iPads, laptops, bubblewrap on items, helmets, shin pads etc.I will ask the children to come up with some ideas of materials we could use as protection. With a list we will explore the texture, feeling, thickness of a variety of materials provided to the class. I will ask children in pairs to design a case that will protect a given item. This could be blocks etc. as mentioned or hard boiled eggs as these will show the cracks.
Children can explore and run tests in their groups investiaging which material provides must protection for their object, taking notes on a recording sheet of what went well, what could be changed, what did they note in terms of sound or visual of the protected object.
Finally they will choose a given design and can share with the class.
Following this, we will look at why some materials serve as better shock absorbers than others and learn what is happening when the object hits the ground.
We will then apply this further, how could we design covers/protection for larger items, as mentioned; helmets, cases, shinpads. What would we need to consider for these objects, what tests could we run to ensure the protection is safest possible before it is made and sold.
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One inquiry based activity I would use in my classroom is a floating and sinking investigation. I think this is a great activity to begin with because it is simple to set up and doesn’t require expensive resources. Most of the materials can be found in the classroom or brought in from home, such as spoons, bottle tops, stones, leaves, and toy blocks. This makes it an activity that can easily be repeated throughout the year using different everyday objects, keeping it fresh and engaging for the children.
I would start by showing the children a selection of objects and asking them to predict whether each one will float or sink. I would encourage them to explain their thinking before testing their ideas in a container of water. As they investigate, they can observe what happens, compare the results with their predictions, and discuss why some objects float while others sink. This gives children the opportunity to ask questions, make discoveries, and learn through their own experiences rather than simply being given the answers.
I also like this activity because it encourages curiosity and critical thinking. The children quickly realize that objects are not always easy to predict, which leads to lots of discussion and questioning. Another advantage is that it is an activity they can easily do at home with their families using everyday household items. This helps to extend their learning beyond the classroom and encourages them to continue exploring science in a fun and meaningful way. I think it is an excellent introduction to inquiry based learning because it is hands on, engaging, and accessible for all children.
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Science Lesson Plan: Exploring Temperature
Learning Objective: Children will investigate different temperatures by making predictions, observing, and describing how objects feel using simple scientific language.
Begin by showing children a selection of items, such as a cup of warm water, a bowl of cold water, a metal spoon, a fabric cloth, and an ice pack. Ask, “Which objects do you think will feel warm or cold? Why?”
Encourage children to share and record or draw their predictions. Allow children to carefully touch each item (ensuring all materials are safe) and compare how they feel. Prompt inquiry with questions such as, “What do you notice?”, “Which object feels the warmest or coldest?”, and “Why do you think they feel different?” Introduce the words temperature, warm, cold, predict, and observe.
Conclude by asking children to find an object in the classroom, predict whether it will feel warm or cold, and explain their reasoning using what they discovered during the investigation.
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Hi Marcella, a really nice experiment. Once the children feel confident in dealing with temperature you could ask them to maybe arrange objects in the solar system (especially the Sun and planets) in order of their temperature. This helps to reinforce multiple concepts, including the idea that temperature is not the same everywhere.
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Mind map: What is space? Space is that massive area all around us, beyond Earth, where we find the Sun, Moon, stars, and all the other planets. What else is out there for us to discover?
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Hi Miriam, I think the open-ended “what else is there for us to discover” is great and could be supplemented with “and how do you think we’d go about trying to discover new things”? You could use prompts like “with your eyes”, “with telescopes”, “with satellites” or “from space” to get them thinking about the different approaches that could be utilised.
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Mind map:
Aliens: living things from other planets
Stars: huge balls of gas, give off light and heat, sun is the star closest to earth, billions of stars in the universe.
Moon: it orbits around earth, reflects the suns light, has phases, affects the tides in earth’s oceans.
Rockets: used to travel to space
Earth: Our home, has land, water and air, only planet that we know of with life, orbits the sun.
Sun: a star, gives earth light and heat, helps plants to grow, needed for life. -
My name is Naomi and I teach 1st class. I would like to bring some new ideas into my classroom and space fascinates children.
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Hi Naomi, welcome to the forum, which is indeed a place of ideas and inspiration. Because it fascinates children – and hopefully adults as well! – space provides a great context for any discussion. “If you were on Mars, would it be the same ….”, for example, opens up a whole new world of questions, quite literally, and encourages kids to imagine and explore and learn and suggest ideas and see how they might test them.
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In Module 1, I learned that inquiry-based learning helps children become active investigators rather than passive listeners. The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework for Inquiry gives a clear structure through engage, investigate, next steps, and reflect, which would suit junior classes very well.
One activity I would use in my classroom is the “What does gravity do?” investigation. I would begin with a simple prompt, such as dropping different objects and asking the children what they notice and what they predict will happen. The children could then test their ideas by dropping the objects safely and recording their observations. This would help them use scientific language, compare results, and begin to understand that gravity is a pull. I like this activity because it is hands-on, age-appropriate, and easy to link with maths, oral language, and discussion. It would also encourage curiosity, teamwork, and reflection, while helping me assess the children’s understanding in a practical way.
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Hi, I’m Ciara and I’m a SET teacher.
Fun fact: Astronauts can’t cry in space because, instead of their tears running down their face, they float around their eyes in little bubbles.
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Fantastic Fact! and just look at how they have to wash their hair!
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I liked the “Oops… I dropped it!” activity because it’s the kind of investigation I’d use in my classroom. I’d start by “accidentally” dropping something to get the children’s attention before showing them all of the different objects we’d be using. I think it would be a nice way to get them thinking and build a bit of excitement about the investigation before we even start. I’d then let them handle the objects and chat about what they notice before asking if they think they’ll all do the same thing when we drop them.
One thing I liked about the activity was that there’s learning before and after the investigation. Before we start, the children get to make predictions and explain their thinking. Afterwards, they can compare what actually happened with what they thought would happen and talk about anything that surprised them. I believe that conversation is just as valuable as the investigation itself.
I’d bring the activity outside if the weather was good, as I think it would make it feel like a real investigation. Afterwards, we’d chat about what we noticed and why we think the objects all fell towards the ground. It would also be a nice opportunity to link in with Maths by gathering and recording the children’s predictions and results. We could compare the data afterwards using a simple tally chart or pictogram and discuss any patterns we noticed. From there, it would be a nice way to introduce gravity because the children would have explored the idea themselves instead of me giving them the answer at the beginning.
I also like that the activity links across different areas of the curriculum. Along with Science, it develops oral language through discussion and questioning, and it provides a meaningful way to bring Maths into the lesson through collecting, recording and interpreting data.
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My favourite space fact is the earth is perfect temperature to support human life, exact position from the sun to not freeze or burn us. I love that we were designed to live here.i love looking at the different planets with the children and still finding the best mnemonic to remember them without my dwarf friend Pluto. Anyway, I digress. One of my favourite inquiry based science lessons this year was on magnets. I am fortunate enough to have junior Infants to first class work in groups to discover items in the classroom that were magnetic. We had so many questions why did it stick tl the radiator but not my book? We loved uisng different learning environments in relation to the revised curriculum inside our classroom, hall, kitchen and outside to discover items that were magnetic or not magnetic. We then discovered what happened if we had a piece of paper with the item.on top and magnet underneath it. We then used hula hoops to show items that are magnetic and those that are not. We used iron filings also. The children tried to put some magnets together but learned if put some ways they repel they dont stick together and set a challenge to put them on the stick so they would stick to each other. Im not sure how stem will offer opportunities to build on learning experience as they go up the classes eg instead of some topics being taught and expanded on they only appear once in the revised curriculum and not revisited.
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Hi Shirley, welcome and thankyou for that fun fact. And you’re right that the temperature on the earth is just right for life. The temperature supports liquid water (which is absolutely crucial to all living things). One interesting additional fact is that life helps to regulate the temperature on the planet and without it the earth would look very different, and much more hostile. So we literally live in symbiosis with our planet and it has taken billions of years to get to this stage (with the earth being 4.5 billion years old).
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Hi. I’m Fiona and I teach junior infants. I love the fact that soace, being a vacuum, is silent. Can you imagine absolute silence? And you know ” in space noone can hear you scream” . 🤣
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Living in Ireland where it frequently rains, I think an inquiry-based activity exploring which materials are best for keeping things dry would be a meaningful and engaging lesson for my Senior Infants. The activity could begin with a real-life question on a wet day such as “How can we keep our toys safe from the rain?” This would encourage the children to share their own experiences, ask questions and make predictions based on what they already know. Working in small groups, the children could investigate different materials by designing and creating a waterproof shelter for a small toy or character and then testing their designs using man-made ‘rain’ in droppers, we could even bring the shelters outside and test them in real rain too. I would encourage the children to observe carefully, discuss what happened and think about how they could improve or alter their designs. In my Gaelscoil classroom, I would facilitate the activity through Gaeilge, using scientific vocabulary such as “uisce”, “tirim”, “fliuch”, “uisedhíonach” and “ábhar”. This will help develop scientific language alongside communication and collaboration skills. I feel this type of inquiry-based learning suits Infants particularly well as it allows children to be active participants in their learning, follow their curiosity and learn through play, exploration and problem-solving. Rather than simply telling children which materials are waterproof, this approach allows them to discover the answer themselves and develop the confidence to think like young scientists.
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Morning, My name is Niamh, I am an Infants teacher and will be teaching Junior Infants next year.
My Space Fact comes from a talk I was lucky enough to attend many years ago in Kerry where the guest speaker was Neil Armstrong. He advised us that they knew before the mission that they would not have enough fuel to return to earth and were relying on the forces of gravity of being pulled around the moon to propel them back home. Scary but true.
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Hi Niamh. You were privileged to be in the presence of Neil Armstrong! What a great memory. The first person to step on a world which isn’t the earth – that’s truly unique. The fun space fact underlines that gravity exists even in space (unlike sounds) and that the moon’s gravity and the earth’s gravity still affect spacecraft when they’re in the vacuum of space.
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Hi my name is Emer. This year I worked in SET. I love learning about space and I love how curios the children are about space. My favorite thing is learning about all the different planets.
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Hi Emer. Welcome to the forum. If you like learning about different planets you can always look at planets beyond our own solar system which have been discovered in recent years. These are distant worlds (trillions estimated), but none anywhere as wonderful for life as Earth is from what we’ve discovered so far. You can ask the kids to imagine their own new worlds. What sort of atmosphere might they have, what temperature would they be, would there be oceans of water, would there be life, what would life look like? https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Exoplanets
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Inquiry Based Learning Junior Infants
Link to the story Lost and Found by Oliver JeffersMelting Ice- Save the Penguins
Strand: Materials/Energy and Forces
Strand Unit: Materials and Change/HeatPrompt: The Penguin from Lost and Found is frozen in an iceberg
I wonder what we could use to help him escape and get home to his friend?
Provide penguins trapped in large ice-cubes (icebergs) in tuff trays for each group and put in pairs.
Children can touch/handles the ice cubes, what is feels like/ describe, what makes the ice/why?
How can we help the penguin/ what could we use? (look inside and outside the classroom for ideas)
Record some ideas/predictions. Provide a box of things that they could use. (Fabrics, water (warm and cold) , salt, paper, squirters, foil, cups) Access to outside. Allow plenty of time.
Bring back into groups/pairs.
Investigate which penguins are free/almost free and record the methods used and interpret which methods worked best. Why did it work best?
Reflect and consider other ice experiments we could try.-
Niamh I love this idea for a lesson plan on Materials and change /heat for a junior class. The children will love the idea of saving the penguins from the ice cubes and will really get their creative brains working to solve the problem. You’ve included lots of questions as well as support material which will further inspire their thinking. The link to the story Lost and Found is also a really nice idea. I teach First Class so I think I may be using this idea with them in September.
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Gravity and falling things
I think this is a good activity because it helps children learn by doing. I would begin by asking the class what they think will happen when different objects are droppped. The children would make predictions and test their ideas.
They would work in small groups to drop the objects and watch what happens. Afterwards, we would talk about the results and compare them with their predictions. I would ask simple questions to help the children think about why the objects fell the way they did instead of giving them the answers straight away.
I like this type of lesson because it keeps the children interested and involved. It also helps them learn important science skills such as observing, predicting, and discussing what they found out. I think children learn best when they can explore and discover new ideas for themselves.
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My name is Valerie and I teach 4th class.
Strand: Living Things
Strand Unit: Plant and animal life
What plants need to grow
For my inquiry-based activity, I would have the children investigate what plants need to grow.
I would begin by dividing the class into small groups and give each group three identical seeds to plant in separate cups. Each group would change just one condition, such as the amount of light, the amount of water or the type of soil, while keeping everything else the same.
Before starting, I would ask the children to make predictions about which plant they think will grow best and explain the reasons for their ideas.
Over the following two weeks, I would encourage them to observe their plants carefully, measure their growth and record any changes they notice in a simple chart.
At the end of the investigation, each group would present their findings to the class and compare their results with their original predictions.
I would guide a class discussion where the children reflect on what they learned, ask questions about any unexpected results and suggest ways they could improve the investigation if they were to carry it out again.
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Hi Valerie, this is a lovely hands-on lesson. If you give the children the brightness on Mars (e.g., the sun is only half as bright as on Earth) how would that affect the growth of their plants? The key here is to get them realising that the brightness on Earth is not the same everywhere else and that has implications, which they can explore, for growing food on other planets. If a planet is permanently below freezing or permanently above boiling, what do they think would happen to the plants?
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I would choose a lesson on push and pull. We would use a toy car to explore. Children can Place the car on the floor or a table. Gently push the car and watch it roll away. Now pull the car back towards you using a piece of string or your hand. What happens if you push it softly? What happens if you push it harder? A harder push makes the car travel faster and farther. If the car is on a carpet, it may not go as far because the rough surface slows it down. This is called friction. Pushes, pulls, and friction all work together to help objects move or stop moving.Children can discuss before the lesson ideas on how the car will travel on different surfaces. An exension to this activity would be children can create ramps using halved kitchen roll tubes and stick them to the desk to see how quickly the cars will travel using gravity.
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Hi My name is Dolores Killian and I will be teaching 31 2nd and 3rd class next year. I think both classes will enjoy learning about Space and I am looking forward to learning more on this course.
My Space fact I researched today-A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.Venus rotates so slowly on its axis that it takes about Earth days to complete one rotation. However, it only takes about Earth days to orbit the Sun. This means a single day on Venus lasts longer than its entire year!It’s one of the strangest quirks in our solar system and is a great fact to spark curiosity about planets and space.
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Hi Dolores, lovely to have you on the forum. In Greek mythology, Venus was referred to as the goddess of love, beauty and compassion. While that may be true of Venus as a goddess, it’s definitely a different story when you look at just how harsh the planet is, possibly the most hostile planet in the solar system.
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Hi Dolores, lovely to have you on the forum. In Greek mythology, Venus was referred to as the goddess of love, beauty and compassion. While that may be true of Venus as a goddess, it’s definitely a different story when you look at just how harsh the planet is, possibly the most hostile planet in the solar system.
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My name is Hannah and I have Rang a hAon.
My favourite space fact is that the sunset on mars appears blue!
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One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is a Mystery Planet Investigation. Students would work in small groups to identify a mystery planet using clues about its atmosphere, size, temperature, and distance from the Sun. They would research the planets, discuss their ideas, and use evidence to justify their answers.
I like this activity because it encourages curiosity, teamwork, and critical thinking. Instead of simply memorising facts, students actively explore information and solve a problem together. It also helps them develop research and communication skills while making science more engaging. I would finish the lesson with a class discussion where students reflect on how they reached their conclusions and how scientists use evidence to make discoveries about space. -
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Hi everyone,
My name is Seán and I teach in a primary school in Co. Kerry. I mainly work in Special Education but also spend time supporting Junior Infants, so I’m looking forward to picking up plenty of practical ideas from this course that I can use in my classroom.
My favourite space fact is that a day on Venus is actually longer than a year on Venus! It takes Venus about 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis, but only 225 Earth days to travel around the Sun. I always find that a fascinating fact because it really challenges children’s understanding of time and space.
One inquiry-based activity I would enjoy using in my Junior Infants classroom is an investigation into why the Moon appears to change shape throughout the month. Rather than simply explaining the phases of the Moon, I would encourage the children to observe pictures of the Moon over several weeks and ask questions about what they notice. They could make predictions, discuss their ideas with classmates, and record their observations through simple drawings. Using a torch and balls to represent the Sun, Earth and Moon, the children could explore how light creates the different phases. This hands-on approach encourages curiosity, questioning and discussion while developing important scientific skills such as observing, predicting and communicating. It also links naturally with oral language, art and mathematics, allowing children to measure time, sequence events and create Moon phase artwork. I think inquiry-based learning is especially valuable in Junior Infants because it builds on children’s natural curiosity and helps them become active participants in their own learning rather than simply receiving information.
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Welcome Sean and thanks for the fun space fact. Venus is a very popular planet on the forum! One of the nice things about investigating the Moon is that the kids can use pictures, but also see the changes themselves. While investigating the phases you can ask them to describe what they see on the lunar surface (e.g., craters of various sizes and even shapes, some areas are “rough” and some are “smooth”). Does the Moon look like the Earth, what are the differences and what might cause them? (The moon has no atmosphere and very little water and no volcanic activity – all of these help shape the earth and make it look very different.)
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What is space?
- Vast
- Dark
- Complex
- Empty….but also full!
- Sun, moon, stars, planets, galaxy, milky way
- To be explored
- Fascinating
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Hi Sarah. Those are very useful prompt words. Space is a bit of a conundrum … as you say it’s empty, but also full. This is a nice concept to discuss. It’s also dark and light. You could have fun exploring how these words have meaning and acuracy, even though they seem to be saying different things.
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Enquiry based lesson for infant class.
Prompt: ( inspired by current warm weather! ) a photo of Olaf from movie Frozen, melting. Play the clip of his song “In Summer”
Wonder:
What is happening to Olaf? What does the title of the movie mean? How was Olaf created? Have you ever built a snowman? Is it still in your garden?
Brainstorm other things that melting.
Investigation:
How can we use the sunny weather in the school garden to investigate what happens in sun? What materials will we use?
Using (2 of each) ice cubes, chocolate, play doh, etc and other materials familiar to and suggested by the children, place each item in a small tub in the garden and also leave a 2nd in the classroom. Consider why we use a contol.
Predict: using photos of items and chart on whiteboard, sort pictures into melt, soften or stay the same.
Collect and compare results using digital cameras/ ipads to record.
apply learning:
Consider and test what happens the melted ice cube when taken out of the heat. Will it change back to ice?
Teacher reflection:
- Did I observe the children meeting targets ? Did they use language such as melt, soften, change? Did they communicate their findings and their learning?
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Hi, my name is Emer and I will have 3rd class this coming year. One of my favourite facts about space is that it takes approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds for sunlight to reach earth.
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Welcome Emer and great to have you on the forum. Distances are truly vast in the universe, so your fun fact is a great example of this. And you can reinforce what 8 minutes and 20 seconds of light travel time means, by asking questions such as how long it might take to walk between here and the sun, or drive perhaps. The next nearest star to earth, Proxima Centauri, would take 4.2 YEARS to reach. To travel across the Milky Way galaxy would take 100,000 YEARS. But there are also galaxies that would take BILLIONS of years to reach, even at the speed of light.
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One inquiry based activity I would use in my class is the “What does gravity do?” I would use the international space station tour video with the astronaut Suni Williams as a prompt to begin the lesson. Any time I have shown this or sections of the ISS tour to my class they love it, whether it is the toilet, brushing her teeth or her just floating through the station! I would use this video to spark a dialogue about gravity and what it is. I would then move onto an inquiry based activity with class where they work in pairs and take turns to choose, predict, observe and record objects that fall. After the activity, we would evaluate and reflect on the objects and whether any didn’t fall. I think the children would have a lot of fun engaging with the lesson and conducting the investigation while also learning about gravity.
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I really enjoyed the gravity lesson from the ESERO website. I would gather the materials and have 4 sets of them at hand for these investigations. Included in the sets would be: feather, paper ball, elastic band, peg, paperclip, bouncy ball, small mesh bag, marble, sharpener, cork. I would use an interesting prompt to motivate the children to get curious. I liked the suggestions for open ended thinking by asking the questions how does the object drop? fast slow spinning and then to further scaffold their responses by framing the answer with “we think …… this happened because….” I am looking forward to trying out this lesson in future.
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Hi Rachel, and I’m not sure if this is discussed elsewhere, but you can also ask the class to scrunch up a paper sheet (i) a little, (ii) a little bit more and (iii) a lot more …. and see what happens. Does it still take the same time to fall from a given height? How can the same material fall at different speeds? It’s an opportunity to get the class to think about shapes, as you say.
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My name is Rachel Bromell and one of my favorite space facts – Olympus Mons is the highest mountain (volcano) in space on the planet Mars. I also love the fact that Johannes Kepler discovered the idea how planets move in elliptical orbits along with Sir Issac Newtons explanation as to why this occurs.
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Thanks for those fun facts Rachel. The work of Newton and Kepler was made possible by the observations of Tycho Brahe, a colourful individual who had a gold nose and kept a pet elk, but who was also one of the greatest observational astronomers of all time. His meticulous observations of the planets enabled Newton and Kepler to challenge the theory that the earth was at the centre of the universe.
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Hi my name is Mary. I am not the most knowledgable on space so from reading through the other participants fun facts, I really enjoyed Ciara’s fact where she said astronauts can’t cry in space because, instead of their tears running down their face, they float around their eyes in little bubbles. I also did a little research and I was fascinated to find out that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. That’s a lot of stars!
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I would use the Gravity and Falling Things inquiry-based activity with my first and second class because it is a fun, hands-on way to develop children’s curiosity and scientific thinking. I would begin by dropping a few everyday objects and asking the children what they think will happen. They would be encouraged to make predictions and explain their ideas before carrying out the investigation. This approach would help to capture their interest and make them active participants in their own learning.
During the investigation, the children would observe how different objects fall, compare their observations and discuss why some objects fall differently from others. They would develop important science skills such as observing, predicting, questioning and communicating their findings. I would support language development by introducing and reinforcing simple scientific vocabulary such as gravity, push, pull, float and fall.
This activity also provides opportunities for cross-curricular learning. In Maths, pupils could sort and record results using simple charts or pictograms, while in English they could describe their observations orally and in writing. I believe this inquiry-based approach would make science enjoyable and meaningful for young children, while building their confidence to ask questions, investigate ideas and learn through exploration. -
I would start by letting the children explore different objects and ask them to predict what they think will happen when each one is dropped. They could then test their ideas, observe what happens and talk about their results together. I would use visual supports, clear demonstrations and plenty of opportunities for practical participation so that every child can take part. I think this activity would generate lots of discussion and curiosity while introducing scientific vocabulary in a meaningful way. It also provides great opportunities to develop observation, prediction and communication skills. I like that it can be easily adapted to suit different abilities and encourages children to learn by doing rather than simply being told the answers
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An inquiry based lesson that I have done with my first class is exploring slopes. I would have done some work prior to this on forces, push and pull. I would introduce the lesson with a song revising pushes and pulls. This is a nice one aimed towards a junior class. Link here. We would discuss how we use forces in our everyday loves.
I would then introduce our investigation: Does a slope affect how far a toy car will travel. I would arrange the children in small groups. They would be provided with a toy car, a smooth surface and some work books.
They would be asked to place their toy car on the surface. Ask questions such as Does it move? Why not? Allow them to move the car along the surface. Encourage them to describe how it moved. Note how far it travelled.
Show them how to create a slope by putting the surface on some of the books under one end. This is how a slope is created.
Encourage predictions.. What will happen when we put the car at the top of the surface and let it go?What effect will this have on the distance the car will travel?
Allow the children to investigate further by raising or lowering the slope and observe how far the car travels each time. They could put a counter at the point the car stops to compare the distances the car travels at different heights.
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Hi, my name is Darren. I was teaching Senior Infants for the last three years and I am moving into Junior Infants this September!
I’m fascinated by space and have gone to see Professor Brian Cox several times – although I do find his lectures & events challenging to follow and understand!
One of my favourite space facts is that if the planets were lined up together, they would fit between the Earth and the Moon!
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Hi Darren, very interesting to know you’ve seen Brian Cox several times. Some of the concepts he discusses are challenging, so you’re not alone in feeling that. The fact that you went a few times underlines that you don’t need to understand everything about a subject to be interested in it and that’s a lesson you can take into your classroom. Your fun space fact emphasises just how big the space between the planets is, compared to the size of the planets. There’s a nice lesson we developed at Blackrock Castle Observatory and which is available on the ESERO website which looks at scale in the solar system https://esero.ie/resources/our-solar-system/
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Hi there, my name is Marie. I’ll be teaching First this year. As a child, I had an irrational fear of getting lost in space (!). Children often pose taxing questions about space so hopefully I’ll learn a good bit from this course whilst also getting great ideas for hands-on learning in the classroom. I’ll be honest, I’ve had to google space facts but my favourite one is that it rains solid diamonds on Neptune & Uranus thanks to intense pressure and extreme heat within their atmospheres. Amazing!
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Hi Marie, don’t worry if children pose taxing questions. If you don’t know the answer you can always explore the answer together with them. Imagine you’re a group of explorers. How might they think they could go about finding out the answer. Are there different suggestions? Is there general agreement or many different views on which suggestions might be the most accurate. What would they need to measure or observe to help answer their question. I have found that even when you do know the answer it’s good to enable some discussion first, sometimes with prompts that help guide the kids. Taxing questions are part of living in a hugely and hugely complex universe, and that’s fascinating!
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Lesson: Which Material Makes the Strongest Bridge?
Integration: maths, oral language, visual arts and wellbeing
I would use this lesson to teach that materials have different properties and to guide the children in investigating which material is strongest. They would work in groups to solve the problem and explain their thinking as they go.
Vocab: material, strong/weak, stiff, bend, fold, support, bridge, test, predict, improve
I would make the following materials available: paper, card, newspaper, straws, tape, scissors, toy car, cubes/books for weights.
The children would be challenged to rebuild a bridge that washed away in a flood to get Dolly’s car across the river so she could visit her friend.
We would chat about bridges – what are they? Where have they seen one? What makes them strong? What could we build one from? I would record their ideas.
Having distributed the materials, the children would predict which would be strongest (using teacher prompts).
Investigation is next – rules include the bridge can only be made of one material (tape allowed), the bridge must span two books, it must hold the toy car. Cubes will be added one at a time until the bridge collapses.
Discussion – why did you choose that shape? What happened? What might make it stronger? What have you notice? Can you change your design?
Results recording and sharing follow that, then explanation by Teacher – paper bends easily, card is stiffer, straws are hollow.
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Hi Marie I really like this idea. It gives the children a real problem to solve and encourages them to test their own ideas rather than just being told which material is best. I also like how you’ve linked it with Maths and Oral Language, as it makes the activity very cross-curricular. Allowing the children to improve their bridge after the first test is a great way to develop their thinking and problem-solving skills.
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Hi my name is Orla, I will be working in learning support next year which will be a nice difference for me. I have always been fascinated by space and how much children enjoy learning about it. My favourite fact about space is that space isn’t entirely silent. Electromagnetic vibrations, like plasma waves or magnetic field interactions, can be translated into sound by instruments.
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Hi Orla and welcome. That’s a great fun fact and you’ve also recognised that although sound doesn’t travel in the vacuum of space (as it needs some medium such as a gas or a liquid or a solid to do so) there are other ways to communicate. Electromagnetic waves (e.g., light) is one, as are plasma waves and magnetic fields, though these latter two are more tricky ways to communicate. And you’re right that we can convert signals from one form (light, plasma, magnetic fields) into other types of signals including sound. Check out https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/multimedia/sonifications/ and
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2024/12/See_and_hear_three_years_of_solar_fireworks
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Hi my name is Sabrina Mc Brien I currently am in SET in a mainstream primary setting. My interesting facts about space is that you grower taller in it. I love learning about space especially the stars.
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Hi Sabrina, welcome and thanks for that new fun space fact. Without gravity pulling down on your skeleton, you do indeed grow taller. You can ask the kids if they think you’d be taller in space (no gravity), on the Moon (one sixth the gravity of earth) of on Jupiter (2.5 times more gravity than on earth). You can also ask whether aliens from a small planet would likely be shorter or taller than us and have a bit of fun with the kids imagination!
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<span style=”font-size: small;”>Hi all, my name is Camila. This year I am teaching 1st class. I have interest to learn more about Space,Moon been interested in stars as it is the great unknown. I would be able to teach science, shapes, Star. Looking forward to this great summer course and all content.</span>
<span style=”font-size: small;”>Fun Facts about Star</span>
<span style=”font-size: small;”>Did you know we have a star that stays with us during the day?</span>
<span style=”font-size: small;”>The Sun is a star! It is our closest star. It is very big and very hot.</span>
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Hi Camila and welcome to the forum! Thankyou for your fun space fact. The sun is indeed huge and very hot, so even though it’s very far away (as has been noted by several teachers) it still provides all the heat and light to our planet. Without it there would be no day/night, no wind, no rain, no plants, no animals. Without it the Earth would be permanently frozen, except for the odd volcano here-and-there to give some local heating. So it’s pretty important to us and for us!
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I would use Esero in my class.I love the space-related videos and images from ESA.
We can link that lesson with maths, numeracy skills, and wellbeing. I will use the resources and all the ideas to inspire the pupils, to engage in a collaborative discovery, and build confidence to learn science: space, Moon, Star.
All the content in ESERO we can link with all the subjects; we can teach inside and outside the classroom to make a great environment in the school, also group work, investigation, discussion, sharing ideas.
For example, a lesson: Our Space Mission :
Today we are going to learn all about the ESERO website!
Our Goals
Discover what ESERO does. See amazing photos of space.
Find out where astronauts work.
Space words to know: Before we explore, let’s learn these special words!
Astronaut – A person who travels to space.Satellite – A machine that circles Earth. -
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Hello! My name is Anna, I’m teaching Senior Infants this year. It’ll be my fourth year teaching Infants – Space has always been one of my favourite topics to do with them!
I love teaching about how Space is silent (and trying to recreate that in our classroom!!)
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One inquiry-based activity I’ve done before with infants is exploring why the Moon has craters. I start by showing the children pictures of the Moon and asking questions like “What do you notice?”, “How do you think these holes got there?” etc. I encourage them to share their own ideas and predictions before we begin the investigation. It’s always interesting to hear the different theories they come up with – there’s always someone who knows the answer straightaway!For the investigation we make our own ‘moon’ using a tray of flour with a layer of hot chocolate powder on top. The children then drop different size scrunched-up tinfoil balls onto the tray and observe what happens. I ellicit from them that the tinfoil balls create craters of different sizes, depending on the size of the ball and how it lands etc. After that we compare our trays to photographs of the Moon and discuss what we discovered. This activity always goes down well with them because it allows children to explore a scientific concept in a fun/hands-on way! It also encourages them to ask questions, make predictions, observe, explain their thinkin etc as opposed to being told the answer. Can make a great tie in with art later in the week too!
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Welcome Anna. Thankyou for the fun space fact which is popular on the forum and which poses real limitations for communicating in space in the way we, and other animals, do on Earth. If we had evolved in space, you might ask your class how they think we might communicate if talking was impossible in the way we’re familiar with it.
I love your crater experiment. If you can stretch the activity to using paster of paris (or some equivalent) then you can make a permanent record of the different craters and display around the school.
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My name is Seán, and I teach senior infants. I’m looking forward to making science more engaging and hands-on for my class.
One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is actually longer than a year on Venus! It reminds me of the movie Interstellar-
If we were learning about the Moon, I could show the children pictures of the different Moon phases and ask them what they notice, what they think is happening, and why the Moon seems to change shape. I would encourage them to share their own ideas before telling them the facts and the science behind it. The children could experiment and work in pairs or groups to see can they recreate the moon using a lamp and a ball. They could make predictions, test their ideas, and discuss whether their thinking changed after the activity. I think this approach makes it more interesting, interactive and so hands on that the children actually learn what happens with their own eyes. I also like that inquiry-based learning gives every child a chance to be involved despite their different strengths. Even if their first ideas are not scientifically accurate, they are encouraged to think and question. This helps them to improve their problem solving skills and critical thinking.
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Hi my name is Tadgh and I will be teaching 1st class next year. My favourite space fact is the International Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon.
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Welcome Tadhg! That’s a great fun fact. The ISS is so much brighter than any other satellite. You can ask the class why they think this is the case and enable them to think about size, reflection (black, white, silver) and even what causes the ISS to be bright (sunlight reflected off it). There are several apps and websites which allow you to get predictions of when it’s next over Ireland, so the kids can go out and see if (clouds permitting!).
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Hi Everyone , My name is Edel and I will be teaching Senior Infants and 1st class next year . My space face is , we have a telescope at home and when the weather permits , we as a family love to look at the night sky . We saw the space station during the week ! my children like to pick out the planets , starts( north star) constellations ( orions belt) and the northern lights .
Design a waterproof coat for teddy
Engage
Using a teddy as a prompt , tell the children that teddy wants to go outside to play but it’s raining , what could we use to make a coat for teddy ?Investigate
Record materials suggested by the children , allow the children to discuss the ideas , I think ____ would work because ____, I don’t think _____ will work because ______.
Using some of the suggestions mentioned , cover the teddy in said material and spray him with some water . Discuss if teddy is wet or dry after and if the material is suitable . Children could record the results on worksheets or it could be recorded on the boards as a whole class activity .
Teacher can ask the children what they noticed when the water was put on the chosen material – did the water run off it ? did it soak in ?Take the next step
Using the children’s recordings , they can establish what materials worked best / worst , were they surprised by any of the results ?yes/no why ?
As an add on the children could discuss would the results be different depending on the season . How could they keep teddy warm and dry or cool and dry . -
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Hi my name is Aine. I will be teaching Junior Infants in September. I love teaching space to children. They are always so interested in learning all about the inside of a spaceship!
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One inquiry-based activity that I would use in my junior classroom is the “Gravity and Falling Things” investigation. I think this activity would be highly engaging as it encourages children to make predictions, test their ideas, and discuss their observations rather than simply being told the answer. I like how the Curious Minds/ESERO Framework for Inquiry guides children through the stages of engaging, investigating, taking the next step, and reflecting.
The children would work in small groups to predict what they think will happen before carrying out the investigation by dropping a variety of safe classroom objects. They would observe whether the objects fall quickly or slowly, whether they spin or float, and record their findings using simple pictures or symbols.
Following the investigation, we would discuss the results together and compare them with our original predictions. This would help to develop both scientific understanding and oral language skills.
Overall, I believe this inquiry-based approach would create an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience. It promotes active participation, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving while allowing children to develop a deeper understanding of gravity through hands-on exploration.-
I think that’s a great lesson Tadgh – it’s great to start a lesson like that from a position where everyone has to really start engaging with the ideas and make predictions. Children will obviously know that the objects will fall but it would a great opportunity to see whether they think different objects fall at different speeds based on weight, volume, etc. And by having the children make their predictions, it really encourages them to observe closely during the experimental part so they can see if they were right.
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Inquiry-based learning – clean up an oil spill
I think that STEM lessons work really well when there is a specific focus but an open-ended problem solving approach that the children can use. A lesson that I think can work really well is modeling an oil spill by giving groups a basin with water and cooking oil in it (adding cocoa powder to the oil makes it easy to detect and simulates an oil spill more closely). Children then have access to a variety of materials to see if they can devise the most effective way of dealing with the spill – e.g. tissue paper, washing-up liquid, scoops/spoons, etc. The children can really tackle this problem imaginatively and explore the material properties of the different substances involved (e.g. oil floats on water). There’s a real connection to a problem of global significance. As an extension activity, children can consider and discuss how their preferred solutions could be scaled up to tackle a real oil spill.-
Hi Patrick, that’s a great lesson with lots of inquiry-based approaches inherently built into it. Could you extend the lesson to ask what would happen if oil or some other liquid spills in a spacecraft. Is that easier or more difficult to deal with. What doe the kids think will happen in zero gravity? Does this make the design of how to deal with liquids all the more important in space? You can have some fun and there’s lots of videos showing how water behaves bizarrely in space, e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_qPWZbxFl8
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Hi. My name is Mary and I teach Junior Infants – 2nd class in a 2 teacher school. My space fact is 1 million earths could fit inside the sun.
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Hi Mary, welcome to the forum. A million is a difficult number to get our heads around, at any age! But the sheer scale of the number underlines why the Sun has such an influence on our weather, even though it’s very far away. You could ask the kids what they think would happen if the sun was much smaller (would earth be cooler?) or bigger (would earth be hotter) or closer by or farther away?
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My name is Andrea, I will be teaching first class this next school year. I like how the planets were named after different Gods and the reasoning behind their names.
I would use an inquiry based activity to explore Gravity with 1st class children. The children would explore the question: Does the weight of an object affect how quickly it falls?
The children will predict which of two items will fall to the ground the fastest. This could be a ball and a crumpled up piece of paper. They will share their reasoning and write down this predictions. The items will be dropped from the same height and the class will observe. The test will be repeated.
Next, we will explore a tighter crumpled ball of paper and then a flat sheet of paper to look at how air resistance can affect objects that are falling.
Children will record their observations and compare with their initial prediction.The idea of gravity will be introduced: Gravity pulls all objects towards the Earth, while air resistance can change how quickly some objects fall.
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Welcome Andrea and thanks for the fun fact. The word “planet” means “wanderer” and is indeed an ancient Greek word. Our ancestors didn’t have telescopes, so they had no real way to know what the planets are, but they could observe these points of light as moving relative to the background stars (which are fixed, relative to one another) and the full extent of their understanding was limited – but they could see that these points of light “wandered”.
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Hi everyone, I’m Susan and I currently work in an Additional Educational Needs role in a primary school in Dublin. I’m looking forward to learning some new ideas and practical activities that I can use with the pupils I support. One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus! I think it’s a great fact to share with children because it always sparks curiosity. Looking forward to learning with you all!
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Hi, my name is Emer Larkin and I’ve taught Junior Infants for the last two years and will teach them again this year. I think space is a really fun and interesting subject for them. Fun fact: The biggest volcano in our solar system is on Mars!
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Hi Emer, thanks for that fun fact. It’s interesting that the biggest volcano in the solar system is on a planet that is about half as big as the Earth. Also known as “Olympous Mons”, the mythical home of the Greek gods, you can get some great photos on line from ESA and NASA spacecraft. A volcano on another planet allows you to ask your class whether they think it’s active (and what “active” means) or dormant, or dead. What causes volcanoes and what are some examples on Earth?
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I would be most likely to use the Mighty Materials inquiry activity in my own setting. Although the lesson is designed for younger classes, I think the inquiry approach could be adapted very successfully for the pupils I support in small groups.
What I liked most about the activity was that it encourages children to predict, investigate and explain their thinking rather than simply trying to find the “right” answer. Many of the pupils I work with benefit from practical, hands-on learning, and I could see this activity leading to lots of rich discussion and opportunities to introduce and reinforce new vocabulary. I also like that children are encouraged to justify their predictions and reflect on what they discovered, helping them to develop confidence in sharing their ideas.
I would probably adapt the lesson by using a smaller range of materials, visual supports and plenty of modelling before the investigation. I would also encourage pupils to work in pairs so they could talk through their thinking before sharing it with the group. Recording results using simple pictures, symbols or photographs would make the activity accessible while still allowing children to compare findings and identify patterns.
This module reminded me that inquiry-based learning doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes a simple practical investigation can develop curiosity, communication and problem-solving just as effectively as more elaborate activities.-
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Hi Susan, I totally agree. Inquiry-based learning doesn’t have to be complicated. That’s a big takeaway from the discussions on the forum. The approach is actually creative, fun and exciting as it fundamentally encourages our children (and ourselves) to explore ideas against a backdrop of good practise ways to do so.
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Hi,I’m Elaine. I will be teaching senior infants in September. I am doing this course to gain more knowledge and ideas about space. A space fact I find fascinating is that footprints on the moon will always be there.
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Hi Elaine, welcome and thanks for the fun fact. Footprints will indeed last a very long time. It’s amazing to think that the craters you can see with your unaided eye (or a small telescope or binoculars) have been there for millions to billions of years, and were there when dinosaurs roamed the Earth some 65 million years ago.
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Module 1:
We will use a Moon Crater inquiry to explore forces and materials. I will ask the prompt question: What happens to the surface of the moon when a space rock hits it?
As a stimulus to this lesson we will read The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers. We will look at the pictures of the surface of the moon.
I will fill a tuff tray with flour. The children will be given marbles or ping pong balls or heavy beads and they will drop them into the flour from different heights. We will observe the crater sizes and have a discussion about it.
- What happens when the space rock hits the flour?
- Why do you think some holes are deeper than others?
- Does a heavy rock make a different mark than a light rock.
- Is the hole different when we drop the rocks from a greater height?
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One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is an investigation into why plants do not grow naturally on the Moon. Students would begin by sharing their ideas about what plants need to survive, such as water, air, light, nutrients, and a suitable temperature. They would then research conditions on the Moon, including its lack of atmosphere, extreme temperatures, limited water, low gravity, and poor soil conditions.
Working in small groups, students would compare the needs of plants with the conditions found on the Moon and use evidence to explain why plants cannot grow there naturally. They could also design a model of a lunar greenhouse and suggest ways scientists might overcome these difficulties.
I like this activity because it encourages curiosity, teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Instead of simply memorising facts, students investigate a real scientific question and use evidence to reach a conclusion. I would finish the lesson with a class discussion in which students explain their findings and reflect on how plants might one day be grown on the Moon.
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Hi Eimear, thanks for that creative lesson. This is particularly relevant now, as we see efforts growing to return to the Moon. When astronauts went there in 1969-1972 they only stayed a number of hours or days (Apollo 11 stayed 22 hours while Apollo 17 stayed 75 hours). So they brought all their own food. But this is not sustainable going forward, so we’re going to have to grow food on the Moon somehow – and this lesson is perfectly timed to get suggestions from the kids!
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Hi, I’m currently on maternity leave and when I return to school I will be helping senior infants. Before maternity leave, I was a 4th class teacher for a few years.
Space fact: Astronauts sleep in sleeping bags that are tied to the wall so they don’t float away.
Lesson- Senior Infants
I would use the Curious Minds/ESERO Inquiry Framework to explore forces through the theme of space travel.We would start with Engage by showing a rocket picture and asking, How does it move? Children would share ideas and wonder about pushes and pulls.
In the Investigate stage, children would try simple activities such as pushing toy rockets along ramps, pulling toy astronauts with strings and noticing how movement changes.
Next children would connect learning by comparing how pushes and pulls help rockets, swings, and cars move.
Finally, in the Reflect stage, children can draw or talk about what they discovered.
I would also link the exploration in Aistear Play Ideas such as
– Construction Area:children could build rockets and ramps to test movement.
-Small World Play:pushing and pulling space objects.
– Outdoor Play: race toy rockets or cars using pushes and pulls.
– Art Station: paint rockets blasting off.
– Language and Story: read Whatever Next! and talk about how the bear moves. -
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Hi my name is Susan and am currently teaching in SET in a Gaelscoil. Fun fact about space sound cannot travel through space.
Because young children love following shadows and jumping on them, I would use the ESERO enquiry-based activity Investigating Shadows, working on Energy and Forces. This would have to be done at different times throughout the day so that children could see the changes in our shadows by drawing their shadows on the ground with chalk. The activity encourages children to ask questions, make predictions where their shadow will be (in front or behind them etc), observe investigate and communicate their findings through hands-on -learning. I would facilitate discussion to encourage curiosity and critical thinking. The kids could work collaboratively to investigate how shadows change throughout the day, record their observations by drawing the outlines in chalk on the ground and compare the results, was everyone’s shadow behind them in front of them?) To apply this learning children could continue to predict where shadows would appear.
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I am teaching junior infants and will plan on teaching the lesson on finding the best material to soak up a spill. As stated here a next logical lesson might be based around testing materials for their waterproof qualities. I would frame it as making an umbrella for teddy.
The Oxford reading tree book “The Big Box” might be a good prompt or conversation starter for this lesson. In this story the children make a playhouse with large cardboard boxes but it collapses when it is soaked by rain. It could prompt a conversation around materials which would be better or not for keeping out rain.
A fun activity would be to have some sheets of different materials and ask children to volunteer to sit under these while water is dripped on.I have done this with infants and they had great fun pouring water on to a wooden tray or plastic/ metal box lid held above a classmate’s head. They of course know that kitchen roll will not protect them but a brave soul wont mind a few drips from a pipette.
I will then have prepared a collection of small pieces of materials for each child. This could be a station during Aistear time. They can test these for waterproof qualities with pipettes and water, having first recorded their predictions . They can then discuss the results and choose the best materials to stick on to a picture of teddy’s umbrella. I think this will be a fun enquiry based lesson for infants.-
Hi Fiona, a lovely lesson which fits very well into the inquiry-based approach. Do your pupils know of any other types of liquid which appear as rain on other worlds. As pointed out on this forum, it rains sulphuric acid on Venus and even diamonds on Neptune! So different materials might be needed on different planets. It highlights that the earth is one example of what a planet might look like.
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I really enjoyed reading your idea! I think my Junior Infants class would also love this activity, especially the part where they get to test different materials themselves. It’s such a fun, hands-on way to encourage inquiry and prediction. I also like how you’ve linked it to The Big Box as a stimulus, as it gives the investigation a real-life context. The teddy umbrella challenge is a lovely way to finish the lesson and would definitely keep young children engaged.
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Hi everyone,
I’m Christine. I most recently have been teaching Senior Infants and my favourite theme to cover each year is space. I really enjoy that it’s hands-on, play-based learning where children get to investigate and ask their own questions.
My favourite space fact is that it rains diamonds on some planets.
One inquiry-based activity I have used with Senior Infants is the crater investigation using trays of flour and different sized tinfoil balls. I would begin by showing photographs of the Moon and asking the children what they notice. Through questioning, we would explore why the Moon has so many craters before introducing the starter question: What happens when objects hit the surface of the Moon?
It is wonderful to see the children making predictions before working in small groups to investigate by dropping different sized balls into the flour, then comparing the craters, discussing patterns we noticed and analysing whether their predictions were correct.
To apply their learning, the children create their own model of the Moon’s surface using printing with the balls of tin foil. I like this activity because it naturally develops curiosity, prediction, observation and communication skills while keeping the children actively involved in their own learning. It fits in really well with our Integrated Learning through Play theme of Space Travel Agent later in the year.
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Hi , I’m Helen and I am going to have First next year. In our school we always spend a month looking at Space. The children always love this topic! I decided to do this course to try to help me come up with ways to encourage further STEM learning on the topic as it is always such a big hit!
I always really enjoy looking at Astronaut Chris Hadfield when exploring space in my class-he has some great videos. One of my favourite facts inspired by Chris – and by this module and its focus on gravity- is that you can cry in Space but your tears don’t fall! Instead the tears form one “blob” of water under your eye. -
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I really enjoyed watching the different ideas for inquiry based learning and will be using the missing sweeties as a fun lesson in September!
One inquiry based lesson I enjoy doing is around bridges. We are very close to a castle and visit it often as well as learning about its history and how it is different from other castles in Ireland. I like to introduce the idea of a moat and how could people cross the moat – either to leave the castle or to gain entry! I use this as my stimulus and then get the children to design bridges using objects in the classroom. We then test them by placing a toy knight or horse on to see if they hold up or if they fall.
I have also seen the idea of giving students a piece of paper, two books/cups and a coin. The students must come up with ways to make the paper strong enough to hold the coin.
I like the idea of keeping a STEM journal to record our inquiries and draw/write down our ideas and if they worked/what we learnt.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Suzanne. I will be teaching 2nd class this year. My fun space fact is : The highest mountain known to man is on an asteroid called Vesta. It’s three times as tall as Mount Everest.
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Hi Suzanne, welcome and thanks for that amazing space fact. The mountain you refer to is in the centre of a huge crater on Vesta. The mountain was formed when the crater was formed. If you look at some of the videos of water or milk droplets you’ll see a bounce-back in the centre and that’s very similar to what has happened here, but on a much larger scale. It would be amazing to be in the crater on Vesta and look at the central peak which is almost three times higher than Everest. The imagination of kids would be perfect here!
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One inquiry based activity I like to do with my 2nd class is “How can we build a bridge strong enough to hold a toy car?” I like this activity because it allows for a variety of questions to be posed and solved. The children can observe each others structures and use Peer learning to help each others designs be more effective. The children also use tablets to take photos of their designs to help them to analyze and improve on their designs. I would also like to use a prompt to begin this lesson as i think this is a really good idea for example such as showing them a gap between two tables and encouraging them to find a way to get a car across. We could extend the lesson by exploring the idea if their bridge collapses what would they change?
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Welcome Shauna. Thanks for the fun space fact. Grains of sand can also come in different sizes, just as stars do. Our Sun is a very typical star, but the most common stars in the Universe are much smaller and are called “red dwarfs”. They make up 75% of stars. These are much fainter and cooler than our sun. If you put one of these in place of the sun the Earth would be much colder, possibly permanently frozen. So we’re lucky to have a star that’s big enough to heat us up!
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An inquiry-based activity that I will use in my class will be based on exploring objects that sink or float.
Subject: Science
Strand: Energy and Forces
Strand Unit: Forces
Curriculum objective: The children will investigate floating and sinking with a range of objects and materials.
Skills development: questioning, predicting, observing, investigating and experimenting, estimating , analysing: sorting and classifying and recording and communicating.
I will engage the children by using a prompt such as a video or story to stimulate discussion. To spark wonder I would pose a problem and ask for their assistance in solving the problem. We would explore and consider the various options.
We would then move on to the investigation part. I would present them with a problem to investigate. In this case- what objects float and what objects sink. The children would make their predictions and provide reasons for their choices. They would then conduct the investigation using a range of objects such as a coin, a plastic toy and a lollipop stick.
We would then go through their findings and apply their learning to a new scenario, make connections with the world around them and thoughtful actions based on their own environments.
To conclude I would reflect on the lesson- what went well, would I do anything different the next time. I would also give the children time to reflect on their learning too.
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Hello,
My name is Lauren and I’ve been based in the junior classes quite a bit. I have always been fascinated by space and love seeing the wonder of each child as you teach it to them. I think my most random fact is about the space training process in Japan. As part of the astronaut training the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) requires astronaut candidates to fold 1000 paper cranes to show how they can stay calm and challenge their psychological endurance, their patience and attention to detail.
Looking forward to learning more about space and how to bring it to the classroom.
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Hi Lauren, welcome and thankyou for that great fun space fact. It really emphasises the fact that when astronauts go into space for long periods they need to have psychological endurance and patience, as you say. The complex human interactions that go on when you put people into a confined space for a long period of time is critcally important to understand. For short duration missions, such as those which last about 10 minutes and are increasingly popular amongst people who can afford to pay, there isn’t the same need for training or psychological endurance or patience. But JAXA doesn’t do such missions as they consider them to be relevant to space tourism primarily.
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Inquiry based activity lesson I would use in my classroom- Exploring objects that float and sink.
Duration: 40-45 minutes
1. Engage -Place a heavy, solid object (large rock/spoon) and a floating object (sponge/ small plastic ball) in front of the children. Ask the children, “What do you think will happen if I drop these in our water basin?” Have them turn to a partner to share their prediction (an inquiry skill).2.The Investigation: Group the children at sensory tables or shallow water bins. Provide them with a tray of assorted, safe classroom items (e.g., wooden blocks, plastic counters, feathers, paper clips, rubber bands).The Activity: Instruct them to test each item by dropping it into the water. Give them small laminated sheets or whiteboards to draw a happy face (for floating objects) or an anchor (for sinking objects).
Ask questions like: “Why do you think the heavy block floated but the tiny paper clip sank?” and “What does the water do when you push the toy under?”3. Class Discussion: Gather the children to share their findings. Create two large categories on the board: “Floaters” and “Sinkers.”Concept Introduction: Explain that floating means an object stays on top of the water, and sinking means it goes to the bottom. Discuss materials. Often, light or hollow items with air inside float, while heavy or solid materials sink.
4. The Design Challenge: Give each pair/small group playdough or plasticine.The Inquiry: Ask them, “Can we make our lump of dough float?” Let them experiment with shaping the dough into different forms (e.g., a ball vs. a flat, canoe-like boat) and test them in the water.
5. Evaluate/ Conclusion- Ask the children to pick an object and recall whether it floated or sank. Encourage them to use scientific vocabulary: “It floats!” or “It sinks!”
Reflection: Ask what shape worked best for the playdough? Why?
Materials:Water basins or clear plastic tuff trays,a variety of test objects (wood, plastic, metal, foam)Playdough, Whiteboards and markers for drawing observations, towels.
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I love how enthusiastic junior classes are during inquiry based learning. They always have such imaginative and interesting suggestions to solve problems.
I found the curious minds website excellent for information and resource suggestions and intend to use many of these resources in the future.
One particular lesson that caught my eye was;‘The travelling Space buggy’
In this lesson, children attempt to build a working space buggy using recycled materials ( milk carton, skewers, toilet roll holders etc.)The children investigate what is needed to make a working space buggy. The vehicle must be able to travel forward and backward along a bumpy surface. The buggy will need to be stable, not blow over and mustn’t fall apart.
The children will discuss what materials would be best, and why. They will design, make and test out their vehicles sand or stones outdoors.
The children will the discuss which designs worked well and why, as well as which designs didn’t work and how they could be improved.
This activity could be done individually or in small groups or partners.
It encourages a lot of critical thinking and discussion as well as creativity.
Photos of the Mars rover and other such space buggies can be used as inspiration.
The picture book Míp or Meep by Máire Zepf could be used before or after the activity too.-
Thanks for that lesson Anna. There’s some great footage of Apollo astronauts going around in their buggy and you can see that because the gravity on the Moon is one sixth that on Earth that the buggy kicks up a lot of dust. Indeed dust gets everywhere on the Moon and is a real issue that needs to be understood. You could ask the kids if a buggy on the Moon or Mars would be different to one on Earth. Or even on some distant planet that they imagine themselves! That might add a nice space angle.
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My name is Claire McCabe. I will be teaching 3rd class next year. One of the most interesting things I know about Space is that Earth is the only planet not names after a Greek or Roman God.
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Hi. My name is Claire and I’ll be teaching Junior Infants next year. My fun fact is that Saturn would float in a bath, if you could find one big enough as it’s less dense than water and so would bob to the top.
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Based on Claire’s Space Fact, I decided to plan an inquiry-based lesson on density, floating, and sinking because I thought her fact was really interesting. I also think it’s the kind of fact that children would enjoy and remember, especially if it was introduced in a fun way.
I would use the ESERO Framework for Inquiry to teach a lesson on floating and sinking with a space theme to a 1st/2nd class. I think starting with the question, “Do you think a planet could float on water?” would really grab the children’s attention. I imagine most of them would say no because they would think that something as big as a planet has to sink. This would be a great way to get them thinking, asking questions, and making their own predictions.
The children would start by sharing their ideas before testing different classroom objects to see which ones float and which ones sink. They could work in small groups and record what they notice. Instead of giving them the answers straight away, I would encourage them to talk about why they think some objects float while others sink and listen to each other’s ideas.
As the lesson goes on, I would introduce the idea of density in a simple way, explaining that it isn’t the size of an object that decides whether it floats or sinks, but how dense it is.
To finish the lesson, I would tell the children that Saturn is the only planet in our solar system with an average density lower than water. Even though it could never actually happen because there isn’t an ocean big enough, Saturn would float if there was a giant bath large enough to hold it. I think that’s the kind of fun fact children would remember and chat about long after the lesson, while also helping them understand the idea of density.
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Hi Claire, welcome to the forum. There are lots of interesting fun space facts to choose from and thanks for your one about Saturn. It’s a great example of the difference between size and density. It’s remarkable to think that a huge ship can float, but a small pebble or grain of sand will sink. You can try an experiment where the class make a boat from paper and watch it float; then watch as a small pebble sinks; then watch as the same small pebble in the boat floats.
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Hi, My name is Eimear. I will be teaching 2nd class next year. I have a keen interest in space and enjoy sharing this with my class. Looking forward to gaining more knowledge and ideas during this course. Thank you
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Inquiry based lesson about Floating and Sinking with a Junior Infants class.
Pupils will have opportunities to
- Explore which objects float and which sink.
- Make simple predictions before testing.
- Observe and describe what happens.
- Sort objects based on their findings.
- Use scientific vocabulary during discussi
Lesson Sequence
1)Show a mystery bag filled with different objects and ask, What do you notice?,Which objects do you think will float?, Which might sink?,Why do you think that?Allow children to discuss with a partner before sharing. Record predictions using pictures on a simple chart.
2)Children work in small groups.
Each child: chooses one object, predicts, places it gently into the water & observes what happens.
I would encourage language such as:”I predict…”,”It floated!”,”It sank.”,”I was surprised.”
I would circulate asking open-ended questions instead of giving answers
- What do you notice?
- Did it do what you expected?
- Can you find another object like that?
- What is different about these two objects?
- The children would sort the tested objects into two hoops or baskets:
- Floating
- Sinking
Discuss:
- Were any predictions different?
- Which objects floated?
- Which sank?
- Can something be heavy and still float?
- Can something be light and sink?
Introduce the idea that it’s not only about being heavy or light
4)“Can you find something in our classroom that you think would float?”
Children choose classroom objects and explain their reasoning before testing (if appropriate).
As a follow up activity, I would challenge children to build a small boat from foil or recycled materials during another lesson
5)Observe whether children can:
- Make a prediction.
- Carry out a test.
- Use the words float and sink correctly.
- Explain what happened.
Assessment can be through:
- Teacher observation
- Oral questioning
- Simple sorting activity
Finish with a reflection circle using sentence starters:
- “Today I discovered…”
- “I was surprised that…”
- “Next time I want to test…”
- “My favourite object was…”
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Hello, my name is Kate-Anne Fenton. I currently teach junior infants. I am excited to learn about space, the recent moon mission really sparked my interest further and we had fun in our infants class keeping uo to date with this excursion!
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Hi Kate-Anne. welcome to the forum where I think you’ll find your excitement about space finds a welcome home and many like-minded teachers! Space offers so many opportunities for not only inquiry-based learning, but also inspiration, questioning, imagining …. You’ll see that we keep emphasising in the forum that teachers don’t need to know all the answers or be experts about space to use it in their classrooom.
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An inquiry lesson I have enjoyed doing with my junior infants class is a science experiment based on floating/sinking. This was something the children really enjoyed doing during the very hot weather before the end of term. We were also learning about water safety at the time. The children chose the objects they wanted to use in their small groups. I was fortunate at the time to have TY students there to support this experiment. The children each had to make their prediction on each object before carrying out the experiment. We ensured each dish had the same amount of water, revising our capacity learning in Maths. The children were given the chance to share their thoughts at the end!
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Hi!
My name is Susan and I will be teaching senior infants next year.
My interesting fact about space is that the footprints already left on the moon by astronauts will last for millions of years to come ! This is because there is no wind or “weather” on the moon.-
Hi Susan, lovely to have you on the forum. This is a popular fun space fact, but it does allow the class to question why the footprints last on the moon. You can even replicate the effect of wind on a sandy footprint in class with a simple fan, or indeed see how running water also erases the footprint. The Moon has neither wind nor running water, so these mechanisms don’t erase footprints there.
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Hi everyone. My name is Katie and I teach an all-boys Junior Infants class. My class loves learning about space!
My favourite space fact is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus!
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I would use an inquiry-based lesson where the children investigate the question, “Why do we have day and night?” I would begin by asking the children what they think happens when it gets dark and encourage them to share their own ideas and experiences. This would help me identify their prior knowledge and any misconceptions they may have. We would then use a torch and a globe to model how the Earth rotates and how this causes day and night in different parts of the world. The children would be encouraged to make predictions, ask questions, and discuss what they observe during the investigation. After the activity, they could draw and explain what they learned using simple pictures and sentences appropriate to their level. This inquiry-based approach allows children to actively explore scientific concepts rather than simply being given information. As my Junior Infants class already has a keen interest in space, I believe this hands-on activity would keep them engaged while developing their curiosity, communication skills, scientific thinking, and confidence in asking questions and sharing ideas with others.
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This is a great Katie, I liked your idea of using a torch and a globe to model day and night for the children. By allowing the students to draw their results allows for Art integration and demonstrates that inquiry based lessons are very productive in engaging the children by allowing them to share their responses in a variety of ways whether that is; orally, using visuals, photos, drawings, models or simply through sentence writing.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Tracy Murphy. I am currently working in SET in the Junior end of school. I have enjoyed teaching the theme of space as a mainstream teacher but with limited knowledge. I look forward to gathering some new ideas for literacy and numeracy.
My favourite fact is that there are so many stars in the sky nobody is able to count them.
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Hi Tracy, do not worry that you have limited knowledge about space. We all have limited knowledge! You’ll get lots of ideas about how to use space in the classroom and what you’ll see is that a small proportion relies on knowing about space and a large proportion relies on confidence in using inquiry-based approaches where “knowing” is less important than doing, observing, predicting, reflecting.
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One inquiry-based STEM activity I would use in an infant classroom is a “Float or Sink” investigation. This activity encourages children to ask questions, make predictions, test their ideas and discuss their findings. I would provide a range of everyday objects, such as a spoon, leaf, cork, toy car and stone, along with a tub of water. Before testing each object, I would encourage the children to predict whether it will float or sink and explain their thinking. After testing, the children would compare their predictions with the results and discuss why they think each object behaved the way it did.
I believe this activity is an excellent example of inquiry-based learning because the children are actively involved in investigating and discovering answers for themselves rather than simply being given information. It promotes curiosity and encourages children to ask questions, observe carefully and think critically about what they see. The activity also provides opportunities for collaboration as children share ideas, listen to one another and work together to solve problems.
From a STEM perspective, the activity develops scientific skills such as observing, predicting, experimenting and communicating findings. It also supports mathematical language through comparing objects by size and weight, while developing vocabulary such as float, sink, heavy and light. The use of everyday materials helps children make meaningful connections between classroom learning and the world around them.
Reflecting on this activity, I believe it would be highly engaging for infant children because it is hands-on, playful and encourages exploration. It aligns well with the Primary Curriculum Framework by promoting active learning, creativity, communication and problem-solving. As a teacher, my role would be to guide children’s thinking through open-ended questions, encourage discussion and provide opportunities for further investigation rather than directing the learning. This experience would help children develop confidence as young scientists while fostering a lifelong curiosity about how the world works.
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Hi I’m Alma and I will be teaching 2nd and 3rd class in September. I love space and the vast unknown and the sheer size of what surrounds earth makes it all the more interesting.
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Hi Alma, welcome and thanks for you fun space fact. I totally agree that the sheer vastness of the space beyond earth is so interesting. Remarkable to know that we have only had an idea of the size of the universe since around 1921 when Edwin Hubble produced the first robust estimate. It’s truly incredible to think that before 1921 scientists had debate after debate about the size of the universe, but only when Edwin Hubble provided some insightful observations could those debates be resolved. A really strong example of the importance of good observations followed by careful and robust analysis.
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One space inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is an investigation into the question, “What makes a planet able to support life?” Instead of simply teaching students the characteristics of the planets, I would encourage them to research, ask questions, compare evidence, and work collaboratively to reach their own conclusions. Students could investigate factors such as distance from the Sun, temperature, atmosphere, water, and gravity before presenting their findings to the class.
I believe this approach would increase student engagement because it allows children to take ownership of their learning. By exploring real scientific questions, students develop critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills rather than memorising facts. The activity would also encourage curiosity, as students would naturally ask further questions about exoplanets, space exploration, and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.
As a teacher, my role would be to guide discussions, provide appropriate resources, and support students as they evaluate evidence. This inquiry-based approach aligns well with science curricula that promote investigation and discovery. It also provides opportunities for cross-curricular learning by integrating literacy through research and report writing, mathematics through interpreting data, and digital skills through the use of online resources. Overall, I believe this activity would create a meaningful, engaging learning experience while helping students develop a deeper understanding of space and the nature of scientific inquiry.
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Good morning,
My name is Laura and I will be teaching junior infants in September. My favourite fact about space is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the beaches on Earth. Looking forward to the course!
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An inquiry based lesson that I have used many times is investigating which materials are attracted to magnets.
Class: 1st/2nd
Learning Outcomes:
The children will work in pairs to recognise that magnets attract some materials and not others. Predict which everyday objects are magnetic. Test objects using a magnet. Record their findings using words or pictures. Explain what they discovered using appropriate vocabulary.
Resources:
Magnet wand. Investigation tray with random items such as a paper clip, coin, marble, plastic spoon, steel nail, aluminium foil and so on.
Intro:
Prompt: Show pupils a magnet wand and paper clip. ‘I wonder can I move the paper clip without touching it’. Move clip using the magnet.
Prompts: What do you notice? Why do you think that happened? What do you think magnets stick to? Do magnets stick to everything?
I record some of their ideas on the board using sentence starter prompts such as I wonder, I predict etc
Exploration: ‘Which objects are attracted to magnets?
The children will work in pairs to look at each object carefully. Predict yes or no and record on their sheet. A simple worksheet with 3 columns object, prediction, what happened? Test with the magnet wand. Record results . Magnet hunt around the classroom.
Question prompts: Why did you think that? What evidence do you have? Did anything surprise you?
Sharing results:
Class discussion with a focus on relevant vocabulary such as magnet, magnetic, non magnetic, attract, metal. Magnets are attracted to certain types of metal such as iron and steel.
Discuss where magnets are used in real life such as whiteboards, fridges, headphones, handbags, scrapyard cranes etc. Why are they useful in that object? Which jobs might use magnets everyday?
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Lesson: Junior Infants
Mystery Moon Rocks
Learning Objective: Observe Moon- like surface, ask simple questions
Materials:
Tuff Trays, flour, small pebbles or beads, small toy craters or spoons to make craters, magnifying glass, paper and crayons, simple pictures of the moon.
Show the children a picture of the moon – ask simple questions to get the children engaged. Teacher could write their ideas on the whiteboard using words or simple pictures.
In small groups using tuff trays get the children to investigate (press, drop rocks, make craters). Ask the children then to carry out simple experiments – each group picks a question (does a big rock make a big crater? and test it. Groups the report back with the finding and draw a picture of their experiment. Some children could write a simple sentence or two about their experiment. More able children could draw more detailed pictures. These will then be displayed in the classroom.
Differentiation:
Encourage more able children to predict before testing. They could also measure the crater size using their fingers and report their findings.
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The inquiry-based activity I would use in my infant classroom would be an activity I used before called -umbrella for teddy-. The prompt was that teddy forgot to bring his umbrella to school that day and it was raining so now he needs to find a material to use to keep him dry. This created a lot of interesting discussion within my classroom. The children gathered materials found around the classroom that they thought would be a good choice to keep teddy dry. I had also gathered some materials from home such as kitchen paper, tin foil, cling film and cardboard. The children had to predict which materials would work best and then carry out the investigation in groups. I gave each group a pipette to use to drop the water on their chosen material. They then recorded through picture, the material that they thought worked best to keep him dry. They really enjoyed this activity and using the class teddy as a prompt worked well to engage their interest.
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Hi
My name is Elaine and I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. I am looking forward to the course. A Fun Space fact is astronauts grow taller is space as the lack of gravity allows their spines to stretch out making them taller.
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Hi Elaine, welcome! Thanks for the fun fact. We have evolved to deal with gravity and when it’s gone our bodies change. Your example of getting taller is a great one. With the Moon being one sixth the gravity of earth, and Mars about half, you could ask the kids if they think aliens on Mars and the Moon (if they existed, and no evidence they do, at least not on these two planets) would be taller or shorter in general than people on Earth. What would happen to their spine of they came to Earth where the gravity is greater?
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Hi Elaine, welcome! Thanks for the fun fact. We have evolved to deal with gravity and when it’s gone our bodies change. Your example of getting taller is a great one. With the Moon being one sixth the gravity of earth, and Mars about half, you could ask the kids if they think aliens on Mars and the Moon (if they existed, and no evidence they do, at least not on these two planets) would be taller or shorter in general than people on Earth. What would happen to their spine of they came to Earth where the gravity is greater?
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Hi Elaine, welcome! Thanks for the fun fact. We have evolved to deal with gravity and when it’s gone our bodies change. Your example of getting taller is a great one. With the Moon being one sixth the gravity of earth, and Mars about half, you could ask the kids if they think aliens on Mars and the Moon (if they existed, and no evidence they do, at least not on these two planets) would be taller or shorter in general than people on Earth. What would happen to their spine of they came to Earth where the gravity is greater?
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Hi Elaine, welcome! Thanks for the fun fact. We have evolved to deal with gravity and when it’s gone our bodies change. Your example of getting taller is a great one. With the Moon being one sixth the gravity of earth, and Mars about half, you could ask the kids if they think aliens on Mars and the Moon (if they existed, and no evidence they do, at least not on these two planets) would be taller or shorter in general than people on Earth. What would happen to their spine of they came to Earth where the gravity is greater?
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Hi Elaine, welcome! Thanks for the fun fact. We have evolved to deal with gravity and when it’s gone our bodies change. Your example of getting taller is a great one. With the Moon being one sixth the gravity of earth, and Mars about half, you could ask the kids if they think aliens on Mars and the Moon (if they existed, and no evidence they do, at least not on these two planets) would be taller or shorter in general than people on Earth. What would happen to their spine of they came to Earth where the gravity is greater?
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Hi Elaine, welcome! Thanks for the fun fact. We have evolved to deal with gravity and when it’s gone our bodies change. Your example of getting taller is a great one. With the Moon being one sixth the gravity of earth, and Mars about half, you could ask the kids if they think aliens on Mars and the Moon (if they existed, and no evidence they do, at least not on these two planets) would be taller or shorter in general than people on Earth. What would happen to their spine of they came to Earth where the gravity is greater?
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Hi Elaine, welcome! Thanks for the fun fact. We have evolved to deal with gravity and when it’s gone our bodies change. Your example of getting taller is a great one. With the Moon being one sixth the gravity of earth, and Mars about half, you could ask the kids if they think aliens on Mars and the Moon (if they existed, and no evidence they do, at least not on these two planets) would be taller or shorter in general than people on Earth. What would happen to their spine of they came to Earth where the gravity is greater?
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Hi. My name is Clodagh. I will be teaching Junior Infants this year. My favourite face about Space that I learned before is that a year on Mercury is shorter than a day.
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Welcome to the forum Clodagh. A great new fun space fact! So Mercury goes around the Sun faster than it spins on its axis. A year on Mercury is about 88 earth days, so very short compared to Earth’s 365 days. A day on Mercury is 176 days from sunrise to sunset to sunrise. How do the kids think this would affect the way they live? Could they stay awake or asleep for 176/2 = 88 days? If aliens live on Mercury would they sleep for 88 days at a time – are there any animals on Earth that sleep for 88 days or more? Lots of things to discuss!
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Hi my name is Emer. I was working in SET this year. I love learning about space and I love how curious children are about space. My favorite space fact is that space has no atmosphere to carry sound. it is completely silent.
Inquiry based Activity:
Class- Junior Infants
Lesson- What can we find in space?Start by showing the class a picture of space (the moon, stars and planets).
Ask questions: What do you see?, What do you think is in space? Who goes to space? How could we get there?
Set up a space themed play are for the children to explore. This could have toy rockets, spaceships, astronauts, pictures of space.
Discuss what you might find in space
Create a rocket using blocks and art materialsThe teacher will guide the children and encourage the children to ask questions,explore and share their ideas.
This is inclusive to all learners as they can participate through talking, building, play and designing. -
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Inquiry-based activity for junior infants.
Theme: Floating and Sinking
Question: What things float and what things sink?
Materials: Basin of water, cork, spoon, leaf, plastic book, toy car, coin , small ball , pencil, paper clip.
I would gather the children around one table. I would encourage the students to discuss and make predictions about the objects. (thumbs up for float, thumbs down for sink)
One child at a time place an object in the water.
Discussion questions: Why do you think it floated? Which objects are heavy? Are they all sinkers? Were any light objects sinkers?
Extension activity: Draw one object that floated and one that sank.
This activity encourages students to ask questions, investigate and communicate their discoveries. -
Module 1:
I think inquiry-based learning is a great way to teach all classes because it encourages children to be curious and learn by doing. Instead of just giving them the answers, the teacher helps them ask questions, make predictions and explore ideas for themselves. For example when teaching the infant classes, during a lesson on gravity, I could ask the children, “What do you think will happen if we drop a feather and a toy car?” The children could share their ideas first (predict) orally in pairs, and then by drawing their predictions before we tested it together. Afterwards, we would talk about what happened and why both objects fell, while introducing simple words like “gravity” and “air resistance.” Activities like this make learning exciting and help children develop observation, communication and problem-solving skills. Every child has the chance to join in by asking questions, making predictions and sharing what they notice. I believe using inquiry in Infant classes helps children become more confident learners and gives them a strong foundation for learning science in the future. Using a range of questions and teacher observations quill assist with furthering their thinking and future planning.
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<li aria-level=”1″>Activity: The Spherical Earth
I would introduce the lesson with a think, pair, share activity to access prior knowledge. The students could discuss the question: What does the earth look like? Perhaps imagining they are aliens that are orbiting the earth. Asking them to draw what the aliens could see as they get closer, and also when they land. Using the planet earth song from the story bots is a great way to hook the students in as its catchy and very fun. With this front loading I would then use the role-play task.I really liked the role-play activity with the polar bear and the penguin. It is a fun and engaging way to encourage children to put themselves in the place of the animals and challenge their previous ideas about the Earth being a globe and why people and animals do not fall off. It also gives the teacher a great opportunity to assess the children’s prior knowledge by letting them discuss their ideas in pairs before sharing with the class. Using real images of the Earth from space is another excellent way to spark curiosity and help children connect what they are learning to the real world. I also loved the Earth mosaic activity. It allows every child to express their own understanding while seeing how their classmates think and learn. The collaborative nature of the activity makes learning enjoyable and interactive. Exploring the ideas of “up” and “down” using the completed mosaic is a brilliant way to reinforce children’s understanding of the Earth’s shape and gravity in a simple, age-appropriate way. I would also use higher order questions to explore this and deepen their understanding.
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And maybe ask the kids how they think the aliens would engage with the polar bear and the penguins. They could think imaginatively about whether the aliens could cope as well as them in the cold. This might open a chat and exploration about how polar bears and penguins survive – and would the aliens?!
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I would base my lesson on designing and building a bridge using paper (Strand: Materials/Strand Unit: Properties and Characteristics of Materials).
I would begin the lesson by reading the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Using the pictures of the story the class would discuss the bridge – what does it look like/what shapes can you see/what materials is it made from/what makes it a good bridge for the goats to cross. I would then show pictures of different types of bridges for discussion, with a focus on characteristics. The class would be invited to make connections to their own experiences.
In groups of pairs or threes, the children would collaboratively design and build a bridge using paper and sellotape that will hold a plastic figurine of a goat.
The children would construct and test their bridges, noting what worked well and what we might change next time. The students would be invited to share the characteristics of bridges that supported the goat and draw conclusions about these. Ideas can be noted on a whole class chart.
As teacher, I would reflect after the lesson about what went well and what could be improved upon for next time.
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Hi my name is Shauna and I will be teaching junior infants in September. I have no experience teaching space to this age group but feel it will be an amazing topic for this age group. I am fascinated myself by all things space however do not have a fun fact at this stage. Hoping to have many by the end of the course!
For my lesson:
The children will explore the inquiry question, “What makes some things float while others sink?” They will begin by examining a variety of everyday objects and predicting whether each will float or sink when placed in water. Working in small groups, the children will test their predictions by carefully placing each object into a water tray and observing what happens. They will discuss their observations using simple scientific vocabulary such as float, sink, predict, and observe. After testing, the class will sort the objects into floating and sinking groups and compare the results with their original predictions. Through teacher questioning and discussion, the children will be encouraged to think about why some objects float while others sink, helping them develop curiosity, observation skills, and an understanding that scientific investigations involve making predictions, testing ideas, and sharing findings.-
I agree that this lesson on floating and sinking is an engaging and meaningful inquiry-based learning experience for children. Encouraging children to make predictions, test their ideas, and compare the results helps them develop critical thinking and early scientific inquiry skills. Working collaboratively in small groups also promotes communication, cooperation, and confidence as they share observations and discuss their findings. Introducing simple scientific vocabulary in a hands-on context makes learning more meaningful and memorable. This investigation supports curiosity and problem-solving while allowing children to discover that science is about exploring, questioning, and learning from evidence through active participation.
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Hi Shauna, welcome to the friendly forum where prior knowledge of, or confidence in using space in the classroom is definitely not needed. So you’ve come to the right place! There’s a huge range of experiences already shared by other teachers that you’ll find really helpful. And some great fun space facts that spark ideas.
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Hi Shauna, welcome to the friendly forum where prior knowledge of, or confidence in using space in the classroom is definitely not needed. So you’ve come to the right place! There’s a huge range of experiences already shared by other teachers that you’ll find really helpful. And some great fun space facts that spark ideas.
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To explore Night and Day on Earth. This can also be brought into sequencing in maths. It also helps children understanding time difference around the world (Australia v Ireland)
I would then bring out a globe and a flashlight and let the children pretend the globe is Earth and the flashlight is the Sun. They could watch what happens as I slowly turn the globe and chat about why some parts are in the light while others are in the dark. I would ask them to make little guesses along the way and tell me what they notice. Before long, they would start to see that the Earth’s spinning is what gives us day and night.
It is bright, hands-on, and fun, which is perfect for young children. It gives them a chance to wonder, talk, and explore instead of just listening to the answer straight away. That kind of learning is something I love to bring into my classroom whenever I can.-
Hi Dee, this is a lovely class. You can get some images of the Earth at night from https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Night_lights.
The nighttime earth looks pretty, but really we’re seeing light pollution from space. You can ask you class if they think it’s easier to see stars from a well lit city or a rural location and link their thoughts to the view from space.
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The inquiry-based lesson I would use with my Senior Infants would be based on an activity from ESERO on hot and cold. The learning objective would be to know that the Sun gives heat. The starter would be displaying an image of the sun and asking the children what the Sun looks like. When can you see the Sun, and when can’t you see it? We would discuss why the Sun is so important for everyone in the world. We would discuss how the Sun gives off heat? When do they notice that?The children would investigate whether it is warmer in the sun than in the shade.I would show the two identical bowls. I would put an ice cube in each bowl.
The Activity/ Investigation: I would explain that we are going to put one bowl in the Sun and the other in the shade.I would ask the children which ice cube they think will melt more quickly. I would take the children’s name cards and stick them on the sheet of paper in the column matching their prediction.I would encourage the children to watch the ice cubes in both bowls. What can they see?Which ice cube is melting more quickly? I would encourage the children to colour in that ice cube on the worksheet. Then I would take the children outside. We would find a shady area and a sunny area. I would ask the children to take turns standing in each area. Can they feel the difference in temperature?After returning to the classroom, we would discuss the children’s predictions.Which ice cube melted more quickly? Why was that? Can they explain this using their experiment from outside? I would encourage a couple of children to say what they have learned. I would ask if any children have ever experienced their ice-cream melting in the Sun? We would come to the conclusion that the Sun gives off heat as well as light. It is the heat of the Sun that makes the ice cube in the sunny spot melt faster than the ice cube in the shade.I would explain that it would be very very cold on Earth if there wasn’t any Sun. So cold, that no-one would be able to live there.
This lesson links across the curriculum by developing oral language through discussion and prediction, mathematics through comparing temperatures and sequencing warmest to coolest, visual arts by drawing and labelling observations, and SPHE through discussing sun safety, such as wearing hats and sunscreen. The inquiry process promotes questioning, observing, investigating and communicating findings.
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Hi everyone,
My name is Louise and I work in a special school, supporting children with a wide range of additional learning needs. I’m looking forward to learning more about how to make science and space topics engaging and accessible for all pupils.
One of my favourite space facts is that the light from the Sun takes about **8 minutes and 20 seconds** to reach Earth. I think it’s amazing to think that when we look at the Sun, we’re actually seeing it as it was a few minutes ago. It’s a simple fact, but it really shows just how enormous our solar system is.
One inquiry-based activity that I would enjoy using in my classroom is encouraging pupils to ask questions about the Moon and investigate why its shape appears to change throughout the month. Rather than simply telling the children the answers, I like the idea of allowing them to make predictions, observe pictures or models of the Moon, discuss their ideas with each other, and then compare their thinking with what they discover through the activity. This approach encourages curiosity and gives children ownership of their learning, which is something I see every day in my own classroom.
Working in a special school, I would adapt this activity to meet the needs of my pupils. I would use lots of visual supports, hands-on resources such as foam balls and torches, sensory experiences, and simple questioning so that every child could participate at their own level. Some pupils might communicate their ideas verbally, while others could point to pictures, use symbols, or demonstrate their understanding through play. I also think working in small groups would help build confidence and encourage communication between pupils.
I like that inquiry-based learning focuses on exploration instead of just finding the “right” answer. It allows children to be curious, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. I think this is especially valuable in a special education setting because it supports independence, confidence, and engagement. It also helps pupils develop important thinking and problem-solving skills while making science enjoyable and meaningful. I’m looking forward to trying out some of these activities and seeing how my pupils respond to them.
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Hi Louise, welcome to the forum. Your fun fact underscores that whenever we look up at sky we’re looking as things were some time ago, as you say. The farthest object we can see without a telescope is so far that it took light over 2 million years to reach us! That’s the Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest big galactic neighbour. It’s fun to imagine what the Earth was like 2 million years ago when that light set out on its journey.
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I would use a floating and sinking activity for an inquiry based activity in my classroom. Young children love water play and I think they would be excited by this topic. I would begin by showing them a toy boat in a bowl of water. I would use inquiry by encouraging the children to make predictions as to how the boat floats. I would then ask them to look at a range of objects and predict which items will float before testing each object. Instead of telling them which objects will float or sink, I would ask open-ended questions such as, “What do you think will happen?” and “Why do you think that?” This allows children to think critically and explain their ideas. During the investigation, I would encourage the children to observe carefully and discuss what they notice with their classmates. I believe this activity would create a fun and engaging learning environment where every child can participate. It develops important scientific skills such as observing, predicting, questioning, and communicating.
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Inquiry Based Science Lesson: Properties and characteristics of materials
Learning Outcome:- Explore the effects of water on a variety of materials /Observe and describe materials when they are wet /dry
- Identify some materials that are waterproof
Prompt: Show children an umbrella. What is it? Do you have one? What are the uses of an umbrella?
Inquiry Question: I wonder what umbrellas are made from!
Discuss: What does ‘waterproof’ mean? Do you have clothes or boots that are waterproof? Are the clothes you’re wearing now waterproof? How do you know?
Explore: Look at a variety of materials. Discuss and examine each item. What are they made from?
Investigate: Is it waterproof? Examine a range of dry materials. Predict whether or not they are waterproof. Record your prediction (Children work in a group but may record their own individual predictions). Test each material by pouring water over it in a basin. If water goes through it or soaks in, it is not waterproof. If water sits on top or flows off, it is waterproof. Group results into two categories: waterproof and not waterproof. Was your prediction correct?
Share results. Do we notice anything about the materials that are waterproof?
How can we use this information?
Extend: In the next lesson read the story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. Now we need to make willies for our teddy bear to go on a bear hunt – what sort of material will we need? I would hope someone would say it has to be waterproof.
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Senior Infants Science Lesson: Floating and Sinking.
Learning Outcome:
The students will investigate and identify objects that either float or sink.They will use their scientific skills of “predicting” before the actual investigation is carried out and “discuss” and “explore” what they have discovered post investigation.
Materials:
Clear container filled with water
Small objects (e.g. plastic ducks, sponges, empty bottles, cork, coins, toy cars, , stone,Prediction charts with two columns for each student : Float and Sink
Inquiry Question:
What makes some objects float while others sink?Introduction (5–10 minutes)
Show the children the container of water and a selection of objects.
Ask:
“What do you think will happen if we put this object in the water?”
“Will it float or sink?”
Encourage children to make predictions and place each object on the prediction chart before testing.
Investigation (15 minutes)
One at a time, children choose an object.
They predict whether it will float or sink.
Place the object carefully into the water.
Observe what happens.
Sort the objects into two groups: Float and Sink.
Encourage children to use simple scientific language such as:
float, sink, heavy, light, water, predict, observe, explore, discuss, investigateDiscussion (10 minutes)
Ask questions such as:Which objects floated?
Which objects sank?
Were any of your predictions correct?
Did any objects surprise you?Did some objects sink quicker than others?
Do all heavy objects sink?
Do all light objects ?
Why do you think this is so?Conclusion (5 minutes)
Review what the children discovered.
Reinforce that scientists make predictions, test their ideas and observe carefully.
Finish by asking each child to name one object that floated and one that sank.
Extension: Invite children to find another object in the classroom and predict whether it would float or sink before testing it later.Design a life-jacket. (This was an activity that worked well this year in my own class).
The children choose from an array of “suitable” materials to design and make their own life-jackets.
This also ties in with SPHE and water safety,
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Hello everyone,
My name is Niamh and I work in a Junior School in Dublin. I will be teaching Junior Infants next year. My space fact is that it rains diamonds on Neptune. This is due to intense heat and pressure.
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Hi Niamh, this fun fact is popular on the forum and yet not so well known. It grabs people’s attention once they see it. Imagining how you’d protect yourself from raining diamonds offers the possibility for the kids to think about not only umbrellas, but houses and bikes and cars. In fact life would be very different if it rained super-hard diamonds on Earth!
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My name is Anna and I will be teaching Senior Infants
My fun fact is- The footprints left by astronauts on the Moon are still there as there is no wind or rain on the Moon to wash them away.
Reflection on an Inquiry-Based Space Activity
I would set up a Space Investigation Station in the classroom with toy rockets, pictures of planets, stars, astronauts and the Moon. I would tell the children they are “space explorers” and ask them, “What do you think you might find in space?” The children would explore the items, ask questions and share their ideas with the class. We would then read a story about space and see if we could answer some of their questions together.I think this would be a fun and exciting way to introduce the topic of space to Senior Infants. The children would be actively involved in their learning and would enjoy pretending to be astronauts. The activity encourages curiosity, questioning and discussion, which are all important parts of inquiry-based learning. It also gives children the confidence to share their own ideas before learning new information. At the end of the lesson, the children could draw or make their favourite space object and explain one new fact they learned. This would help me see what they understood while keeping the lesson enjoyable and memorable.
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For my enquiry based science lesson, I worked with the children on a paper plane race. I started by asking the children to engage in creating a paper plane. We discussed why the children thought do the plane have wings. We watched some videos on how to create planes and the children choose their preferred method of construction. The children created their planes, with assistance where required. The children completed practice runs. The children then completed the paper plane race, two children threw their planes and the person who got their plane furthest stayed on until the next round. After the activity the children discussed what worked and what didn’t work. In a follow up lesson, the children were given a chance to make a new plane based on their findings and we conducted a second race. The planes were much more effective the second time and there was clear evidence of the children using what they had learned.
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My name is Seán and I will be teaching 2nd class next year.
My fun space fact is that Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest volcano in the Solar System; it’s nearly three times taller than Mount Everest.
I would use an inquiry-based lesson on “What Makes Shadows?” with my Second Class. To begin, I would bring the class outside on a sunny day and ask them to observe their shadows. I would encourage pupils to discuss what they notice and ask questions such as ‘Why do we have shadows?’ and ‘Why do they change size?’ Working in pairs, the children would predict what might happen to their shadows at different times of the day before testing their ideas using torches and a variety of objects back in the classroom. They would record their observations through drawings and simple written explanations before sharing their findings with the class. I would finish the lesson by encouraging pupils to reflect on what they discovered and how their predictions compared to the results. This activity develops scientific skills such as observing, predicting, investigating and communicating while also promoting collaboration, problem-solving and curiosity in a fun and meaningful way.
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Welcome Sean. Thanks for the fun fact. Images of Mons Olympus show that not only is it huge, but that it has a huge cone in the centre. Billions of years ago this would have been an active volcano – today it’s essentially dead. It’s an interesting way to ask what causes volcanoes and what happens they become dormant, and why. (Note that volcanos on Earth may well have injected sufficient quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere to enable it to act as a warm blanket. When life came along, through photosynthesis plants were able to convert the Co2 into oxygen and ultimately make an atmosphere that’s good for us animals!)
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One inquiry-based activity I would love to use in my classroom is a space investigation called “Could humans live on another planet?” I think this would really capture children’s interest because space is something that naturally sparks curiosity. Instead of starting by giving them facts, I would begin by showing a few pictures of different planets and asking, “If you had to live on one of these, which would you choose and why?” I think this would get lots of different opinions and encourage pupils to start asking their own questions.
From there, I would let pupils work in small groups to investigate one planet. They could find out about its temperature, atmosphere, gravity and whether it has water. Rather than telling them the answers, I would encourage them to decide what information is important and use evidence to support their ideas. At the end, each group could present their findings and explain whether they think humans could survive there.
I like this type of activity because it gives pupils ownership of their learning. They are not just memorising facts about the planets—they are using those facts to solve a real problem. I also think it would encourage discussion, teamwork and critical thinking, as pupils would probably disagree with each other and have to explain their reasoning.
If I was teaching this in my own classroom, I would act more as a guide than someone giving all the answers. I would move around the room asking questions such as, “What evidence makes you think that?” or “How could you check if that information is correct?” This would help pupils think more deeply instead of relying on me to tell them what to do next.
I also think this activity could link really well with other subjects. Pupils could write a persuasive piece explaining why their chosen planet would be the best place for a future space colony, create labelled diagrams in Visual Arts, or use Maths to compare temperatures and distances between planets. That makes the learning feel more meaningful because it is connected across the curriculum.
Overall, I think inquiry-based learning is a great way to teach a topic like space because there are so many questions without obvious answers. It encourages curiosity, creativity and problem-solving, while also helping pupils build confidence in finding information for themselves. I think the children would remember this type of lesson much more than a traditional teacher-led lesson because they would be actively involved in discovering the answers rather than simply listening to them.
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Hi Isobel, welcome to the forum. I agree – gravity is really interesting. Imagine a universe without it. There would be no stars or planets or galaxies …. or you or me. So it’s pretty important to say the least. I really liked your inquiry-based lesson and its breadth and opportunity for group work and exploration.
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I think the inquiry based prompt questions is a very interesting and one that would most spark an interest in a class. I like how the children are takinf ownership of learning and also teaching each other. This is an activity I could do with an older class. It would be a great way to collaborate with other classes.
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Hello everyone,
My name is Michelle and I teach First Class. My fun space fact is it takes the Earth 365.25 days to orbit around the sun so that’s why we have a leap year every four years to keep our calendar year and seasons aligned.
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Hi, my name is Audrey. I am teaching Senior infants in September. A fun space fact is that because there is no wind or weather on the moon, footprints left by astronauts will last for millions of years as there is nothing there to move them.
My lesson is based on Floating and Sinking.
Learning Objectives: children will
-Predict whether an object will float or sink.
-Investigate different materials through hands-on exploration.
-Observe and describe what happens.
-Use simple scientific language such as float, sink, heavy, light, water, and predict.Materials
-Large basin of water, Sponge,Cork,Plastic spoon,Wooden block,Coin,Stone,Toy car
-Recording sheet with pictures of objects
-Towels for spillsVocabulary:Float,Sink,Predict,Observe,Water,Heavy,Light
Show the children a basin of water. Ask them what they think will happen if I put this object in the water and why? I would ask them if they have ever noticed things floating in the bath or in the sink. I would then demonstrate one object floating and one sinking without explaining why.
Next the children will have the opportunity to work in small groups. They will look at each object and firstly predict whether it will float or sink. They will then put the object in the water and observe and record what happens. I will check if their predictions were correct and ask if any of the results surprised them. We will have a short class discussion on which objects floated and which sank.
As an extension to the lesson I would read the story Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen and discuss why the boat eventually sank.
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Hi Audrey, welcome to the forum and thanks for the fun space fact which is one of the most popular. The idea that people have walked on the Moon and left footprints is truly hard to imagine. Will there be more footprints in the future? Would any of your pupils like to have their footprints on the Moon for millions of years?
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Lesson for second class on Gravity
Objectives:
Explain that gravity is a force that pulls things towards the earth.
Predict what will happen when different things are dropped.
Use simple scientific vocabulary such as pull, force, fall and earth.Materials:
Ball
Feather
Pencil
Sheet of paper
Two identical sheets of paperShort video on astronauts floating in space.
Activity one
Show students the ball and ask what will happen if it is dropped.
Why will it not float?Explain: Gravity is a force that pulls everything towards the earth. It is why we stay on the ground and why things fall if we let them go.
Prediction game – Students work in pairs for the following games.
Shown objects they predict which objects will fall faster
Ball/pencil etc
They can also select their own objects and record predictions.
Drop the objects and record outcomes.Discuss outcomes.
Explain lighter things fall more slowly because of air resistance.Paper Experiments
Each pair of students given two sheets of paper
Drop one flat.
Crumple one into a ball.
Drop them both at the same time.
Discuss
Which landed first?
Did gravity pull on both?
Why was one slower?
Explain:
Gravity pulls on both but the flat paper has more air pushing against it.Draw a picture showing gravity and one sentence explaining how it works.
Fun activity to finish: “Gravity says” active game
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Hi Georgie, thanks for that lesson plan which is well structured and I think would excite the class. You could add a twist by asking about gravity on other planets. Does it exist? Do they think it’s the same as on Earth, or different. And if different, how. And what are the implications? There are a few ideas from earlier posts on the forum that you might find interesting.
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Inquiry Based Activity on Light and Shadows (1st Class)
I would introduce the lesson by asking the children what is a shadow and how shadows are made. Afterwards we would progress on to an image of a shadow and ponder the ‘I wonder’ question of – “I wonder what makes a shadow change?”
Each pair would have a torch and a small toy such as a small teddy, a cube, toy animal and lego figure. I would ask the children to predict what will happen when they move their toy closer to or further away from their torch. Each group would shine the torch on the toy and observe the shadow on a wall or sheet of paper. We would remember our focus question:
- What happens if you move the torch?
After experimenting the children would discuss what they noticed when creating their shadows and discuss how shadows could be made bigger or smaller. I would encourage them to use scientific language such as predict, observe, test and result, so as to compliment our inquiry based activity on shadows.
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Inquiry-based activity for Junior Infants
Strand: Materials.
Strand Unit: Materials and Change.
Prompt: Present an ice cube and a bowl of warm water. Allow children to look closely at and feel the ice cube. Children describe the ice cube using their senses – cold, hard, smooth, slippery, wet, and shiny. Invite discussion: “I wonder what would happen if we put the ice cube into the water?” Encourage children to make predictions and explain their thinking.Investigation: Place one ice cube into the warm water and leave another out of the water. Observe both over several minutes, noticing any changes. Compare both ice cubes and discuss which one changed first and why. Record observations and findings using simple drawings or photographs.
Link learning to weather: What happens to frost or snow when the sun comes out? What happens to ice cream on a warm day? Encourage children to relate these changes to their everyday experiences.
Teacher reflection questions: Were children able to notice, observe, describe, and record changes? Did they make and review predictions?
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Hi Sarah. Might be of interest to know there are craters on the Moon where the sun never reaches because they form a permanent shadow. In those environments water will stay frozen for millions or billions of years! That would never happen on Earth because we have active weather systems (e.g., rain to melt the snow). Also, the tectonic plates of the earth move which means Ireland is slowly moving along with all the other parts of the planet. So, for example, a billion years ago it’s likely that Ireland was south of the equator, part of a supercontinent called Rodinia!
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I have enjoyed reading through the responses in this forum. When I read the assignment, and knowing that I’ll be teaching Junior Infants in September, I immediately thought of Floating & Sinking as it will be exciting and playful for the children. It will be easy to prepare a few items to use in the experiment but I plan to allow the children, in pairs, pick an item of their own to test.
I will start by asking them to WONDER if all objects do the same thing when they are in water. I will teach them the key words ‘Float’ and ‘Sink’.
On the board I will create a Mind Map with the class of what they already know about Floating & Sinking.
I will ask them to PREDICT whether an object will float or sink using prediction cards (thumbs up & thumbs down). I will demonstrate how to do the activity in a controlled manner before allowing the children to explore and experiment themselves. They will be supported to record their predictions & findings. -
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Hi Emily, welcome to the forum. I have no doubt you’ll find some of the fun space facts in earlier posts are worth using in class! They cover a wide range, but they’re all connected by acting as a prompt – why does that look like that; is it surprising that that’s a fact; what are the implications of that fact; and so on. This underlines that even when we know a fact, much of its power is in being able to use it to explore further and question more. Inquiry-based learning prompted by an apparently random fact!
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One inquiry-based activity I would use in my First Class classroom is a simple investigation on waterproof and non-waterproof materials. I would give the children a range of everyday objects, such as paper, fabric, plastic, foil and cardboard, and ask them to predict which ones they think will keep water out. They would then test each material, observe what happens and discuss their results with their group.
I think this would be a really enjoyable lesson because the children are actively involved in finding the answers themselves instead of me telling them. At this age, they are naturally curious and love exploring, so giving them the opportunity to investigate makes learning much more meaningful. I also like that there is no pressure to get every prediction right, as the children can learn from what they discover during the activity.
As the teacher, I would move around the classroom asking questions such as “Why do you think that happened?” or “Was your prediction correct?” to encourage the children to think a little deeper. At the end of the lesson, we would come back together to share our findings and talk about which materials would be most suitable for different everyday uses. I think this type of inquiry activity would help the children develop confidence, communication skills and a positive attitude towards science while keeping them engaged and interested throughout the lesson.
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Hi Emily, your comment about “no pressure to get everything right” is hugely important. We’re all trying to teach and build confidence at the same time, and feeling pressure to “get it right” can dent confidence. It’s the approach, the observations, the conclusions and learnings which are the most critical part of the process. Sometimes experiments go wrong or give an unexpected result, but that’s ok within the context of a good inquiry-based learning framework.
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My name is Ashling and I am teaching Senior Infants. A space fact I find interesting is that a person’s footprints on the moon can last for millions of years.
The inquiry-based lesson which I would like to bring to my classroom is “What Does Gravity do?”.
Lesson Introduction: I would introduce this lesson with an everyday problem to the children for example “If I drop this marble, will it float in the air?
Class brainstorms what they know about gravity, pushing and pulling.
Experiment: In pairs the children investigate how things fall (quickly, slowly from side to side). The children make predictions before beginning the experiment. In pairs one child stands on a chair and lets objects fall, the other students observes how the object has fallen. The children they record how the objects have fallen.
Class discussion: The children discuss the experiment. Did the objects fall just as they thought? Did any objects surprise them? Discuss the scientific term gravity with the students and that everything we throw up in the air will come back down.-
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I really like this lesson because it gets the children thinking and asking questions from the start. The experiment is simple, hands-on, and gives everyone a chance to make predictions and see what happens. I also like the discussion afterwards, as it helps children explain their ideas and understand how gravity affects the objects they tested.
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Gravity is a fascinating force that shapes our world and for 2nd class children exploring it through inquiry as outlined in the above lesson is engaging and interesting for the children, it is also very inclusive. Their imagination would be ignited as soon as the question is posed during a brainstorming session, What does Gravity do? This hands on lesson would go on to the children observing and participating in watching and dropping objects and seeing what happens, do they fall, spin, drop quickly/slowing, float etc. We would explode push and pull forces by lifting and moving objects feeling the resistance. Introducing magnets would offer the chance tp compare magnetic forces with gravity , promoting questions about what attracts and repels. This topic can be easily integrated , in art, we would create gravity themed drawings and sculptures. We would write and tell stories about things floating in space. Numeracy through timing objects falling, counting etc, size and shape of objects and always developing and expanding language and vocabulary.
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Class: Senior Infants
Curriculum Area: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Primary Curriculum Framework 2023)
Learning Intention
We are learning to investigate which material is best for keeping us dry in the rain.
Success Criteria
- I can make a prediction.
- I can test different materials.
- I can talk about what I found.
- I can choose the best material using evidence.
Inquiry Question
Which material would make the best rain jacket?
Resources
Squares of cotton, felt, plastic, foil, sponge and wax paper, water, pipettes/spoons, paper towels, recording sheet, teddy or doll.
Lesson
Engage (10 mins)
Show the children a raincoat and ask:- Why do we wear raincoats?
- What makes a good rain jacket?
- Which material do you think will keep Teddy dry?
Children make a prediction.
Investigate (25 mins)
Working in groups, children place each material over a paper towel and add a few drops of water. They observe whether the paper towel stays dry or gets wet.Inquiry Questions
- What do you notice?
- Which material lets water through?
- Which material keeps the paper towel dry?
- Was your prediction correct?
- Which material would you choose for a rain jacket? Why?
Children record their results using pictures, smiley faces or simple words.
Share and Reflect (10 mins)
Discuss the findings as a class and revisit the inquiry question.Conclusion
Children explain which material is best for a rain jacket using evidence from their investigation.Assessment
Observe children’s ability to:
- Make predictions.
- Carry out a simple investigation.
- Describe what they observed.
- Explain their choice using evidence.
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My favourite space fact is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
I think a playful, hands on approach when teaching space to infants would encourage curiosity and engagement. I would begin by using a story book about space maybe “Back to Earth with a bump” to stimulate interest in the topic.
I have used the very simple but effective torch and globe experiment with previous Infant classes to teach about the difference between night and day. I ask the children do they have any relatives in other countries like Australia and talk about the time difference. Using a torch to represent the sun and a globe to represent the Earth I would rotate the globe to show that the side facing the sun is daylight and the other side is nighttime. The children really enjoy this experiment and I give them opportunities to use the torch and the globe. It is a great way to help children understand an abstract topic.-
Hi Rachael, thank you for sharing this lovely activity. Using Back to Earth with a Bump as a stimulus is a great way to spark children’s interest and imagination. I also love how you use the torch and globe experiment to make the concept of day and night visible and meaningful. This lesson really gives children a hands-on opportunity to explore and it supports curiosity, engagement, and helps to develop a deeper understanding. Thank you for sharing!
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Hi Rachel, welcome to the forum and thanks for the fact about the length of day on Venus. You can show your infants that for every one rotation of Venus the earth rotates 117 times. This might be a number that’s a bit challenging, so an alternative is to show how a globe representing earth spins quickly while one representing Venus spins slowly. You can ask why we don’t all get thrown off, which is of course thanks to gravity!
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My name is Lianna. I will be working in SEN this year and my favourite fact about space is One million Earths could fit inside the Sun – and the Sun is considered an average-size star.
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Hi Lianna, great observation that the Sun is considered an average-size star. It’s also interesting that most of the stars you can see in the night sky are bigger and brighter than our sun. Things which are brighter can be seen farther away and you can test this by comparing a dim torch and a bright torch outside and seeing which is easier to see.
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Inquiry-Based Activity: Junior/ Senior Infants
To begin I would plan the lesson using the framework for inquiry based learning. Explore: I would use a variety of questions to spark interest in the subject. I wonder what life is like in Space? I wonder how you would get there. I would use think pair share to discuss their ideas Engage: We would read stories associated with the theme and listen to videos about space. How would you survive in space? Food, water ect? Investigate: Design and make a rocket to get to space- we would look at a variety of different rockets made out of a variety if materials. They would draw a picture of what their design might look like and create their design. We would examine a variety of premade rockets outside to give them ideas of the ways the rocket could be launched. Take the next step: Launching rockets- look at videos of rockets and discuss how they think the rocket launches. Try to launch their own rockets. Question the position of rockets and what position would be best to help the rocket go the furtherst.-
And don’t forget there’s an ESERO Rocket launch resource! https://esero.ie/resources/rocket-launch/
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Hi. My name is Louise and I will be teaching 1st and 2nd class next year. A fun space fact that I like is astronauts grow taller in space because there’s no gravity compressing their spines!
My Inquiry based activity would be:
How Can We Build a Space Explorer?
What materials are best for building something that could travel in space?Learning Intentions
Learn about space and why spacecraft need strong materials.
Explore the properties of different materials.
Design and build a simple model spacecraft.
Test and improve designs.I will show pictures of rockets, satellites, and astronauts and ask:
What do astronauts need in space?
What would happen if a rocket was made of paper?
Why do you think spacecraft are made from different materials?
I would then introduce the challenge to the class:
“Today you are engineers. You need to build a space explorer that can survive a journey into space!”
Children would be allowed to investigate a range of materials using the following prompts to guide them in their choice of materials:
Which material is strongest?
Which is lightest?
Which bends easily?
Which keeps water out?
We would then discuss their findings. Following on from this the class would be given time to work on their engineering challenge following the specific criteria for the challenge:
Build a spacecraft using at least three different materials. It should:
Hold an astronaut (toy)
Stand on its own
Be strong enough to be moved around the classroom
Following the allocated time on working on the challenge, children would present and share their models answering questions based on the activity, e.g. which material worked best? What would you change? Why did you choose those materials?This activity would encourage children to investigate, predict, test, and improve—placing inquiry and hands-on learning at the centre of their exploration of space and materials.
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Louise, I love all these space ideas they are super and adaptable for the younger classes too. During Space Week I love looking at the different planets, discussing rockets, astronauts, looking at videos from the ISS, creating our own rockets using a variety of materials, even coming up with our own planets, designing aliens that could live on this planets with their own passports. There is so many things to explore with this topic and it really captures the children’s attention. We work collaboratively and I enjoy listening to the conversations on how and what way to design the different space related creations.
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Hi my name is Jenny and I am teaching Junior Infants. We participate in Science week, World Earth Day activities and Space Week and I feel that I do loads of Science and STEM activities especially during these weeks which the children love. But I am a looking forward to gaining some new ideas, hand on and inquiry based lessons after completing this course.
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This is my mind map and the topics I would like to cover based on Space for junior infants.
The sun- a giant ball of gas
• Gives us light and heat
• Very hot
• Centre of the Solar System
• Day and nightPlanets- Earth is our home
• There are 8 planets
• Planets are different sizes and colours
• Some are rocky, some are gas giantsThe Moon- different shapes
• Craters
• Orbits Earth
• We see it mostly at nightStars & Space-Stars are far away suns
• Constellations
• Galaxies
• Meteors, comets and asteroidsAstronauts-Clips from Chris Hadfield, first man on the moon facts
• What do astronauts wear?
• How do they live in space?
• What jobs do astronauts do?
• International Space StationRockets and space travel- Clips from ISS, Artemis II facts and clips
• How rockets launch
• Satellites
• Space exploration
• Landing on the Moon, Neill ArmstrongQuestions-What is space?
• Why does the Moon change shape?
• Why can’t we see stars during the day?
• How do astronauts breathe?
• Could people live on another planet?
• How do rockets fly?STEM challenges-
• Design and test a paper rocket.
• Make Moon craters using flour and marbles.
• Build a Moon buggy from LEGO or junk materials.
• Design a home for astronauts on Mars.
• Test which materials keep an ice cube cold (space suit investigation).
• Explore shadows using torches and the Sun.
• Build a parachute to help an astronaut land safely.Creative Activities- within Art
• Sponge-paint planets.
• Create galaxy art.
• Make foil Moon pictures.
• Build rockets from recycled materials.
• Create constellation pictures.Aistear
• Mission Control
• Rocket launch centre
• Astronaut training camp/space station role play
• Planet exploration small world play-
Hi Jennifer, great to see how engaged you are with Science Week and Space Week and that you do loads of STEM activities, and yet are still happy to look for new ideas as well as sharing some from your own experiences. This type of sharing and learning is perfect for this type of forum and thanks also for the expansive mind map which focuses not only on STEM but also Art and other creative activities.
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Topic: What can power a rocket
Strand: Energy and Forces
Strand Unit: Forces( exploring pushing and pulling)
WALT: We are learning that different forces can make a rocket move
Prompt: What will make my rocket move?
Wonder: Show pupils a paper rocket and ask- how do rockets get into the sky? What do you think could make our paper rocket move today? Can we make it move without throwing it?
Inquiry question: What can power our rocket? ( blowing,pushing, pulling)
Conduct investigation- using a paper rocket and a straw pupils predict how far the rocket will travel with a gentle blow, by blowing through the straw and trying stronger blow
Explain- what made the rocket move? What happened when you blew harder?was it a push or pull force? What was pushing the rocket?
Teacher explanation if required- the air from our breath pushes the rocket forward. Air can create a force.Extend new learning: ask pupils to think of another way to make the rocket travel differently.
Reflection- children can complete a simple recording sheet by drawing their rocket, circle whether it was a gentle blow or strong blow, finish the sentence “ my rocket moved because…”
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Walking Rainbow
Class: Junior / Senior Infants
Subject: Science
Strand: Materials
Strand Unit: Materials and Change
Content Objective(s) / Learning Outcome(s):
— explore the effects of water on a variety of materialsResources- clear cups, food colouring, tissue paper
Engage-
The Prompt-
The teacher will begin by asking a child to get an object from a different area in the classroom. The teacher will ask how did they get from the front of the classroom to the back. The children will explain they walked. The teacher will now show the children the six clear cups, three filled with water. The teacher will ask the children how will they get the water to move from the cups into the other cups.Wondering-
The children in their group will brainstorm together to identify how the water may travel from one cup to another.Exploring-
The children will look at a number of materials, and in their groups will discuss which material they think will work best to enable the water to travel.Investigate-
Starter Question-
‘How can water travel?’
‘What are primary colours?’
‘What will happen when the water mixes together?’Predicting-
The children will be given their experiment copies to draw their ideas of how they think the water may travel from one cup to another.Conducting the Investigation-
The safety rules will be discussed with the children before experiment takes place.
Each group will be given the resources required.Food colouring will be placed (primary colours blue, red and yellow) in every second cup. The children will place a tissue with a bend into the each cup of water and empty cup. They will observe what will happen for the duration of the day.Sharing: Interpreting the data/Results
The children will discuss and record (draw) their results in their experiment copy.The Next Step-
Applying Learning, Making Connections, Thoughtful Actions
Following the completion of the experiment the children will complete 3-2-1 chart.
They will record three things they learnt, two thing they found interesting and one question they may have. This will allow the children time to reflect on what they have learnt also providing the teacher will and insight into the children’s learning. -
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Hi my name is Orla and I will be teaching Senior Infants in September. I had this class for junior infants so I am looking forward to teaching them again. 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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Hi Orla, welcome to the forum. The number of stars in the Universe is truly mind boggling. With recent advances we now now that the number of PLANETS is also mind boggling. There may well be more planets than stars in the Universe! What do your children think that means for the possibility of life elsewhere. Does more planets mean a greater likelihood? And what sort of conditions might those planets need to have to support life as we know it on earth? Lots of opportunities for some creative thinking supported by observations of what supports life on earth.
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Hi my name is Sarah. I am looking forward to learning new ideas/ activities to do with my class from this course.
My fun space fact is: there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all of the beaches on Earth!
In my classroom, I would use the egg parachute activity to help children explore and learn through play. The children would work together to make a parachute to keep an egg safe when it falls. This activity supports inquiry-based learning because children learn by asking questions, exploring ideas, testing their predictions, and discovering what works through hands-on experiences. I would encourage them to talk about their ideas and ask simple questions such as, “Which parachute will fall the slowest?” and “What can help keep the egg safe?”
The children would test their parachutes and see what happens. They could then make changes and try again. This helps them learn to solve problems, think creatively, and keep trying when something does not work the first time.
The activity also supports learning in different areas. Children can learn about science by exploring how things fall, maths by counting and comparing, and language by talking about their ideas and sharing what they discovered.
By giving children opportunities to explore and find things out for themselves, I can help them become confident, curious, and active learners. The activity is fun, hands-on, and helps make learning meaningful.-
Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum. You have lots of great ideas to choose from already. The parachute lesson always gets a great reaction. You can extend it by asking what the children think would happen if the parachute was dropped on the Moon (where there’s no air, but one sixth gravity) and on Mars (where there is a very thin atmosphere and half the gravity on Earth). What would they expect? Would the lack of air on the Moon stop the parachute from working altogether (which explores how a parachute works)? Would the smaller gravity make it fall less quickly (which explores gravity)?
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Module 1
I would do the gravity lesson from this module with my class. I would begin the lesson by posing questions to the children. The children will predict what objects could fall faster than others and predict why. Will they behave differently? The children can guess what direction the object will fall, they can mark where they think they object will fall. I will give the children the sheet of paper with the objects whereby they can write their predictions or draw their predictions depending the class I am teaching.
In pairs I would have one chid stand on a chair to drop the object and other child to predict where the object will land. The children will then reverse roles. The children will be encouraged to look at how they fall, do they spin, flip, move side to side etc.
I would bring the class together the data on the white board. The children can record the results too. What surprised you? Why do you think the object fell like this?
This can allow for follow up lessons on gravity and the earth.-
Hi Aoife, that’s a nice lesson and i think it would be perfect for imagining what might happen on other planets. Gravity is something that we find everywhere in the Universe, which is actually quite a remarkable fact. It differs in strength, depending on the mass of the objects, but it’s always there, big, small or tiny!
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<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>An inquiry-based activity I would use with my First Class pupils is the Bunny Hopping Cups investigation to explore the concept of force. I would begin with a simple prompt: how can we make this bunny hop. This prompt would encourage children to begin wondering and sharing their own ideas about what might happen. Pupils would then ask questions such as, What happens if we pull the elastic band back a little or a lot? and Will the cup always travel the same distance?</span>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Working in small groups, the children would conduct the investigation by changing how far they stretched the elastic band and observing how this affected the distance the cup travelled. They would record their results using simple drawings, tally marks, or measuring cubes. </span>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Throughout the lesson, my role would be to support the children’s thinking by asking open-ended questions and encouraging discussion rather than giving answers. This activity will help pupils develop an understanding that forces, such as pushes and pulls, affect the movement of objects through playful, hands-on learning. </span>
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Hi Aideen, welcome to the forum. The Bunny Hopping lesson sounds like a lot of fun. If you do the same lesson on the Moon, Mars and Venus, what would you expect. Do the children think that less gravity means the hop will be smaller, the same or larger. If they arrange the gravity on different planets in order, they can imagine what might happen on each and discuss. If they were trying to set a record for the biggest bunny hop, which planet would they choose? (The Moon is, strictly speaking, a satellite and not a planet, so you could extend this to satellites of Jupiter and Saturn as the gravity for all is well known.)
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Hi My name is Mairead and I’ll be teaching First and Second Class next year. An interesting Space Fact is that Dan Tani an astronaut who completed 2 Space Flights and 6 spacewalks is married to a Cork native and rang a pub called the Tap Tavern in Kinsale from Space. When he rang and they asked who’s there? He said Space. He’s visits the pub whenever he’s in Kinsale where his wife is from so it was quite funny at the time (a few years ago ). He also sometimes gives out the plaques for Discover Primary Science in Cork so I luckily got the chance to meet him when our school got a plaque at the ceremony.
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Hi Mairead, thankyou for the interesting space fact. Another linked fact is that Dan is a Patron of Blackrock Castle Observatory and we were fortunate to speak to him directly when he was on the International Space Station. He’s a fabulous ambassador for what it means to be a true astronaut. Very humble and self-effacing, but a real astronaut who has travelled the globe thousands of times on the ISS.
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I have in the past used the inquiry-based approach to teach my senior infant class about floating and sinking. I began by introducing a variety of everyday objects, such as a leaf, stone, cork, spoon and toy car, and invite the children to predict whether each item would float or sink. Rather than giving answers, I would encourage them to explain their thinking and then test their ideas by placing the objects in a container of water. I then allowed them to choose their own objects to experiment with. Throughout the activity, I asked open-ended questions to promote discussion and observation. I have observed how this hands-on experience helps the children develop important scientific skills, including predicting, observing and communicating their ideas. If i was to do this activity again, I would put the children working together in small groups to also support social skills such as listening, sharing and taking turns. Reflecting on the activity, I feel it would make science enjoyable and meaningful while allowing me to assess the children’s understanding and identify opportunities to extend their learning.
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Hi Rachel, thankyou for the fun fact and the lesson outline. You’ve described the approach very well, giving the children ample opportunity to enagage with each other and the problem at challenge of understanding floating and sinking. There’s some additional ideas on this in the forum, so collectively a lot of practical experiences are helping to design exciting inquiry-based classes.
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Hi, I teach a multigrade of infants to 2nd class. They have a huge interest in Space and we have participated in the Curious Minds Programme in the past. I would like to extend our STEM work into more enquiry based learning this year. My fun space fact is that 1 million planet earths would fit inside the sun. Its such an abstract topic its nice to be able to give the children some facts that help them visualise the size of planets etc.
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Inquiry Based Lesson: Make TPeppa’s Boots Waterproof
Stimulus: Peppa Pig / Muddy Puddles Song
Learning Outcome: Identify materials that are waterproof.
Lesson: The children will work in pairs to explore a range of materials and predict/test what makes Peppa’s Boots waterproof. Wew will test their theories by going outside and testing out their creations in actual puddles on the yard.
Assessment: Take a video/picture using their iPads and do a voiceover afterwards explaining their work and reasoning. What would you do diiferently next time?
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Welcome Natasha. Thanks for the fun space fact. It does provide some perspective on the size of the Sun relative to the Earth. It also allows one to ask why the Sun appears small if it’s so big, and why the planets and stars at night seem tiny. It demonstrates how an observation can be misleading – just because something appears small doesn’t mean it is – and this reinforces the importance of designing experiments appropriately. Thanks also for the mind map. And in terms of your lesson plan have a look back at how rain can be in the form of diamonds on neptune and sulphuric acid on venus. Does that means different materials to protect Peppa?
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I have First and Second Class this year so we would look at Energy and Forces and Gravity. We would look at push and pull by jumping up and asking the question what pulls us back down. We would look at pictures/videos of astronauts and wonder how they are floating. We would look at designing a parachute for the Mars Rover that would help it to stay on the ground.
We would predict with a few materials, kitchen towel, plastic bags, netting, material like cotton. We would predict which would be best for slowing the drop of a lego figure attached with string. We would do the drops then discuss which is best.
We would conduct the drops at the same time then and see which falls slowest. We would look at what kind of materials that are used for astronauts and talk about the characteristics of what is needed for a successful parachute. We would talk about the pulling force of gravity and the pushing force of the parachute. -
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<p class=”isSelectedEnd”>I like the “What Does Gravity Do?” lesson as it provides an excellent opportunity to develop inquiry-based learning by placing children at the centre of the learning process. Rather than simply telling pupils about gravity, the lesson encourages them to observe, predict, investigate and discuss what happens when different objects are dropped and how magnets interact with various materials.</p>
<p class=”isSelectedEnd”>In my classroom, I would encourage children to make predictions before each investigation and explain the thinking behind their ideas. As they observe objects falling and test which materials are attracted to magnets, I would use open-ended questions to deepen their thinking, such as “Why do you think that happened?” or “What evidence supports your idea?” This would help develop important scientific skills including observing, questioning, predicting, communicating and interpreting evidence.</p>
The collaborative nature of the lesson also supports discussion and shared problem-solving, allowing children to learn from one another. By acting as a facilitator rather than simply providing answers, I can create a learning environment where curiosity is valued and children develop a deeper understanding of gravity through first-hand investigation. This approach reflects the ESERO inquiry framework by promoting active, meaningful and child-led learning. I will definitely implement this in my classroom!-
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Hi Dean, welcome to the forum and thanks for the popular space fact. It’s good to explore gravity in a hands on way as Annemarie points out. A key objective is always to give the children the confidence to ask questions, often when they aren’t sure of the best questions to ask. All questions are useful. They all enrich the conversation and add to the sense of teamwork and team building. And the teacher doesn’t need to know all the answers – more importantly, you guide the discussion and experimentation, etc.
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Hi My name is Kathryn, my favourite space fact is that on certain planets it rains diamonds. I teach Junior Infants so I would also teach a floating and sinking experiment.
Children can explore which objects float and sink by making predictions, testing objects in water, and discussing their findings.
Materials needed:
Container of water
Objects to test
Float/Sink sorting chart (possible cut and stick activity)Intro-
Show the children the objects and ask them to predict whether each one will float or sink. Record predictions on the class chart. Ask inquiry question (Why do some objects float while some sink?)Investigation-
Children take turns choosing an object, predicting the outcome, placing it in the water, and observing what happens. Sort each object into the Float or Sink group. Encourage the use of words such as float, sink, predict, and observe.Discussion-
Discuss results:
Which objects floated?
Which objects sank?
Were your predictions correct?
Did anything surprise you?
Explain that an object’s weight does not always determine whether it floats or sinks.-
Hi Kathryn, welcome to the forum and thanks for the fun space fact which we were just discussing! The float/sink lesson is highly interactive. You can also change the shape of an object and see if it still floats. For example, a flat tinfoil piece will float. Crunch it up tightly and it sinks. Same material, different outcome. Is this surprising? Was it predicted? Why did it happen? And I’m always conscious that huge metal ships float, when a small lump of iron does not. This allows one to think about the density of materials, even in a very introductory way.
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In September I will be teaching Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Class. My inquiry based lesson will be on floating and sinking.
Materials: Large basin, water, coin, rubber duck, sharpener, nail, cork, cube etc.Sheet with pictures of items for predictions, 2 hula hoops for sorting items, vocabulary for the inquiry on cards-float, sink, predict, result.
Children will begin by looking at and feeling each of the items we are going to use in our inquiry. Using their prediction skills and simple tick or x, children will predict which items they think will float or sink. Items that will float get a tick, items that will sink will get an x. Children will take it in turns to place items into the basin. Items that float will be placed into one hula hoop and items that sink will be placed into the other hula hoop. When we have completed the activity, the children will compare their predictions will the results. To extend the activity for children in first class or more able children, they can draw their predictions instead of tick or x. Teacher questioning will help the children to question predictions and results. -
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My name is Annemarie and I will be teaching 2nd class next year.
My favourite space fact is: Venus spins backwards compared to most planets, so the Sun would appear to rise in the west and set in the east.
Inquiry-based learning encourages children to become active participants in science by asking questions, exploring ideas, and drawing conclusions from their own investigations. In a 2nd class, I would use an inquiry-based lesson on floating and sinking to develop pupils’ curiosity and scientific thinking. I would begin by asking the children to predict which everyday objects would float or sink and explain the reasons for their predictions. Working in small groups, they would test a variety of objects in a container of water and carefully record their observations using simple charts or drawings. Afterwards, the class would discuss the patterns they noticed and consider why some objects floated while others sank. My role would be to guide questioning, encourage discussion, and support pupils in making connections rather than simply providing answers. This approach develops important scientific skills such as observing, predicting, investigating, recording, and communicating findings. It also promotes teamwork, confidence, and problem-solving as pupils learn through hands-on experiences. I believe this type of lesson makes science meaningful, enjoyable, memorable, and encourages a lifelong interest in scientific inquiry.
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Hi Annemarie, welcome and thanks for your fun space fact. Venus has many strange characteristics and maybe you could set up a chart which compares those with Earth’s equivalent. For example, spin direction, temperature, size, length of day, length of year, type of rainfall, strength of gravity, etc. And even extend the table to other planets!! Or even make imaginary planets!
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Junior Infants to Second Class Lesson: Floating and Sinking
Learning Objectives:
- Explore floating and sinking through sensory play and investigation.
- Predict whether familiar objects will float or sink.
- Observe and communicate what happens when objects are placed in water.
- Recognise and use words such as float, sink, above, under, top and bottom.
- Sort objects into floating and sinking groups.
Materials:
A clear shallow container of water, towels, sponge, cork, stone, coin, plastic spoon, bottle cap, leaf, toy animal, wooden block, picture symbols and sorting labels.
Inquiry Question:
Which objects will float, and which objects will sink?
Introduction/Raising curiosity:
- I would allow the pupils to look at and touch the objects before asking, “What do you think will happen?”
- Pupils could make predictions using speech, gestures, pointing, symbols, eye gaze or objects of reference.
Floating and Sinking Investigation:
- Each pupil would choose an object, predict the result and place or release it into the water. They would observe whether it stayed on top or went to the bottom. Pupils would then sort the object or its picture under “Float” or “Sink.”
- I would provide large, easy-to-grasp objects, adapted tongs, an accessible container and adult support where required.
Cross-Curricular Links:
Oral Language: Pupils could communicate observations such as “The cork floats” or “The stone sinks” using words, symbols or gestures.
Mathematics: Pupils could sort and count the objects and compare which group has more or fewer.
Art: Pupils could paint or create a collage of boats and other objects floating on water.
Social skills development: Pupils could practise turn-taking, making choices, sharing materials and working with a partner.
Assessment:
I would assess pupils through observation, participation, communication and their ability to predict, identify or sort floating and sinking objects.
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Mind Map: My Ideas About Space – Module 1
SPACE
→ My Interest
→ I love looking at the night sky.
→ I wonder if life exists on other planets.→ Inquiry Learning
→ Ask questions.
→ Make predictions.
→ Investigate and observe.
→ Discuss what was discovered.→ Teaching Space
→ Use practical and hands-on activities.
→ Connect space with Science, Maths, Geography and Art.
→ Use sensory materials, pictures and simple experiments.→ Useful Resources
→ Curious Minds activities
→ ESERO classroom resources
→ Videos, images and space-themed projects→ My Reflection
→ Space is an exciting way to encourage curiosity.
→ Module 1 has helped me understand how inquiry-based learning can make STEM accessible and enjoyable for my pupils. -
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Hi, my name is Muireann and I’ll be teaching 1st/2nd in September. My favourite space fact is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is growing plants from seeds. I think this is a great way to get children interested in science because they can see changes happening over time. The children would work in small groups to plant seeds and make simple predictions about what they think the plants need to grow. For example, one plant could be left on a sunny window sill while another is placed somewhere with less light. Over the next few weeks, the children would observe the plants, draw pictures of what they see, and talk about any changes they notice.
I like this activity because it gives children the chance to learn by doing instead of just listening to the teacher explain it. As they watch their plants grow, they naturally begin asking questions and thinking about why one plant is growing better than another. I would support their learning by asking questions like, “What do you notice?”, “Why do you think this plant looks different?” or “What do you think will happen next?” These kinds of questions encourage children to think for themselves and share their ideas with the class.
I think this activity would work really well in a 1st class because it is simple, fun and hands-on. It also helps children build important skills like observing, working together, talking about their ideas and recording what they find. Overall, I think it would help create a classroom where children feel excited to ask questions, explore new ideas and learn from their own discoveries.
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Hi my name is Killian and I will be moving into SET next year. My favourite space fact is that Pluto was named after the Roman god of invisibility because it is smaller and harder to see than the other planets!
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Hi Killian, Welcome to the forum. This is a great space fact, the reclassification of Pluto was a big fiasco back in 2006 but thanks to this little guy we now have a more standardised definition of a planet.
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One inquiry-based activity I would use in my classroom is investigating the question, “Why does the Moon appear to change shape?” Pupils would observe and record the Moon over several weeks, identify patterns, make predictions, and then use a lamp and balls to model the Sun, Earth, and Moon to test their ideas.
This activity encourages pupils to ask questions, investigate, and draw conclusions based on evidence rather than simply being given the answer.
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Inquiry Based Lesson: Heat: First Class
Prompt: Teddy beside a warm water bottle. “Poor teddy is cold because his warm water bottle loses heat too quickly and gets cold. I wonder if we could we help him to stay warmer for longer?” Clarify meaning of cold, hot and warm and cool. Encourage and record predictions.
Investigation:
Which materials could we wrap the bottle in to keep it warm for longest?
- Warm water bottles or jars
- Bubble wrap
- Cotton fabric
- Tin foil
- Wool
- Paper towel
- Stopwatch
- Simple recording sheet
Allow the children to handle and explore the materials before making a prediction. Groups choose one material and questioning demonstrates why the group chooses a particular material.
Experiment: Children choose a material to wrap the warm bottle. Check temperature by feel for younger classes, or by thermometer for differentiated work for older classes. Check after 5/10/15 minutes.
Record, reflect and question responses. Why did this keep it warm for longest?
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One inquiry-based activity I would like to use in my future classroom is a nature investigation. Instead of giving children facts about plants or insects, I would bring the class outside and encourage them to observe what they notice around the school grounds. I would ask open-ended questions such as, “Why do you think this plant is growing here?” or “What do you notice about the insects you can see?” The children could work in small groups to record their observations through drawings, photographs, or simple notes before sharing their ideas with the class.
I like this activity because there is no single correct answer, and every child has the opportunity to contribute something different. During my school placement, I noticed that children became much more engaged when they were allowed to explore and discover ideas for themselves rather than simply listening to instructions. This showed me that learning is often more meaningful when children are actively involved in the process.
As a teacher, my role would be to guide the discussion, encourage curiosity, and ask questions that help children think more deeply instead of immediately providing answers. I believe this type of inquiry supports confidence, communication, and problem-solving skills while helping children develop a genuine interest in the world around them. It also creates a classroom culture where asking questions is valued just as much as finding answers. -
Hello everyone,
My name is Grace, and I teach First Class. I am looking forward to learning more about space and discovering new ways to make science exciting and engaging for young children. I enjoy using hands-on, play-based, and inquiry-based learning in my classroom because it encourages children to ask questions, investigate, and develop their curiosity about the world around them.
One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus. This is because Venus rotates very slowly on its axis while it travels around the Sun more quickly. I find this fact fascinating, and I think it is a great way to spark children’s curiosity and encourage them to ask questions about our solar system.
Space
The Solar System
Sun
Eight planets
Dwarf planets
Earth
Day and night
Seasons
Moon
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