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ASSIGNMENT
Choose from one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module:
- Activity: The Spherical Earth
- Activity Set: The Planets
- Activity Set: The Moon
- Activity Set: The Sun and Shadows
How would you use the activity in your classroom? Post a reflective piece to the forum (150 words min) as a reply to this post. You may include digital records of the activities.
Please also respond to at least one other participant’s post.
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I would choose the activity set : The sun and Shadows, as there is a wide variety of different ways you can explore the sun and how it affects shadows etc.
One fun activity to explore the sun and its shadows in the classroom is to create a sundial. You can place a stick or a pencil in a container filled with sand or playdough and observe how the shadow changes throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky. This hands-on experiment can help students understand how the position of the sun affects the length and direction of shadows. Additionally, you can have students track the movement of the shadow by marking the position of the shadow at different times of the day. It’s a great way to learn about the sun’s apparent motion and how shadows are formed!
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Module two assignment
I would choose the activity set about the planets and I aim this lesson at 2nd class.
To start the lesson I would get the children to form a circle. I will show the children a picture of the planets. I will pass it around one by one. I will ask the children to describe what they see. The person holding the picture can speak while the rest of the group listens. I will able to gauge their current knowledge by their contributions.
We will then listen to the “The Family of the sun” song about the planets. We can do this a few times as the children can sing along with the lyrics.
We can learn the mnemonic ‘My very educated mother just showed me nine planets’ to help remember the order of the planets from the sun. I’m sure the issue of Pluto not being a planet will come up here.
Assuming there is 27 in my class I will put the children in 3 groups of nine. I will give each child in the group an either a picture of a planet or a label with the name of a planet. I will ask the children to work together to order the planets from nearest to farthest from the sun. I will hold the picture of the sun as a starting point.
Children will be put in groups of 3 to learn about planets and to do a mini project. We can use the ESERO resources for this. We also have access to the Chromebook’s so we can do some research about their planet. Children can print pictures and write facts and stick them to a A3 sheet. All 9 projects can be displayed in the room in their order from the sun.
As an extension activity each group can plan and make papier mache model of their planets. These can be painted and decorated using the knowledge from their research project. These can be hung from the ceiling alongside their planet projects.
Finally we could play a fun kahoot quiz on the planets to reinforce their learning and also to assess learning.
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Anne,
I like that you have incorporated listening to the children to first gauge their knowledge. I do this when groups come to me at BCO, where classes might do a “Mars” workshop. I ask them to talk to each other and choose their favourite Martian fact, and to have one in reserve in case another group share that same fact. If they have no facts I ask them to identify something that they would like to know.
There are a good set of planet images that are card sized as part of this ESA resource, the images by themselves are here.
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The activity set I would choose to teach would be the ‘Sun and Shadows’ as it’s a topic I feel that could be reached in a fun and educational manner. A manner in which child could participate in a hands on way and engage rather than a traditional sit and listen approach.
I would begin the lesson by introducing the idea of our own individual shadows. Have the children ever noticed there shadows ? Why do there shadows continuously follow them around ? I would let the children thoroughly discuss their ideas and swap them back and forth .
Following this and depending on the environment (outdoor or indoor) I would have the children 1. Go outside and pair up, in these pairs the would aid each other in tracing their shadows onto the tarmac using chalks. 2. I would have them divide into groups, within these groups the students would each have a lamp and freedom to place whatever objects they would want in front of it in order to create shadows which they could trace with pencil etc on the paper . With method 1 I would have the children revisit the shadow traces later in the day and observe have the shadows moved if they were to stand in the original position. While with method 2 I would simply have the children alter the lamps angle to recreate the sun changes positions.
Finally I would finish the lesson by discussing all that the children have learnt about shadows today , in order to solidify the knowledge further.
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A lesson on The Planets
Introduction:Gather the children in a circle and read a picture book about planets.
Discuss the different planets and their unique features, using a large solar system poster as a visual aid.
Discussion:Show images of each planet and briefly describe them (e.g., “Mars is the red planet,” “Jupiter is the largest planet”).
Ask simple questions like, “Which planet is your favorite?” or “What color is Earth? Activity:Provide each child with playdough in various colors.
Give them printable planet templates or images to guide their creations.
Instruct children to mold playdough into the shapes of planets they learned about.
Encourage them to use different colors and add glitter or beads to represent features like rings or moons.Exploration:Allow children to explore and combine colors to create unique planets.
Encourage them to imagine what it would be like to visit their planet and what they might find there. Have each child show their playdough planet to the class and share one thing they remember about it.
Display the playdough planets on a table or poster board as a class “solar system.” -
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What a fantastic idea to use playdough to create the planets. I definitely think using the Planets as an Aistear theme almost or rather maybe constructing a Planets lesson and using the methodologies of Aistear to teach it would be particularly engaging for infant pupils and allow them to really discover and embrace all aspects of the planets. I also (despite my obsession with not mixing playdoughs usually!!!) love the idea of mixing the colours of the playdough to get the accurate colour for each planet and I think displaying these would make the pupils more proud of their work and also serve as a reference point for future learning.
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Hi Matthew, as an infant teacher I think your idea to give the children coloured playdough and asking them to make the planets in the correct colour and put the markings on them is a great idea for aistear. This could also be integrated into Maths language by making them by size also. The planet song would be lovely to do with this lesson.
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Hello there, This is how I would teach the Activity Set; The Sun and Shadows.
I would start by showing photos of daytime to the children and asking them to descibe the photo, focusing in on words such as sun, daytime, daylight, bright etc. I would then ask what activities we do during these hours e.g. have our breakfast, go to school, play, eat lunch etc. I would ask what is the opposite, i.e. nighttime and the moon, look for words such as bedtime, dark, stars etc. Not only would I compare daytime and nightime light, darkness, different activities etc I would also compare heat and temperature etc. Explain how we get heat and light from the sun etc.Pull the blinds down in the classroom, put on a bright light, as the children to face the light, is it bright? Ask the children to turn 180 degrees so they are now facing away from the light, is it still bright or has it gotten darker??
Put the children into pairs, head outside to the yard and ask the children to trace each others shadows using chalk at a given time during the day. Come back again a while later and see has the length of the shadow changed or is it gone completely etc? ehy is that? The earth has moved etc.
For a follow up activity about the sun and shadows, get seeds and two pot plants. Divide the seeds and plant them in two different pot plants. Place one pot plant on the window sill in sunlight and give it water. Place the other pot plant in the press without light and water. Compare the pot plants after two weeks or so; do they look alike now etc? No, the seeds need water and sunlight to grow, hence, the pot plant in the press did not flourish.
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There are lots of ways I think I could incorporate the moon into the Infant Classroom perhaps by doing some very simple stations:
Station 1: Watching the moon landing on Youtube – a short clip of Neil Armstrong and his famous “One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind”
Station 2: A moon walk station- Using foam, bubble wrap, cushions etc to recreate what It would have felt like to walk on the moon.
Station 3: Dress up station for Astronauts where they pretend to be Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.
Station 4: Sending a short and simple postcard home from a spaceship. Focus on To and From and a simple sentence with support.
Station 5: Using chalk to draw the moon and including the craters.
There are also so many fantastic space resources online to support teaching in the classroom.I would definitely use some of the songs suggested on this forum and in module 2.
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Hi Claire,
I find your idea of using stations to teach science really interesting. Station teaching in the main is reserved for maths and literacy in our schools, why not science. I think the structure of station teaching allows children to learn at their own pace. It promotes social learning and also caters for different types of learners
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I use learning stations with my infants and can’t praise them enough for allowing the children to engage with each other. Lots of chat organically happens through this type of teaching. Having the preparation done and resources ready allows the students to chat about the same theme (space) from different perspectives and a good level of success / inclusion is almost guaranteed for all involved.
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I absolutely love this activity for infants especially for ‘Aistear’. This year as part of the yearly Aistear programme in our school we are using the theme of ‘Space’ as a monthly topic of exploration and I am so looking forward to letting the children explore all about space/moon etc., I will be letting the children take into the role of Neil A walking on the moon wearing an astronaut costume with a helmet and jumping into his rocket ship as well as letting the children send notes through the earths atmosphere back home as they are stranded on the moon etc., This is an excellent lesson based on the Moon Claire.
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I really like the idea of doing stations to teach the moon. I use station teaching mostly for Maths and Literacy, but never thought of using it for a space activity. The more teachers I could get involved, the more engaging and more opportunities for oral language development, questioning, critical thinking etc. Excellent idea!
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Hi Grace,
I’ve been similar to you in using stations mainly for literacy and numeracy and had never thought to use them in this way for teaching space but it makes so much sense in terms of keeping the children really engaged by giving short targeted input and building on it by using a range of different activities. I can imagine that this would work really well at any class level and tactile activities such as the activity mentioned in this module whereby the children create craters like on the moon could be so effective when used in this manner.
I think I would incorporate some Inquiry Based Learning by having a station based on the appearance of the moon and craters using images of the moon and the flour activity as a basis, another station based on the moon phases and how it appears in the sky, another on gravity etc.
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I would base my lesson on ‘The Planets’.
There are so many opportunities here for cross curricular links in areas such as Music, Art and P.E.I would begin with a KWL chart to see what children know about The Solar System/The Planets.
Song: ‘The Plants Song’Learn about and gather information about the planets in groups, assign each group a planet and ask each group to make a fact file on their planet. Provide the class with books about the planets and use ICT to gather information too, Epic app is great. You can assign various books about the planets (or any topic) to each individual child on the app and they can further research their assigned planet and add to their fact file.
I also like the idea of circle time using an inflatable planet to share knowledge of the planets with each other and feedback what we have learnt.Art lesson: Make the planets using paper mache.
P.E: The Planet game using hula hoops in the hall ‘Journey Through the Solar System: Lesson 1’. This is a great way for children to know and recognise the planets names and grasp a better understanding of the planets revolving around the sun.
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I would base my lesson on ‘The Planets’.
There are so many opportunities here for cross curricular links in areas such as Music, Art and P.E.I would begin with a KWL chart to see what children know about The Solar System/The Planets.
Song: ‘The Plants Song’Learn about and gather information about the planets in groups, assign each group a planet and ask each group to make a fact file on their planet. Provide the class with books about the planets and use ICT to gather information too, Epic app is great. You can assign various books about the planets (or any topic) to each individual child on the app and they can further research their assigned planet and add to their fact file.
I also like the idea of circle time using an inflatable planet to share knowledge of the planets with each other and feedback what we have learnt.Art lesson: Make the planets using paper mache.
P.E: The Planet game using hula hoops in the hall ‘Journey Through the Solar System: Lesson 1’. This is a great way for children to know and recognise the planets names and grasp a better understanding of the planets revolving around the sun.
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There are lots of ways I would incorporate lessons on ‘The Moon’ into my classroom.
First, I would show the children the moon landing on Youtube – a short clip of Neil Armstrong and his famous “One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind”.
Next, I would teach some facts about the moon, space travel & astronauts probably using a powerpoint from Twinkl and also using facts from the websites mentioned in this module aswell as Youtube videos. For English we would do some factual writing and draw pictures on the topic of the moon. After this, I would allow the children to dress up as astronauts during Aistear where they pretend to be Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon. For Art, we would use paint to create the moon and include the craters. There are lots of great resources online & listed in this module to support the teaching of this in the classroom. -
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The activity set that I would choses is ‘ The Sun and the Shadows’. I would introduce the children to the topic of shadows with a game of ‘ Shadow Chasing’ in the playground, followed by some chalk shadow tracing. I really like the idea of giving the children the task of creating a sun dial in their groups with which they could monitor the sun and it’s movements. There are so many great integration opportunities with this idea also: Maths – lines and angles, time zones etc, Science – Earth’s rotation, History – ancient civilisations use of sun dials, Art – construction. In groups, the children would work together, using paper plates, lollypop sticks, a protractor and a compass to construct a working sun dial. They would then observe and record the movements of the sun throughout the course of the day.
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Aideen – Making a sundial outside is lovely idea. It doesn’t even have to be as complicated as using protractors and compasses. You can trace out a circle on the ground and go out at various points during the day marking where your shadow was and what time to slowly construct a working one. You could discuss the limitations of a sundial, like how it doesn’t work when it’s not sunny.
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I would do a lesson with 1st class about Sun and shadows. As ice breaker i would put children in pairs and ask them to come up with three words to describe the sun.
woukd be hoping to get a mix of vocabulary like yellow; hot; warm; star;would then go onto explain to children that the sun is a star that gives us light and heat energy.
I would use the kids academy YouTube clip to introduce the concept of how light makes shadows https://youtu.be/fy7eoMef3e8?feature=shared
this clip is good at showing the idea of how shadows change depending on position of sun during day. Shadows can be long or short depending on sun position during day and what objects are allowing light to pass through. It also provides the vocabulary of transparent and opaque. This can provide further scientific exploration by children in later lesson to identify items/ materials that demonstrate these properties.
When light is blocked a shadow is formed.
children go outside to yard in morning and trace shadows in pairs.
day 2; go out to yard after midday and trace shadows in pairs.take photos on each day and compare shadows so that children can observe differences.
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Claire, you’re so right. The What the Moon Looks Like video here looks like so much fun and so engaging.
I love the idea of getting the children to pretend they are on the moon and showing them the moon landings is a great idea as they would possibly have no idea that man did actually land on the moon.
Writing a letter home is a great way of incorporating literacy into the lessons and the play involved would be fantastic. This module reallly is full of fantastic ideas.
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Learning about the moon is a great introductory point to exploring space with younger classes. Children will already be aware of its existence and the fact that it goes through a cycle every month allows the children to observe frequent changes in its shape as well as its position in the sky. I would use several resources from this Module in a unit of learning about the moon. I would start with a general class discussion on the moon to ascertain what the children can tell me about it. I would use a mind map with pictures to show this. We would then recite and learn the Man in the Moon poem. In the next lesson, we would watch an appropriate video on the moon landing to prompt further discussion and imagination on being an astronaut. This would be used as the theme for our Aistear activities for the week, including Role-play as Astronauts, Small World play using astronauts, and construction activities building rockets/ spaceships. The main body of this lesson would be the Make your Own Moon project in the activity set. The third lesson would introduce the phases of the moon. There would be some direct teaching here but this would hopefully be heavily influenced by the children’s questioning. I would introduce the worksheets tracking the phases of the moon each week, and the children would complete the first week’s entry. This would continue in discretionary learning time throughout the month. The final lesson I would do with the children would be part of a PE lesson. The children will do the |”Dance the Phases of the Moon” activity from the activity set. This unit of work would provide a great introduction to exploring space while keeping the lessons fun, active, and child- centred.
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Mark,
I like how you have planned this as a unit, and it’ll probably take place over the month as you have suggested.
In the autumn, the 3rd quarter Moon is high in the sky in the mornings. It will be great to view last week of September and last week of October at around 10am. Either of these times would be great to start this unit, since we must (I hope) get at least one sunny morning in a week!
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Nice description here of how Newgrange was designed and how it’s not quite the same now. From RTE news 2011: RTÉ’s Richard Dowling speaks to Professor Tom Ray of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies inside the Passage Tomb at Newgrange.
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Firstly, I really enjoyed the idea of the polar bear and penguin role play. We do Polar Regions as a theme during Integrated Learning through Play. We do a lot about ‘Why polar bears don’t eat penguins?’ when starting off. I like that now, I can take it a step further and it will be a lovely precursor to the theme of Space Travel Agent.
The main activity that I will look at today is the moon. Often I focus more on the Moon Landing so with the activities in this set, I will be able to develop it further.
The Trigger
Video of moon landing.
Wondering & Exploring:
What is happening? Where are they? How did they get there? Why do you think they went there? What does the ground look like?
Using ‘Moon Stories from Around the World’ stories and images ( https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/MoonStoriesASP2019.pdf ), show pictures of the moon. What can you see now? What does the ground look like now? Explain the word ‘crater’. Do all of the craters look the same? How do you think these craters were formed? Why are some craters smaller/bigger than others? Discuss what might have hit the moon to create the craters.
Starter Question & Predicting:
What happens when moving objects hit the surface of the moon?
Conducting the Investigation:
Explain that we are going to use basins of sand, flour and rice to pretend to be the surface of the moon and we are going to drop objects on them to make our own craters. Discuss what objects would be best and why? Initially focus on spherical shaped objects. For further development, examine what happens when they’re not spherical.
Divide children into groups of 4/5 and give each group a choice of which ‘surface’ they are going to use. Ensure that at least one of each ‘surfaces’ is used. Using various sizes of spherical objects suggested, the children will drop these balls one at a time into each box and observe what happens to the sand/rice/flour.
Interpreting Data/Results:
Examine and discuss what happened to the ‘surfaces’ after the objects were dropped? What is the same about the craters? What is different about the craters? How was the biggest one made? What about the smallest one? Why were they different? Which ‘surface’ made shapes most like the moon? Why do you think this is? What happens if we use objects that aren’t spherical?
Applying Learning, Making Connections & Thoughtful Actions:
Based on what they have discussed, children continue to make their own surface of the moon, similar to the Meet Our Neighbours: Moon activity. Depending on the class, this activity could be done in pairs or small groups to encourage further peer discussion about the surface and how to represent it best/ Show and tell their moon to the class
Reflection:
Through higher order questioning, teacher observation and the creation of their moons, along with the group work, the teacher will assess the children’s development of the concept. To further encourage more questioning in relation to the moon, the children will watch Paxi & Our Moon
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Introduction: To view day and night in the context of the Earth spinning on its axis.
Needed: a balloon (inflated), string, paper, pen, scissors, torch.
Draw the shape of Ireland onto paper and cut it out.
Tie the balloon so it is free hanging.
Place the picture of Ireland on the balloon in its approximate global position.
Shine the torch onto one side of the balloon.
Slowly turn the balloon.
Try holding the balloon to show these times: midnight, sunrise, midday, sunset.Exploring size – Earth, Sun, and Moon.
If the Sun and moon are different in size, why do they appear to be the same size in the sky?
Needed: A tennis ball (moon); A Basketball (sun); Outside space.
Allocate roles to the children.
One person to be the moon, one the sun and one the Earth.
The Earth will stand in front of the moon (holding the tennis ball) and the sun (holding the basketball).
The Earth will ask the sun to move backwards until it appears to be the same size as the moon.
Swap roles so everyone has a turn at each position. -
Hi Sinéad ,
the children might not get the reference any more, but I always describe this as a ‘Father Ted’ moment — this cow is nearby and small, that cow is far away and big!
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Topic The Moon : cross curricular links : literacy, art, maths, SESE, PE
start with the story What ever next by Jill Murphy . This story is about a bear that wants to go to the moon, it discusses what he needs to get there and who he sees along the way and what the moon is like ! In class The children could think about if someone wanted to go to the moon in real life, who would go, what would they need to get there. What would the moon look like? Would anyone else be there This could then lead onto a lesson about the moon , what it looks like, how far away it is, is there anything on the moon, has man ever been to the moon. The children could brainstorm their questions prior to this and then answer the questions together. Using clay the children could make a clay moon . Using junk art , the children could make rockets and try fly them standing on a chair. For PE we could learn the song and Dane to zoom zoom zoom we are going to the moon , then move around as aliens, astronauts , shooting stars etc
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Jill Murphy’s “Whatever Next” is a great book as a starting point for space and the moon. I have used this in the past too. Other books are the Oliver Jeffer’s books – “The way back home” and “How to catch a star” both fabulously illustrated. Love the idea of Junk Art – it allows such artistic expression as well as allowing them to use lots of descriptive language when telling about what they have mad- in this case a rocket.
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I really like all the cross curricular links in this lesson. I think it is important to tie in as many subjects as possible to make planning less challenging and also to ensure that the children get a deeper understanding of the topic. I also love the idea of Junk art-it is simple to implement however the scope for imagination is huge.
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It’s great the small tips and tricks you can pick up on this course. I am enjoying the forums and saving all the tips and resources I see.
I have not ever (in all my years) tracked the sun light from within the classroom. I always felt this was an outdoor activity. Simple and not time consuming but keeps the children interest high doing it in the classroom! I am in a big corner room next year and I will be using this idea.
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How would you use the activity in your classroom? Post a reflective piece to the forum (150 words min) as a reply to this post. You may include digital records of the activities.
I would use the story “Can’t you sleep little bear” as a stimulus for engaging the class.
I would start by discussing the differences between night and day with the class.
What do we see at night? The moon and stars
What do we see at day? The sun
Then we would discuss the different activities we do on the day and night and create a list.
We would read the story can’t you sleep little bear and discuss why little bear had trouble sleeping.
The children would identify that little bear was afraid of the dark which comes at night time.
We would identify how Big bear tries to help little bear, Then we would discuss and name different sources of light- torch, fire, light, candle, etc.
Then we would discuss how Big bear and little bear leave the cave and see the light from the moon and stars.
We would discuss the moon and do an experiment to show how light and dark (day/night) occurs using a globe and torch.
Finally we would create pictures of the night sky over little bear and bug bear.
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For this lesson, I would focus on the Moon. I would begin by using KWL to find out what the students know about the moon already. Working with older students I would try to capture their interest by showing a video about Neil Armstrong and the First Moon Landing with discussion questions before and after the video and linking it to our history lesson. The students will be encouraged to supply the new vocabulary to make a mind map. For independent pair/group work the students could research the phases of the moon. For drama/music the students could perform a phases of the moon song or rap and explain it. Finally, the students could make a 3-D moon shape from paper mache. In a follow up lessons, I would use the many resources and links provided in the course to further explore the properties of the moon.
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Assignment – Module 2
Using the “Planet Song” is an engaging way to introduce junior infants to the wonders of space. This catchy tune makes learning about the planets fun and memorable. I would start by playing the song during circle time, encouraging the children to listen and sing along. The repetitive lyrics and rhythm help reinforce the names and order of the planets.
To enhance the experience, I would use visual aids like posters or a projector to display colorful images of each planet as they are mentioned in the song. I would use pictures of the planets (created by the children in art) for the children to hold. As the song plays, the children could take turns holding up the corresponding planet pictures, fostering active participation and making the learning process interactive.
I would follow up with a hands-on activity, such as creating a simple solar system mobile using balloons/paper plates. This multi-sensory approach ensures a fun, educational experience that helps young learners develop a lasting interest in space.
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The planets song is a lovely way to introduce the name of the planets to the children. I have used this song before The Planet Song – 8 Planets of the Solar System Song for Kids | KidsLearningTube (youtube.com).
Another way to introduce the lesson could be to read the book ‘My first book of planets’ – that could be a cross curricular link to Reading. This book could be read before the end of school each day.
The children could simply ‘make’ planets from balloons and paper mache. This is great fun and the planets can be easily identifiable from their size and colour. E.g red for Mars, blue and green for Earth. The balloons could also be blown up big(ger) and small(er) to demonstrate the size of the planets.
Before the lessons about planets I would slowly introduce the vocabulary needed for the lessons such as Solar System, orbit, planets, moon, space, stars, The Sun, The Milky Way.
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The spherical nature of the earth – Sourced from PDST website.
Read the children the story, ’The small and mighty book of Planet Earth’ . Ask the children to describe what they think the earth must look like from space. Then, get the children to record their thoughts pictorially. Show children actual images of the earth, the moon and the sun from space. Show the children a ball and a circular disc cut from card. Ask them which they think best represents the earth. Introduce the word spherical and relate this to how our world is represented with a globe.(will have introduced the globe as a model of our world in Infant graphicacy work) Make spherical models of the earth using balloons and papier máche. The Size of the balloons should vary depending on the size of the planet. Paint to differentiate between land and water.
Questions
What does The Earth look like?
What shape is it?
Which colours is it made up of?
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Orla,
appears to be the source, but unfortunately is incomplete. It has “Show children actual images of the earth, the moon and the sun from space. [see suggested web-sites below] ”
I would suggest for images of the Earth from Space to use one of the most famous of all Earth in Space images, Earthrise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise
use met.ie for current images:
https://www.met.ie/latest-reports/satellites/world-visible
Helioviewer (https://student.helioviewer.org/) is a powerful platform to show a range of satellite images of the Sun, a guide on its use appears in https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MagneticSunandSpaceWeather.pdf
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I would choose the Activity: The Spherical Earth
The children will be asked to observe the moon at night as part of their homework.
The following day I would begin by engaging children with the phenomena of the moon such as a video of how the moon changes in appearance. We will look at comparisons/differences the moon might have with earth such as the spherical shape.
I will then compare the earth shape to a ball and the children will then watch as I drop a ball from a height. We will discuss how the ball drops straight down and not sideways. We will discuss why this might be – it is because it wants to go to the centre of the Earth and when we use the word down we really mean towards the center of the Earth. We will then look at a globe and see what direction toward the centre is. The children will then participate in the role play activity ‘The Ice Bear and the Penguin’ from Universe in a Box – realising that neither the bear nor penguin are upside down.
The children will then create a ‘earth mosaic’ using the template provided to them. Above the dashed line the children will draw houses, mountains and forests and below the line they will draw the seabed or mines or rocks. The children will then place their template on the floor and we will discuss ‘up and down’ and how there is no real ‘up and down’.
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The lesson I would chose is the Sun and Shadows. Firstly, I see the interest that shadows create within the classroom when they form naturally on a sunny day. Sometimes when the interactive whiteboard is coming on the children can see my shadow and they think this is great fun. To introduce the lesson I would get the children involved in a matching activity which they could do in small groups. I would make out some packs with images and their shadows and get the children to match the correct picture to the shadows. Then we would engage on discussion about shadows and how do they know they have matched them correctly etc? From here we would go out to the yard and look for our own shadows and see how else we could make shadows making shapes with our hands etc. When we would go back into the classroom I would question the children how could we make shadows in the dark and then I would introduce the idea of using torches to create shadows and allow the children time to explore this.
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I would choose The Moon activity set and focus on the different shapes of the moon on the lunar cycle.
Introduction- show the pupils an old ad for jaffa cakes which showed someone eating a jaffa cake referring to each bit as full moon or half moon. Discuss why the lady in the ad is referring to eating a jaffa cake in terms of the moon.
Development of the lesson- watch the video from this course Paxi and our Moon from you tube as he explains the 1 month lunar cycle.
Conclusion -each child gets a jaffa cake. As a whole class we eat our jaffa cakes in sync while recapping on the information given by Paxi.
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Susanne,
I did not know that ad, but mentioned it to a (younger) colleague who instantly knew it!
Full Moon, Half Moon, Total eclipse!
https://youtu.be/mQJutuutRII?si=b5k716n34PXoqzti
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All of these activity sets are filled with opportunities for meaningful and engaging learning experiences.
One of the activity sets that could be used is the Planets Activity set. A sample activity I would use is for introducing young children to the names of the planets.
I would begin by using one of the planets songs or reading a storybook to the children to introduce them to the names of the planets. We would then learn a little bit more about each planet. I would split the children into groups and assign each group with a planet. During playtime/Aistear/Art, the group will make a model of the planet using paper maché. If possible, we would then try and display the planets in some way, such as hanging them from the ceiling, to make a model of our solar system.
As an extension activity, or during PE, we would play the planet game using hula hoops, as a consolidation task for our learning, and try to remember the names of our planets.
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Activity Set: The Sun and Shadows
The children investigate what a shadow is, how it is formed, and whether
a shadow changes during the day.
Take the children outside to the playground. Organise the children into pairs. Give each pair chalk. One child will draw and the other needs to stand still. Ask all the children who will be standing still to face
in the same direction. The other children use chalk to draw around
the shadows of their classmates. They should also draw around the feet of the children who are standing still. This will help them to remember where they were standing when they come back in a couple of hours. Draw the children’s attention to the direction of the sunlight. Does this match the position of the shadow?Return to the classroom ask this question: ‘What made your shadow?’ The rays of light from the Sun were blocked by the children’s bodies. So there was no direct sunlight behind the children. You could see a dark shadow. Explain that you cannot have a shadow without a source of light. Encourage the children to name some sources of light.
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I love this idea Laura. I did something similar with my class last year except we used our own shadows and drew them in the yard at 3 different times during the school day. The children were so fascinated how although we were standing in the same marked spot each time, the location of our shadows had changed as the Earth had moved.
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Laura,
were they amazed at how far their shadows had moved?
We often don’t think that the Sun moves that quickly, since it takes a whole daytime to go from the east to the west, but in the time it takes to draw two people’s shadows, the first person can’t fit back into their own shadow!
We did this in a summer course a few years ago, and it was remarkable to see the teachers who hadn’t tried this before react to their changed shadows.
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I would choose the activity set ‘The Moon’.
Engage;
Introduction: Listening to the recording of the man landing on the moon & showing a visual of the moon. Eliciting the children’s prior knowledge of the moon, what it is like, size, shape, colour, does anyone live there, why not? Asking the children how did the man get to the moon etc.
Investigate:
Showing the children various images of the moon paying particular attention to craters. Explaining what a crater is. Experiment with basins of flours and a few round items that the children can drop into the flour to understand the concept of the crater. Discuss.
Elicit from the children the different shapes of the moon and at what times of the day/night do we see them. List on the board.
Teach the phases of the moon and show a youtube video on it. Record phases on the whiteboard with names. Divide children into groups. Distribute paper plates. in groups they must create the various phases of the moon with a black crayon and paper plates and lots of discussion!
Conclusion:
Groups present their phases of the moon to the class. Finish with reading Chris Hatfield’s book ‘The darkest dark’
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Catherine,
The cratering activity is such an open activity. I’d suggest providing a range of items to drop, including irregular shapes. This will let the children test if round craters only come from round objects.
The Curious Minds activity outline: https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/meteorites_activity.pdf
suggest this for 1st class and up and proposed just spherical objects.
We do this with children in workshops, and find that they need a certain initial ‘play’ with the materials to get a sense of what can be discovered with this set up. Once they have that familiarity they can carry out an extended inquiry into the factors that interest them. Very often fair testing gets ‘thrown out the window’ as they drop different objects from different heights!
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Here’s how I would teach about the planets in my classroom.
1.Introduction: Start by introducing the concept of the solar system and the planets that orbit the Sun. Show models of the planets to engage students.
2.Planet Song: Introduce the planet song to your students. Encourage them to listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics.
3.Visual Aids: Use PowerPoint of the solar system to help students visualize the planets and their positions relative to the Sun.
4.Interactive Activities: Play the Planet Game and ask children what names of planets they can remember at the end. Do the Planet Dance.
5.Sing Along: Have a sing-along session where students can sing the planet song together. This can be a fun way for them to memorize the order of the planets while enjoying a musical activity.
6.Planet Facts: Share interesting facts about each planet as you go through the song. Encourage students to ask questions and spark discussions about interesting facts of each planet. Memorise the order of the planets from the song using GoNoodle – My Very Excellent Monkey Just Served Unicorn Noodles.
7.Assessment: To reinforce learning, children will complete a kahoot quiz on the planets.
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<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>Hi Saoirse,</span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.</span></p> -
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>Hi Saoirse,</span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”> </span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.</span></p> -
Hi Saoirse,
That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.
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Hi Saoirse,
That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.
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Sounds like a great lesson/lessons Saoirse. The more resources and stimuli the better for infants! I like the idea of a Kahoot quiz at the end to assess their learning and great fun too. The children love the planets song this particular one is also a hit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrlgH97v94
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<p class=”MsoNormal”>The planets has so many opportunities for cross curricular integration. I really liked the idea of when opening a discussion/ recapping on points learned, having the children sitting in a circle and rolling a “sun” to the child, having them respond and rolling it back.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would teach the children the planet names through song, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6nLM2QlWw . To allow children understand that different planets are closer/further away from earth I would use the entire yard and mark out the planets. I would then call out the different planets allowing children to run from planet to planet. This will help consolidate planet names, allow them to recognise that some planets are tiny e.g mercury, some have different shapes, e.g. Saturn.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would also do a group art activity whereby children would paint and decorate the different planets in their groups. This would be displayed in the classroom. I feel such a piece of work would be very eye catching and would give a great sense of pride to the children in the class.</p> -
<p class=”MsoNormal”>Activity Set – The Planets</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>The planets has so many opportunities for cross curricular integration. I really liked the idea of when opening a discussion/ recapping on points learned, having the children sitting in a circle and rolling a “sun” to the child, having them respond and rolling it back.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would teach the children the planet names through song, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6nLM2QlWw . To allow children understand that different planets are closer/further away from earth I would use the entire yard and mark out the planets. I would then call out the different planets allowing children to run from planet to planet. This will help consolidate planet names, allow them to recognise that some planets are tiny e.g mercury, some have different shapes, e.g. Saturn.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would also do a group art activity whereby children would paint and decorate the different planets in their groups. This would be displayed in the classroom. I feel such a piece of work would be very eye catching and would give a great sense of pride to the children in the class.</p> -
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I would choose the Planets set to focus on as the starting point for learning about space with infant classes. I would build the lessons around the Tiny Planets Book which I think is a fantastic resource to manipulate.
– I would enlarge the outlines of each planet to a large size to display for the class and mount on cardboard – elicit from the children how we might decorate each planet – however, we need to investigate the reality of the planet to do so. The facts in the booklet will help as a starting point.
I would have a copy to display on the interactive whiteboard and also integrate the song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2prtmPEjOc
By working on a different planet each day or two, we could build an entire unit on planets and slowly discover each one. Children choose colours, in Aistear use textiles to decorate etc.
Once displayed in the classroom I would again use this booklet to look at bitesize pieces of information to recall about each planet – linkage with home – homework to look at the page of their booklet about the planet we are working on and listen to the song.
As we progress with the lessons, I would play games where pupils play Who am I ? offering a fact – eg: I am very hot— pupils guess which planet this is.
Pair work – share a fact you know about your planet.
I think senior infants could certainly engage well with all these activities in Aistear and science, Junior infants could even pair up with an older class to work on making the mini books for each child and have the facts read to them as they work to colour in their booklet appropriately.
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I like the idea of looking at the area in Aistear and then so much could be done with it. I also loved the idea of using the hoops *for sun and planets and creating an interactive game where the children travel through them. I have previously done a to scale of the earth, moon and sun and the distances between them (with an older class) which they enjoyed.
I would love doing more work around the planets and I also loved the crater lesson which then could consider which made the biggest crater and why and then switch to balls. This would be another lovely activity to do in Aistear (and its something I previously have done succesfully). I think key to success of the children’s learning is to faciliate it with questions and allwo them time to think alone, together and to respond. I think an activity such as the craters could be guided in Aistear.
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Hi Ursula,
This all sounds like a great way to teach about the planets. Using a variety of methods such as using large displays, books, games and building knowledge slowly over a period of time will really allow the children to interact with the lessons. I have definitely found when teaching about space in the past that you need to take it slowly with teaching about the planets as it is a lot of information to take in and can be overwhelming if you try to fit too much into your lessons. A fun art activity that we also did was where the children designed their own planet. This was completed after we had covered the planets and it was interesting to see the children draw on what they had learned to make their own planet.
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Activity Set: The Sun and Shadows
Begin by explaining what shadows are. “A shadow is a dark shape that appears when an object blocks light. The shadow changes depending on where the light is coming from.”
• Outdoor Shadow Exploration:
• Take the kids outside on a sunny day. Find a spot where the sunlight creates clear shadows.
• Place various objects (toys, blocks, or cut-out shapes) on the ground.
• Let the kids observe the shadows created by these objects. Ask them to notice how the size and shape of the shadows change as the sun moves across the sky.
• If the sun is moving too quickly or it’s not a sunny day, use a lamp indoors instead.
• Get the children to draw around the shadow of the object with chalk (on ground outside) or on paper.
• Get the children to draw their friends shadows on the ground outside with chalk- they love this.
• Bring the children back outside later on and see if they stand in the same place as previous, will their shadow be in the same position and explain why it won’t be- because the sun moves.-
Hi Kate,
If the sun is moving too quickly
if we get a sunny day this week run outside and see how fast the Sun moves. I’ve found that you just about have time to get a full chalk drawing of a person before the Sun has moved enough that they don’t fit into their own shadow.
Depending on what is in your school grounds, children could place cones to mark the shadow of a tree – and for older children this could be linked to the directions South, East and West and how this shows us the time of day.
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For this lesson, I would focus on the Moon. I would start out by eliciting the children’s prior knowledge on the moon. I would then get the children to draw what the moon looks like. Next up, I would show the children a video about Neil Armstrong and the First Moon Landing. I would question the children on the events of the video. I would then link this back to the children’s original drawing of the moon. After this, I would divide the class into groups to sequence the First Moon Landing using cards. I would then call upon the children to describe their sequence of events using their own words. In a follow up lesson, I would explore the properties of the moon. There are many links for learning when teaching about the Moon.
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I would chose ‘The Sun and Shadows’ as a lesson for infant children .
I can actually remember my own teacher doing this type of lesson when I was in primary school which was a long time ago. It fascinated me that you didn’t need a watch to tell tell the time . Also stepping on our friends shadow was a fun game !.
The children could make a sundial in the yard using the upturned flower pot with a bamboo stick poking out of it and facing it south on a sunny day . The children could be divided into groups to mark the position of the shadow with chalk every hour . Checking the shadow with the actual time over the course of a few days would be interesting for them . Comparing the result over a few weeks (waiting for sunny days ) would be an interesting investigation for them.
Dividing the class into small groups with the help of an SNA and having them follow their shadow over the course of a sunny day would also be exciting for them. The children could predict the direction and length of their shadow every hour and then conduct their investigation . Following on they would interpret their findings and come to conclusions with teacher scaffolding the discussion.
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Lesson on Introducing Infants to the concept of the sun and shadows.
– Small flashlight
– White wall or board for shadow play
– Objects for shadow exploration (e.g teddy bears/ small world figurines)
– Chart paper and markers for drawing
• Elicit from the children if they know what the sun is and what it does. Explain that the sun is a bright light in the sky that gives us light and warmth. Introduce the concept of shadows by asking the children if they have noticed their shadow on a sunny day. If the day is fortunate enough to be sunny, the class can be taken outside to draw each other’s shadows. An extension activity could be labelling the body parts ; arm, leg…
• Inside the classroom, gather the children near a window where they can see the sun. Use a flashlight to demonstrate how light creates shadows. Have the children observe how objects block the light to create shadows on a white surface. Encourage the children to experiment with different objects to see how they create different shadows. Like in the vimeos, we can use their teddy bears from Maths for this activity.
• Circle time – gather the children around and talk about what they have learned about the sun and shadows. Questioning as a means of assessment “What creates shadows?” and “How does the sun help us?”
• Listen to the song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYz2jJjz38 Shadow song
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I would choose the Activity set: The Sun to explore in Senior Infants, In particular I would focus on exploring Shadows, how they are created and how they change as the day progresses. Firstly as a stimulus I would keep my fingers crossed for a clear sunny day and play a game of shadow tag with the children. After the game we could engage the children with some wondering thoughts about shadows. Are they all the same/different? Do they change size? Are they always there? Can I escape my shadow? Allow children to explore these question in small groups outside.
Next, We could read Frank Asch book ‘ Moonbear’s Shadow’ in circle time. or ‘The Shadow’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A9rkH0X3J4
Children could the explore how shadows work using or creating Moonbear forst models in Aistear. Resources Green card, trees, paper, toy bear, yellow card and torches.
Questioning would be used for prompting children and children can manipulate the model to form ideas and make connections to their own world and experiences regarding shadows.
Once the children have formulated ideas about the shadowns changing depending on the suns position we could measure or own shadows outdoors usingchalk outlines. We could record these measures using the ipad camera to share and intrepret our results and draw our conclusions at the end of the day.
We could compare and test other conclusions re cloudy days, rainy days as a follow up another day. Or lead in to ‘Do all materials create shadows?’
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Activity – The Moon.
I would begin with a trigger: Show a captivating image of the moon.
• Then I would ask questions like, “What do you see?” or “Why does the moon change shape?”
• Hopefully this would encourage curiosity and wonder.
We would look at: Moon Phases.
We could discuss the different phases of the moon .
If it was winter time and possible, the children for homework could observe the moon over several nights and record its changing shape(draw)
This would lead nicely to – Moon Art .
Use paper, markers, and glue.
Make each moon phase (e.g., crescent, full moon) and arrange them in order.
Label them and discuss their significance.
I would try to reinforce the concept of monthly moon phases by looking at a moon phase calendar:
Use a calendar marked with moon phases.
Identify upcoming new moons.
Use stickers to mark the dates.
To reflect we would discuss what students learned about the moon .I might ask questions like:
“Why does the moon change shape?”
“How can we observe moon phases?” -
I would teach the students about the phases of the moon as it is a phenomena that they can see every evening if they look out.
I like the idea of reading them a story which introduces them to the moon and its different phases in a fun way and also that it can link to other parts of the curriculum. I also like the fact that students are asked to observe the moon themselves over a period of time and that they can conclude that we are all looking at the same moon. I would also encourage them to ask family living in other locations to send them pictures of the moon.
At the end of the month when all the pictures are displayed it is a lovely way of discussing how the moon is changing each week and introducing the names of each phase with opportunity to add extra phases in if students are particularly interested. I also like this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz01pTvuMa0 as a way to explain why the moon looks different each night.
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Patrick – as part of SpaceWeek we produce a Moon calendar each year. You can find last year’s edition here.
Please note that the Moon is visible in the evenings from the tiny crescent after New Moon until just after Full Moon – so for about 2 week of the month.
Full Moon rises at sunset, so a few days after that the children will have to be looking outside well after sunset. You might want to use images from Stellarium if the nights are cloudy to keep the observing going.
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I would chose the activity set based on the sun. There are so many lovely picture books that can be used as a trigger. The Rabbit, the Dark and the Biscuit Tin by Niocla O’ Byrne is always a class favourite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhBhNaKZejE Or Day Monkey, Night Monkey by Julia Donaldson is a lovely story to introduce the topic of shadows.
I’d start by reading this story to the children. Night Monkey doesn’t know what shadows are. At this point of the story I’d staop and use this as a question to engage the children…I wonder what shadows are….
The children chat in groups and share their ideas with the class. I will record their ideas.
I’ll bring the children outside with some chalk, a piece of white paper and a free standing toy. The children can explore the shadows their bodies make in the playground. After a while they can trace around the shadow of their toy on the page to have as a record of their investigation.
Return to the classroom and ask the children why they think the shadows are dark? Do you always have a shadow? How do you think shadows are formed? Where is the light coming from?
Finish the story of Day Monkey, Night Monkey.
Show the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOIGOT88Aqc
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I would chose the activity set based on the sun. There are so many lovely picture books that can be used as a trigger. The Rabbit, the Dark and the Biscuit Tin by Niocla O’ Byrne is always a class favourite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhBhNaKZejE Or Day Monkey, Night Monkey by Julia Donaldson is a lovely story to introduce the topic of shadows.
I’d start by reading this story to the children. Night Monkey doesn’t know what shadows are. At this point of the story I’d staop and use this as a question to engage the children…I wonder what shadows are….
The children chat in groups and share their ideas with the class. I will record their ideas.
I’ll bring the children outside with some chalk, a piece of white paper and a free standing toy. The children can explore the shadows their bodies make in the playground. After a while they can trace around the shadow of their toy on the page to have as a record of their investigation.
Return to the classroom and ask the children why they think the shadows are dark? Do you always have a shadow? How do you think shadows are formed? Where is the light coming from?
Finish the story of Day Monkey, Night Monkey.
Show the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOIGOT88Aqc
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I would choose activity set The Sun and shadows
These activities from the sun resource booklet by Maeve Liston from Mary Immaculate College are ones that I would use in my classroom. I think the children would find them very engaging and enjoy them.
Activity: The Day and Night Sky
You will need: Pictures of the day and night sky, paper and crayons.
1. Place different pictures of the day and night sky on display and ask the children “what
are the differences?” between the two.
Questions: Describe the sky during the day. Describe the sky at night. What is the
difference between day and night?
2. Ask them to list as many things they see in the sky at night (Moon, Stars) and during
the day (Sun, Moon, Clouds). Get them to describe shapes, size, textures and colours
of these objects and the sky using descriptive and comparative language for example
light, dark, bright, shade etc. Discuss how we are never in total darkness because of the
Moon and stars.
3. Ask them to draw pictures of a day and night sky or make a collage of a day and
night sky as a whole class group.
Activity: The Sun in the Sky
You will need: Pictures of a cloudy and sunny day (in the sunny day try to include shadows).
1. Show them pictures of a cloudy and sunny day. Ask them to describe the sunny day.
Ask them: do they notice anything else in the picture (shadows)? Ask them what are
shadows, what does your shadow look like? how are they formed?
2. There are many Videos on YouTube about Shadows for example ‘Sesame Street – My
Furry Little Shadow.’
3. Ask them to describe the cloudy day. Discuss: is the Sun around on a cloudy day?
Note: Shadows are the absence of light i.e. darkness. They are black. They are not grey or
any other colour that children may decide to use to draw shadows.
Questions:
Why is it darker on a cloudy day? What does the Sun give us? Is the Sun important? If we
had no Sun in the sky would it matter?
Discuss that the Sun gives us light and heat and why these forms of energy are important to
support life. Discuss how you are hot on a summer’s day and cold on a winter’s day.
What type of clothes would you wear on a hot day and on a cold day?
1. Ask them to complete the picture of a cloudy day (might discuss the rain here) below.
2. Ask them to complete a picture of a sunny day (discuss shadows here) below. Get them
to draw in the Sun’s rays of light.
Activity: Shadows in the School Yard
Concepts:
• Light travels in straight lines.
• Sunlight light does not travel through opaque objects and so casts a shadow.
• Shadows are areas of darkness.
You will need: Worksheets and black crayons
1. Go outside on a sunny day.
Questions:
Why can we see today? Where did the light come from? The Sun.
What do you think your shadows will look like? Why?
2. Then get them to stand in a line with their back to the direction of the Sun so that they
can see the shape of the shadow that forms on the ground in front of them.
3. Get them to describe its shape and colour.
Questions:
Ask them why is it black or dark?
So, what is a shadow?
4. Trace with chalk the shadows of some pupils in the class.
5. Ask them to describe its shape.
What does your shadow look like?
Is it the exact shape of the person? Why?
When can you see your shadow best of all?
Do you always have a shadow?
How do you think Shadows are formed?
Where is the light coming from?
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One fun activity to do which can be integrated into PE lessons to teach about the planets and how they orbit.
• Divide students into teams of 8. Colour code them by giving bibs • Get the 8 members of each team to stand on the orbit circle of each of the planets, in a straight line from Mercury to Neptune (students will look like spokes coming out of a hub, as in a bicycle wheel). • At the same time, direct all students to take 100 slow steps around their orbit. • Students on the inner orbits (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) will also need to keep count of how many times they complete an orbit around the Sun. • When everyone on the team has completed 100 steps around, get them to note the position of the other members of their team. They will have moved out of line with each other. • As they stand in their orbits, lead a discussion on how a planet’s distance from the Sun affects its orbit.
It sounds complicated, but it’s actually quite easy to do. I’ve carried out this activity a few times before with various class levels and they enjoy it.
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Hi Jennifer,
That sounds like a great idea, realy develops a sense of the orbit. Another PE-related activity that my class enjoyed before was the ESERO Lesson #1 – The Planets Journey through the Solar System https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/01_The-planets.pdf
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How much fun to make a physical model of the Solar System. You could ask children in what ways the model is good at showing the Solar System and and what ways it isn’t so good.
For me:
Good
- planets orbit in the same plane
- planets are in correct order from the Sun
Not so good
- planet speed is smaller for planets further away from the Sun – so the outer planets should take baby baby steps (this is Kepler’s Laws of Motion – covered lightly in leaving cert physics!!)
- unless you have a huge hall, the inner planets are likely to be squashed together and the outer planets will be too close.
See this beautiful video of a scale solar system being created in the desert:
PBS learning link with additional resources.
They also have the map a solar system to your area – which is great to show and then discuss where each orbit would be in terms of familiar areas near your school.
If the Sun was 200 cm across on Blackrock Castle Observatory, then the Earth’s orbit would be at the far side of the car park and Jupiter’s orbit would across the river at the Dunkettle roundabout!
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I love how this hands-on, interactive method promotes teamwork and critical thinking, as students discuss and observe the differences in orbital periods based on their distance from the Sun. The structured approach, with color-coded teams and organized steps, ensures clarity and engagement, allowing students to visualize and better understand the varying orbital speeds of planets.
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How I would teach about day and night and how the earth rotates in my classroom.
Introduction:
we would sing the ‘Wakey , wakey song’ – this is a song that the children are familiar with already .
Step 1:
We would discuss day and night using pictures – what is the difference between the pictures of the day time and night time.
Step 2:
In small groups the children would be encouraged to sort sets of day and night pictures into the correct groups. Groups report back and give their reasons for classifying the pictures.
Step 3:
In a darkened room using a lamp(to represent the sun) and a globe I would show how the sun shines on the earth. I would stick two lego figures to the globe to represent people living on opposite side of the globe. We would discuss how the light shines on the globe as it rotates and how each lego figure goes from day to night and back to day again.
Step 4:
With our bodies we would show how the earth rotates away from the sun by putting a lego man on the palm of our outstretched hands with playdough,
Conclusion:
We would sing the day and night song
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Hi Carol Anne,
Using physical models to show the Earth and the light of day/lack of light for night is so important.
If you ask young children why is it dark at night you often get an answer related to what people do at night – “It’s dark so people can sleep” – and it takes some time for children to realise that they can explain what is happening to make it dark rather than giving their own child-centred explanation.
Do you have particular day and night images that you use?
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I would choose the activity set: The Sun and Shadows
To engage the children I would show pictures of astronomer slooking at the sky and then ask the children to daw a picture of the sky at night and during the day with accompanying sentences if possible.
Following this we will read the book Moon Bear’s Shadow discussing his shadow in different situations and when he has a shadow.
After looking at shadows of objects in the classroom using torches and various objects in the classroom, I would bring the children outside and get them to find their shadow. For fun the children will then draw their partner’s shadow using chalk.
On another day I would close the blinds and look at the uv beads with the children talking about their colour. The we will make bracelets and go outside to observe the effects of the sun’s light on the beads. We will discuss the danger of uv rays and importance of wearing suncream and not looking directly at the sun. -
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The activity I would do in my classroom is the Sun and Shadows activity. As this is weather permitting, it would be carried out during the summer term and across a week depending on the weather.
The trigger would be an image of the sun and a range of light sources to get the children talking about light, how it travels in straight lines and what happened when the light is blocked. A discussion on shadows would be undertaken too.
One of the main activities would be drawing the outline of the children’s shadows out in the playground. Another activity would be carried out at different times during the day or week, investigating how shadows change throughout the day. The children would choose a toy to draw around the shadow of. They would do this using paper and at different times throughout the day or week. The toy and the position of the toy would remain constant. The time of day would change. The child would discuss any changes they notice at the end of the day/week across the different shadow outlines.
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Hi Fiona,
If your classroom faces the right direction you can draw the children’s attention to the Sun shining in the window at any time of year! I often ask children when I take the StarDome out to a school which way their classroom faces. I get a lot of blank stares, so I ask – what time of day does teacher have to close the blinds on a sunny day?
If in the morning – your classroom faces east.
If in the middle of the day – your classroom faces south.
If in the afternoon – your classroom faces west.
You could even ask children if their kitchen faces east – do they get the sun in the morning when they have breakfast? Survey the class and see how many have this.
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As Fiona has done, I love to get the children to take out a toy and trace around it on the yard using chalk. However, I have never thought to take them out at different times of the day to review the shadow and see the differences depending on where the sun is. This is a great idea and one I will definitely be doing in the future.
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The Planets
Objective:
Students will learn about the planets in our solar system through a fun and engaging song and activity
Materials:- Planet Song
- Planet images
- Paper
- Crayons or markers
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Large paper for a solar system collage
- Introduction:
- Show a picture of the solar system.
- Briefly introduce the planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
- Engagement:
- Play the Planet Song video.
- Encourage students to sing along and do simple hand motions for each planet.
- Activity:
- Show children the planet images and discuss various characteristics of each planet
- Ask children to recreate a planet and cut it out
- Children glue colored planets onto a large paper to create a class solar system collage.
- Review:
- Sing the Planet Song again, pointing to each planet on the collage.
- Ask students to name their favorite planet and share one fact they learned.
Conclusion:
Reinforce the planet names and positions, fostering excitement and curiosity about space exploration-
For pictures of the solar system I like to use this NASA image
and ask the children – is this a good picture or a bad picture? What does it show well and what does it not show so well? {think about size/scale/distance etc}
Which Planet Song video would you use?
Doing the solar system in collage is lovely. I’ve also used Model Magic (available from Art and Hobby) to make small planets.
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Hi Sean
I love your ideas for teaching planets to your class. I also chose planets and decided on doing a KWL chart to begin with and then showing the children images of solar system and also listening to ‘The Planet Song and ‘We are the Planets’ and letting the children compare the information they learned in both. We consolidated our learning by using balloons and various colours/sizes to make the planets in our solar system.
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Spherical Earth:
I really liked the ‘Earth Mosaics’ activity which aims to highlight to the children that there is no real ‘up and down’. I would teach this activity to second class. Space is something which children in second class have great interest in and are amazed by. Often, children find it hard to visualise earth as a sphere and I have answered questions on people being upside down many times before. In my own classroom, I have a large world map on the wall which sometimes can confuse children into seeing the earth as flat. The earth mosaic is a great starting point when teaching about earths spherical nature as it creates a visual for the children to see earth as a sphere from different viewpoints but also that it is not a perfect sphere and what is below the earths surface. This could be expanded to use a globe or a ball to demonstrate the shape of the Earth. Discuss how the Earth looks from space and explain how its round shape affects day and night.
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The Activity I have chosen in this module is The Planets
Introduce students to the planets in our solar system, helping them learn the names, order, and some basic facts about each planet.
Materials Needed:- Picture cards or posters of the planets
- A large sheet of paper or a whiteboard
- Markers or colored pencils
- Internet access for showing videos or animations
- Notebook and pencil for each student
- Warm-Up Activity:
- Begin with a simple question: “What do you know about the planets?
- Let the children share what they already know. Write down their responses on the board.
- Introduction to the Solar System:
- Explain that our solar system is a big family of planets, and they all orbit around the Sun.
- Show a picture or a model of the solar system to give a visual reference.
- Introduce the term “orbit” and explain it simply: “Orbit means the path each planet takes to go around the Sun.”
- Introducing the Planets:
- Show pictures or posters of each planet one by one, starting from the closest to the Sun.
- Use a catchy mnemonic to help them remember the order of the planets, such as: “My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Noodles” (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).
- For each planet, share a couple of interesting facts. Keep it simple and engaging.
- Activity – Create a Solar System Model:
- using colored paper and markers to draw and cut out each planet.
- Once the planets are ready, arrange them in order on a large sheet of paper or on a string to create a hanging mobile.
- Reflection:
- Review the order of the planets and their key features.
- Ask the children to share their favorite planet and why they like it.
- Encourage them to draw or write a short description of their favorite planet in their notebooks.
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I like the topic of the sun and shadows activity.
I would begin by giving the children torches in the darkened classroom to explore with light and shadows on the wall and on the desk. I have done this many times and the children love trying out hand shadows to explore with light and shadow.
Following on from this I would use a globe and a torch, getting one child to hold the torch and shine it on the globe at Ireland. I would then use the globe to show how the sun affects day and night and possibly in a future lesson showing how the earth also moves around the sun to show the long nights of winter and the bright days of summer.
I did a lesson a long time ago using the globe and a torch but had forgotten about it until this module. The children could then take turns turning the globe and shining the torch.
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Firstly, I would introduce the activity of the sun and shadows when we are doing time of day and routines in maths. We would discuss what we do in the morning, the afternoon, the evening and at night time/ Following this, we would discuss what these times look like outside – is there a moon in the sky or a sun in the sky? We would then briefly discuss what happens to the ground when the sun is out. After this I would introduce the Bear Shadow’s in the woods activiry from My Sky Tonight. Through this activity, the children experiment and discover that when the torch (sun) is low down, there are larger shadows cast, and when the torch is higher up the shadows are much smaller. I will demonstrate using the torch, the bears and the scene what the day would look like in shadows. The children will then be encouraged to look at their shadows outdoors at different times of the day in school and at home.
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As an infant teacher, I loved how accessible all the lessons in this module were. I could easily see myself using any one of them with my group of Junior and Senior infants. I know the Paxi video was for older children, but it would really appeal to my higher achievers too. However, my favourite lesson was the Earth mosaic. It is such a collaborative way of discovery about the curvature of the earth. Children already have an awareness of the structure particularly in the west of Ireland (grass, soil, rocks, and then theoretical magma). I can very easily see my pupils designing these pages and then discovering that they lay out into a circle. It is such a good representation of how the earth may appear flat from one point of view, but when you take it as a whole, it is curved. With the right materials (card, string, staples), you could even begin to build a giant mobile, that would begin to demonstrate the spherical nature of the earth!
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For a fun and interactive lesson on the sun and shadows for Senior Infants, you can start by reading a storybook about shadows and how they are formed. Then, take the students outside to observe their own shadows at different times of the day. Back in the classroom, introduce a shadow tracing activity where children can use flashlights and objects to create and trace different shadow shapes on paper. You can also have them create a “Shadow Journal” to record their observations and drawings of shadows throughout the day. To enhance the learning experience, incorporate digital resources such as a short video explaining how shadows are formed or interactive shadow games on educational websites. Websites like National Geographic Kids or Scoilnet often have engaging content related to science concepts like shadows. By combining hands-on activities, outdoor exploration, and digital resources, this lesson can provide a well-rounded learning experience for senior infant children to understand the sun and shadows concept.
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The activity I have chosen is the planets.
Introduction:
Introduce the topic of the planets to the children by asking them if they know any facts about our solar system/planets or if they can name any planets.
Create a KWL chart – filling in what we know already and what we would like to know, encouraging open ended questions etc, e.g which planet do we live on? what do we know about our planet?
Introduce the planets using The Planet Song and using StoryBots ‘Outter Space’ rap.
Activitiy:
Engage in a meaningful powerpoint, exploring each planet.
Discuss the similarities/differences between the planets eg. Our planet earth vs the moon.
Art activity: design a planet of your choosing (paper maché for more able students, playdough for juniors) can be completed in pairs/groups.
Conclusion:
The children can present their planet to the class and explain 3 facts about that planet.
Fill in the rest of KWL chart as a whole-class.
Further extension; Literacy – if you could design a planet what would it look like, who would live on it?
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The planet song has always been a great hit in my classroom. Last week I used the story bots to introduce our theme of space during our summer programme and the other teachers had never seen it before and were nearly bigger fans than the students! They are such an engaging way to teach difficult science!
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The activity set of ‘The Sun and Shadows’ is the set I have chosen to explore. I would begin the lesson by reading the story Martin Waddells book ‘Can’t You Sleep Little Bear’. This story explores how a little bear finds it hard to get to sleep because it is too dark. There is lots of scope here to explore the contrast between day and night/sun and shadows and explore why the cave is dark and to explore the oral language around the concept of sun and shadows. There are links with Aistear by making a bear cave and acting out the story to bring in drama. Also explore making shadows in the ‘cave’ with torches/’lanterns’. SPHE linkage with talking about feelings and feeling scared or worried, Music – singing ‘Going On A Bear Hunt’. Another great video resource I have used before is The YouTube read aloud ‘What Makes a Shadow’ is also a great resource to explore the idea of shadows and another great stimulus to open a lesson.
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Hi Sue,
I have binned the second occurrence of your post – the forum might have glitched and it duplicated.
The story you have chosen looks lovely, simple explanations and lovely drawings. I like the idea of looking for a shadow of an airplane – I think you’d have to be quite high up a hill with a very clear area of fields to be able to see it.
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Hi Sue,
I love the idea of using the picture book of Can’t you sleep, little bear as a stimulus to begin the lesson. Picture books are an excellent way of engaging children and opening the lesson for discussion. It also integrates very well with the primary language curriculum and critical literacy.
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An Activity set that I would explore in my classroom is the Sun and Shadows set as plenty of learning opportunities can be created using this set.
A focus that I could explore using this set is how shadows are formed. This focus could be explored using the curious minds/ESERO inquiry framework as outlined below
Engage:
Trigger- showing the children a video of shadows around the world
Wondering- I wonder how those shadows are created…I wonder what your shadows will look like… Why?
Exploring- The children would go outside to see if they can create shadows of themselves
Investigate:
Starter Question- how are shadows created?
Predict- the children would discuss how they might be able to create shadows and draw images to display their predictions
Conducting investigation- The children will stand in a position that allows them to create a shadow of themselves. They will draw eachothers shadows using chalk
Interpreting and showing results and data- I would facilitate a whole-class discussion on the position that the children had to stand in to find their shadows( back to the direction of the Sun).
Applying/making connection: shadow art in the yard
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I would choose the Activity set : The sun and shadows.
The children could start the lesson exploring their shadows on a sunny day and with a game of catch the shadow.
The children would then be given a torch and a toy animal to make shadows. They discover how to make their shadows bigger/smaller/fuzzy/clear. By moving the source of light what will happen the shadow? What colour is your shadow? Using different materials what creates the best shadow?
This lesson would then lead on to the children designing their own shadow puppet and making a short play in small groups.
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I have taught Senior Infants for the last couple of years and we have always enjoyed learning about the Planets and Solar System. I usually start with a brain storming activity to see what the children might know. This I would follow with a short video. From this I would introduce the song about the planets. after we would ask about what planets they can remember and a few facts about each planet. I would record on this information on the whiteboard and discuss.
We would the listen to the song again and add more information .
Now we would add a bit of movement and include the dance activity .
I often pause the lesson there for the day and will continue the next day recapping what they know and singing the song with movement again . we would then discuss how we could represent the planets. I have used large pieces of cardboard in various sizes and in groups asked the kids to create a planet. Having discussed sizes of planets the children would pick the correct piece of cardboard and proceed to paint and create a representation of the planet. Lots of materials are available to them to create the surface of each planet. At this stage I would let the children listen to the Song ‘The Solar System’ and this gives more details of how the planets look.
Finally the children will preform the song with their art work .
A really enjoyable and fun learning activity.
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Sun and ShadowsAn activity that I would like to explore in the classroom would be The Sun and Shadows as it is such a hands on activity and one the students could bring outside of the classroom, ie experiment with at home with their parents. As a homework assignment, can you trace your shodow when you get home from school and later again in the evening, discuss how it has changed.
In school it would be interesting to ask the students to trace your (teacher) shadow on the ground at 1pm in September (autumn) using paint, you could revisit the activity in Decemeber (winter) March (Spring) and June (summer). Question the students how has the shadow changed? Why has it changed? -
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Introducing an activity for 5 yer old in t he classroom can be fun and engaging so to spark curiosity in the children and foster their imagination. The following is how I would approach this lesson.
introduction: begin by discussing the moon with the children. I will show them pictures, videos, or books about the Moon and explain that it is a celestial body in space, the Earth’s only natural satellite.
Moon Walk: Set up a creative Moon Walk station where the children can experience walking on the Moons surface. I will create a simulated lunar landscape using cushions, foam maths. I will show them how to take small, slow steps mimiking an astronaut.
Lunar Art: Art supplies such as paper, paints, crayons and glitter will be used. T he children will create their own lunar landscapes. The class will chat about colours and shapes a need what they notice in pictures of the moon.
Dress-up: I will set up a pretend play area with astronaut costumes and props. The children will dress up and engage in imaginative play while pretending to be on the moon.
Moon Rock Exploration: the children will receive a rock each. They will touch and examine the rocks. The teacher will encourage the children to talk about the colour, feel and shape of the rock.
Moon books and songs: read age appropriate moon books and sing songs. The group will create a simple rhyme together about the moon.
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I am choosing the Planets activity set!
I love the idea of role-playing what conversation a penguin might have with a polar bear and the difference between where they live.
Show colourful pictures of the planets and discuss their vibrant colours and sizes.
Next, we will transform our classroom into a mini solar system. Using yarn or string to suspend balls or playdough planets from the ceiling, keeping them roughly spaced based on their distance from the sun (a big yellow beach ball!). Let the children decorate their planets with markers or glitter, personalizing their learning.
Create a fun song, chant, or mnemonic together to learn the order of the planets, starting closest to the sun: “Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, that’s how our solar system starts!”
Through stories and pictures, explore the unique features of each planet. Is one hot and fiery? Does another have giant rings? Encourage the children to draw pictures or write stories about their favourite planet.
By using hands-on activities, captivating visuals, and engaging songs, you’ll transform your classroom into a launching pad for a love of space exploration
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Dean,
I recommend Model Magic – it is a great material that makes beautiful, bright planets that are air drying. It is pricey, but a little goes a long way and the planets that can be created are gorgeous.
These are ones left over by children from workshops at BCO:
or you can go really big – like these ones I saw at a planetarium in Portugal
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Role-playing conversations between a penguin and a polar bear sounds like a fantastic way to highlight the differences in their habitats.
Showing colorful pictures of the planets and discussing their vibrant colors and sizes will surely captivate the children’s attention. Transforming the classroom into a mini solar system using yarn or string to suspend planets and letting the kids decorate them is a brilliant idea. It not only makes learning fun but also personalizes the experience.
Creating a song or mnemonic to remember the order of the planets is an excellent way to reinforce their names and positions. Exploring each planet’s unique features through stories and pictures will ignite the children’s imaginations, encouraging them to draw or write about their favorite planets.
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Using “The Sun and Shadows” activity set in my classroom presents an exciting opportunity to blend science and hands-on learning. Here’s how I’d implement it:
Introduction to Concepts: Firstly, I’d introduce the basic concepts of the sun’s movement, the earth’s rotation, and how shadows are formed. Using a globe and a flashlight, I’d demonstrate the earth’s rotation and how it causes day and night.
Outdoor Shadow Exploration: We’d then move outside for a practical exploration. Students would work in pairs to trace their shadows at different times of the day—morning, noon, and afternoon—marking the shadow positions with chalk. This hands-on activity not only illustrates how shadows change but also engages students in observational learning.
Data Collection and Analysis: Back in the classroom, students would record their findings in a shadow journal, noting the time of day and the length and direction of their shadows. They’d compare their data with their peers to identify patterns.
Discussion and Reflection: A class discussion would follow, where students share their observations and reflections on how and why shadows change throughout the day. This encourages critical thinking and verbal articulation of their understanding.
Integration with Technology: To enhance understanding, we’d use an app or software that simulates the sun’s movement and shadow formation, allowing students to manipulate variables like time and location to see the effects.
Cross-curricular Connections: I’d integrate this activity with art by having students create shadow art, tracing objects and then coloring them to understand how light and shadow affect perception. In language arts, students could write a reflective piece or a story about their shadow exploration experience.
Assessment and Feedback: Assessment would be through their shadow journals, participation in discussions, and the creative projects. Providing feedback would be crucial, focusing on their observation skills, data analysis, and ability to draw conclusions from their findings.
Conclusion: Reflecting on this activity, I’d note how it fosters a deep understanding of scientific principles through active participation and cross-curricular integration. The hands-on approach not only makes learning fun but also ensures that students grasp and retain the concepts effectively.
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Kevin,
do you reckon this is doable with a junior class? SESE Geography has learning statements about shadows and direction, but they are for 3rd/4th and 5th/6th.
3rd/4th: • investigate shadows, directions and sunlight
5th/6th investigate the relative lengths and directions of shadows and the intensity of sunlight at different times of the year
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Shadows
I would choose this activity for my Junior Infant class. I really liked the bear shadow lesson and could see how this would be engaging to a infant class.
Hook: Curiousity Cube with vaious items which will be used such as teddy, torch, book,
I would love to use this book: Moonbear’s Shadow to discuss shadows with children. I think having a bear would make it fun and interesting for them. I would try to do this activity when we would have some support (or even use some children from another older class to support) so that they could experiment using torches and looking at bears shadows.
Key questions are necessary to extend children’s learning open questions based on blooms taxonomy could be used.
Why is that shadow short/long? What would happen if you held it high or low? What if you switched bear with a dinosaur? What if you used two three bears?
What would it be like if you did this activity at different times of the day?
Could extend to looking at different objects.
I would also go outside and draw the children’s shadows at different points on a sunny day (with support to draw).
Would discuss outcomes with children and reasons about why that is the case.
Possibly do a shadow puppet and link around the book and make a shadow box.
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I would use the activity set ‘The sun and shadows’ in my classroom.
As shown in the activity set, I would use a flashlight (to represent the Sun), small objects (to create shadows), chalk, paper, and a sunny outdoor space. I would also use a storybook about a day in the life of a shadow to capture their interest and act as a prompt.
I would begin with the book about how shadows can be playful and change throughout the day. Next, we would move outside to observe our shadows in the morning sun. We would trace our shadows with chalk on the playground and marked their positions with their names.
Throughout the day, we would return to the playground and observe and trace their shadows again.
I would encourage questions such as why shadows change shape and why sometimes we can’t see them at all (cloudy days).
In the classroom we could create shadow puppets and use a flashlight to explore how moving the light source affected the size and shape of their puppet shadows just like the bear activity in the video.
I would also like to incorporate technology, such as time-lapse videos of shadows moving throughout the day, to provide a different perspective. Additionally, involving parents by having students observe and record shadows at home could extend the learning experience beyond the classroom.
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Hi Louise,
I like the idea of extending the learning beyond the classroom – as a parent I felt that my own children (2 sons) told me so little about school!
I have made shadow puppets with children – I used colouring pages from familiar nursery rhymes and asked them to make the shadow puppets and to re-tell the nursery rhyme. I allowed 45 minutes for this – and you need a lot longer!
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The activity that I have chosen to focus for this module is the Sun and Shadows.
There are many elements to the module which can be explored in many cross curricular areas. By teaching the children the song The Sun Song on YouTube, I’d introduce the basic concepts of the sun’s movement, the earth’s rotation, and how shadows are formed by travelling in straight lines using a globe and a flashlight.
we could progress on to making sundials outside on a sunny day, children will have to find a suitable sunny location, , marking the yard with coloured chalks to show each hour, children could take not of the length of the sticks shadow over time.
we could conclude by reading the book ‘What makes a Shadow’. The children could explore shadows in art by drawing silhouettes of on another. Other areas to explore the sun would be exploring how plants react without sun vs those with sun.-
Elaine, do you have a link to the Sun Song? my google brings up a few possibilities.
You have a nice sequence of activities, all we need is a sunny day.
I was so lucky the day that I made the sun dial video – it was a lovely day.
Peep has ideas for “What makes a shadow” – designed for US pre-schoolers, so suitable for our Infants.
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I like the idea of trying Activity set The Sun and shadows with my class. I would start by doing a little bit of work on day and night, sorting picture of the sky into day and night, and sorting activities into things you do in the day time and things you do in the night time. This also links nicely to the topic of time in Maths. I would then try and tease out any prior knowledge the children have about shadows with questioning. It would then be time for some exploring and investigating, using sorting bears and flash lights. Teacher can facilitate the children’s exploration of how ‘long, short, tall’ act the bears shadows are, depending on where they hold the flash lights. The children could trace the shadows on a page as an extension of this. This could also be extended (weather depending!) by going outside and tracing their own shadows in the sun with chalk. This could also be done at a different time the following day for comparison? I like the idea of using the bears and the flash lights though as it is not depending on sunny weather!n
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The activity I would explore in the junior classroom is the Sun & Shadows. I really enjoy outdoor lessons where the children can explore the environment and the world around them.
The learning outcomes would be to:
• discover that light travels in a straight line; obstacles placed in the way of the light cause it to change direction
• know how a shadow is formed
• discover that the length of the shadow changes if the position of the light source changes
• know that the shadow on Earth changes because the Earth moves
• discover that the position of the shadow changes if the position of the light source changesThe children would be paired up. One child would stand up with the sun shining down on them & their partner would have to trace their shadow. The other child would stand in a different area/direction and they would investigate if the shadows are similar or different and the reasons for this.
If it is not a sunny day this activity can be altered to the classroom, with a light source (torch) and different objects to put in the way to create shadows. The partner can trace the shadow on a piece of paper. The students can also change what direction and distance the light source is shining from, investigating if the shadow is affected by this. -
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I would choose the activity the sun and the shadows as I think it is an interesting and practical lesson.
We would engage in the book mood bear and his shadow as a class. Explore and question how shadows get bigger and smaller and what causes this. We would then use the challenge cards and pose more challenge to the children. Outside we would in the morning use the position of the sun to draw a childs shadow and come back later in the day and redraw to show how the childs shadow has moved due to the position of the sun. -
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The Trigger
Do you know the name of any planet? Let’s see how many we get out of the 8 we get. Then watch the below
*note we will listen and sing along and do action at the start of our planet themed lessons. Engage and have fun
Wondering & Exploring:
Re watch the video and assign each group to one of the 8 planets. Tell them they must listen out for your planets and record only the information from their assigned planet.
State some various facts they may have missed relevant to each group and see if they recognise it as been a fact about their planet.
Starter Question & Predicting:
Have a picture of each planet to give out to each of the 7 ‘planet’ groups (the 8th planet kept for next activity). Have a selection of art supplies / coloured paper mostly on the floor. Children must go up and choose what might reflect their planet best in an art exercise.
Conducting the Investigation:
During starter activities I purposefully left out an 8th planet. I will present the 8th planet and ask the children to tell me different facts about their planet.
Comparing
Creating and art display of all the planets made for comparison. This promoting conversation. Children must pair / group up with others who made a different planet. They must share information about their own planet especially including any information you think they may not know.
Interpreting Data/Results:
Create a display of 8 sections, each section headed with each planet. Children do not have to stick to their original planet group rather put up anything they know or have learned about any of the other planers too. Write facts, words, draw pictures of each planet
Applying Learning, Making Connections & Thoughtful Actions:
Design a space shuttle fact file and picture of a shuttle that could survive on a drive by / landing on one of our planets.
Or
By looking at display made teacher/class should be clearly be able to ascertain if one planets was more interesting or not. Ask the children why they think any particular planet was filled more than other.
Reflection:
Again class displays, drawings, fact files play an important role in reflection. Teacher observation and the all important feedback from students is always invaluable.
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Louise,
this is a lovely way to structure a Science & Art activity with the framework for inquiry. May I share it with teachers in the end of course sharing document that I make each year?
I think that Science & arts would make a great theme.
Previous docs are at the spaceweek.ie site:
Space Week for Junior Classes, Space Week for Junior Classes & Aistear, Whole Week Plans for Junior Classes.
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I would choose the Moon as my area of focus and it would allow me to talk about my time when I visited Cape Canaveral in Florida many years ago. I would start by showing a video clip of Neil Armstrong on the moon and elicit from the children what they know about the moon. We would complete a KWL grid on the board and come back to it at the end of the lesson. I would use The Man in the Moon lesson and distribute materials to allow the children to make their own representation of the moon. We would follow up with a drama activity where they would reenact the walk on the moon and do a Thought Tunnel to put themselves in Neil Armstrong and the other astronauts shoes before and after the moon exploration. We would also link study on the moon with the other planets to explore what other planets have moons and what role they play.
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Teaching young children about planets can be an exciting and engaging experience. At Junior Infants kids are naturally curious and love learning about the world around them. A simple and fun way I would use to introduce them to the planets would be:
1. Storytelling Approach: Start with a story about a space adventure. Introduce a friendly astronaut or a space animal who travels through the solar system, visiting each planet. This narrative helps children relate to the concept in a fun and imaginative way.
2. Visual Aids and Models: Use colourful pictures and models of the planets. Show them how each planet looks and discuss simple characteristics, such as “Mars is red” and “Jupiter is the biggest planet.” Visuals help in retaining their attention and making the learning experience enjoyable.
3. Hands-On Activities: Incorporate hands-on activities like making paper plate planets or using playdough to create the solar system. These activities enhance their understanding and make learning interactive.
4. Songs and Rhymes: Introduce songs or rhymes about the planets. Music is a great tool for memory retention at this age. Simple songs about the names and order of the planets can be very effective.
5. Interactive Games: End with a game where children match planet names to pictures or arrange them in the correct order from the sun. This reinforces what they’ve learned in a playful manner. -
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I have explored the planets with a junior infant class. The children always love learning about space. I love the story Whatever Next by Jill Murphy. There are also brilliant videos on YouTube to engage the children’s interest.
For Aistear, a space area is set up. The children in groups of 5 or 6 dress up as astronauts by putting on a space helmet and pretending to put on boots and space suit. They pack their freeze dried food made from play-doh and do the checks in the space shuttle before lift off. Each session, the children learn about a different planet of choice and watch pre downloaded video clips on iPads. The children then land the space craft safely and report back on the planet they have visited and there is some whole class discussion.
Towards the end of the lesson the children complete an Intergalactic passport and draw a picture of their favourite planet.
I really like the station ideas from another course participant of having other space related stations happening at the same time.-
Áine, you have a lovely plan to engage infants. And I’d reward the child who spots the exaggerated science in the story.
(https://www.ashlea.notts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Whatever-next.pdf)
HINT: the Moon is closer to the Earth than any star.
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I would choose an activity based around the topic of the planets: The Planets, journey through the solar system.
To introduce the activity, I would give the children a different planet labelled. I would ask them the name of the planet and to describe the planet. I would use a KWL chart to gather any previous knowledge they already have. I will then play the song ‘Family of the Sun’. The children will then order the planets in groups.
I will then introduce the ‘Planet Game’ using hoops spread around the room. The center hoop representing the sun. I will use this game telling the children they are space rockets and have them travel from one planet to the next by hopping, jumping, skipping. I will call out different places that they are familiar with and its only when I say the planets name can the children ‘land’ at the specific planet.
At the end of the game ask the children to name all the planets that they can remember and the reason the sun is in the middle, as all the others revolve around it. -
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In my classroom, I would use this activity across a number of lessons. Firstly, I would explore the sphere with the children and have them go on a maths hunt to search for spheres in the school and home environment. As an art lesson, we would create the earth using papier maché spheres. They would then paint this to look like the earth. Polar regions would be explored and videos about the Arctic and Antarctica would be shown to the pupils. Using small-world animals, the pupils would place a penguin and a polar bear in their correct region on their papier maché earth. They may also place a small figure on Ireland to represent themselves.
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I would choose an activity based on the topic of ‘The Moon.’ As mentioned in the module, I think it is a fantastic introduction to astronomy for children and this lesson would help them to understand its phases and appearance.
I would adapt the Esero lesson ‘The Man in the Moon’ for use in my class. I think it is a lovely, simple, concise lesson suitable for junior classes.I would begin reading the book ‘Moon Man’ by Tomi Ungerer and eliciting any information or facts the children already know about the moon. We would compile a KWL chart based on the information collected.
I would invite the children to make their own moon using a variety of materials. When finished, we would discuss each moon and why the children made it the way that they did, paying particular attention to the shape and colour.
I would explain that the moon is spherical in shape, and how from earth we can see the moon as a circle, or even a crescent, depending on the phase it is in – how it is positioned in relation to the sun. To further explain this, I would use a model globe with a sun lamp that I have in my classroom.
I would finish off the lesson by showing the children some visuals of the moon in its different phases
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I am choosing the Activity set ” Sun and shadows” for exploration.
Some lovely books and videos mentioned in the comments as starting points to introduce this topic to very young children, Sesame street , My furry little Shadow. “Day Monkey ,Night Monkey” by Julia Donaldson. ” What makes a shadow”. “Moon Bears Shadow” by Frank Ash. Also the book, “Cant you sleep little Bear”.
I would do this on a sunny day. An introductory story of “Moon Bears Shadow” to start the exploration.
At the end of the story have a discussion on what is a shadow, how do we get a shadow, explore how a shadow can be created with a torch and little bears.
Go outside and explore our shadows on the ground, make shadow shapes and shadow dances. Draw around shadows.
Discussion on where is the light coming from, what would it be like on a cloudy day, could we see shadows.? Can we see a shadow in the dark?
Finish by drawing “me and my shadow”
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Thanks for the book suggestions – I know they are valuable to other teachers.
Asking the children to discuss what a shadow is and then letting them have time to explore shadows is essential.
For very young children this would be enough – older children can check how shadows vary in the day and link that to the direction to the Sun.
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Activity set- The Sun and the shadows
Shadows in the school yard
Concepts-
-Light travels in straight lines
-shadows are areas of darknessGo outside in a sunny day. Talk and discussion about where the light comes from? What will your shadow look like?
Get them to stand with their back straight in the direction of the sun so they see the shape of the shadow forming on the ground.
Get them to describe it.
Questions:
Is it black or dark?Why?
Is it the exact shape of a person?
When can you see your shadow best of all?
Activity: Trace the outline of their shadow with chalk.
Play guess the animal shadow game- snake, rabbit, butterfly, spider etc -
Lesson: Day and night
objectives:
1: identify pictures as night or day,
2: Name things in the picture
3: Identify things we only see either at night or during the day.
identify the sun.4: Become aware that the sun give us light.
Trigger: We’re going to have a game. Look at the pictures and tell me if it’s day or night.
Children will say day or night as each picture is held up.
Next we will look at one day time picture and discuss what we can see in the picture. Is there anything in this picture that can be seen in other daytime pictures? Lead children to identifying the sun.
Repeat the activity first looking at one night time picture and naming everything they can see. Add a few more nighttime pictures and children should hopefully see the moon or stars in most pictures.. identify what is missing from the sky at night time – the sun.Play a game: Darken the room. Place a lamp at one wall and switch it on. Children and adults will look at a light when we say sun or show a sun picture and turn away from the sun when we say night or show a picture of the night.
Conclusion: Sing the Sun Song and turn towards or away from the light as appropriate.-
Lucy,
I like how you have planned to engage very young children with day and night and look at the observable features of day and night to start with.
You could add in Earth images that show the Earth during day and night – here is a lovely one from ESA
source: this tweet from ESA
You can get current images from Met Éireann here: https://www.met.ie/latest-reports/satellites/world-visible or direct from EUMETSAT here: https://www.eumetsat.int/real-time-imagery/earth-view
and a video from ESA is here:
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2013/12/From_night_to_day_to_night_again
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The activity set that I have chosen is ‘The sun and Shadows’. There is a wide variety of different ways that children can explore the sun and shadows.
· Class Discussion about the sun and what happens when you stand in the sunlight (KWL chart). Explain shadows.
· Go outside and see if there are any shadows outside. Can the children stand in an area where they can make their own shadow?
· Create a sundial activity which was included in Module 2. Watch the shadow move and change throughout the day.
· Integrate with Art – Shadow Drawing Activity. If it is sunny, this can be completed outside. If it is not sunny outside this can be done inside with a torch. Create a shadow pictures using toy animals and other classroom materials.
· Get children to create a shadow puppet using their hands and a flashlight. Work in groups with an IPad to create a simple story with their shadow puppets.
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I would choose the activity set on the topic of the Planets. I really like the Planets Song and I really like using a song as a stimulus for beginning a lesson. The children always love anything involving music and songs so this is a great way of getting them interested. The Planets – Journey through the Solar System lesson plan gives great ideas for teaching young children about the planets. The Planet game would work really well during PE and would give the children a good overview of the planets as they would need to listen out for names of actual planets. It would also remind them that the sun is in the middle of all the planets and that the planets move around the sun. Following on from the Planet game we would move onto the Planet Dance also done during the PE lesson. To finish off this lesson we would do the Planet spin which will reinforce to the children that all planets revolve around the sun on their own axes. This would be a great way of introducing the theme of the Planets and I would then look into the topic in more detail back in the classroom.
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I would choose the activity pack based on the moon.
Pupils are always fascinated by the moon, it’s so familiar to them yet so far away and magical. It is mentioned in so many stories, poems, rhymes, songs that could provide lovely prompts at the start of the lesson and provide lots of opportunities for integration. I have used Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Whatever Next by Jill Murphy in classes previously and they have worked really well.
I would explore background information on the moon, facts, figures, etc. first so that prior knowledge could be explored.
I would follow this with the Lunar Landscape experiment on craters which I think any class would really engage with. This could be done as a whole class or in groups. I think I would aim for groups as the different craters created by each group would provide super opportunities for comparing and contrasting the effects of different stones, the force of the throws, the distance from the target, the height from the target, etc.
Creation of a lunar landscape as an Art project would provide opportunities for creative expression as well as consolidation of the exploration of craters in the experiment, as the pupils would be considering how best to shape and mould their craters, thinking about the velocity of the matter that formed them and referring back to images of real craters.
Integration with Literacy, Art, Music, SPHE, Science would provide a really meaningful and impactful exploration of the moon which could take place over a month to tie in with a moon cycle.
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Valerie,
you have outlined a detailed series of activities, and named specific books – which I really appreciate.
I like how you have planned for gathering information at the start so that children do have concrete facts that they can incorporate into their understanding, and then you plan for active inquiry on what makes craters big or small etc.
Great stuff.
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I plan to use the planet’s activities in my classroom next year. I work with a child who has ASD and one of his interests is the planets. While I have taught the planets before. I have learnt so much during this module that would enhance and improve my teaching and the children’s learning.
The Plants is a great topic for stimulating STEAM teaching and learning in the curriculum. I really enjoyed the planet’s song from youtube and I think the children I work with would really enjoy it too. It also supports different types of learners and children who are more auditory learners.
I would use this one with older children from second class
I think this one is more suitable for infants
I employ KWL (Know, Want to know, Learned) charts with students at the start and conclusion of a topic. This approach allows me to assess their existing knowledge, identify misconceptions, and discover their genuine interests. Additionally, it serves as a valuable assessment tool to track their progress and guide my planning.”
I would ask the children to work in groups with a picture of the solar system to talk and discuss some of the following questions depending on their age and ability/level of understanding
What is the name of the planet we live on?
Do you think that we are the only planet?
What are the names of any other planets you know?
If you discovered a planet what would you name it?
What do you think a planet needs to have for humans to live on it?
Why do you think each of the other planets are not as good as earth for living on ? (Make a list for each planet)
If you have to live on another planet which one would it be and why (give at least two reasons)?
In the past, I’ve achieved great results by creating models of planets with children in first and second class. I organise the children into groups, assigning each group a specific planet. Providing them with pictures and relevant details, I guide them in using balloons or sphere-shaped styrofoam (which can be obtained from Mr. Price) and Papier Mache to construct their planets. They then get creative, using various materials like plastic, marla, paint, fabric, and recycled items to craft the planet’s surface. Once each group completes their model, I hang them from the ceiling, ensuring they’re arranged in order and measuring the distance between each one.To finish off the topic of the planets I would go back to the questions we had at the start of the topic and complete the KWL chart section ‘what I have learnt’.
Some of the support materials and videos on youtube could be watched during wet play days to enhance the children’s understanding and interest in the planets.
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Set: The Moon
I would do the following activities over the period of a month so the children are able to observe and record all phases of the moon.
Introduction activity:
In Space copy draw how they think the moon looks like.
Introductory video to the moon and the phases of the moon – Paxi & Our Moon.
Every week in their Space copy the children record the phases of the moon and 2 or 3 boys do a show and tell for each phase of their drawing – first hand experiences.
In their table groups children are given pictures of the phases of the moon to discuss and identify which phase it is. Each group can come in front and discuss their moon phase.
After a full cycle- fine motor stations to revise phases of the moon.
Station 1 – Oreo phases of the moon activity.
Station 2 – puzzle phases of the moon put together.
Station 3 – Whiteboard/Chalk drawing phases of the moon.
Station 4 – playdoh phases of the moon.
Art Activities after teaching moon appearance and craters : paper mache balloon art moon construction.
Second hand experience photos of craters and first hand experience drop ball in flour.
Draw appearance of moon in Space copy.
Next week set of lessons: multicultural- discuss and show how the moon is portrayed in different cultures through popular myths and fairytales.
Lead to drama- each table group takes a fairytale or myth and recreates it.
English & Art- children individually or in pairs create their own moon related fairytale – show and tell.
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Naomi,
I love your cultural connections to the Moon and to their own story. UNAWE resources will support you in that, since the children may or may not have stories from their own homes/backgrounds.
There is a map of the Moon at AstroEDU.
https://astroedui18n-live-f4d80dfc7ba44a6283e91-64c3f57.divio-media.com/documents/moon_en.pdf
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Activity Set: The Planets
I would definitely utilize all the activities in this module in my classroom. I especially loved the planet song: Family of the Sun, which I had never come across before, for infants. I would use this activity to introduce a unit of work on the planets. It depicts the solar system as a family which the children would all relate to and connect back to themselves; and definitely trigger their interest in the topic. The song is so catchy and easy to listen to and learn and teaches them facts about each planet in a clear and fun way. The video is lovely too and would fascinate the children and make them feel like astronauts floating through space exploring each planet. I think they would find the mention of Pluto very funny as this has been a big topic my classes always mention in recent years when we first start investigating Space; that Pluto was “kicked out” of the solar system. I think the song would have numerous cross curricular links with possibilities for Drama / Musical performance, Art, P.E., Maths and Literacy activities and endless prompts for Aistear. -
Module Two
Activity set: The planets
I would introduce the planets to the pupils but playing the Planet Family Song on Youtube. This is a great resource. The song is catchy and perfect for younger classes. We will make a list of what we have discovered about each planet for the song. We will then add to the list, by discussing if we know any other planet facts. This can be displayed on a board and children can add to the fact list. Parents can also be linked in with the song on our class blog.
We will then design a giant solar system for our class using playdoh and a large white chart. Children in groups of three will be tasked to design a planet each. What colour playdoh to use, what do we know about this planet.
This can then be displayed on a notice board and we can discuss when planet is nearest the sun etc? We can invite other classes to visit our classroom solar system and think of interesting questions to ask on the solar system we have created. -
The activity set I would like to use is The Planets. I feel this would be a good starting basis for an infant class to learn the names of the planets in our solar system. I would start with discussing the name of the town we live in etc and discuss the planet Earth. I would introduce the names of the planets with visuals. We would then discuss the Sun and the fact that all the planets revolve around the sun. I really like the planets game as it is active and the children would love to pretend they are space rockets. I would then follow up with Planet Dance and Planet Spin. Planet Dance has the added bonus of working on language such as behind, beside, in front of etc. I like the suggestion of doing this lesson in the hall as it will allow for plenty of space for the hoops and for the movement required. I would then take it back to the classroom where I would play a video which gives a little extra information about each of the planets.
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I will focus on the lesson Sun and Shadows here.
I would introduce the concept of shadows using a torch and toys for the children to see shadows forming and illicit from them that light is needed for this to happen.
Then I would split the class into two smaller groups with an adult to each group to explore two activities based on shadows in greater detail. The first activity would be the activity based on the bear’s shadow using the pond scene, toy bear and a torch…the children would explore how to manipulate the bear’s shadow using the torch and come to conclusions based on their findings.
The second activity would involve the children going outside to a sunny part of the yard and standing in a particular spot and an adult to draw around their shadow with chalk. This area of the yard would be revisited later on in the day and the child’s shadow would be drawn around again and this would illicit discussion around why the child’s shadow has moved.
As a whole class the children will then discuss their findings and we will draw conclusions around these findings.
To extend this lesson we could talk about UV light and sun safety and this would tie in nicely with SPHE.
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Barbara,
I like that you have realistically assigned adults to support the young children. The example from the module was of an informal learning environment where bear’s shadow could be explored by one child at a time. Planning to have a darkened room with lots of children doing shadow work … well, best to split and have fewer.
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In senior infants I have looked at ‘the sun and shadows. Looking at the strand of ‘Light’. I discussed the differences between night and day and how the sun plays a role in creating light and shade and explore how shadows are formed.
This can be done through stations in the class and outside of the classroom environment.
Drama- create shadow puppets and act out using flashlights against a white wall or paper. Children can use hands to create shapes, animals, fingers to represent numbers or have puppets such as lollipop sticks with animals on them creating the shadow shape.
Art – draw out shadows using chalk. Children partner up in pairs or small groups and draw around one of their friends’ shadows. They can then add detail linking to parts of the body e.g. facial features- eyes, nose eyebrows mouth, ears etc.
Shadow matching- you can use a variety of objects to match with the shadow pictures e.g. animals, letters, numbers, shapes, fruit etc. Challenge further by doing visual perception games where children must guess the object based on the shadow.
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I would teach about the planets in my class, I would start by introducing the concept of the solar system and the planets that orbit the sun, I would pay close attention to the vocabulary here and make sure to highlight the new vocabulary and make sure that there is an understanding of new words such as orbit, solar etc.
I would introduce the planet song to my pupils I would encourage them to listen and follow with the lyrics. Next I would use visual aids such as posters and powerpoints of the solar system to help the pupils visualise the order of the planets in relation to the sun. I would play games and play the Planet Game all the while asking the pupils about which names they remember. I would use the planet song to encourage the pupils to remember the names of the planets, I like to do this sort of activity in small groups, then larger groups, all together and individually. I would use mnemonics to help the pupils to memorize the planets, I would keep the mnemonics simple so I would use something like this “My Very Eager Mother Just Sent Us Nuts.
Following on from the lesson I would conduct an assessment to see the effects of the lesson and to gauge the learning that has taken place, also to inform me on my next steps in relation to this topic.
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I would choose the lesson about the sun and shadows. I have taught this lesson many times before but I find it such a real and engaging way to learn about shadows. Children form their own ideas about what shadows are so it’s interesting for them to go outside and rest their theories. We would previously have been learning about the sun so I would begin with questioning the children and trying to get them to draw on their prior knowledge. I would bring them outside and discuss where the light is coming from. We would observe our shadows, trace them with chalk and then I would bring the children back together to discuss our findings. I would put new questions to them such as are all shadows the same size? What would happen on a cloudy day etc. We could bring other items from the classroom to test their shadows such as a school bag, football etc. Back in the classroom I would give the children the worksheet that accompanies this lesson, where they must predict the shadows that would form for certain objects in order to check for understanding and consolidate the learning. Over the course of the next week I would complete further investigations such ad using torches to investigate shadows and I would bring the children out on a cloudy day to see if we observe shadows. I would incorporate some songs and stories about the moon to supplement our learning.
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To begin the lesson discuss some interesting facts about the Moon:
• The Moon can be seen from anywhere.
• The Moon continuously changes shape. In all cultures, the moon has played a very important role in the dividing the time into months. Each lunar cycle takes about one month.
• The Moon is multi-cultural: on and around the Moon, all people of Earth have immortalised characters of their culture through fairy tales and myths. Lots of cultures celebrate the moon. Discuss some of these cultures.
I like the activity: Make your own Moon.
Make sure you have enough paint, coloured craft sheets, spheres, glue, and scissors for each group. Engage the children’s interest in the Moon by showing them a white paper circle. Ask the children if it looks like the real Moon. Now show them the crescent-shaped white paper. Explain to the children that they are going to find out what the Moon looks like, and why it is that some people say they can see shapes like people on the Moon. Ask them why they made their Moon the way they did. Pay particular attention to the colour and the shape. Ask them if the Moon really looks like that. Explain that the Moon is really a sphere. From the Earth we can only see one side of the Moon at a time, which is why it looks flat. Sometimes we see the Moon as a circle, and sometimes as a crescent.
Read book: “Man on the Moon” by Simon Batram.-
What a lovely silly book
Nice to link the facts that the children may know about the Moon to the picture book.
– they could wonder if the Moon always looks full?
– they could wonder if there are tourist rockets to the Moon? (not yet, but soon!)
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Module 2 assignment
The activity I would use in my classroom would be the activity set on the planets.
My reasoning for this is based on the following factors
1. I would question them at the beginning of the lesson and find out how much they already know about the planets and what they would like to find out.
2. I teach infants and they learn through song. The Planets Song (ESERO 1) would support their learning as it is engaging and fact-based.
3. They would listen to ‘We are the Planets’ (The Solar System Song) and they would discuss what information they learned in that song.
4. We would compare the two songs at the end of the lesson and discuss new words/information they learned in each song.
5. The children would consolidate their learning by working in groups to make balloon prints of the different planets using different colours, sizes etc. -
I would chose to carry out the ‘Sun and Shadow’s’ set activity with my Junior infants. To engage all children in the lesson at hand I would show the children a picture/video of the sun and ask them open-ended questions on what they see etc., In groups the children will discuss all they know about the sun/shadows to elicit their prior knowledge. To carry out this inquiry based activity the class teacher would need to ensure that it is a bright/sunny day. Before setting outside to be a scientist I would show the children some chalk and would question the children as to what we might be carrying out or why we are using chalk etc., (posing some curiosity within the classroom). Children would work in mixed ability groups (all children having a job/role within the group i.e. observer, scribe, materials manager etc., Each group will create different shadows (fun/silly movements etc.,) because of the suns facing and they will trace around these shadows with some chalk. Depending on the class, I would model what I would like the children to carry out or I would let the children explore for themselves the sun/shadows whatever way they wish. Whilst the children are carrying out their investigation I will facilitate their learning by asking open-ended questions etc., By the end of the activity as a group we will reflect on our learning by consolidating through oral discussion or by creating a drawing in our math/visual art lesson of what shadows and shapes we came up with in our groups.
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The Lesson that I would teach is The Spherical Earth.
Similar to other contributors of this forum I would introduce a Globe to the children accompanied by props of a Polar Bear and a Penguin on opposite Poles.
I would pose the question ” Which of this 2 animals are upside down?”
I would then procede to turn the globe to demonstate that neither of the animals are upside down, despite it appearing as if they were.
I would use the Earth Mosaic to further develop the lesson.
To conclude I would use Google Earth on both the Interactive white board and on the pupil’s tablets to offer them an oppertunity to explore the structure of the earth.
An additional resource I would use is a map of the world. By manipulating the Map and attaching the left and right side of the map together you can demonstrate that the map is actually connected on both sides.
The key objective of this lesson is to challenge an misconceptions held by the children so that they can develop an understanding that the Earth is a spherical object.
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Planets Journey through the solar system.
Activity SET The Planet
I think this lesson is excellent for reinforcing content learnt in the classroom. I would use this lesson in a junior classroom. The learning objectives are very clear
1.Know/recognise the names of the eight planets
2. Know that the planets revolve around the Sun and that the Sun gives light
3. Differentiate between in front, behind, above, below, left and right
4. Be given opportunities to listen, understand and respond
Begin by showing the children a model of the planets.I will ask children to draw what they see and then in partners speak to each other about what they are drawing.
We can then create class KWL chart to direct what we want to learn.
We will then focous on the planet song. The planet song is an great teaching resource. As again you can appeal to all learning types.
Following this we will move to they school hall. Through the active learning of the lesson. It is very easy for the teacher to assess pupils achievements. This lesson will keep pupils active and engaged and learning through play.
To conclude the lesson the we will watch story bots and return to the KWL chart.
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The activity set that I will be focusing on going forward will definitely be the Moon. Although we do lots of work on the planets, I find that we don’t spend enough time on the moon. I love the ideas of creating a man on the moon and using lots of different materials. It makes so much sense seeing as it is the first element of space that children are exposed to.
One activity that my class particularly enjoyed to realise the grand scale of space was to get some playdough and divide it into 51 parts. They then, in pairs, put them in two groups, one to represent the moon and the other to represent the earth. It is interesting to see their different understandings on the size difference.
The actual ratio is 50:1I absolutely love these activity! Particularly the planet game where they run around and land on the hoops when they hear a planet name. I find, especially with the smaller ones, they find it hard to remember the names and as we know, repetition is key! https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/01_The-planets.pdf
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Clodagh,
we’ve used the make the Moon and the Earth from playdoh for years — often with older children. It is really interesting to see them trying to work out how to divide the playdoh evenly. If they don’t start to figure it out, I suggest rolling a cylinder and then using a ruler to measure the length and to cut off the smallest amount.
Very open maths activity.
I adapted it from here: https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/classroom/scales.shtml
which also has the whole solar system to scale.
The mind blower for most children (and their teachers) is putting the scale Earth-Moon to the correct distance apart (at the same scale). Most have the Moon very close to the Earth – usually no more than 3 Earth diameter’s away, so when they are told it is 30 Earth diameter’s away there really is some head scratching.
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Teaching the plants:
1. Introduce the 8 planets to the children. Sharing picture and fun facts with the children. The children will have an opportunity to share their prior knowledge regarding the planets. They will also have an opportunity to ask questions they may have about the planets.
2. Planet Passports: The children create passports for each planet with fun facts and pictures of the planet.
3. Then the children will ‘travel’ to each planet (stations in the classroom). When the children are at each station they will learn about the planets size, atmosphere, and unique features. While the children are at each station they can write down questions that they many have about the planet. This will create inquiry based questions that can be explored in another science lesson based on space.
4. Planet Matching Game: The children must match the planet with the fun fact about each planet. This will identify any issues or areas the need to be further explored.
5. Planet song to reinforce the children’s learning of the 8 planets.
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Padraig,
you have described a detailed Engage set of activities for children around the theme of the solar system. Children should be encouraged to share what they know and to pose simple questions around what they would like to know more about.
The formation of the solar system is an area of science that still has lots of research going on. What I find interesting is that astronomy is such an observational science -we have to look and see, then try to work out why it is the way we see it, then make predictions that fit within that theory and then go looking for evidence of that prediction.
Here are 18 unanswered questions about the solar system.
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Module 2 assignment
The Activity set I would choose is The Planets. (Senior Infants)
Trigger activity -A good starting point would be sitting in a circle – passing a picture around of all the planets. What do they know about the planets, can they name any? Do they know any planet facts? They might know the smallest planet, the largest planet, the hottest planet etc.
Song – I have used The Planets Song from StoryBots and also this The Solar System Song, beloved of any class I have taught. It gives little facts about each planets too.
The Solar System Song – Kids TV123
Playful active planet game – placing hoola hoops around the hall. The only yellow one is the sun. Others are the planets. Children run/walk around the hall. Teacher can call out random words but when teacher names a planet, jump in a hoop, but not the sun! At the end of the game, can the children remember any of the names of the planets the teacher called out.
Playful Solar System activity – To understand the size of the planets and their distance from the sun. This is a model made on the floor or desks in the classroom.
Place a large Beachball on the floor – Yellow if possible – This is the sun.
Now, measure the distances below and with a tape measure and lay out the solar system!
Mercury ….peppercorn….4cm (from the sun/ beachball)
Venus…pea…. 8cm
Earth …pea…..8cm
Mars….pea…..11cm
Jupiter…..Orange ….61cm
Saturn……Tomato….98cm
Uranus…..Walnut…..198cm
Neptune….Walnut……310cm
I did this with a senior infant class a few years ago, to great success. The size of Jupiter, the distance that Neptune is away from the sun etc. astonished the children. The distances serve as representation, I don’t claim the are in exact proportions!!! It was a fun, hands on activity.
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Topic – The Moon
I would sit the children in a circle and send a feely bag around the group. Inside the bag would be a replica of the moon. The children must feel what is inside and describe what they think it could be. We would listen to one another and record similar thoughts or ideas.
I would then get the children to close their eyes and listen in order to receive their second clue. I would then play the moon landing sound only.
After this we would come to the conclusion that perhaps it is a moon inside the feely bag. I would be remove it and we would discuss what we have learned about its appearance e.g. its spherical shape and crater indents etc.
We would then use little tubs of flour and different size ping pong balls to create our own crater forms and explore how they differ in size.
Finally using clay we would roll them into spheres, and push spherical smaller items into them to create craters. Once dry we would paint and display.
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Hi Katie- Jo,
I really like your ideas for this activity. I’m working in SEN and most of these activities that you mentioned are sensory based which a lot of my children benefit from – tactile with the feely bag, auditory with the music, then tactile again with the flour & clay, proprioceptive with the pushing into clay to make craters. Presenting them to their classmates when they’re painted & dry is something else they would enjoy doing as well.
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Topic-Planets.
To introduce students to the planets in our solar system and to develop their creativity and motor skills through hands-on activities.Start with a simple discussion about what the sky looks like at night. Ask questions like, “Have you ever seen the moon? Do you know what a planet is? Can you name any planets?” Using our classroom globe to explain that earth is a planet, like the other planets in our solar system and we live on it. Show them the planet song on youtube, that names each planet and gives them a fact about each one. Every year the children seem to love this song https://youtu.be/mQrlgH97v94?si=zb88ECHUB9JaIESa.
Main Activity: To create a Solar System Mobile.
Demonstrate to the class how to create the mobile and then in small groups, help the children assemble a solar system mobile. Children use a large piece of cardboard or a paper plate as the base. Attach strings to hang the planets that they painted and cut out in their relative positions around the “sun” (a larger yellow painted circle). After creating their mobile children can discuss the order of the planets from the sun and their relative sizes and if they can remember any facts about any of the planets. -
I would start by engaging the students with a hands-on activity. I would begin by discussing what the sun is and how it provides us with light and warmth. I would then introduce the concept of shadows by asking the students to stand in the sunlight and observe how their bodies cast a shadow on the ground.
Next, I would lead the students in a simple experiment where we use a flashlight to create shadows on a blank wall. I would ask the students to take turns moving closer and farther away from the wall to see how the size and shape of their shadows change. This would help them understand that shadows are created when an object blocks the light from the sun or a light source.
After the experiment, we would discuss how shadows can change throughout the day as the position of the sun in the sky changes. We would also talk about how different objects can create different types of shadows, such as tall objects creating long shadows and round objects creating round shadows.
To reinforce the concept, I would provide the students with materials to create their own shadow puppets. They could use these puppets to create shadow plays and experiment with how moving the puppets closer to or farther away from the light changes the size and shape of their shadows.
I would conclude the lesson by reviewing what we have learned about the sun and shadows, reinforcing the idea that shadows are created when light is blocked by an object. The students would leave the lesson with a better understanding of how shadows are formed and how they can change throughout the day.
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The Sun: Make a sundial:
Learning outcomes:
• know that you can tell the time using a sundial
• tell the time using the Sun
• discover that long ago it was much more difficult to tell the time than it is today end product • a small sundial indoors
• a large sundial outdoorsPreparation For the activity The large sundial you will need a playing field that is in sunlight most of the day. What time is it? 5 min. Ask if any of the children is wearing a watch. Why is it handy to have a watch? Explain that 600 years ago nobody had a watch. Ask how the people back then knew what time it was. Before the mechanical clock was invented, people sometimes used the sun to tell the time. They did this using a sundial. Have any children ever seen a sundial? Do they know how it works? Explain that a sundial has a stick or pointer that makes a shadow. This is called the gnomon. It is important that in the Northern hemisphere the gnomon always points North, or you will not be able to read the sundial. Explain that the Earth turns on its axis. This means that the position of the Sun with regard to the Earth is always changing. If necessary demonstrate this using a torch and an orange. Explain that the shadow of an object also changes as the Earth rotates. The sundial uses this fact. By looking at the position of the shadow of the gnomon on the sundial, you can tell what time it is. The children make two sundials
The large sundial:. Make a large sundial with the children. Take the children outside to a location where the sun shines most of the day. Mark the direction of North, using a compass if necessary. Stand the large protractor upright on its long side in the grass. Use it to measure the correct angle to the ground, as described above. Stick the stick firmly in the ground at the chosen angle, facing North. See the picture for how this should be done. Every hour the children place a large stone on the ground where the shadow of the stick falls. One of the children uses the marker pen to write the number of the hour on the stone. You can use the smaller stones to mark the quarter and half hours. If you don’t want to take the children outside every hour, you can just place two stone markers, one in the morning for example at 9.00) and one in the afternoon (for example at 14.00). Of course your sundial will be less accurate. To finish the sundial, the rest of the day after school-time needs to be divided using the stones. In the example shown here, five hours have passed and so the time in between needs to be divided into five. Encourage the children to write the numbers of the hours on the stones and place them in the correct position. The next day, take the children outside to see if they can read what time it is. How accurate is their sundial? The children then make their own sundials at home as part of home/school links. Encourage the children to share their sundials on see-saw.
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Activity Set: The Sun and Shadows
I would use the activity in my senior infant classroom in the following way:
Materials:
• Flashlight (to represent the Sun)
• Small toys or objects (to create shadows)
• White paper
• Markers or crayons
• Outdoor space for observation
• Clock
Introduction:
1. Begin with a brief discussion about the Sun. Ask questions like “What is the Sun?” and “What do you think it does?”
2. Explain that the Sun gives us light and helps us see during the day.
3. Introduce the concept of shadows by showing a simple shadow puppet using your hand and a flashlight.
Activity 1: Indoor Shadow Exploration:
1. Pair students and give each pair a flashlight and a small toy.
2. Turn off the classroom lights and have students use the flashlight to create shadows of their toys on the wall or paper.
3. Encourage them to move the flashlight around to see how the shadows change.
4. Discuss their observations: How do the shadows change when the light moves?
Activity 2: Outdoor Shadow Observation:
1. Take the students outside with white paper and markers.
2. Have them place an object on the paper and trace its shadow.
3. Note the time and position of the Sun.
4. Return to the same spot later in the day to trace the shadow again.
5. Discuss how the shadow has moved and changed size. Why do they think this happens?
Conclusion and Discussion:
1. Return to the classroom and gather students for a discussion.
2. Ask them what they noticed about the shadows outside.
3. Explain that as the Sun moves across the sky, our shadows move and change size.
4. Reinforce the concept by summarizing how shadows are longer in the morning and evening and shorter at midday when the Sun is directly overhead.
Assessment:
• Observe students during activities for engagement and understanding.
• Review their drawings and shadow tracings to ensure they grasp the concept of changing shadows. -
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Module 2
The activity I think I would choose would be The Sun & Shadows. I like the way this activity was carried out in the video – start with a discussion to ascertain what the children already know about shadows and how they are created. Follow with story, Moonbear’s Shadow by Frank Ashe. As the educator showed I would draw the children attention to size of shadow, position of sun etc in the pictures. After reading and discussing story I would have children make models of Moonbear, fish & pond. When this is complete children will experiment using a torch as the sun and create shadows with Moonbear. We will then go out onto yard at intervals during the day when it is sunny and observe our shadows, position of sun etc. Children can record what they have learned about shadows thro simple sentences and pictures.
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I would choose the activity set about the Sun and Shadows.
I would begin by asking questions to gauge children’s prior knowledge and understanding about the Sun, “What do you wonder about the Sun?”, “What do you think it’s made of?” etc. I would read a book about the Sun, such as “The Sun is my Favourite Star” by Frank Asch.
I really liked the Sun’s Energy activity. I would start with a discussion about the sun’s light and its benefits, introduce the idea of ultraviolet light and how it can cause sunburn so we need to protect ourselves. I think the role-play of a day out at the beach etc would really engage the children and would get them brainstorming ways to protect themselves from ultraviolet light, eg wear hats, sunglasses, sunscreen. Making UV bead bracelets would also reinforce their learning about UV light as children can see the beads change from white when indoors, to rainbow colours when outside.
I would finish the lesson by discussing what we now know about the Sun to reinforce their learning. -
Here are some learning stations focused on the topic: The Moon
1. Reading Station:
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown,
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle,
Moonbear’s Shadow by Frank Asch.
Man on the Moon by Simon Bartram
The Darkest Dak by Chris Hadfield
Someone on this forum also reminded me of the book Whatever Next by Jill Murphy
I would also add some non fiction books to the library.
2. Gravity Experiment: Provide small balls and a ramp to show how gravity affects objects differently. Explain that gravity on the moon is weaker than on Earth. –
3. Sensory Station: Moon Sand:Create “moon sand” using flour and baby oil.
4. Dramatic Play Station-Astronaut Dress-Up
5. Technology Station- Bee Bots, I saw this mentioned in Module 1 forum, printed map of the moon- get to the crator, get to the moon buggy, get to the rocket etc. Programme the Bee Bots
6. Music and Movement Station:Teach and sing songs about the moon. ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’, ‘The Man in The Moon; The Use instruments for a musical experience. Play space-themed music and let children pretend to be astronauts moving in low gravity.
I would also encourage children to record their observations of the moon over a week and we could record this. It would also open up discussions about the weather.
These stations will allow children to explore various aspects of the moon through hands-on activities, fostering a deeper understanding and curiosity about space.
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Activity: The Spherical Earth
This activity is very effective in the explanation of the earth being a sphere as it is a tricky concept to teach and to come to understand, especially for young learners. I would use this as an entry point to the teaching of Space as I believe it is an important concept for children to explore and begin to understand. It is clear, from working with young children that they do see the Earth as having an ‘up’ and a ‘down’ and they wonder how people and buildings stay upright if they are ‘upside down’ on the globe. I would use the activity with the polar bear on the North Pole and the penguin on the South Pole. I would show the globe to the children and do a roleplay between the polar bear and penguin displaying how either one thinks the other is upside down, but in reality it’s how they perceive one another. While I appreciate this is a tricky concept to grasp at a young age I would definitely use the earth mosaic template for the children to draw a landscape above the dotted line and below it the seabed or rocks. When the mosaics are arranged in a circle the children can stand in various positions and notice that there is no real ‘up’ and ‘down’ when they search for it because depending on where they are looking from the pictures are positioned differently. This is a really interesting way to explore the spherical earth that I am excited to put into practice soon.
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Jill – I was chatting to an adult the other day, who on hearing that I worked at Blackrock Castle Observatory wanted to ask me about up and down in space. I tried to explain that down was just gravity – but I’m not sure he really believed me.
I think children do understand that the world is a ball – but have difficulty in thinking of the picture as a model of the world – and will draw the “down arrow” on a picture as if the world picture is just a picture.
You can check the understanding of your own classes with this nice image from the ESA ISS Primary Kit.
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Denise,
Night Sky Network has activities with suggested scripts (written out, with participant responses) and videos of their simple activities in action, I think they are great, and they always add a new twist to something that I sort of know.
Main site search page: https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-search.cfm
Example activities:
Really worth poking around this site for supports.
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Activity Set: Sun and Shadows.
Two interactive activities I would try do with my class would be:
• Shadow Tracing
Go outside and stand in the sun. Have someone else trace your shadow with chalk. Make a silly pose and trace it. Trace two shadows and make it look like they are holding hands. Colour in the shadows with chalk or make your own chalk paint to turn the shadows into shadow art on cement.
• Human Sundial
A fun shadow experiment is to make a sundial or make a human sundial! Go outside and stand in the same spot during different times of the day. Stand in that spot and trace your shadow in the morning. -
Topic the Moon
Usually Do this topic in November in aistear learning lots of fascinating facts about Space before we went into our Aistear Stations – so interesting and lots of fun and laughter
We say this poem in our morning meeting daily and by the end of the month they children can quote wee lines back —The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson – love the line
The moon has a face like the clock in the hall; leads us into theme of time and sequencing our day
In literacy we use the poem to work on rhyming words and also pick a word like moon and discuss “oo” soundWe watch the first moon landing on the interactive white board and the children dress up like astronauts and jump on the trampoline to try and imagine how you move in space / go to the toilet / brush their hair and teeth write and eat – great for developing motor skills- we even do a moon dance like neil and buzz and we get some great dance moves
In Role Play area we had the opportunity to take on the role of an astronaut in The Space Ship.We made space ships from Lego and we drew what we think them looks like and during shared writing we wrote our own MOON poem- Using play dough we designed our own moon and astronauts and space shipsAn intriguing interesting topic with lots of cross curricular learning
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Thanks for sharing that lovely poem Eleanor.
I must admit, poetry has never really been my thing! (another teacher once told me that was because I was never properly taught it!) but I do like this poem. I need to work more on poetry I guess.
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Activity: The Sun and the Shadows
The Human Sun Dial:
Ensure you have sufficient time to visit the school yard three times without other classes there. Pair up students- shadow maker and shadow finder.
Start in the morning- Prior to the lesson draw out enough boxes for the shadow makers to stand in with their names.
Using the chalk, have the Shadow Finder outline the shadow of the Shadow Maker. Write the time of day it was made.
Repeat the shadow tracing at least twice more it is important that all your data iis recorded n a notebook.
The same can be done within the classroom using a small object. again using a sticker, place the object on the sticker . three times during the day mark where the shadow of the object is. Post experiment, speak with students and ask them is their a pattern. Ask them what they think would happen tomorrow if they did the same experiment.
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Ciara,
I’d start by drawing the attention of the children to the time of day that the Sun shines into their classroom. It is such a simple thing, but when I ask children which way their classroom faces, they seem to have no idea that sunshine is linked to time of day.
Garden and house designers always use the orientation towards the Sun when planning, and for houses to have solar panels, a south facing roof is preferred.
Once they have realised that the Sun is clearly moving across the sky with time, they can refine their understanding by making a sundial.
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Hi Ciara
Hi Ciara
I loved the approach you used here.
Children do not /perhaps cannot link the sun to the time of day so starting with them in the classroom will certainly peak their interest.
Then moving onto the sun house is a great point give the need for sunlight in growing plants.
Our school is installing some solar panels at the moment so that’s ideal for observing and noticing and seeing the reason why.
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I chose the sun and shadows.
For this activity I would use the Sun Book developed by Dr Maeve Liston of Mary Immaculate College, specifically the activity ‘Activity: Comparing Distances Away from and Sizes of the Earth, Moon and Sun’. I would begin with a discussion on common misconceptions about the sun, such as its size, distance from Earth, and role in the solar system. I would use questions to engage students and clarify misconceptions: “Which one is larger, the Earth or the Sun?” and “Is the Moon smaller than the Earth and Sun?”
I would demonstrate by using a basketball to represent the Sun and discuss its size and characteristics. Then have two students walk the basketball to the end of a hallway, while others observe from a distance to understand how large objects appear smaller from afar, and discuss why the ball looks smaller from a distance and relate this to how we perceive the Sun and other celestial objects. Children would then create models of the Sun, Moon, and Earth using Marla clay, encouraging them to consider the relative sizes of these bodies. To finish we would discuss and compare the models created by the students, emphasising the scale and distance between the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Reinforce the concepts of heat and light sources, the necessity of light to see, and the dangers of looking directly at the Sun. Explore how shadows are formed by using the models and a light source to simulate the Sun’s light.-
Hi Cliodhna,
The Sun resource gives plenty of scope for exploring Mathematics>Measuring.
With Junior Cycle students I ask them to make scale models of the Earth and Moon with playdoh, and then put the models at the correct scale distance apart. None of them ever get it right!
I picked up another demonstration from Armagh Planetarium -which is to wrap a bit of string around a volunteer’s head – if the Earth is their head, the Moon is about the size of their fist, but the distance to the Moon is 30 Earth diameters – or 10 circumferences. So I wrap the string 10 times — it usually comes out to be about 5 or 6 m away.
Very visual!
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I particular loved the Sun and Shadows section. I think the children would absolutely love this especially making the sundial
We could start by eliciting from the children all the different ways from where we get the time. Then I am sure it would amaze them by telling them that people long ago could tell the time without any of these and that we are going to make what they used to do.
I love the idea of using a simple flower pot, a bamboo
stick and stones and chalk!
We can mark where the sun is every hour using our shadow!!
They will mark where their shadow is very hour.
From this so much so much cross curricular integration can take place from from this
It is such a cool activity
As we are out there at all we can measure our shadow at diffrerent times of the day, discuss when our shadow is longer /shorter.
When we go in we can explore with flash lights and shapes to keep the whole exploration of shadow theme going.
I am really excited about all of this already!
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ESERO’s “The Planets” activity is an excellent resource for engaging students in learning about our solar system. Here’s how I would use it in my classroom:
1.Introduction: Begin with a captivating video or a story about space exploration to spark interest. Discuss the solar system and the different planets, emphasising their unique characteristics.
2.Activity Setup: Divide students into small groups and provide each group with the ESERO “The Planets” activity materials. This typically includes planet fact cards, a scaled model or images of the planets, and interactive worksheets.
3.Inquiry-Based Learning: Encourage each group to explore the materials and formulate questions about the planets. Guide them to use the fact cards to find answers. For example, questions could include, “Which planet is the hottest?” or “What is unique about Saturn’s rings?”
4.Hands-On Exploration: Have students create a scaled model of the solar system using the provided materials. This visual and hands-on approach helps them understand the relative sizes and distances between planets.
5.Presentation and Discussion: Each group presents their findings to the class, explaining what makes their assigned planet unique. This encourages public speaking and reinforces their understanding through teaching.
6.Reflection: Conclude with a reflection session where students discuss what they found most surprising or interesting about the planets. They could also write a short paragraph or draw a picture of their favourite planet, explaining why they chose it.-
Alexandra,
the ESERO Activity https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/01_The-planets.pdf has no factual information, so you would have to prepare that yourself. You could start with this from Armagh Planetarium.
The ESERO activity The Eight Planets has nice worksheet structure, but expects the learners to go to books or magazines about the planets.
You might want to use this handy template from Armagh Planetarium – adapt it if you want it to be about specific planets in our solar system.
The Solar System resource from space week has options to create a scale solar system – is there a particular one you prefer? (note that these are suggested for 3rd-6th class) This will inform
Have students create a scaled model of the solar system using the provided materials.
the materials that you would have to provide. Your list of provided materials is a bit too general “planet fact cards, a scaled model or images of the planets, and interactive worksheets.“
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The activity Set I am picking is the Sun and Shadows.
I would tell the children that we are going to use the sun and shadows to tell time. Discuss that this is what they used long ago to tell the time before phones/ clocks etc. People long ago used a sundial.
Have any children ever seen a sundial? Do they know how it works? Explain that a sundial has a stick or pointer that makes a shadow. This is called the gnomon. It is important that in the Northern hemisphere the gnomon always points North, or you will not be able to read the sundial. Explain that the Earth turns on its axis. This means that the position of the Sun with regard to the Earth is always changing. Demonstrate this using a torch and an orange. Explain that the shadow of an object also changes as the Earth rotates. The sundial uses this fact. By looking at the position of the shadow of the gnomon on the sundial, you can tell what time it is.
Make a simple sundial with the children- poke a straw through a paper plate and take it outdoors when it’s sunny. Every hour, mark the time of day where the shadow from the straw strikes the plate. Use your sundial to tell the time on the next sunny day.-
Rachel – are there any sundials in your area? We have one in the courtyard of Blackrock Castle and I know there is one in the middle of Mitchelstown in north Cork.
This site might help you check: https://www.sundials-ireland.com/ireland.htm
How would you align the paper plate sundial with north on the next day? Do you have a picture of one you have made? It looks like a nice design and make, although the science is probably best for 2nd class and up.
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Activity: The Planets
– I love the idea of using station teaching for the younger ideas to teach the planets in our solar system. I think one station that would be fantastic would be assigning headbands to each of the children with the picture of the planet on the front of it. After explicitly teaching the characteristics of each planet, children should be able to converse with each other about where they are situated in the solar system and the colour that they are. I also love the idea of creating a station where children can dress up in costumes similar to that of an astronaut or working in the space station. This incorporates the element of play which is such a vital part of the junior curriculum.
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Aoife,
I can see that as being a really nice maths activity, about order and distance and temperature.
I’d have a table up on the whiteboard with some basic planet facts — perhaps the language of near and far, hot and cold, big and small, with perhaps pictures of the colours of the planets. Just think of the sorting that could be done as well!
Can you put the planets into 2 groups — tell me what each group has in common. (could be 4 nearest the Sun vs 4 furthest from the Sun), (could be 4 smallest vs 4 biggest), could be the ones Earth temperature or warmer vs the Earth temperature or colder – this is a bit tricky, since temperature varies so much!
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I would like to try ‘The Spherical Earth” lesson with my infants.
(In a previous art lesson, the children would have made their origami ship.)
As a class, the children would watch this video, to grab their attention..Earth | Space Song | Pinkfong Songs for Children
Another contributor mentioned the use of stations using a different topic, and I think this would work really well with this topic too.
Station 1 Children take their origami ship and and toy figure and place them on the group table, representing the flat earth. The children watch the ships “sail’ away (teacher led) from their figure, they will see the ship get smaller and smaller. Now the group will do the same activity with the globe to represent the round earth. The children will see that the ship gets smaller and appears to ‘sink’ as well because of the spherical nature of the earth.
Station 2: Children will work on the art activity: Earth Mosaics. Children will draw their own landscapes above the dashed line, the seabed and rocks below. When 16 are laid out together in a circle, the children will realise that up and down depends on their perspective.
Station 3 Children will engage with the “Up or Down” activity, using the globe and the toy penguin/ ice bear. I think this is a great activity, as this challenged me when I saw the visual! The children would love the dialogue between the animal at the North Pole and the South pole, esp when the teacher at the station would flip over the globe.
Station 4 Children will revise all their 3D shapes in a game/ activity
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Tracy,
I think you have realistically looked at which activities could be done independently and which need adult support. For the Earth mosaics, it might be helpful to have a sample made up – when I do this with groups we get a right old mish-mash of different objects in the pictures. Helpful to tell them NOT to add the Sun – otherwise there are Suns in most pictures which makes it a bit less of a model of the Earth!
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I would base my lesson on ‘The Planets’.
There are so many opportunities here for cross curricular links in areas such as Music, Art and P.E.
I would begin with a KWL chart to see what children know about The Solar System/The Planets.
Song: ‘The Plants Song’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrlgH97v94
Learn about and gather information about the planets in groups, assign each group a planet and ask each group to make a fact file on their planet. Provide the class with books about the planets and use ICT to gather information too, Epic app is great. You can assign various books about the planets (or any topic) to each individual child on the app and they can further research their assigned planet and add to their fact file.
I also like the idea of circle time using an inflatable planet to share knowledge of the planets with each other and feedback what we have learnt.
Art lesson: Make the planets using paper mache.
P.E: The Planet game using hula hoops in the hall ‘Journey Through the Solar System: Lesson 1’. This is a great way for children to know and recognise the planets names and grasp a better understanding of the planets revolving around the sun.
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I think a lot of these lessons could be used and adapted for different classes. The resources provided are very helpful. The lesson I would most like to try is the lesson on the Sun’s Energy by “My Sky Tonight”. I think opening the lesson with what they already know about the sun is a great way to gauge where the children are in their learning. The class really enjoyed the role play activities of going out in the sun and how to protect themselves. I was really impressed that they caught on to the phrase ultraviolet light. The solar beads activity was excellent. You could see how engaged and excited the children were. I think most junior classes would really enjoy this lesson. I would like to replicate it in my classroom. I also thought the activities on shadows linked really well with the overall theme. You could link these lessons to literacy as well by choosing a book on the sun like “The Sun is Kind of Big Deal” to focus on in class.
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I chose the spherical earth as a basis for teaching a lesson to young children. I really like the ideas in the module. Children are really interested in the North Pole and South Pole and there is always huge enthusiasm for lessons on polar bears and penguins. I love the idea of beginning the lesson with a discussion around why the penguins do not fall off the South Pole and the polar bears do not fall off the North Pole. I also love the Earth mosaic. After discussion about the earth’s layers and what lies beneath the sea, this would be a lovely exercise to let the children showcase what they understand of what is above the earth and what lies beneath. The young children that I teach would really enjoy putting their section of the earth together with others to form a full circle and to show the spherical shape of the earth, while still having the opportunity to do their own thing and have their own unique part. As a class I would probably make a papier mache earth as well to further their understanding of the concept.
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The use of an activity set in my classroom – The Planets
Continuing on from the musical theme I used in introducing the topic of space (Sound in space – Chris Hadfield singing in space, and showing clips of life in space). I like the use of music, song and movement in this activity set.
To begin with, students would sit in a circle on the floor, and I would facilitate a discussion based around their place within the wider world and solar system:Question:
What is the name of the town where we live?
Do they know what country this town is in?
And what planet this country is on? On Earth.
Can they name any other planets?
Briefly talk about the names of the eight planets in our solar systemI would continue by introducing the names of the planets through this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-63Xx7jK26A
This is a simple and repetitive song listing the 8 planets by name, with a simple fact after each one. This song is appropriate for up to 2nd class.
With all names known, I would introduce the suggested song which gives some detail on each planet, again appropriate for 1st or 2nd class pupils.
The planet game and dance outlined in this activity set lend themselves to a nice bit of movement and a change of pace for the pupils. Some students are active learners and the activity using hula hoops rotating around gives an excellent representation of the rotation of the planets.
To close, I would review information the have gathered.
In the exploration stations outlined by another course member, I would invite children to create a visual representation of the solar system offering a variety of balls, spheres, morla, playdoh of differing sizes to open discussion and practical learning on the topic.
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It sounds like you’ve created an engaging and dynamic approach to teaching the planets! Integrating music, movement, and hands-on activities will definitely capture the students’ interest and cater to different learning styles. I love how you’re starting with a discussion about the students’ place in the world before expanding to the solar system—it really helps them grasp the concept of scale. The use of hula hoops to represent planetary rotation is a creative way to make learning both fun and interactive. The exploration stations also provide a great opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in a tactile and visual way.
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