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Module 3 assignment
Activity Set: Space and Aliens
How would you use the activity in your classroom?
I plan to do a lesson about aliens and space, as I think it would be a fun one to do in the infant classroom. I would use the ESERO 19 Special life resource as a guide to the lesson.
I will explain to the children that we live on planet Earth and that there are many more planets in space. I will explain that as far as we know there are no people living on the other planets.
A discussion will occur where I will ask the children if aliens did live on the other planets what would the children like to show them here on Earth? What objects or animals here on Earth are so special that the aliens from other planets should see them or learn about them.
The children will be encouraged to make a range of suggestions and they will then decide what object to draw. I will give each child a sheet of A4 paper and crayons. Each child will draw what he/she has thought of.
The children will then think about how they can best act out their special object on Earth. The children will sit in a circle and each child will take a turn to act out his/her object in the centre of the circle. The rest of the children will then try guess what the object is.
Finally, the children will be invited to think about and visualise the alien. They are asked to think about what it looks like. Has it got any special features and what planet is it from. The children will then draw their alien. Afterwards they can find a partner and they can take turns to describe the alien they have drawn. These drawings can be displayed on the wow wall.
There’s a good link to the arts and literacy curriculums in this lesson and the children will benefit from listening to each other describing their aliens and from acting out their special objects.
I love this stars in a jar activity Donna. It is very effective and also very easy to do with the infants. And I agree with Michelle when she mentions it would be a lovely sensory activity. I’ll definitely be trying it next year.
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.
Module One assignment
I would begin with a simple brainstorming lesson to gauge the children’s current knowledge of gravity. Then I will show some of the videos from the module and explaining that gravity is a force that pulls everything down towards the ground. I will then ask the children if they have noticed how things fall to the ground when they drop them. A whole class discussion will take place.
We will then make our own inquiry about gravity. We will decide what objects to use and the equipment that is needed. I can list them on the whiteboard and the children can gather them.
One by one we will make observe the object and make predictions on which objects they think will fall faster or slower. I will record the children’s predictions on the whiteboards.
To perform the experiment I will stand on a chair to get some height. I will hold two different objects at the same height and I will drop both objects at the same time while the children observe from a safe distance which objects hit the ground first. We will record the results on the whiteboard. We continue this with all the objects we gathered.
We will discuss the results at the end. I will ask questions like did all the objects fall at the same speed or different speeds? We will see if their predictions correct or incorrect and discuss this.
Finally we can conclude that gravity pulls objects down towards the earth and that all objects fall at the same rate.
That’s a great idea Susan and a great wayto get the children’s attention. It’s so exciting for them to be finding a home for an alien. But yes it is essential to know some facts about where the alien is coming from so researching the various planets is crucial. I love how all aspects of the curriculum are used from oral language to art, geography and SPHE too. I will definitely try this out in the future.
Creating a sundial is a great idea. The video on slide 26 would be useful with this. The younger could check the sundial at various time of the day like morning assembly time , little lunch, big lunch and home time. They’d love it!
Hi . my name is Anne and I will be teaching in SET next year. I have just finished a year teaching in 4th class. My favourite space fact is ….. The gravity on the Moon is just one-sixth of the Earth’s, so you would weigh less on the Moon. You could jump higher and carry much heavier things too!
The children will certainly have a lot to offer on the debate when considering the dual responsibilities of the urban planner to the people and their safety and to the protection of biodiversity. Coming up with their own designs for a lighting system would be an amazing project for them.
Module 5 assignment
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Like all aspects of nature it is no wonder that that there are so many songs, poems and artworks inspired by the night sky. The sky connects us all to each other and I believe we look up to the night sky in the hope that we can find ourselves and so we can find resolutions and the answers that we are looking for. Also, we look up to the sky at night to speak to those who have left this world.
From childhood lullabys like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are used to soothe a baby as are night sky like mobiles are hung above a baby’s cot.
Reach for the Stars is an example of a pop song that inspires you to go for it and suggests nothing is impossible.
Moon River is a classic love song about hopes and dreams.
A poem that come to mind is I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by Wordsworth.
‘Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.’
The imagery in this verse of the poem is so spectacular and vivid as you see cloud and dance in the night sky while the stars are sparkling and twinkling.
‘They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon’
This is a famous quote know by so many from the poem The Owl and the Pussy Cat.
One of the most recognised pieces of artwork about the night sky is The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh painted by him while in an asylum. Vanessa Gogh also found solace and answers in the night sky and painted the night time scene which most likely helped him in his recovery.
I’ll leave you with the following quote from Oscar Wilde – “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Don’t stop believing!!!!
Module 4 Assignment
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity?
The Laois Co Council videos, books and colouring books on biodiversity in the garden look really nice and it is great that they can be ordered free of charge for the children and/or for the class library. I would start with these and the David Attenborough video recommended by Tara in an earlier post on this forum.
The more the children realise that every creature has its role to play and has a valuable contribution to make to our planet as a whole is so so important. We are all interdependent on each and all ecosystems and biodiversities and the services they provide for life to continue.
We need to protect the environment by preventing pollution and climate change and eliminating all threats to biodiversity. If we start by doing this at a local level, then it will naturally spread to the wider world. A lot of local birds and bees and other creatures and plants are currently under threat in Ireland and this needs to be addressed first. By teaching the children about their local areas and encouraging them to just look around and observe the nature around them we can get them invested in learning how they can protect the beauty around them.
The RTE clip about the long eared bat was very interesting. They suggested a good website to look up the 10 different bat species that are found in ireland.www.batconservationireland.org and learnaboutbats.com.
Who knew! I would have always considered bats rodents with wings but I have changed my mind. The video about the conservation of the lesser horseshoe bat in Mayo was very interesting too. The children will be inspired to protect the bats after researching all the different types and the threats they face, especially the threats from light pollution. Plus they will love playing the Bat Moth Game and will give them a greater appreciation of echolocation.
The ESERO day and night in the world 30 resource suggests a lot of different activities to teach the kids how light pollution can impact on plant grown and on different creatures in their every day lives to hunt, eat, sleep and to survive!
Thanks for the tip about the David Attenborough video clip to explain what bio diversity is. That should get them interested and would be a great starting point for the kids to relate it to themselves and their local area.
I thought the map was very cool too. The children will love it especially examining our local area. I have to say I have learned a lot myself about light pollution and how I can play my part and be a role model for the kids.
Module 3 assignment
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
I don’t think the children in my class will even realise that light pollution is a thing. This module has really opened my eyes. I think it will be interesting to see what the children come up with when I pose the questions ‘What can you tell me about light pollution?’ Or ‘What are the impacts of light pollution?’
Dark sky planning guidelines provide a lot of tips for us to follow so that we can reduce light pollution and so astronomers can perform their research.
The IDA’s Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting of targeted, useful, low, controlled and coloured are also a great guide for the children to follow.
The children can perform a number of studies in the school environment and at home and in their communities that will help them explore how light pollution is impacting the local area.
Conducting some of the studies suggested in the ESERO 9 light and darkness activity pack would be a useful place for the children to start their studies. They could go out and about and explore their local areas keeping the EDAs 5 principles in mind that would be really beneficial. It will be interesting what they come up with. The Magic of Light packs from the ESA PRO6 resource would also be useful.
Even though we are a country school and light pollution isn’t as obvious as an urban area light pollution can always be reduced. Raising awareness is super important in this regard. The children can create posters and place them in the school and around the community to raise awareness. We can use the school website to further promote their campaign. Maybe we too can get on the Official Dark Sky Places on the Island of Ireland map like Kerry, Mayo and Davagh Forest Park.
Module Two Assignment
Plan to observe the Moon – which phase of the Moon is best for observing in the morning from school? What dates will that be in 2024- 2025.
Class: 4th
The moon is a fascinating subject for children. To introduce the topic we could do a KWL exercise about the moon. Then we could watch some of the useful videos suggested in module two. Then I would definitely use the ESERO 62 worksheet resource about the lunar eclipse and the phases of the moon with the children. We could then complete the L part of the KWL chart about the moon.
To observe the moon we could use the Moon observation log resource recommended on the course. After reading the other posts on this forum and consulting the module 2 material and researching online the 3/4 of the moon phase occurs around the 4th week in September so that might be a good time to start our observations in school.
The Timeanddate.com and Heavens-above.com websites can be incorporated into our lesson also. The Worldwide telescope is also really useful where the children can take tours and explore at their own pace.
Finally, the children will be given time on the chrome books to use the Stellarium web resource to perform their own investigations and make more observations of the moon. The best thing about all of the above resources is the children can continue using them free of charge and independently at home.
