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I would start my lesson with a short video such as The Water Bottle Rocket video by the The Sci Guys to introduce the idea of propulsion and how pressure can create movement.
I would then follow up with the comic of the Marvin and Milo rockets and talk through theirs. I would then explain that we are going to make our own fizzy rockets and present the vitamin tablets and the container and ask the children to predict how we might do it.
The children would then engage in the experiment to make the fizzy launcher and compare how the amounts of the tablets/water affect the outcome. The children could work in pairs to determine through testing how best to launch the liquid further with the tablet.
The children would discuss how the fact that pressure causes movement can be helpful in everyday activities (such as using a straw to suck up liquid, blowing up a balloon, jumping on a trampoline, using water guns etc).
Nice lesson Cathal. I think most children will be intrigued by the topic of rockets and will be really invested in making their own rockets and exploring how well they can launch them with the straws. The competitive element with their peers is always motivating also!
Reading through the resources provided in this module, the what clothes to wear resource caught my eye as it would integrate well with a drama series of lesson on weather I like to do with the children called the Season’s wizard where the seasons get all mixed up and the children call in the Season’s Wizard to help sort out the issue and explain to him/her all of the inconveniences they’re experiencing with the weather mix up. I would integrate these lessons together and discuss the seasons and the typical weather and clothes that are generally appropriate for that tine of year. The children would explain to the Season’s Wizard what the weather should be like in each season and the clothes that should be worn and I can clearly see if they have a good understanding of the weather/clothes that typify each season and why certain clothes are more appropriate in certain weather conditions.
Love the conclusion to the lesson with the discussion around the clothes the teddies are wearing. Age appropriate and informal way to assess the children’s learning in a way that’s enjoyable for the children. Nice idea.
i have done this loosing your shadow challenge before and the children get a great kick out of this activity! Anything that brings fun to learning is a win in my book 🙂
Activity Set:stars
I would begin my lesson using the book ‘how to catch a falling star’ by Oliver Jeffers to encourage discussion of stars and determine what the children know and want to know (use a KWL chart for this part). This would also be a good oral language lesson and also bleeds into SPHE as we integrate discussion on reaching for the stars and what our dreams would be.
Then to shift the focus more to the scientific perspective on stars we would watch a short animation by dr binocs about stars. Prompts before the clip would be ‘how many stars do you think are in the universe?’ ‘Can anyone name any of the different types of stars?’ We would answer these questions after watching the animation and add to our KWL chart from before.
I would complete these series of lessons with an art lesson on stars inspired by what we have learned and by the illustrations in the Oliver Jeffers book. The children would focus on one star type and paint it over a blue canvas as in the book. We would then put the different groups of stars together and create a class universe display.
I also like including a KWL as it focuses the lesson and ensures the children get the information they want out of the lesson also. The addition of an art activity is always popular and I think this topic really lends itself perfectly to the exploration of the children’s creative sides. Thanks for sharing.
I would have a couple of inquiry based lessons based around the moon.
I would begin by using a book as a prompt for the children ; The Moon book by Gail Gibbons for example and discuss what the children know or want to know about the moon. We would discuss whether the moon looked the same every night and why it sometimes looks like a circle/banana.
The children would watch a short animation on the different stages of the moon such as Paxi and our moon and discuss them.
For the exploratory stage, we would do a demonstration using a ball (for the moon), a torch and one of the childrens head(earth) to show how the light only hits one part of the ball/ moon as it turns and we only see the lit part from earth.
For another lesson we would include the creative element and complete the suggested art lesson using fabric to highlight the different phases and features of the moon.
The children could present their artwork and explain the phase of the moon they chose.
I have done something similar with a previous class and they loved it. A great activity for a summer’s day and the children are learning through play which is a bonus all round!
My inquiry based activity is one most of us will have done with the children especially if we are working with the junior end of the school.
The prompt question would be: What do you think happens to chocolate when it gets warm?
Encourage predictions from the children.
Predicting/ Questioning: Using the chocolate as a stimulus, discuss; what does it feel like? What shape is it? Can we change its shape? What do you think will happen if we heat it? Can it go back to solid again?
Exploring: allow the children to touch the chocolate.
Heat the chocolate (as whole group) and allow children to observe and discuss how it changes from a solid to a liquid and how it moves differently as a solid than it did before. Question them: how has it changed? Can you pour it now? etc
Reflect and discuss; What do you think will happen if we put it in the fridge?
Children can draw or write how it looked before and after it was heated.
Follow up activity: melted chocolate can be put in thr fridge and the children observe and discuss how it changes again. Writing activity on the effect of heating chocolate etc
My name is Ailbhe Mulligan and I am a SET teacher in a junior school.
My favourite fact is that the sunset on Mars appears blue.
