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The Rocket Mice activity is a fun, hands-on investigation that would be highly engaging for Junior Infants. It encourages children to predict, investigate and work collaboratively while introducing simple ideas about rockets and forces.
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I would begin by reading Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy to spark children’s interest in space travel. We would then watch clips of Chris Hadfield talking about life in space and a rocket launch to encourage discussion and develop oral language. I would introduce the Rocket Mice challenge and ask the children:
• What do rockets do?
• How do you think a rocket gets into space?
• What do you think will happen when we launch our rocket?
• How could we make it go higher?Investigate
Working in small groups, the children would design and launch their Rocket Mice, making predictions before each launch and discussing what happened afterwards. They would test different ideas and decide what helped their rocket travel the furthest. Throughout the activity, I would encourage children to explain their thinking and listen to the ideas of others.Take the Next Step
I would extend the learning through integrated play. In the role-play area, children could become astronauts preparing for a space mission. In construction, they could build rockets using Lego or blocks, while the small world area would include rockets, astronauts and figurines for imaginative play. Children could also draw and label their own rocket designs.Reflect
To finish the lesson, the children would reflect on what they had learned by discussing:
• What helped your rocket fly?
• What would you change next time?
• What did you discover about rockets?
• How did your group work together?
This activity provides an engaging way to develop scientific inquiry, teamwork and oral language while allowing children to learn through play. The practical investigation, combinedI love this idea Maria. I also love to include a picture book with my lessons and will give this one a go next year.
I focussed on the Animals in the Cold activity as an inquiry-based lesson that allows children to investigate how animals survive in cold environments through discussion and hands-on exploration. The lesson introduces children to penguins and polar bears and explores how their bodies help keep them warm. I would integrate this with role play and small world in Integrated Play for Arctic Animals theme.
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I would begin by reading Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, followed by singing “Five Little Penguins”. We would discuss winter weather and look at photographs of penguins and polar bears before asking the children to share what they already know.
Questions I would ask include:
• What is the weather like where penguins and polar bears live?
• How do you think these animals stay warm?
• What do we wear when we feel cold?
• Why don’t penguins and polar bears need coats like we do?Investigate
The children would investigate how a greasy layer helps keep animals dry. First, they would colour a picture of a penguin using wax crayons. Using water droppers, they would drip water onto the picture and observe how the water rolls off the wax instead of soaking into the paper. We would compare this to an uncoloured section of the page where the water soaks in. This would help children understand how the greasy coating on a penguin’s feathers repels water. We would then repeat the investigation using Vaseline on the back of our hands to see the same effect. Using our experiment and picture cards we would discuss how Polar bears and penguins don’t put on a coat. Their fur and feathers act like a kind of coat that they are always wearing.
Questions during the investigation:
• What do you notice happening to the water?
• Why do you think it rolls off the wax?
• Which part stayed dry?
• How does this help a penguin?Take the Next Step
Children could sort animals that live in hot and cold climates and discuss the features that help them survive. During play, they could build homes for polar animals using blocks or small world resources and explore ice in the sensory tray to extend their learning through play.Reflect
To finish the lesson, the children would reflect on what they had discovered by discussing:
• What did you learn about penguins and polar bears?
• What helps these animals stay warm?
• What happened when we dropped water onto the wax crayons?
• Why is the greasy layer important?
This activity is an engaging way to develop scientific inquiry skills while encouraging children to predict, observe, investigate and explain their thinking. The combination of a story, song and hands-on investigation makes the learning meaningful and accessible for Junior Infants.I love the introduction to this lesson and I can see how the children would engage well and would result in lots of oral language and discussion.
The “Lots and Lots of Stars” lesson is a wonderful inquiry-based activity that encourages children to explore their own ideas about stars through discussion, movement and hands-on learning. I have adapted this lesson for my junior infant class.
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I would begin by reading How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers, followed by singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. Around the classroom, I would display pictures of the Sun, a cartoon star, a meteor (burning rock), a planet, a shooting star and a starry night sky. Children would move to the picture they think is a real star and explain their choice. This would encourage discussion, reveal misconceptions and spark curiosity.
Questions I would ask:
• What do you think a star is?
• Which picture shows a real star? Why?
• Can we see stars during the day?
• Is the Sun a star?
• When do we usually see stars?Investigate
Using the marble activity from the lesson, children would compare the number of marbles with the number of children in the class before filling a container to show that there are far more stars than we can count. They would then create their own starry sky paintings using toothbrush splatter painting to represent the many stars in the night sky.
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Children would be encouraged to observe the night sky with their families and share what they notice the following day. We could also look at images and discuss. We could compare the daytime and night-time sky and discuss why we cannot usually see the stars during the day.
Reflection
To conclude, the children would reflect on their learning by discussing:
• What did you learn about stars today?
• Did anything surprise you?
• Is the Sun a star? How do you know?
• Would you choose the same picture as you did at the start? Why or why not?
We would finish by revisiting our learning and singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, to consolidate their new understanding.I love this lesson. The children would love the outdoors element and using the chalk to trace the shadows.
For my lesson I am focusing on The Planets and have adapted this to suit my infant classroom.
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I would use this lesson as an introduction to Space with my Junior Infants. I would begin by playing the StoryBots Planets Song and reading There’s No Place Like Space! by Tish Rabe. This would encourage discussion and allow the children to share what they already know.
Some questions I would ask include:
• What planet do we live on?
• Can you name any other planets?
• What do you think you would see if you travelled into space?
• Which planet do you think looks the most interesting? Why?Investigate
I really liked the active learning opportunities in this lesson. I would use the Planet Game, where the children move like rockets until they hear the name of a planet and then stand in a hoop. We would also complete the Planet Dance to practise positional language such as behind, beside and under.Take the Next Step
To extend the lesson, I would set up a space-themed Integrated Play station with playdough, construction blocks and small world resources. As a follow-up Art lesson, the children would design and create their own imaginary planet using paint, playdough or collage materials. They could create a candy planet, rainbow planet or jungle planet, and describe what makes their planet special and who might live there.Reflect
I think this is an excellent lesson for Junior Infants because it is fun, practical and encourages learning through play. It integrates Science, Maths, Oral Language and Art while allowing children to explore the topic in an engaging way. I would definitely use this lesson in my classroom as it encourages curiosity and gives children opportunities to ask questions, investigate and use their imagination.After reading the course material, the inquiry based lesson I would teach would be based of the mighty materials and spillages.
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I would begin by “accidentally” knocking over a glass of water and saying, “Oops, I spilled my water!” and I would ask the children:
o Which of these materials would work best to clean up the water?
o What do we mean by ‘best’?
o Which one do you think will soak up the most water?
We would discuss their ideas and make predictions before carrying out our investigation.Investigate
The children would work in small groups to test different materials such as paper towel, a sponge, a cloth and cotton wool.
I would encourage them to observe and compare each material by asking:
o What do you notice?
o Which material is soaking up the most water?
o Was your prediction correct?Take the Next Step
I would show the children Chris Hadfield’s video demonstrating how astronauts clean up spills in space. This would encourage them to think about how cleaning up water is different without gravity.
I would ask the children:
o Why does the water behave differently in space?
o How is this different from what happened in our classroom?
I would also read Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis to further explore the properties and importance of water in an engaging, age-appropriate way.Reflect
We would come back together to discuss our findings and I would ask:
o Which material worked best?
o Why do you think it was the best?
o Were you surprised by your results?
The children would reflect on their predictions and explain what they learned about absorbent materials.I love this lesson. My classes also always love the Chris Hadfield videos and they results in lots of enquiry questions and oral language discussions.