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I really like how you’ve used one main theme a developed it over the week, expanding and consolidating the children’s learning. I created a more varied plan covering a number of topics but was thinking that picking specific topics and really developing them over the week would be a great idea for a whole school approach to science week.
Space week plan for First Class
For Space Week I would plan a variety of activities covering many topics about space, giving the children a broad learning experience and understanding. I have tried to create an interactive cross-curricular set of activities for First Class. It introduces students to outer space through a mix of storytelling, active movement, and hands-on art.
(I work in a Junior School and do think it would also be worthwhile if each year group took a specific topic to explore. e.g. Junior Infants – Stars, Senior Infants – Planets etc.)
Monday – Introduction to space and planets
Gather the children on the rug. Ask what they already know about space, the moon, and stars. Show pictures or a short clip of the Earth viewed from space.
Read a short space-themed picture book aloud (e.g., Man on the Moon or Roaring Rockets)
Sing an active space song together with actions, such as Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon or Five Little Men in a Flying Sauce.
View the planets song on Youtube and explore what the children have learned about the solar system
Tuesday – The Earth as a Sphere
Introduce the penguin and polar bear at the top and bottom of the globe and ask why they do not fall off. Exploring the concept of gravity and magnetic forces. Draw Earth Mosaics and piece together the children’s drawings. Follow up discussion.
Wednesday – Stars and Constellations
Focus on the sky today. Discuss using pictures stars and what they look like. Observe the constellations and do dot-to-dot picture shapes in the sky like the Big Dipper or Orion. Observe the patterns. Create telescopes and constellations from match sticks and playdough or use mini marshmallows and toothpicks to build 3D shapes of star groups.
Thursday – Rockets and Astronauts
Engage with a picture of a rocket. Explore a variety of materials and plan a design to make a rocket. Build a rocket out of material that is hard/soft, light/heavy, floats/sinks or is waterproof. Explore changing forces and show their creations to the rest of the class.
Astronaut Training – Clear a space in the room for a quick physical game. Pretend to float like weightless astronauts in zero gravity. Practice a countdown from 10 to 1, followed by a soft, slow-motion blast-off back to seats
Friday – Aliens
Observe the planets through pictures. Discuss the characteristics of the planets. Look at Funny Little Monsters on RTE junior for ideas and inspiration. Place the 8 planets on different tables in the classroom. Children chose a planet and then design and make with clay ‘My Alien’. This lends itself to further literacy lessons e.g. a Fact file for the Alien.
Create Alien Slime: by mixing fragranced shampoo or conditioner and cornflour together to create a consistency that is neither a solid or liquid.
There are so many good lessons and resources mentioned in this module and I was not aware of any of these before this course. ESERO has some excellent downloadable resources as do UNAWE.
I would teach a hands on themes lesson based Animals in the Cold. This would tie in with our schools plans which look at the explorer Tom Crean in the Antarctic. I would first ask the children what we do to keep warm in the winter and what animals in Ireland do (hibernation) warm woolly coats etc.
I would then show the children some arctic and Antarctic animals and ask them to suggest how they stay warm.
I myself have been to the Antarctic, and can show children images of me and the various animals I saw there. I can show them the think heavy layered coat that we all had to wear. We will discuss Blubber and feathers and how they might keep the animals warm.
Following these discussions we will do the butter/blubber experiment with ice , butter and feather. Using sandwich bags children can put their hand into the icy water. One sandwich bag will be coated in butter and one with feathers and children can observe and predict for themselves if they notice a difference between the water temperature.
Further learning could include:
1 Trying some other materials, like wool , cotton, leather, fleece, paper, or aluminum foil. Which ones do you expect to keep you warm/ be good insulators? Do your test results agree with your predictions?
2 Now that children know some good thermal insulators, can they design a survival suit for a scientist working in the Arctic, or a mountain climber exploring Mount Everest? Once done with the design, look up what people living or working in extreme cold conditions wear.
This is a great idea. I can imagine the children are so much more involved and engaged when they can choose their own challenges and materials to accomplish this. I would love to do something similar in my class next year, thanks for sharing.
In order to teach Stars and Constellations to first class I would first brainstorm what we know about stars and the sky. I would introduce some picture of stars from a wide range of sources and write up some of the words we use to describe stars e.g. bright, shiny, night-time, the sun, twinkling. We would then talk about star patterns and the constellations. I would teach concepts and ideas, e.g. stars are huge balls of burning gas that make their own light and heat. Our closest star is the sun it gives heat, light, and helps plants grow.
We would discuss the colours of the stars: Blue stars are very hot, yellow stars (like our sun) are medium, and red stars are cooler. This could be played as a P.E lesson using hoops called Burning stars, where children have to run to hoops of a certain colour.
We would observe the constellations and do dot-to-dot picture shapes in the sky like the Big Dipper/ the plough or Orion.
Some fun arts and crafts ideas could include:
Constellation Tubes: Poke holes in the bottom of empty cardboard tubes, children could do them in the shape of a constellation or design their own, then they can shine light throw them or look at the window and observe the patterns.
Marshmallow Constellations: Use mini marshmallows and toothpicks to build 3D shapes of star groups.
I love the integration into the visual arts. I would further extend this into observing planets and their characteristics . Children in teams could design a planet using fabric and fibres and then use clay to create a creature that lives on the planet. This could be developed into literacy and creative writing and create enthusiasm across a wide range of subjects.
I have not yet taught a lesson on the spherical nature of Earth. I love the ideas suggested in this module.
To approach this topic I would start with a prior knowledge starter quiz. I would show images of the earth, sun , and moon and ask the children to identify them. I would also link in with 3d shapes from maths and in particular become very familiar with identifying spheres.
The idea of the penguin and polar bear at the top and bottom of the globe and asking why they do not fall off and exploring the concept of gravity is a great extension .
Using a globe or a ball and a toy ship children can explore the spherical representation of the Earth by engaging in and discussing in the following activties: (A) Children should work together in small groups. One child will need to bend down so that their eyes are level with the flat surface (table top). Another child should slowly move the toy ship away and then forwards again. This would be a representation of a flat earth
(B) One child should stand so that their eyes are level with the top of the ball, another child should hold the ball still. An additional child should slowly move the toy ship away following the curve of the ball, and then slowly back again so that it sits on top of the ball once more.
As a concluding activity I would use the Earth Mosaics and follow up discussion
Super integration of subjects here. Thanks for the ideas and lesson suggestions. I like the idea of using the moon to teach fractions. I had never thought of that but seem like a great way to teach stem.
Here is an example of an enquiry based activity I would use with Senior Infants or First Class based on identifying common materials such as wood, plastic, metal, glass, and fabric, and exploring their simple physical properties.
To explore prior knowledge I would use a Mystery Bag: Put a few everyday items inside a bag (a wooden block, a metal spoon, a plastic toy, a fabric sock, a glass jar). Then Guess the Material: Pull out each item one by one. Ask students: “What is this?” and “What is it made of?”
I would follow this with a materials hunt and give pairs of students a simple activity sheet or clipboard. They could then walk around the classroom or a designated space to find one object made of: Wood (e.g., a table, a pencil), Metal (e.g., a scissors blade, a door handle), Plastic (e.g., a ruler, a marker cap), Fabric (e.g., the classroom rug, a jumper.
Children could then engage in pair and share. Children could look at their findings with other children. What materials are the same and what did people find that were different. Record findings and materials as a whole class. Followed by a Quick Quiz to re-engage everyone at the end and solidify learning: Call out an object (e.g., a teddy bear, a window, a metal fork) and have the class call out the material.
A Follow up lesson could involve investigating properties of materials, using words, such as: Hard, soft, bendy, stiff, waterproof, absorbent.
Hi Una
Thats a great suggestion and lesson idea. The integration with literacy and the story ‘Gravity is Bringing Me Down ‘ as well as integration with P.E is a great idea. There’s so much to do and so little time that integrated learning is essential. The Lesson could be further developed into maths and weight – observing the different weight in objects and the affect of gravity on this. Lots of opportunities for recording and predicting.
Hi Im Aoife,
Currently teaching First Class. an impromptu conversation led to us exploring lots about the planets and space. As a class our favourite was exploring the dwarf planets and their interesting names. Also some good videos of a personified dwarf planet Pluto feeling very sorry for itself being downgraded!