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Space provides many open ended opportunities for lessons across all subject areas. It is an area that children particularly enjoy learning about. I have actually carried out the foam rockets with a first class before. This was part of our science enquiry based lesson. We created foam rockets and used elastic bands to launch them. We created score boards that were similar to a darts board with different points. The children aimed the rocket at the score board and had 3 turns, they then added up their points for each turn and calculated their score. This integrated maths with science and was very effective. This was towards the end of the week and was used to consolidate the children’s learning on Space and Rockets. Prior to this, we looked at the Moon Landing in history. We looked at the rocket used for the first moon landing and also looked at rockets used in recent days. We discussed similarities and differences. We created a Space timeline and looked at how things have changed over time. We really focused on Neil Armstrong and the moon landing, also noting the animals that were sent to Space before humans. This opened another opportunities for ethics and animal cruelty. We looked at the distance between the planets in geography and created planets using balloons and paper masche in art. A week to teach Space really doesn’t do it justice. It could definitely be carried out over a fortnight or even more. The rockets lessons was one I enjoyed and would definitely implement in the future again. I also really like the idea of the dancing raisins lessons. I have 2nd class next year and will definitely try this out
This is a great lesson. We made foam rockets as part of Space week last year and the children really enjoyed it. It is simple yet very effective.
I would choose the Where do you live and Animals in the Cold. There is a huge opportunity for integration across both of these topics and they could be conducted in a junior classroom as a series of lessons. An important starting point would be whole class discussion. What is a home? What do we need in a house for survival? Does everyone live in the same type of home? I would put a variety of different photographs of different houses on the board emphasising diversity and different across the world. I would question the children on the houses and what stands out to them. We would discuss the different items of importance for houses in the cold and houses in hot climates. Igloos in the cold and the use of white walls in hotter climates. Why is this important? In groups, In would get the children to design and make a plan for a home in either a hot or cold climate. I would draw on this learning in geography with weather and different weather types, construction in art.
I would then follow on this learning with a lesson on animals in the cold, drawing on the children’s previous learning of colder climates and houses in the cold. We would look at different animals that are quite different, for example a camel and a polar bear. Looking at the attributes of each animal and how they have adapted to live in the environment they are in. I would engage in questioning throughout to lesson to assess the children’s learning!Great ideas! I love the homes around the world and showing children different types of homes that they may not have been exposed to before!
I have also looked at Aliens for a lesson with junior classes. I really like the idea you mentioned of an alien landscape and comparing this to school landscape emphasising that the alien world is imaginary, this is very important for young children who may have fears!
I would create a series of lessons on Space and Aliens for a junior class. I would start by reading the story ‘Aliens love Underpants’ to introduce the topic of Aliens. I would then question the children on the story to check their understanding. I would then divide the children into pairs. In their pairs, the children would each have a turn and calling out a set of alien adjectives. The other person in the pair must draw what they think the alien may look like, for example the alien has 3 eyes, a square head and purple hair. This is an enjoyable activity for the children and allows them to learn how we can interpret different adjectives. I would enhance the children’s oral language by getting them to talk about their aliens and what makes them unique.
I would then build on this work in art by getting the children to create their own aliens under the strand of fabric and fibre. In geography I would like at houses and homes and we would create homes for our aliens. Questioning would occur surrounding what’s a good home, where would an alien live and so on? There are endless opportunities for integration and hands on active learning!This is a great lesson. I also did one for the moon with a senior class but it is great to see how it can be modified to teach junior infants. The art activity is a lovely one to carry out and one that the children would definitely enjoy !
Activity Set: The Moon
This is a very good starting point for a lesson. Children are always fascinated by the moon in particular when they can still see the moon during the day. This leads to a variety of questions such as why is the moon out when the sun is, I thought the moon only came out at night time and so on. Lessons on the moon can be modified based on the year group. The man on the moon is a good stimulus for a lesson eliciting the children’s prior knowledge on what they know and discussion can occur around what the children want to learn. There is also a wide range of opportunities for integration across different subjects including acrostic poems in literacy, moon drawings in art, history of the moon landing.
A lesson I would love to teach in a more senior class is the phases of the moon using Oreo’s. This is a great hit with the children. It allows children to see the lunar cycle and its eight different phases. The white part of the Oreo represents the illuminated section of the moon and the Oreo biscuit represents the shadow. This is very simple and effective. The children would definitely love eating the Oreo’s once the lesson is completed! The lesson is active and engaging. I would assess the children’s learning at the end of the lesson by getting them to draw the eight different phases of the lunar cycle.An inquiry based activity I would use in my class is the different planets and their distance to the sun. I would prepare for this activity by printing out a photo of each planet and their distance from the sun on a flash card. I would elicit the children’s prior knowledge by discussing what we already know about the plants and the sun. Questions such as which planets are hot? Which planets are cold ? And so on. I would then split the class into groups to make predictions on the distance of planets to the sun. I would ask the children to predict which distance applies to which planet. Once done I would get feedback from the children. I would then get a student to represent each planet and a student to represent the sun by holding up their photos. I would get the children to line up accordingly based on their distance to the sun. By doing so, it is visual for the children to see the closest planet and the planet that is furthest away. Whole class discussion would occur surrounding this and the goal would be that children would see the relationship between planets such as Mercury and Venus being the hottest and being closest in proximity to the sun. The children are also active, engaged and moving around the classroom. There is linkage with maths and the use of number and distance also. Overall, I think this lesson could work very well in the middle of the school perhaps for a 2nd or 3rd class. At the end of the lesson, I would ask questions to assess the children’s learning. It could be a good lesson to introduce space as a lesson group.
This sounds like a great lesson and one that the children would really be engaged in! I love the idea of working in small groups. Informal assessment at the end is excellent to see if learning outcomes have been met
Hello. My name is Alyson and I will be teaching 2nd class next year. I love Space and teaching about it. I love the opportunities space has for integration across subject areas. My favourite space fact is over one million earths could fit inside the sun!
The following is my proposed research with a 2nd class. I have chosen this as our school js situated next to a beautiful walkway. Lots of pupils use this coming in and out of school. There is a river flowing through the walkway that floods quite frequently. We can see first hand the problems it poses for us as a school community.
Question: what has contributed to flash flooding of our local walk way? When does this occur? How do we know it has occurred ?
Climate issue: climate change has contributed to more flash floods and increased rainfall in our local area. In recent years, we are seeing much more localised flooding on one hand, and much hotter weather on the other. There has been a bug change in weather trends in Ireland.
Importance: this flash flooding affects the whole community in particular our school community. The walk way is used for general daily walks by many members of the community. It is used by students and parents on their way in and out of school. When flooded, people cannot pass through. They need to take alternate routes.
Those affected: students, parents, teachers, the wider community.
Data collection proposal:
Make a rain gauge and choose two different months at random
Collect rain water from those two months and compare findings
Look at any research done by local authorities and see if there are any strategies inputted already to prevent flash flooding
Take a walk through the area on a dry day
Look at areas affected when heavy rain occurs
Are there any other measures that could be put in place to help alleviate the issueI agree with Siobhan it is so important to make lessons meaningful buck to the children’s everyday lives.
The EU browser could be used in the classroom to teach students all about satellite data. I explored Satelites using the orbit tracker app, I could see several satellites that have passed over Ireland recently including : Starlink Satellites, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Safellite, and Cosmos 2228. This would be an area that I would have shyed away from teaching before. I now feel I would have more confidence delivering a lesson on satellites. I chose this course to better my understanding and deepen my knowledge in order to improve my teaching in this area and to better learning experiences for my students.
I too looked at Nose Up in the Sky, it is very user friendly and provides a wide range of student activities that are engaging, student centered and structured. It breaks down broader more complex scientific topics into more manageable child friendly lessons
