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That sounds like a fantastic plan! I really like how you start with discussion to activate prior knowledge, then build excitement through the story before moving into the hands-on rocket activity. The balance of questioning, storytelling, and experimenting is perfect for engaging children of different abilities, and the paper rocket task is such a fun, practical way to connect science with creativity. It’s a brilliant idea for Space Week!
Level: 1st Class
Theme: Rockets & Space Exploration
Context: Our school has been very fortunate in recent years to partner with TU Dublin for Space Week activities and most recently SpaceFest in June. These partnerships have built a strong culture of curiosity and excitement around science, and the children already show great enthusiasm for all things space.Learning Objectives:
To develop curiosity about rockets and how they work.
To explore simple STEM concepts: push, pull, thrust, and design.
To encourage creativity and teamwork through art, design, and problem-solving.
To foster early science skills through observation, prediction, and reflection.
Lesson Activities:
Discussion & Story Starter: Begin with a short video or story about rockets and astronauts. Ask: Why do we need rockets? What might it feel like to blast off?
Rocket Exploration: Use Stellarium-web.org or ESA Kids resources to look at the planets rockets travel toward. Highlight real rocket launches.
Design & Create: Children work in pairs to make simple paper or straw rockets. Encourage them to decorate and name their rockets.
Launch & Test: Take the rockets outside. Children launch them, observe which travel furthest, and discuss why. Introduce the idea of thrust and air pressure in simple terms.
Reflection & Sharing: Back in class, children draw or write about their rocket’s “mission” in space. Display rockets and stories on a “Space Week Rocket Wall.”
Follow-Up / Extension:
Link with TU Dublin Space Week events for live talks or workshops.
Tie into literacy by writing “A Day as an Astronaut.”
Link into art by building larger model rockets from recycled materials.
Assessment Opportunities:
Participation in discussions and hands-on activities.
Observation of design, problem-solving, and teamwork.
Children’s reflections through drawings or simple writing.
Hi Caoimhe,
Great reflection! I like how you show the activity starting from children’s own homes and then expanding to the wider community. The way you link it to engineering, systems thinking, and sustainability is really clear, and your ideas for adding technology and eco-houses make it a strong STEM-focused lesson.
In my first class classroom, I would use Stellarium and Stellarium-web.org to spark curiosity about the night sky, allowing children to virtually explore constellations, the Moon, and nearby planets in an engaging and accessible way. To build on this sense of discovery, I would incorporate stories and resources from ESA and ESA Kids, which present complex space concepts in child-friendly language with engaging visuals. The cartoon characters Milo and Marvin would be especially valuable in making these ideas relatable, as children connect easily with friendly characters who model curiosity, teamwork, and problem-solving. Their adventures could be used as prompts for storytelling, creative writing, or art projects, encouraging pupils to imagine themselves as space explorers. Looking ahead, I would take further steps toward a STEM-focused space science education by designing simple experiments, constructing models, and creating cross-curricular projects that link science with literacy and the arts. This approach supports the Irish curriculum while also fostering imagination, collaboration, and an enduring interest in discovery.
That sounds like a fantastic choice! The Space and Aliens activity set is such a fun and imaginative way to get students engaged, and I really like how you’ve planned clear links across different curriculum areas. The Mars resource and design challenge sound especially exciting, as they give the children a real STEM focus while still letting their creativity shine. I think your literacy and oral language links work really well too – writing character descriptions and describing Earth to an alien are both brilliant ways to develop communication skills.
That sounds like a fantastic and highly engaging lesson! I love how you’ve combined hands-on activities, storytelling, music, and art to explore the concept of stars. Using predictions, visualizations, and comparisons like the sand and marbles really encourages curiosity and critical thinking.
I would love to use the Visibility of the Constellations activity from the Universe in a Box resource with my class. This activity provides an excellent way to introduce children to the concept that the night sky appears differently depending on where you are in the world, and that not all constellations are visible from every location. Using simple, hands-on materials, I can guide the children to explore why we see certain star patterns here in Ireland that might not be visible to people living closer to the equator. Earlier this year, my older class had the opportunity to visit the Armagh Observatory Planetarium @ TU Dublin and were fascinated to observe how the stars shift with our viewpoint on Earth. If the Observatory returns this year, I would be eager to bring my class again. Building on a classroom activity beforehand would allow the children to engage more deeply during the visit, encouraging them to question, investigate, and make sense of the patterns they see in the night sky.
An activity I would love to use in my class from the Spherical Earth activity set is the Up & Down Activity from UNAWE. I think this activity is a fantastic way to help children understand that there is no real “up” or “down” on Earth—only our perspective. The activity uses a globe along with a toy polar bear placed on the North Pole and a toy penguin on the South Pole. I love how this simple setup captures children’s imagination: at first, they may think the penguin is standing “upside down” compared to the polar bear, but through guided discussion they realise that both animals are standing perfectly normally in their own environments. This leads naturally to the key idea that gravity pulls everything toward the centre of the Earth, no matter where you are. I think the playful dialogue between the penguin and polar bear, as suggested in the activity, is a brilliant way to get students laughing, talking, and thinking deeply at the same time. It turns a tricky abstract concept into a concrete and memorable learning moment that the children are sure to enjoy and recall.
That sounds like such a thoughtful and engaging activity! I love how you’ve chosen Can’t You Sleep Little Bear as the starting point—it’s such a comforting story and a perfect way to introduce younger children to the concepts of light and dark.
Hi Katie,
I really enjoyed reading through your lesson there. I love the idea of using The Snowman story to draw the kids in. Im sure the children in your class would really enjoy this lesson. Its sounds like a lot of fun
Hi! Amanda here from Dublin. My favourite space fact is that the universe has no centre and is constantly expanding every second – making it impossible to reach the edge!
To explore the theme of gravity with my 1st class students, I would begin by asking a simple question: “Why do things fall down?” I would hold up a feather, a crayon, and a small ball, dropping them one by one and inviting the children to predict what will happen. I then encourage them to try dropping different objects around the classroom—big and small, light and heavy—and record what they notice through drawings or simple tally marks. As we share our observations, I would guide the children to compare results and think about why all the objects, no matter their size or weight, fall toward the ground. Together we would build the idea that gravity is a force pulling everything down. To help them connect this to their own experiences, I could ask them to reflect on what happens when they jump or throw a ball upwards. By structuring the activity in this way, I would give my students the chance to question, predict, test, and explain while keeping the learning active, playful, and rooted in their natural curiosity.Hi Niamh! What a fantastic and immersive project idea! Bringing Cabragh Wetlands to life through so many creative activities will definitely engage the students and deepen their connection to nature. I love how you’ve incorporated art, music, drama, and writing in such a meaningful way, and the idea of a class showcase is a perfect way to celebrate their learning and creativity. The kids are sure to have an unforgettable experience!
One famous scientist connected to Dublin that I researched is Robert Boyle. He lived in the 1600s and is often called the “Father of Chemistry” because of his important discoveries. Boyle worked in Dublin for part of his life and is best known for finding out how gases and air behave. His work helped us understand things like air pressure and how air takes up space.
In the classroom, there are many fun and hands-on experiments related to air and gases that connect to Boyle’s discoveries. For example, children can blow bubbles and watch how they form and float. This is a great way to talk about the air inside the bubbles and how it moves.
Another activity is to explore air pressure using simple tools like plastic bottles and balloons. This helps children see how air can push and stretch things even though we can’t always see it.
Finally, students can make a “vacuum” effect using a syringe or a simple pump. By pulling air out, they can observe how the space inside changes. These activities help children learn by doing, just like Robert Boyle did when he was curious about air and gases.Hi Patrick,
That sounds like such a fantastic and hands-on project! I love how you’re encouraging the kids to think like real medieval engineers—it makes history come alive for them. I’m sure they’ll have so much fun imagining how their castles would protect people!
Before starting the design and make project, the class will go on a bridge walk around Dublin to see different bridges in the city. They will visit bridges like the Ha’penny Bridge, O’Connell Bridge, and the Samuel Beckett Bridge. During the walk, the children will look closely at each bridge’s shape, size, and materials, and talk about what makes each bridge special or different. They can also draw simple pictures or take notes about what they see.
When the class returns to the classroom after the walk, the children will use what they noticed during their visit to help them create their own bridge designs. They can pick any features they liked from the bridges they saw. For example, some might decide to build a small, curved bridge like the Ha’penny Bridge, while others might choose to make a wide, sturdy bridge like the O’Connell Bridge.
Using materials like cardboard, sticks, string, and glue, the students will build their own bridges based on what they noticed during the walk. They will think about how to make their bridge strong and how it looks. After building, they can decorate their bridges and then show their classmates what inspired their design.
This way, the bridge walk helps students learn by exploring real examples, and then they get to be creative and make their own unique bridges.
