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Module 1
I would do the gravity lesson from this module with my class. I would begin the lesson by posing questions to the children. The children will predict what objects could fall faster than others and predict why. Will they behave differently? The children can guess what direction the object will fall, they can mark where they think they object will fall. I will give the children the sheet of paper with the objects whereby they can write their predictions or draw their predictions depending the class I am teaching.
In pairs I would have one chid stand on a chair to drop the object and other child to predict where the object will land. The children will then reverse roles. The children will be encouraged to look at how they fall, do they spin, flip, move side to side etc.
I would bring the class together the data on the white board. The children can record the results too. What surprised you? Why do you think the object fell like this?
This can allow for follow up lessons on gravity and the earth.Rockets
I would begin the lesson by watching short videos on famous rocket launches and astronauts. I would gain the children’s prior knowledge on what they know on space, rockets and astronauts. We could talk about Neil Armstrong and what he discovered. The children could talk about space suits and why they are needed.
I would tell they class they will have the opportunity to make their own space rockets. I would leave out a variety of material from which they could choose from. We would discuss the shape of the rocket and what materials we could use to make the shape of the rocket, for example toilet rolls for the frame, cardboard cut outs for the fins and the nose cone. The children would then have the opportunity to design their rocket with other craft materials or colours.
The children would have the opportunity to view one another’s rocket ships.
I would end the lesson with Aliens Love Underpants.I love this lesson. I can only imagine how much fun the children had predicting and observing this lesson. The fizzing and the foaming of the liquid would cause alot of excitment.
I will definitely be trying this out in my class.
I love the idea of introducing this lesson with a story, especially for the younger classes. The importance of choosing a house suitable to it’s location is important for children to understand. The older classes could look at materials as to why some houses would be more suitable for warmer weather and colder weather.
Where do you live?
I would like to try this lesson out with my class. I would ascertain their prior knowledge of houses first, what types of homes do they live in? Do they know the correct names for the different homes? – apartments, two storey, terraced, bungalow, dormer bungalow. We could look at different homes from around the world and discuss how the differ or are the same as irish homes.
I would distribute the worksheet for this lesson and the children could discuss and find the home that is most similar to their own home. They could identify the features that are similar, the windows are placed in a similar way, the front door is the same, the roof is the same shape etc.
When the children have and identified and coloured in the house closest to their home they could you modelling clay to build and design their houses.
I love the idea of placing all the houses together to form a village and the children can further discuss what needs the community would have and what they are missing. In small groups the children could add in whatever they feel the village needs, post office, school, shops, coffee shops, bakeries etc.
There is endless of ways to develop this lesson further, bringing it into all areas of the curriculum.Louise, I like the way you’ve adapted your lesson the the needs in your room. It is a lovely way to ensure all the children are gainging access to the lesson. The idea of the children drawing or building their own constellations is a great idea.
I would like to try the Plough Constellation activity with my class. I would get the children working in pairs and have all their materials ready for them, the 7 15×15 cm tinfoil squares, 7 pieces of black string, cellotape, black a4 card and the template from the activity link. The children will work in pairs to attach the black card to the template with the cellotape. One child could hold the page while the other child punctures holes into the correct location on the template. The children could take it in turns to attach the string to the tinfoil and crumple up the tinfoil to form the stars. Using a white board they could work out the distance they need each star to be. This is a great way to incorporate maths skills into the lesson. The children will then secure the stars by taping the string to the back of the card. I think I would get the children to stick their constellation onto the underneath of their table so they can see clearly how it looks.
The children can reflect on the lesson. Discussing the challenging parts and what worked for them.
Tracy, this is a fun lesson and I can see the children engaging fully in this. The children love using chalk and they would need to work in pairs for this lesson. The element of art would really engage lots of children too. It allows opportunities for lots of discussion too.
Sun and Shadows
I really enjoyed watching the Sun lesson whereby the teacher had a large Sun balloon and began by asking the children what they know about the sun. I would allow the children in my class to throw the ball gently to one another and I could record their responses on the white board. Using the prop of the torch to teach the word Ultra Violet Light is a clever idea to get the concept across to younger children. Bringing drama into the lesson allows the children to bring in real life experiences into the lesson. The children responded to ways of protecting themselves from UV light. I would use the props of sunglasses, suncream, long sleeved tops, hats, umbrellas to let the children choose from. This way they can take ownership of their way of protecting their skin from the sun.
The UV bracelets are a wonderful way of reinforcing the effects of UV light to the children. From the video you could see and hear the excitement from them when they saw how the bracelets changed colour.
This is a really hands on lesson and engages all in the class.My name is Aoife. These are great ideas. The children in my class have always loved when we do a Magnet lesson. They are all fully engaged. It is wonderful to hear them use the scientific language within the lesson. It is a lesson that can be easily differentiated too, allowing the children from the AS class to take an active role in the lesson.
A magnet lesson can be easily adapted to any class that is being taught. The children’s responses can be more age appropriate, starting from smiley faces for a positive magnetic force to a sad face for an item that is not magnetic. The older classes can use more specific language.
It allows for cross curricular involvement. Oral language and the mathematical language are key to the lessons on magnets. It is a lesson that is highly sociable. The children are engaging with one another in a fun, learning way. It allows for different roles to naturally evolve while they work in groups.