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I love this plan for space week. Such fun activities listed here, and all very doable! I particularly like the idea of a space parade where the children dress up, a space wonder wall, and space cinema on the Friday.
Using the 2 Marvin and Milo cartoons with 1st and 2nd multi grade class:
We would begin with some discussion around rockets and what the children already know. They would be encouraged to think about what makes rockets ‘go’.
Exploration of the ‘rocket mouse’, ‘Marvin and Milo balloon rocket’ and the ‘Marvin and Milo penny rocket’ cartoons would follow. The class would be divided into pairs and asked to pick one of the rockets to make. They would be encouraged to predict how far their rocket will ‘shoot’ and given time to make their rockets and carry out their investigations. They could decorate their rockets to add an artistic element to the task! They would carry out the investigations and make observations.
The children would be encouraged to think about ways the rocket might be improved or what might affect the distance travelled. If possible they would record the distance travelled.
Communicating back to the class would follow. Some videos of real rockets launching might be a nice ending activity.
I love the astronomy picture of the day too. Such an easy way to include a little bit of space every day! And even on a very busy day it doesn’t have to take up too much time. I will be using this from September.
Science skills and SSE:
Collaboration amongst school staff is key for an effective whole school approach to developing children’s scientific skills and learning. If these skills are taught consistently and effectively from an early age then children’s confidence and ability in science is so much stronger in my experience.
In terms of implementing SSE in regards to STEM, it’s first important to gather evidence and identify areas for improvement. Feedback from pupils, staff, parents and student work samples could all be used. Questionnaires and focused group samples can be a great way to collect data. From here, key areas for focus could be identified, for example: more hands on investigations across the school, or a more diverse range of methodologies and approaches to lessons. These are areas that could easily be approached with clear targets and wider range of shared lessons and resources in the school. A bank of hands on investigative lessons could be gathered and made available to all staff.
These types of hands on lessons would encourage core science skills such as questioning, observing, predicting, planning and communicating. They often involve critical thinking and problem solving.
Using the stars activity set, I would begin with the ‘lots and lots of stars’ activity, to introduce to the children the concept of stars being so numerous. They could do the art activity described. We could discuss star facts, e.g. there are more stars than grains of sand in the world.
We would discuss and explore the constellations next, beginning with any the children already know, eg the Big Dipper. I would encourage the children to look at the night sky for a few nights and try find some of the constellations visible at that time of year. We would discuss this each morning.
The children could then begin making their constellations lamps as described in this module. They could work on small groups or individually and pick their favourite constellations, marking it out on coloured paper. They would then prick holes where the stars should be on these constellations and fold the paper into a circular shape, stapling it in place. They would use a stick to hang the lantern and torch from to create a constellation lamp.
The children could then ask other children / groups to identify their constellations. We could see if any lamps match!
This topic is such a lovely way to integrate some art appreciation and link in Van Goghs starry night. I will definitely do the same. It’s always nice to explore a topic from many different angles and it was nice to see the star painting activity in this module.
Such a fun idea bringing a toy such as dinosaurs into the lesson and observing the shadows change in length and direction during the day. This could be done with any toy of figuring me that the class are showing an interest in!
I think shadows are such a fun topic to teach with children in general and these lessons would be great fun for them to explore. Having fun with shadows, such as moving the object closer and further from the light source is always an interesting one ! I’m often amazing how many children have never really explored this before. Shadow puppet shows in small groups always go down a treat too in my experience!
The spherical earth activity module 2:
I would begin with the penguin, polar bear and sphere/globe and the role play scenario.The polar bear would be near the north pole and penguin at the south pole. We would turn the sphere around to show earth from the penguins perspective during the role play .
Then the prompt question: Why don’t they fall off? Discussion would follow.
We would then look at an image of earth in space and discuss how the earth is spherical and is surrounded by the darkness of space. The children could find examples of spheres around the classroom/school.
The earth mosaic Activity would follow, with children drawing above (up) and below (down) ground or sea level. Putting these together to form a spherical / round mosaic, we would discuss up & down once again. The children would be guided to discover that up and down no longer exist/have real meaning now. We would again discuss how the planet earth is spherical.
I would follow this up with a video or picture of earth from space, maybe the picture of the earthrise taken from the moon… I find children are fascinated by this and it would be a lovely way to introduce this in the concept of earth being a sphere in space. It might also lead into lessons on earth in space.
I love this fact. It really puts the scale of life on earth compared to the vastness of space in perspective!! One to share in September, the kids will love it ☺️
Hello everyone. My name is Lisa Fitzpatrick.
My favourite space fact is that the moon is slowly spinning away from the planet earth. So it would have looked a little bigger in the sky when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
I love exploring gravity with my classes. One activity I love to do is falling things and get the children to predict what will happen if we drop several things from the same height.
The Starter question might be which will fall quickest…. Get the children talking together & predicting! We then explore and investigate and record results.
Discussion around why one thing might fall slower (eg a feather ) can spark great conversations and further experimentation.
I love to follow this up with an inquiry based lesson on paper spinners using the template online, scissors and paper clips. The Starter question is usually ‘do you think the spinner will turn clockwise or anticlockwise?’ and then the children compare their results and try figure out how to change the direction of the spin (fold the wings in the opposite direction!)
Halving the wings, halving one wing, etc can all make for an interesting lesson.
<p style=”text-align: left;”></p>Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky? For example: Look up President Michael D Higgins’ “Stardust”
The night sky is surely something that connects us all, connects us to our ancestors and connects humankind in a shared appreciation for its beauty. It is no wonder there’s so much art, music and literature that has been inspired by the night sky.
In terms of art ‘cafe terrace at night’s and ‘starry night’ by Vincent Van Gogh immediately spring to mind. I find van goghs style and energy so appealing to children and always makes for a fun study in school! I love how Van goghs night sky paintings have been given a new lease of life in recent years such as the 360° view ( https://kuula.co/post/79QMS ) / 3d animations/ immersive experiences and films too.
Even the markings of newgrange or other neolithic markings around Ireland could be interpreted to be symbols of space or the skies…. Swirls and spirals are plentiful in this early artwork.
In terms of music, so many songs spring to mind , Neil Young’s ‘harvest moon’, ‘moon river’ by Audrey Hepburn, and ‘ fly me to the moon’ by Frank Sinatra. More modern songs such as ‘counting stars’ by one Republic and ‘a sky full of stars’ by coldplay would also be really fun to explore in the classroom or have playing in the background during a night sky art lesson!
Kate Bush song ‘the big sky’ is another beautiful song inspired by the skies. Space Oddity by David Bowie and rocket man by Elton John are 2 more classics to add to the playlist!
Stardust by president Higgins is a beautiful poem, one I was unaware of before this course.
‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ is another striking and well known poem that has beautiful imagery about the skies. (“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills….Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” This is a poem I learned myself in 5th class and I’ve never forgotten it. I loved it!How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversityI would begin this topic with a simple project on local nocturnal animals. Children could split into groups and choose different animals to research and study. I would encourage them to consider habitats, feeding patterns of the animals, whether they are in decline and why, the animals unique physical traits, etc. Each group could then report back to the class on their findings . They would compare any physical traits or behaviors that these creatures have in common. I would then encourage the children to take their project one step further and research how light pollution might affect these different animals. This module has some great videos and websites that I could direct the children towards, eg the ‘light pollution and wildlife’ video and the ‘bug life’ review on artificial light and animals. They might investigate bright lights at night in their local environment and see what animals are attracted to these lights. I would ask them to consider what the animals might be doing if they were not being drawn to these lights…. would they be sleeping/hunting/etc? I would encourage the groups to again present their findings on the effects of light pollution on their chosen animals and consider any similarities or differences they find across the different nocturnal animals.
We would then move on to local flora and perhaps do a field study of native species around the school. One activity that I find every class enjoys no matter the age, is throwing a hula hoop in the school pitch and then studying any plants and animals they find inside on closer inspection. This might be a nice starter project. We could extend this to identifying trees, plants and shrubs in the local environment. I would again follow this with a study of the effects of lights at night in plant species. The BBC article ‘How light pollution disrupts plants’ senses’ will be of great interest to my 5th and 6th class this coming year and will be a great resource for helping them understand how plants and animals are so interconnect and how light pollution can disrupt the cycles of both.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
I have noticed a huge difference in the quality of visibility of the night skies in my hometown over the years. The town has grown considerably, especially in the last decade. As a child I loved looking up at the stars and finding constellations, and sadly there is much less to see now. Light pollution has definitely made a huge impact on what we can see, even from the outskirts Of my town and this makes me so sad. On a recent trip to Kerry i was reminded of what I could once see, the skies in all their glory! Children growing up with reduced visibility will know no different so I think it is more important than ever to teach children about light pollution, steps they can take to reduce it and also to encourage them to look to the skies when they go to more remote areas.
Luckily, the children I teach are in a more remote rural area so they have a much clearer view at night. I think it would be interesting for them to view the skies from the nearest town if possible and compare. It might help them be aware of the importance of conserve the clearer views they have at night.
The ‘what is light pollution’ video will be a good resource to have for beginning this topic with children.
I think it will also be important to explore the effects of these lights on the natural world and nocturnal animals in particular. Children in our school are growing up surrounded by nature and I find they have a great love for the animals and habitats around them. I’m sure they will be very interested to explore how light pollution can be reduced in order to help these animals and protect their habitats. Simple steps like shielding lights, using warmer artificial light and reducing light usage at nighttime are all great ways to do this and are easily done.
I hope to construct a sundial in my school grounds in the coming year. I will be teaching 5th and 6th and I’m sure they will enjoy helping decide where to place it. I will encourage them to think about placement and consider other shadows, windy /sheltered spots & materials that will withstand the weather. We are lucky to have plenty of space around our school and a very large yard so I don’t think finding a suitable spot will be anyway difficult. It would be nice to involve the younger classes too and perhaps the older children can demonstrate how to use it at break times if we were to construct it on the yard. It would be interesting for the children to observe it each break time over several weeks and compare the placing of the shadow each day. My 5th 6th could of course check it at different times if the day and mark with stones where the shadow lies. We have plenty of pots and bamboo sticks so I might begin by getting them to construct a temporary one like the one in the video. Then I would encourage them to think about best materials for a more long term sundial. They could paint on stones and mark out the shadows each hour.
This is such a lovely fun activity and I feel it will naturally integrate history as we explore the importance of the sun in keeping track of time in the past (ancient civilisations, newgrange etc), geography (shadows), art (using shadows in paintings) and maths (recording, measuring etc).
What I also like is that the children will be using the school environment to it’s full potential, getting outside, getting actively involved in a hands on activity and working together to explore an interesting and engaging topic.
