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Hi Pat. I hope you or the facilators have received my posts. Perhaps I have received feedback ,but I just cant seem to find it. Could you please let me know if all is ok. I also submitted my reflection, but still seem to be only 87 % complete.
Many thanks
Bernie
These ideas are lovely and as Green schools Cordinator, I can see how they could be used to tie in with climate change and climate action
I feel all these lessons would be very suitable for 1st class and would tie in nicely with the SPHE and SESE curriculum.
The online resources I found most useful for teaching Space in a 1st Class classroom are Curious Minds , ESERO Ireland, ESA Education, NASA Kids’ Club, Universe in a Box, Space Scoop, UNAWE, Marlin and Milo, Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), and Stellarium Web. These resources provide engaging, age-appropriate activities that encourage children to explore space through play, investigation and discussion.
I would use Curious Minds and ESERO Ireland as my main planning resources because they are closely linked to the Irish Primary Curriculum and include practical, inquiry-based STEM lessons. Activities such as making simple rockets, investigating shadows, exploring the Moon and learning about the planets encourage children to predict, observe, question and work collaboratively.
To spark curiosity, I would use NASA Kids’ Club and ESA Education, where children can watch short videos, play interactive games and explore child-friendly information about astronauts, rockets and the Solar System. Universe in a Box and UNAWE provide excellent hands-on activities and stories that help children understand big ideas about space through active learning. I particularly like Space Scoop, which shares current space discoveries in language children can understand. I could use these stories as part of our oral language lessons, encouraging children to ask questions, predict outcomes and discuss new discoveries.
I would also introduce Marlin and Milo for simple science investigations linked to space, helping children develop their scientific skills through practical experiments. Astronomy Picture of the Day would be a wonderful way to begin each lesson by showing an amazing image of space to promote discussion, observation and new vocabulary. Using Stellarium Web, I could display the night sky on the interactive whiteboard, allowing children to identify the Moon, stars and constellations and helping them understand that the sky changes over time.
I would integrate these resources across the curriculum. In SESE, children would investigate the Earth, Moon and stars. In Science, they would carry out simple investigations and make predictions. In English, they could write space fact files, create stories about astronauts and discuss what they have learned. Visual Arts could include designing rockets, planets and starry night paintings, while in Mathematics, children could sort, count and compare planets or create simple graphs based on class surveys about favourite planets. In Drama and PE, they could role-play astronauts and move like rockets travelling through space.
Overall, these online resources would make learning about space exciting, interactive and meaningful for 1st Class pupils. They promote curiosity, creativity, collaboration and inquiry.
There are endless possibilities and ideas here to make space week very engaging and enjoyable for the children.
As I said before I took my son to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida. several years back. While there I had both my mammy and teacher head on I looked at good teaching and learning resources. I felt that the following resources were excellent, and I feel they would now work well with my 1<sup>st</sup> class children next year, while focusing on the theme of rockets.
- NASA Kids’ Club – A fantastic free resource with space games, colouring pages, simple activities and printable worksheets suitable for young children. It encourages curiosity about rockets and space through fun, interactive learning.
- Kennedy Space Center Spac-Ed Videos – Short, child-friendly videos introducing rockets and space travel. These work well as a lesson starter or to spark discussion about how rockets launch.
- Story Time from Space – Children listen to astronauts reading picture books from the International Space Station. This links Science with Literacy, develops listening skills and inspires children’s imagination.
- Virtual Rocket Tours – Short video tours of Cape Canaveral or the Kennedy Space Center allow children to see real rockets, astronauts and launch pads, helping them connect classroom learning to the real world.
- I plan to access these resources next term with my 1<sup>st</sup> class children. To engage them I will start off by showing them some of my personal photos taken with myself and my son while in NASA in Cape Canerval, e.g. photos taken with rockets, rocket launchers, dressed in astronaut gear, The Space Shuttle Atlantis etc. I will also use some of the resources suggested here. I particularly like Marvin and Milo’s two examples of rockets, balloon and penny rockets. I also plan to do the following practical activities with my class.
- 5-4-3-2-1 Rocket Countdown – Build a rocket using blocks or cubes while counting backwards before shouting “Blast Off!”. This reinforces number skills and introduces the idea of a rocket launch.
- Straw Rockets – Children design, colour and launch paper rockets using straws. This simple STEM activity introduces the idea of air pushing the rocket (thrust) while encouraging creativity and investigation.
- Fizzy Rockets (Teacher Demonstration) – A teacher-led outdoor experiment using a small container, water and a fizzing tablet to create a mini rocket launch. Children predict what will happen, observe the launch and discuss why it happened, introducing the idea of forces in a safe and exciting way.
These resources and activities fit well with the SESE (Science) curriculum by encouraging observation, prediction and investigation, while also supporting Mathematics (counting backwards, measuring and comparing), Visual Arts (rocket design), English (oral language and storytelling), and Drama (role-playing astronauts and countdowns). The emphasis on exploration and hands-on learning makes them particularly suitable for 1st Class children.
I would adapt the ESERO Lots and Lots of Stars! activity for my First Class by using an inquiry-based, cross-curricular approach that encourages curiosity and active learning. I would begin by discussing what the children already know about stars using a KWL chart and asking questions such as Have you ever seen the stars? and Is the Sun a star? Using jars of marbles, the children would estimate and compare quantities to discover that there are far more stars in the universe than we can imagine, while also developing their counting and estimation skills. Throughout the lesson, we would explore key scientific ideas, including that stars give off light, we usually see them at night, and that the Sun is also a star. I would extend the learning by introducing simple constellations, allowing children to create their own star patterns and encouraging discussion about how people have used the stars to tell stories throughout history.
To reinforce the learning across the curriculum, the children would create splatter paintings of a starry sky using toothbrushes and paint, before completing counting and number activities based on stars. We would read engaging picture books such as How to Catch a Star and Whatever Next! to develop oral language, vocabulary and creative writing, while PE lessons would include imaginative space-themed movement games where children become stars, rockets and constellations. Gaeilge vocabulary relating to the night sky and songs such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star would further support language development. The unit would conclude with a classroom display of the children’s artwork, constellation creations and writing, providing an opportunity for them to share their learning and reflect on how science can be explored through creativity, collaboration and play. I feel the children would get endless fun from these activities.
I forgot to say that I would use the great ESERO resources on the planets and the planet songs in teaching this aspect. I love the plant dance activity!
I would use The Planets Activity Set as a cross-curricular STEM unit in my 1st Class, as it encourages active, inquiry-based learning. I would begin by eliciting the children’s prior knowledge using a KWL chart, allowing them to ask questions and guide their own learning. To support oral language and literacy, I would use engaging stories and poems such as There’s No Place Like Space, Whatever Next! and The Moon, providing opportunities for prediction, discussion, role play and responding to text while developing vocabulary and comprehension.
Children would work collaboratively to investigate a planet using books, images and digital resources before creating simple models from recyclable materials, linking with my role as Green Schools Coordinator and promoting sustainability. Mathematical learning would be integrated through comparing planet sizes, ordering planets and using mathematical language, while engineering and technology skills would be developed through designing spacecraft and using Bee-Bots or ScratchJr to explore the Solar System.
Throughout the unit, I would use questioning, observation and pupil reflection to assess learning, while promoting curiosity, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving through meaningful, hands-on experiences that are appropriate for 1<sup>st</sup> class children. I also feel it would be great fun.
Hi Alyson.
I agree the teaching about the moon has endless possibilities, especially for Juniors. Many younger children are fascinated by the man in the moon idea, travelling to the moon, Michael Jackson and moon walking etcetc