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Fantastic ideas Sinead with great thought put in to ensure the lessons are cross curricular. So many ideas, you have space week organized for us all ! Thanks
Making a rocket activities:
Trigger: Poem ‘Im Building a Rocket’ by Kenn Nesbitt
Wondering: Recalling some facts about known planets and recording them on the board. Wondering what life would be like on these planets. Wondering what life would be like as an astronaut. Playing the recording of Apollo 11 moonwalk.(Incredible to listen to and watch!!) Wondering how the astronauts felt, what were they wearing, life in the rocket.
Use Milo and Marvins cartoon strip on balloon rockets. Discuss the steps taken to create the balloon rocket. Divide the children into groups of no more than 4. Distribute the equipment needed for the experiment. Discuss did it work, what could we do different and with what outcome.
Put Marvin and Milo’s alka seltzer rocket comic strip on the board. Discuss the steps taken . Again return to groups and distribute equipment. Teacher will add water to the container. Ensure children remain at a good distance from the container. Follow the same steps above for assessment of rockets.
Conclusion: Integrate with Art- Design & decorate your own rocket. Watch/listen to Buzz Aldrin tell the story of the first moon landing while designing rocket.
Hands on classroom themed activities:
Hot & Cold:
Trigger: 2 pieces of card on the whiteboard, one red & one blue. What do they represent to the children. Elicit the words hot/cold.
ESERO 12 activity: Move the red sheet beside the window & the blue sheet to the shade and read the statements on ESERO 12 and children go to the most appropriate colour.
Discuss hot/cold weather and record vocabulary on the board. Elicit from the children how the sun gives heat.
Experiment: Placing one ice cube by the window and the other in the shade. Predicting which will melt faster and why. Children place the sticky notes near their prediction.
What else can help to melt ice? Refer to Marvin and Milo’s experiment on sew an ice cube. Children complete this and discuss. Explain to the children that this is similar to when the roads are salted during the winter to allow us to travel and also why people would use it on our driveway but as we can see from the experiment if the temperatures do not rise the water will freeze again.
Finally discuss clothing that can be worn in hot and cold climates. Record what vocabulary they have & show images of other items of clothing that they may not have the vocabulary for -saree/parkas etc.
Another lesson could include materials and what materials work best for clothes in different climates.
Yes I agree. Towards the end of the year I began using various images as part of my morning routine. For alot of children getting to school and all that comes with it can be challenging. So I began using morning meetings with the children where they could just come to class knowing we weren’t going to launch into a topic straight away. It also allowed the late comers a chance to settle in. I had an image/simple activity (such as drawing a rainbow in your free writing copy) and an oral language activity up on the IWB. The children chose what they wanted to do. I think that the astronomy picture of the day would be a fantastic resource for this and intend to use it this way.
My own children use Kahoot in their school but I have yet to try it. Will definitely learn how to use it for this school year. Thanks for the reminder and like that it is also covering assessment, informally!
Aliens and Space lesson:
Engage:
Trigger: As part of my Literacy lesson I would introduce this rhyming story ‘Aliens Love Underpants’. It is fantastic for oral language and we would discuss the rhyming words and different elements of the story while paying particular to the aliens, what do they look like, colour, size, what are they travelling in, from where, to where etc. It would be on the IWB with this link.
Investigate & taking the next step.
We would recall our previous lessons on the different planets and write them on the board with words associated with each planet.
They would be split the group into pairs or teams of up to four children. Each group would have a fact sheet based on each planet. Instruct them to design an alien based on the environmental factors provided on the fact sheet for that planet paying attention to how your alien will have:
a way to breathe
a food source
protection from heat and/or cold
protection from cosmic radiation
a way to sense their environment
a way to moveConclusion: They present their alien to the class and explain the different characteristics of their alien and planet and the reasons behind their choices for the different characteristics.
Continue the activity into Art where they can use clay to create their alien.
Eleanor, these are great ideas! I will definitely use this poem when teaching about the moon and the trampoline. The children would really enjoy designing and making their own spaceships! So much integration with this topic. Thank you.
I would choose the activity set ‘The Moon’.
Engage;
Introduction: Listening to the recording of the man landing on the moon & showing a visual of the moon. Eliciting the children’s prior knowledge of the moon, what it is like, size, shape, colour, does anyone live there, why not? Asking the children how did the man get to the moon etc.
Investigate:
Showing the children various images of the moon paying particular attention to craters. Explaining what a crater is. Experiment with basins of flours and a few round items that the children can drop into the flour to understand the concept of the crater. Discuss.
Elicit from the children the different shapes of the moon and at what times of the day/night do we see them. List on the board.
Teach the phases of the moon and show a youtube video on it. Record phases on the whiteboard with names. Divide children into groups. Distribute paper plates. in groups they must create the various phases of the moon with a black crayon and paper plates and lots of discussion!
Conclusion:
Groups present their phases of the moon to the class. Finish with reading Chris Hatfield’s book ‘The darkest dark’
My name is Catherine and I will be teaching 1st/2nd class this year.
My interesting fact is that 95% of the universe is invisible!
Teaching an enquiry based lesson on electricity is enjoyable for all.
Introduction/Prompt: Picture book on a stormy day/night when the house loses its electricity.
Wonder/Explore: Elicit prior knowledge on the sources of electricity in the house, what uses electricity & the importance of electricity. Explain that electricity is everywhere!
Investigate- How we can create electricity!
Predict: Can we create electricity with a balloon and various items. Show Magnets and how they have positive & negative ends (North & south poles)
Experiment:
Rub an inflated balloon on your head for about 10 seconds.
Slowly move it away – what happens?
What happens when you hold the balloon near small pieces of paper, an empty drink/soda can, or a thin stream of water running from a tap?
If you do it right you can even place the balloon on a wall or door and leave it stuck there!Explanation:
When you rub the balloon on your hair you are giving it a small electric charge. What’s actually happening is you are rubbing tiny particles called electrons from your hair and onto the balloon. This gives the balloon a slightly negative charge and you and your hair a slightly positive charge, and opposite charges attract each other and try to stick to each other. This is why when you move the balloon away from your hair, your hair stands on end and tries to go with it!You might notice that your hair carries on standing up after you take the balloon away – that’s because you’ve left each hair with a positive charge!
Explain to the children that this electric charge is very small and eventually the electrons will balance out again and the balloon loses its magical sticky powers. But if the air is dry enough you can leave the balloon on a wall and it can stay there for days!
Discuss the experiment & their predictions.
Conclusion: What if questions?
What would happen if you:Had wet hair?
Rubbed the balloon on a woolly jumper instead of your hair?
Rubbed two balloons on your hair and then brought them together?
