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Module 5: Rockets and Alien Chemistry
Imagine telling a junior infants class that today boys and girls we are becoming alien scientists in our own space laboratory! The children can decorate their own alien themed headband and wear them throughout their sensory alien experimentation. I would begin the lesson with a discussion about aliens, space, and what might happen in an alien laboratory, introducing vocabulary such as mix, fizz, bubble, slime, and rockets. I would read the children a story called ‘The Great Alien Cake Off’ by Rachel McCoubrie to engage children in the creative alien theme. Children then take part in hands-on experiments, including making alien slime using glue, colouring, glitter, and activator, encouraging them to observe textures and changes. Materials such as marshmallows will be named as ‘Martian mallows’ and glitter will be called ‘galactic glitter’ keeping with the alien theme. A fizzing experiment using baking soda and orange coloured vinegar inside a 500ml bottle with holes at the bottom allows children to explore bubbling reactions like that if a space rocket taking off and enable children to hear alien like noises. I would also include a fun alien song throughout the day singing to the tune of B-I-N-G-O but instead using the letters A-L-I-E-N and to finish off the day I would include an art activity where children design their own alien in a spaceship using their hand print and a toilet roll tube. Through observation, prediction, and discussion, children develop early scientific thinking in an engaging and playful way and have memorable fun experiences.
Hi Elaine,
I absolutely love the progression throughout these lessons and the connections to homes that the children live in in comparison to fairytale characters. The use of vocabulary would be immense and the excitement of building their own little houses out of clay would be amazing. The idea you have about making your school estate and adding green areas is amazing, this is something that I would love to try myself, could you imagine adding a Bee-Bot and travelling to different locations within your school estate and integrating science with local geography and technology.
Activity Set: Weather
I would use hot and cold to create a lesson introducing junior infants to the concepts of hot and cold through weather and science. I love the experiments involving ice in this module from Esero website. I would begin with a class discussion of weather and identifying whether it feels hot or cold. By producing pictures and real-life examples of weather types, children are enabled to explore weather conditions such as sunshine and snow. A practical hands on while class sorting activity would help children classify objects and clothing suitable for hot and cold weather, including shorts, coats, gloves, socks, scarves, swim suits and sandals. A starter science investigation to establish initially vocabulary for example, hot, cold, warm and freezing will enable children to encounter the feel warm water, cold water, and ice cubes, encouraging discussion about temperature and melting.
I would introduce weather songs like, I hear Thunder, What’s the weather and Oh Mr Sun the children can relate to the hot and cold theme in relation to weather. I have used coloured ice in the past to enthuse junior infants about learning about cold climates which worked out well. I really enjoy taking a hands-on learning approach, and helping children in their understanding of weather and understanding appropriate clothing choices for certain types of weather.
Activity Set: Space and Aliens
I have chosen to explore a Junior Infants lesson on Aliens and Martian Landscapes, inspired by the lessons on the Space Week Ireland link provided in Module 3. I would begin the lesson with a discussion about Planets and ask children what kind of creatures they think lives on planets in space. I would then introduce children to the story ‘You can’t Eat a Princess’ allowing children a visual of how alien characters can be interpreted in different ways this will allow children to explore images and describe how each alien has different features.
Children then use their imagination to design their own aliens using fabric and textiles. I would encourage children to think about alien features such as number of eyes, arms, colours, and personalities. I think that having a child led approach encourages creativity and promotes descriptive language via adjectives.
As a follow up lesson children can also explore alien habitats and create a Martian landscape to place their alien on using art techniques such as blowing bubbles using paint to create textured terrain effects like those we imagine planets to have. Children would develop oral language skills by discussing features of planets and explore creativity by sharing ideas of what they imagine alien planets to look like. I would provide sand for the children to glue on to their backgrounds as well as providing mark making materials to promote line and texture to emphasise the rocky surfaces. I really enjoy thematic days in the classroom and for physical education I would follow up this art lesson with a fun space themed movement activity whereby the children walk like aliens, imagine they are on a really fast rocket ship and have just landed on Saturn. Following this the children would return to the classroom and complete a gallery walk, getting the chance to admire everyone’s alien and Martian landscape creations. I think that this would be a great series of lessons integrating SESE with Drama, PE, Art, Numeracy and Literacy.I really like your idea of using fabric and fibre to create aliens for art. I love the cross curricular aspects that you have described and the endless opportunities for progression. The adjectives idea is fantastic describing aliens, perhaps the class could also develop their very own alien guess who game as a result of this activity to promote further oral language skills.
Hi Elaine,
Whoa what an activity, I can only imagine that your infants loved this. To complete this during space week when Halloween and potions are already in children’s minds is an amazing idea. Encouraging children to work collaboratively at this age is tricky but this activity is surely one that would enthuse the children to try. Definitely an idea I will try in the future. Thank you.
Hi Michelle,
I really like the hands on idea of creating a solar system in a box with older children, the possibilities of materials would be endless. I also love the idea of the children then presenting their solar system to the younger classes as it enthuses and engages younger children and gives the older children a sense of purpose when completing their work.
Activity Set – The Planets
I would use ‘The Planets’ activity set in the classroom. I would initially start the lesson by creating a KWL chart and getting to know what knowledge the children have already about space. I would follow this by introducing a book called ‘I am the Solar System’ by the authors Rebecca and James Mc Donald. It is a colourful child friendly book that portrays the Solar system in a fun way as the planets are made into characters. By the end of the story I would hope that the children would identify that planets are part of the solar system and have picked up new vocabulary and name some planets by name. I would also be hopeful that through a post story question session that the children could identify simple features of the planets for example hot, cold, rings and dust. I would then incorporate the ‘My Tiny Little Book of Planets in Our Solar System’ colouring activity. Following this a visual riddle game of ‘Guess the Planet’ could be played to establish children’s understanding of various planets features. At the end of the lesson I would play the planets song incorporating different movements for each planet for example making circles with arms for Saturn’s rings and stretching arms out wide for Jupiter. As a follow up lesson I would use the book ‘A Place for Pluto’ explaining that Pluto is now a dwarf planet, again I would use the same planet song. I would encourage the children to name more planet names and for the main lesson activity I would incorporate an art activity where the children choose a planet and recreate it using paper plates, paint, glue and textured paper to create a 3D effect. I believe that these activities would make learning about planets a fun and memorable for junior infants.
Hi Michelle I really enjoyed this fact. I have never heard of this before. Such a fun fact to carry forward into the classroom in September for little curious minds. Thank you.
Inquiry Based Lesson: Animals in the Cold
Having been made aware of the Esero website in this module I was looking at resources that I would use and I think this “Animals in the Cold” lesson is a highly effective resource for a junior classroom with the topic of polar regions as it introduces children to cold climates and how animals survive in them. Beginning firstly talking about the weather and cold environments allowing the children to make connections and asking children how we as people stay warm in winter by wearing coats and layers linking learning to their own experiences. I would then use visual images of animals such as Penguins and Polar Bears and discuss how children think the animals keep warm in Winter. Following this children can creatively through experimentation explore how animals keep warm by means of fur, feathers, and layers of fat which children learn during the lesson is called blubber. A hands-on ‘Keeping Warm Experiment’ experiment using Vaseline and water helps children understand how animals stay warm and dry. I would choose two children.
Put Vaseline on one child’s hand
Leave the other hand dry. Drop water onto both hands then ask questions so the children can decide Which hand feels warmer?
Which hand keeps water off better?
Through discussion I would explain that the greasy layer acts like protection and can be linked to
penguins and polar bears as they have oily fur/feathers that help repel water and keep them warm in winter. This experiment supports active learning, observation, creates meaningful discussions and scientific thinking, making it an ideal lesson for Junior Infant children.Hi my name is Caroline and I teach children from Junior Infants up to 6th class. My favourite fact about space is about a constellation of stars called Matariki also known as the seven sisters. Each star represents something e.g. Wellbeing/health, crops, winds, rainwater, growth, people who have passed and future wishes.