[Catherine Knight]

Really lovely ideas there Olive – I have 5th class next year so I will definitely be taking your suggested activities on board.  I like the review of the light usage in their own home as well as the mind mapping activity at the beginning.

[Catherine Knight]

Lovely ideas here Nicole.

 

I haven’t ever used Stellarium and I look forward to trying it out with my class in September.

[Catherine Knight]

I chose one of the activities from the Space themed framework for Inquiry, specifically ‘How to make a foam rocket?’.

 

• Each pupil or pair of pupils need:
  Foam pipe insulation (½ inch diameter, cut into 8-inch lengths)
  Duct tape or masking tape
  Scissors
  Construction paper or cardstock (for fins)
  Rubber bands (large, for launchers)
  Plastic straws (wide diameter, optional)
  Markers or stickers (for decorating)
  Rulers

1. I would begin by showing a short 1–2 minute video or demo of a foam rocket launch, asking the pupils “What makes it fly?” and “How could we make it go farther?”
2. Give each pupil an 8-inch piece of foam pipe insulation and ask them to seal one end with duct tape (this is the nose of the rocket).
3. To make the fins, cut 3–4 triangular fins from cardstock. Attach to the bottom (open) end of the foam with tape and encourage symmetry for better flight.
4. For the launcher (rubber band slingshot), cut a small slit near the bottom of the rocket and thread a rubber band through and tape it securely.
5. To launch, hook the rubber band on your thumb and pull back on the rocket!
6. Allow pupils time to decorate the launcher with colours, names, and designs.
7. Before launching the rocket, create a clear launch zone.
8. Use a measuring tape to record distances and try different launch angles.  Ask pupils to record and compare results.
9. Allow pupils time to tweak fin shapes, add weight to the nose, or adjust length.
   Retest and see what improves!
10. Conclude the lesson by asking the pupils:

• What changes made your rocket fly further?
• What challenges did you face?
• What would you try next time?

[Catherine Knight]

This is a lovely approach  – I will definitely try this next year.  I have 5th class so it would work with that age group too.  Also a nice way to engage the pupils early on whilst also embedding some recycyling approaches into our setting from an early stage.

[Catherine Knight]

3. Plan how your students could “observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting and at different times of the day”

Firstly we will choose several times to observe the Sun daily (e.g., 09:30 AM, 12 PM, 2:45 PM) specific to our school day.

At each time we will mark the direction of the Sun using our compass and estimate its height (altitude) in the sky.  I’ve looked into this and people advise using your fist. By using your fist at arm’s length, one fist = approx. 10° of altitude.
We will also note shadows: Observe the direction and length of shadows from a fixed object like a stick or building. From my classroom we can see a shed at the end of the yard so we will use this.  We will then record the date, time, direction, altitude estimate, and shadow information/descriptions.

 

By doing this regularly (even weekly) across seasons we will begin to understand how the Sun’s path changes with the seasons.  We can observe how days get longer or shorter and also see how solar noon (highest point) shifts slightly.

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