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If I was using the rockets activity in my classroom, I would build it around a fun and engaging story eg: “Captain Karl,” a young astronaut whose rocket keeps failing to launch. He needs help from expert student scientists to figure out how to make it fly successfully.
After this introduction, I would present the balloon rocket experiment. Using string, tape, straws and balloons, students would work in small groups to create their own rockets. We would test them across the room, measuring how far they travel and discussing what affects their speed and distance — balloon size, angle and how much air is used. This would naturally lead into a class / group discussions.
To extend the learning, students would design their own “missions,” deciding what planet they’re traveling to and present their results through posters or short videos during Space Week. The children would have great fun recording their launches on tablets and then rewatching them with the class on the whiteboard.
This activity would support science learning while also encouraging teamwork, creativity and storytelling, skills that are also important to develop in the classroom.
There are so many ideas to take from this module of the course and the children would have great fun for the duration of science week studying different topics and carrying out different experiments.
Great job, Karen! Your lesson sounds fun and hands-on and perfect for helping kids understand how to dress for different weather. The activities are really engaging and playful.
I chose the “Animals in the Cold” activity from ESERO for my 2nd class. It’s a great way to help children understand how animals like polar bears and penguins stay warm in freezing places.
1)We would start by having a class discussion about these animals, chatting about what they look like, where they live, and how they survive in the cold.2)Then we would do a simple experiment using Vaseline on one hand, placing both hands in cold water and feeling the difference. The children would love it and it would help them to understand how blubber works like a warm coat.
3)To follow up, we could test different materials including cotton wool, bubble wrap and tinfoil. We would wrap these around cups of warm water to see which keeps the heat in best. We would check the temperature and see which one works best at keeping the water warm.
This activity supports STEM by encouraging the children to ask questions, predict, test and observe. It also ties in well with our science strand on Living Things and helps build early investigation skills in a fun and meaningful way.
Introduction: The Planets
1. Introduce the 8 planets using flashcards or a poster.Use a catchy planet song to help remember them (Eg: “The Planet Song” on YouTube)
Ask children to repeat the names and match them to flashcards.
2. Class discussion: What’s in Space? Stars. The moon. Space is very big and quiet! Astronauts wear suits to breathe.Development :
1. Aliens! Let’s Imagine… Question: “What do you think aliens might look like?”
Show fun cartoon alien images (not scary).2. Activity: Create your own alien using playdough / clay (linked with art)
NB points to consider: “What planet is your alien from? What does it eat? How many eyes?”
Let children name their alien and decorate it.3. Create an alien passport (linked with English)
Closure:
Present their alien to the class and tell the children what planet their alien is from.
The activity set that I would focus on is the sun and shadows. In this lesson, I would begin with the story and activity mentioned ‘Bears Shadow – My Sky Tonight activity to get the children working with light and thinking about shadows.
I would then take class outside several times during the school day to observe how shadows change as the sun moves across the sky. Each group would place a toy dinosaur / animal on the ground and use chalk to trace its shadow every hour. Each group would measure the length and direction of the shadow and record the time. (This activity would link in nicely with a lesson on graphs in maths).Back in the classroom, we would talk about what they noticed eg:how shadows are long in the morning and late afternoon. We would discuss why this happens and how it relates to the sun’s position in the sky.
To help the children understand the science behind it, I would use a flashlight (as the sun) and a globe or ball (as the Earth) to show how the Earth’s rotation creates day and night and causes shadows to move.
I also love the idea of using the mosaic activity in this way and a great way to work on fine motor skills. I love the variety of art elements and lessons that can be included in lessons on these topics.
An inquiry based activity on gravity for 2nd class students would link with the children’s story “Jack and the Beanstalk.” This classic fairy tale provides a fun and imaginative context for exploring gravity.
Before the hands on experiment, I would read the story aloud, emphasizing the scene where Jack climbs the beanstalk and later chops it down, causing the giant to fall. This sets the stage for a class discussion:
“Why did the giant fall down?
What made him come down instead of floating?”
These questions naturally lead into an inquiry about gravity.
After reading, we would conduct the “What Falls Faster?” experiment, using small props such as a toy giant, beans and leaves to simulate the story. The children would be encouraged to link their observations back to the story: “If Jack had dropped a feather and a stone from the beanstalk, which would have landed first? Why?”
This storytelling link helps children connect scientific inquiry to narrative thinking, making the concept of gravity more relatable and fun.
A super idea Rachel and one that the kids can definitely relate to. Some lovely lesson ideas to use here next year. Thanks.
Hi, I’m Claire from Louth and I will be teaching 2nd Class in September. An interesting science fact that I came across is that the sunset on Mars appears blue. Space is such an interesting topic for both adults and kids alike and I’m looking forward to learning more about it during this course.
For this activity I love children being hands on and the idea of the children creating their own rockets would be an appealing lesson to all involved. To start, I would use the stimulus of a photo in space to encourage the children to think about different ways that one could get to space. I would use the story ‘Edward Built a Rocketship’ by Michael Rack as a starting point to grab the attention of the children and use it as a talking point on rockets. We would then look at the different elements of rockets and what they need to launch to outer space. The children will then work in groups to sketch / design a rocket. They wilI continue to work in groups and build their rockets together. At end of the designing a making phase, the class will look at, discuss and compare the rockets that the various groups created.
I like the idea of using different themes for different class groups too. I would be wonderful to view all the topics and creations at the end of the week in a whole school setting.
For this module I would focus on the activities based on the weather, the seasons and what clothes to wear.
To begin the lesson we would discuss seasons, identifying characteristics of each of the four seasons. Using a cut and stick activity, the children will sort items into the correct categories. We will then discuss different types of weather and the four different seasons in more detail. Linking in with drama, we will play a guess the season dress up game. The children will select a dress up card and following the instructions they will select clothes from a box and dress appropriately for the season. The remainder of the class must guess the season that the child is dressed up for. While completing this activity, it will provide ample opportunity to revise and discuss the characteristics of different seasons.
