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I think the Dancing Raisins activity is a fantastic way to make science fun and memorable for children. I also like how you plan to extend the investigation by testing different materials, as it encourages curiosity and helps develop the children’s inquiry skills.
I would use the Rocket Activity Set as part of a week-long STEM theme to encourage children to think like scientists and engineers. I like that the activities are practical and allow children to experiment, make changes to their ideas and learn from the results. Instead of focusing on finding the “right” answer, the emphasis would be on exploring different possibilities and discussing why some designs work better than others. To introduce the topic, I would ask the class what they already know about rockets and how they think rockets are able to travel into space. We would watch a short rocket launch video and use it as a starting point for discussion. The children would be encouraged to share their own ideas before beginning any investigations. The main classroom challenge would involve designing and testing balloon rockets. Working in small groups, the children would investigate how different changes affect the movement of their rockets. After each test, they would talk about what happened, suggest improvements and then try again. This process would help them understand that designing, testing and improving are all important parts of science and engineering. To extend the learning, I would encourage the children to draw and label their favourite rocket design and explain what they changed to make it travel further. Older pupils could record simple measurements or compare the results from different groups using charts or graphs. These activities would naturally link science with mathematics, oral language and visual arts. I believe this activity would also support our school’s STEM School Self-Evaluation by promoting active learning and collaborative problem-solving. Evidence of learning could be gathered through photographs, children’s work samples and teacher observations of group discussions. Reflecting on these activities would help identify children’s strengths in scientific thinking while also highlighting areas that could be developed further in future STEM lessons. Overall, this activity set encourages creativity, resilience and curiosity while giving children the confidence to investigate and learn through experience.
I really like your idea of using Stellarium to help the children explore the night sky, as it makes the lesson more interactive and engaging. Linking the activity with Look Up and the Lots and Lots of Stars lesson is a lovely way to reinforce the children’s learning.
I decided to focus on the Hands-on Classroom Themed Activities because I feel they encourage children to learn by exploring rather than simply listening. In a junior classroom, children are naturally curious, so giving them opportunities to investigate and discover for themselves makes learning more memorable. Instead of completing one activity with the whole class, I would organise a series of short tasks that the children could rotate around in small groups. Each station would have a different challenge, such as exploring magnets, investigating floating and sinking, or sorting objects according to their properties. The children would be encouraged to talk to one another about what they noticed and explain why they thought something happened. My role would be to guide the discussion by asking open-ended questions instead of providing all the answers. I think it is important that science is connected to children’s everyday experiences. I would encourage them to look for examples at home or in the school environment and share these with the class. This would help them understand that science is part of the world around them and not just something that happens during a lesson. To check their understanding, I would use informal assessment by observing how the children interact with the materials, the questions they ask and the language they use while working together. Their drawings, photographs and class discussions could also be used to show what they have learned. Overall, I believe practical science activities help to create an active and enjoyable learning environment where every child has the opportunity to participate. They promote curiosity, independence and confidence while supporting the development of important STEM skills from the very beginning of primary school.
I really enjoyed reading your ideas, especially the use of the stars song at the beginning of the lesson as it would be a fun way to capture the children’s attention. I also like how you encourage the children to observe the night sky at home, as it helps to connect their classroom learning with real-life experiences.
I would use the stars activity set as part of an Aistear theme on night and day with a junior class. Rather than teaching the activities as a single science lesson, I would spread them over a week and allow the children to explore the topic through play discussion and creative activities. I would set up different learning stations around the classroom. One area would include books and pictures of the night sky where children could explore independently. Another station would have loose materials such as yellow counters, buttons and craft sticks for children to create their own star patterns and pictures. In the role-play area, I would transform the space into a Space Station where children could pretend to be astronauts looking for stars and planets. These activities would encourage imaginative play while developing language and social skills. Throughout the week, I would encourage the children to ask questions about the sky and record their ideas on a class wonder wall. The topic could also be linked with other curriculum areas. In Gaeilge, we could learn simple vocabulary such as réalta and spéir. In music, we could sing songs about stars, while in visual arts the children could experiment with different materials to create a textured night sky. During maths, they could make repeating patterns using star shapes and compare groups of stars using language such as more, fewer and the same. I would assess the children’s learning by observing how they participate in the different activities, listening to their conversations and collecting examples of their work throughout the week. These observations would help me identify what interested the children most and how I could extend their learning in future lessons.
I agree that this is an engaging and practical way to help children understand the Moon and its phases. The hands-on investigation and home observation activity are excellent ways to encourage curiosity and reinforce learning.
I chose the sun and shadow activity because it encourages children to learn through exploration and observation. I would begin by asking the children where they have seen shadows and what they think causes them. We would then go outside for a shadow hunt, where children would work in pairs to find and draw different shadows around the school grounds. They would compare the size and shape of the shadows and discuss their observations.
Back in the classroom, the children would use torches and a variety of objects to investigate how shadows are formed. They would experiment by moving the light source and objects to see how the shadows change. As a follow-up activity, the children would create simple shadow puppets and perform a short puppet show.
This activity supports the Curious Minds Framework by encouraging questioning, predicting, investigating and communicating. It also integrates Science, Oral Language, Drama and Visual Arts, providing an engaging and hands-on learning experience.
I really like this activity. I think that using the Three Little Pigs is such a lovely way to introduce STEM to younger children. I think they’d really enjoy building and testing their houses and it’s a great way to encourage problem-solving and learning through play.
One inquiry based activity I would use in my classroom is the Cleaning Up a Spill experiment to explore materials and their properties. I carried out a similar inquiry-based lesson with my class last year when we investigated which material would make the best raincoat. The children tested different materials to see which were waterproof and discussed why some materials were more suitable than others. Building on that experience, I would use the spill investigation to encourage students to predict which materials would absorb liquid most effectively before testing a range of materials such as paper towels, cotton wool, fabric, sponges and plastic. Students would observe, record and compare their findings before discussing why certain materials performed better than others based on their properties, such as absorbency and waterproofness.
I like this activity because it gives children the opportunity to ask questions, make predictions, test their ideas and draw conclusions from evidence. It promotes critical thinking, collaboration, and communication as students work together and justify their findings. I have found that inquiry-based investigations like these keep children highly engaged because they are actively involved in discovering the answers for themselves rather than simply being told the information. I believe this hands-on approach helps students develop a deeper understanding of scientific concepts while making learning enjoyable and relevant to everyday life.