[claire donovan]

Valerie, I love your idea of making an itinerary for visiting aliens.

[claire donovan]

I love your lesson Niamh, especially the idea of getting the children to act as the  planets rotating the sun.

[claire donovan]

I would begin the lesson by gathering the children together to read The Sun Is My Favourite Star by Frank Asch. Invite the children to look carefully at the cover and ask what they think the story might be about. Encourage them to notice the Sun and to share anything they already know about it. While reading, I’d ask questions such as, “What do you think the Sun helps us to do?” or “Have you ever noticed what happens when the Sun shines on you?” to gently introduce the idea that sunlight changes how we see the world.After the story we’d go outside to become “Shadow Detectives.” As I walk into the yard, I’d look around with a puzzled expression and announce that I think someone is following me. Continue looking until you discover your own shadow. Invite the children to see if someone is following them too. They will quickly notice their own shadows and begin interacting with them. I would  encourage the children to stand on their shadows, jump over them, wave at them and see if they can make them disappear resisting the temptation to explain why the shadows are there, instead, asking open-ended questions such as, “What do you notice?” “Why do you think your shadow is moving?” and “Can you make your shadow bigger or smaller?” Giving children time to explore freely allows genuine curiosity to develop. Next, I’d  invite the children to become Shadow Detectives explaining that their job is to investigate everything they can about shadows. As they move around the yard, encourage them to find shadows made by different objects such as trees, playground equipment, fences or bicycles. Ask them what they notice about the different shapes and sizes and whether every object has a shadow.I would gather the children together for a prediction activity. Show them a selection of familiar objects such as a teddy bear, a water bottle, a leaf or a toy dinosaur. Before holding each object in the sunlight, ask the children if they think it will make a shadow. Encourage them to explain their thinking before testing their predictions together. This helps children understand that scientists make predictions before carrying out investigations.Back in the classroom, we would continue the investigation using torches and small toys or classroom objects, allowing the children to experiment by moving the torch closer to and further away from the objects. Encourage them to observe how the shadows become bigger, smaller or change shape and continue asking questions such as, “What do you notice?” and “What happens when you move the light?” so that the children remain active investigators rather than passive listeners.

[claire donovan]

Hi Emer. This lesson sounds like so much fun. Definitely going to give it a go with my junior infants next year.

[claire donovan]

Inquiry based lesson about Floating and Sinking with a Junior Infants class.

Pupils will have opportunities to

• Explore which objects float and which sink.
• Make simple predictions before testing.
• Observe and describe what happens.
• Sort objects based on their findings.
• Use scientific vocabulary during discussi

Lesson Sequence

1)Show a mystery bag filled with different objects and ask, What do you notice?,Which objects do you think will float?, Which might sink?,Why do you think that?Allow children to discuss with a partner before sharing. Record predictions using pictures on a simple chart.

2)Children work in small groups.

Each child: chooses one object, predicts, places it gently into the water & observes what happens.

I would encourage language such as:”I predict…”,”It floated!”,”It sank.”,”I was surprised.”

I would circulate asking open-ended questions instead of giving answers

• What do you notice?
• Did it do what you expected?
• Can you find another object like that?
• What is different about these two objects?

3. The children would sort the tested objects into two hoops or baskets:

• Floating
• Sinking

Discuss:

• Were any predictions different?
• Which objects floated?
• Which sank?
• Can something be heavy and still float?
• Can something be light and sink?

Introduce the idea that it’s not only about being heavy or light

4)“Can you find something in our classroom that you think would float?”

Children choose classroom objects and explain their reasoning before testing (if appropriate).

As a follow up activity, I would challenge children to build a small boat from foil or recycled materials during another lesson

5)Observe whether children can:

• Make a prediction.
• Carry out a test.
• Use the words float and sink correctly.
• Explain what happened.

Assessment can be through:

• Teacher observation
• Oral questioning
• Simple sorting activity

Finish with a reflection circle using sentence starters:

• “Today I discovered…”
• “I was surprised that…”
• “Next time I want to test…”
• “My favourite object was…”

 

[claire donovan]

Hi. My name is Claire and I’ll be teaching Junior Infants next year. My fun fact is that Saturn would float in a bath, if you could find one big enough as it’s less dense than water and so would bob to the top.

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