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Chosen Activity Set: Space and Aliens.
Based on ESERO 19 – Special Life. Aimed at the infant classes.
Introduction:
Watch video on YouTube ‘Are Aliens Real?’ By SciShow Kids as a stimulus. This video is animated and explains aliens in a nice way to children. It explains that scientists have not you found any evidence that aliens exist, and that the aliens we see in books and on television are made up using our imagination. It explains that so far, scientists believe that Earth is the only planet that has water, oxygen and food, all of which are essential for life. Sometimes however, it is fun to use our imagination and pretend that there are aliens living in space!
Activity 1:
Brainstorm as a class. Make a list of all the things that are special on planet Earth. Children will have a few ideas from watching the video and will be able to think of a few more.
Activity 2:
Draw an alien and colour it in. Children will have lots of fun doing this activity.
Activity 3:
Bring your alien to life! Discuss in pairs what your alien would talk like, how would they get around- would they walk or fly or crawl? What would they eat? What kind of house would they live in? etc.Chosen Activity Set: The Moon.
I have aimed this lesson at a junior infant class who are learning about the moon for the first time.
1. Brainstorming: ask the children probing questions to find out what they already know about the moon. Discuss nursery rhymes they know that mention the moon – Hey Diddle Diddle – Could a cat really jump over the moon? Why not?
2. Create a KWL Chart for the topic of the moon. Begin with the K for Know at the start of the lesson. Because it is an infant class, children tell me the facts and I write them on Post-its.
3. Have the children draw the moon from memory with a pencil and crayons – compare them- it will be interesting to see what shapes the children draw – full-moon? Half-moon? Etc. It will also be interesting to see what colours the children use and will they add texture to the colour. I predict some yellow and oranges and yellowy-oranges!
4. Watch the video of the moon landing and look at the moon – what shapes and colours it can be.Claire, these are great Aistear ideas! They all sound well thought out and exciting for the children. The moon walk station stood out to me – I think the children would love how sensory this is.
Hi there, I really liked your idea of using Humpty Dympty as a stimulus to start this lesson as everyone is familiar with this story.
Hi everyone my name is Clodagh last year I thought junior infants. I will be teaching in SET next year.
An interesting fact I know about space is that asteroids can have rings and moons.An inquiry-based activity that I have used this year to teach a science lesson is my lesson on floating and sinking with junior infants.
Stimulus – teacher gives every student a random object (either a rock or a little ball) and student throws it into big see through bucket of water at the top of the class.
Questioning: What happened to your object? Did it stay on top of the water? (FLOAT) Or did it drop to the bottom of the bucket? (SINK). Discuss as a class sinking and floating.
Investigate:
Each child work with their table group – they have a checklist and items and a basin of water.
Before you carry out the experiment, guess (predict) which objects will sink and which will float.
Carry out the investigation in their groups.Séamus, I really like how you adapted this research question to choose one that is relevant to the people of your area. I always find that when children enjoy what they are learning/ researching about, they are more inclined to participate and enjoy the lessons!
How could we as a class reduce our carbon footprint to help reduce climate change?
1. Decide on title/ give class title.
2. Brainstorm: we have previously covered climate change in the class. Recap as a class on what we already know about climate change. Brainstorm any ideas how we as a class reduce our carbon footprint to help reduce climate change.
3. Research: with what we have come up with from brainstorming, get the children into small groups and get each group to research one way in which we as a class reduce our carbon footprint to help reduce climate change. Carry out research using iPads, newspapers, questionnaires, etc. Use hands on activities as part of the research process.
4. Guest speaker: Invite local environmentalists, meteorologists, or community members who have a knowledge of climate change to speak to the class. This will help the students as they get to hear real-life experiences and so understand the local impact of climate change.
5. Present the findings of their research project to other classes in the school to spread awareness.I had a look at the EO Browser too and I agree it is very user-friendly. I could just imagine kids looking for their own house or for places they’ve been to on holiday. An added bonus to using the EO Browser in class is that it feels like such a treat for the kids to be able to get out their computers or iPads to explore even though they are learning!
I downloaded the Teacher Guide & Pupil Activities for the ESA Resource ‘Nose High Up in The Sky.
Activity 1 – The Earth seen from the ISS. I really liked how the first question in this activity gives children a chance to use their imagination when they have to describe what they think Earth looks like from space. This also allows for a great whole class discussion when discussing the children’s answers to the question. I predict that some children will have varying answers so it will be good to discuss their thinking. I might include a walking debate whilst discussing this topic in the classroom. Another part of question 1 is looking at photographs from the International Space Station. This is obviously incredibly interesting for kids – I found it very interesting myself. There is lots of room for questioning here. There is also great integration with English through the use of descriptive words.
Activity 2 and 3: Match the Photos. and Higher Up! I like both of these activities as they get the children thinking for themselves. They also support the use of subject-specific vocabulary when discusses, which I feel is important for any subject. The activity is interesting and stimulating. I enjoyed the questions when I did it, I didn’t find the questions to be boring or pointless which I think can turn children off of the generic ‘answer the questions’ sometimes. The questions are thought provoking and are not straight forward.
“HOME” by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a powerful, influential documentary. The documentary highlighted the absolute beauty of planet Earth. We saw some of the amazing wonders of nature. I felt pride in our planet while I watched this part of the documentary. However, we also saw the contrast to this natural beauty. We saw how large, over-populated cities, intensive farming methods, and other human made problems have caused huge harm to the planet. There was a fact in the documentary that shocked me: ‘in the last 50 years, the world has more radically changed than all other generations.’ This shocked me. I think this documentary toiled with my emotions throughout. If I were to watch this film with my class, afterwards, I would discuss the emotions that were felt in the classroom whilst watching this film., integrating with SPHE. I also think that watching this film within the classroom would help promote the Green Schools initiative within schools. Children would want to do more to protect their planet for future generations after watching this documentary. I would tend to show this documentary before we even start to learn about global warming issues, I feel this documentary could serve as a “why” for many children in relation to leaning about what is happening in this day and age and what is best for our planet.
Eric, I really liked your idea for a local action plan. Sometimes, it feels as though climate change is out of our depth and what we do as one single person or small community wont matter. I think something like this local action plan would show the children that there is actually lots you can do as an individual or a small community to combat climate change. Maybe we could watch some videos of communities who have made a difference too.
Aonghus, you gave us some real world experience. I really thought that struck a chord with me. In Ireland, because our weather is never really that severe, it might be hard for the children to actually comprehend how disastrous the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change can be. When I teach this to my class, I would consider showing the class a video, or reading a piece from someone in a different part of the world who’s life has really been affected by climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
I think the students will really enjoy Activity 3. To begin the lesson, I would use the whiteboard to brainstorm with the children – what do we already know about greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The children will already have a base knowledge on this from listening to the news or radio, or even adults in their lives. I would predict that they will know more than they think they do. Then, I would use Paxi’s video as a stimulus for further investigation. Paxi’s video is engaging and easy to understand. It was lots of fun graphics, which I know the children will enjoy. I would look at Teal’ simulation tool on the interactive white board as a whole class. Together, we would change the variables to see the impact it would have on temperature predictions. Then, I would put the children into pairs to use the school chrome books to continue to investigate with the app. By using this tool, children can really see the impact that greenhouse gases and climate change has.
Valerie, it is such a lovely idea to involve parents and grandparents in the children’s learning, especially when talking about the weather! This is such a wonderful, simple idea that could lead to a great classroom project! Maybe different parts of the county/ country have different proverbs? The children could dive into the Duchas.ie Schools Collection to find out! 🙂
