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The activity sets provided here are very practical and I will certainly be making use of them in my class. For the assignment I will discuss using the activity set ‘The Planets’. As a trigger in the lesson I would display a picture of the Earth in space. We would discuss the shape and colours. We could then have a discussion and brainstorm any other planet names the pupils know or have heard. We could discuss what it looks like on Earth and how it might be different on other planets. Next I would introduce the ‘Family of the Sun’ song for the children to listen to along with the video. We would then go through a few planet names and what the planet is like. The children could then have their own copy each of the Tiny Book of the Planets. They could be coloured in each in turn by the children in according to what we have learned so far about them. A further activity would be to play the planet game outside or in the hall. In this game, the children would run, hop, etc travelling around the sun (yellow hula hoop) until they hear the teacher call out a planet name. They would then have to land on a ‘planet’ (various other coloured hula hoops) laid out on the floor. There could be a few variations on this game. The planet dance is also a nice activity incorporating spatial awareness and also the concept of planets spinning on their axis.
I agree, Paula, the polystyrene balls are a great idea for making planets in the junior classes. I’d love to do papier maché as well but as you said, it might be a bit complicated for the younger ones. It might be an idea to split up into groups and they could help the teacher or SNA to make one over time. It would be great to have them hanging up from the ceiling if the pupils had a hand in making them.
An inquiry based activity I would use in my classroom is one that I have used before in different class groups. It used to be called Keeping The Damp Out on the old primary science website. I have used this lesson as part of the “Homes” or “ Weather” themes. The trigger could be something simple like the fact that it’s lashing rain outside and how we are nice and dry in our classroom or inside your house. We could also look at videos or photos of old homes where the damp has damaged the house and walls.
The class would discuss what materials “absorb” water and which ones would be “waterproof”. We could brainstorm different materials on the board. We would then investigate a range of materials that we can test to see if it’s waterproof or not. The children would be set up into groups of 4-5 and would be able to explore different materials, kitchen roll, tissue, baking paper, plastic, tin foil etc. They would be given the chance to make predictions on which materials would be / not be waterproof.
Conducting the investigation is where I would conduct a demonstration of sugar cubes absorbing water with food colouring added. The children would then be given the chance to conduct this test themselves, using the different materials. As a whole class we would then record and discuss the results. The children always enjoy this activity!Story time from space is a brilliant resource. Great for trigger in the lesson or just as a novelty story time. I sometimes use https://storylineonline.net/ in my class – it has a huge library of stories usually read by famous faces. The space one will be great for space week and space themed lessons, thank you!
