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I’ll definitely be trying this experiment too Janet. I’d say the’d be amazed to see how high the mouse will fly!
In class last year I tried to propel a mock up vehicle using a pressure powered balloon but it was a bit of a failure. So when I saw the balloon rocket experiment by Marvin and Milo I was delighted! This is how I’d use it.
Introduction: I’d ask the children did they ever let an inflated balloon go and ask them what happened. The I’d suggest to them that we should try to use that power to propel a small rocket
Body:
- I’d give groups of children the resources required for the experiment and give them 5 mins to try and figure out how we’d do it. (Balloon, straw, string & tape)
- We’d then try the experiement by 1st blowing up the balloons. The teacher will help with this. Close the balloons with clothes pegs.
- Put the string through the straw and then tie the two ends of the string to fixed points about 1 metre apart.
- Tape the balloon onto the straw. Have the childrn predict whether it will work and if it does how far it will travel. Then let them open the clothes peg and let the rocket fly
- The physics of it would then be explained to the children. To finish, children could have races with their rockets.
Hi Janet,
I was thinking of trying it with my kids too. Now that you’ve been the guinea pig I’ll definitely give it a go. It sounds great 😉
Activity: Where do I live?
The activity that stand out to me most is “Where do I live?”
Introduction: As a hook I would start by telling the children that I called to my friends house yesterday and was amazed at how different it was than mine. It had a low roof and stood all on its own. It’s called a cottage. From this I’d start a chat about how there are many different types of house.
Body of lesson: The children will have previously brought in cereal boxes which they will use to cut up and shape into their own house. This can link into recycling. They will need white paper to stick onto the boxes, colouring pencils to draw the doors, windows etc and a scissors. This is a lesson that could be done over a few days.
Once finished they could place all of their houses side by side to make a village. Further discussion could involve, what else do we need in a village? Food, barbers, bank, restaurant, library? etc.
Google Mars! I’ve never even heard of this. I’d say the children would love it. Thanks for sharing Abbey, I’ll definitely be checking this out 😉
Activity set: Space and Aliens
Introduction: I would start by getting a show of hands as to who thinks that aliens exist and then get a short dicussion going as to their reasoning. Then I would ask if they thought that Aliens did exist, what would they look like? How many eyes would they have? How many legs would they have? etc.
Main lesson: Design their own alien.
As linkage to a 2D shapes lesson in Maths I would have the children design their own alien using only the 2D shapes they had recently learned about. There would be potential to expand the 2D shape lessons to show that the likes of a rectangle could come in all sorts of sizes. E.g very long and narrow, or closer to a square. This could be an alien’s arm or leg. I would show the children an example of me creating one on the board illustrating my thought process. I would then allow the children to start designing their own alien using rulers, props for circles etc. Once finished the children would then be encouraged to exhibit their final products to each other.
Activity set: The Sun & shadows
Introduction: If it’s a sunny day get the children to look outside and see if they can see any shadows. If there are any doubts maybe clarify what a shadow is. Ask the class, what causes our shadows and how do they change size?
Body of lesson: Have the children bring in some figuring toys from home. Supply them with torches to represent the sun and let them experiment with making shadows on the figurines. Ask the children, would the lamp be high or low to make a long or short shadow? From this the children will see that when the sun is low in the sky (early/late in the day) the shadows will be longer and visa versa.
This could also be performed as an outdoor activity by letting the children observe their own shadows in the morning and then later in the day. They will also observe how their shadow will move from left to right toshow how the sun moves clockwise through the sky . As per the video on this module actually outlining the shadow with chalk could be a nice addition to this lesson too.
To implement inquiry-based learning in my classroom, I would let children explore how the sun creates night and day. To do this I would give each group of two children a football and a torch. The classroom would need to be blacked out as much as possible by closing blinds and turning off the lights. A lego man could by tacked onto the ball to represent them.
One child would hold the ball and the other would hold the torch (which represents the sun) and shine it on the ball onto the side where the lego guy is. The ball child will slowly turn the ball around to represent how the Earth spins on its axis. Point out to the children that the dark side represents night and light side represents daytime.
As the child rotates the ball the children will clearly be able to see how it start getting dark. You could ask the children to discuss what they might be doing during each stage e.g brushing their teeth.
Nice fact Caitrina,
I suppose we might now have evidence whether man actually did land on the moon then 😉