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Activity: Rockets
Class Level: Senior InfantsSeniors would really enjoy making mice rockets. This is a nice simple experiment for younger children to carry out without too much adult help. They could decorate their rockets first then experiment with different sized bottles when firing their rockets. They could see which bottle made the rocket go further, did the rocket with lots of decorations go as far as the rocket that had nothing on it? If we added feathers to the rocket, what would happen? Can we measure how high the rocket travelled? Can we measure how far from the starting point the rocket travelled? This could be done using non standard methods with lollipop sticks, cubes, links or children.
I would love to try make balloon rockets with my class. I think this would be a great experiment to do with the help of 6th class, as the balloons might be tricky for the infants to hold without letting the air out. If 6th class held the balloons, Seniors could very carefully decorate them. When they were happy with their rockets, they would all line up and, on the count, let go of their rockets. They would have great fun chasing them around the yard or school hall. They could also challenge 6th class to a rocket race!
There is a lot of scope for teamwork, compromise, patience and good communication in lessons like this. Children will learn through investigation and experimentation that science doesn’t always work the way we expect it to, some of our experiments are successful while others can be a disaster! It’s all part of the fun of science, not being afraid of the results, especially if they don’t go as you predicted.
This sounds like a very fun lesson Elaine. It would be great to do around Halloween as a witches potion. Every group could make their own potion, using different colours of food colouring and they could guess which colour might fizz and bubble more. I will definitely be trying it out with my Seniors in Oct!
What a lovely lesson Karen.I love the dress for the weather relay. Your class will have great fun doing this! I might borrow that idea next year myself!
Activity: Where do you live?
Class Level: Senior InfantsThese lessons would be over a few weeks with infants.
I would start this topic by reading The Three Little Pigs and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. We would discuss the different types of houses in both books and compare the materials used for each house. I would question the children – what materials were used? Which material do you think is the strongest? If you were building a house, what would you use? We would talk about the properties of all the different materials.After this I would talk about different types of homes, introducing the children to the vocabulary bungalow, detached, semi-detached, apartment, caravan, mobile home etc. I would then ask the children to describe their own home. We might also play a guess the house game, where 1 child will describe a house type and the class have to guess. This could also be played in pairs too. The children would then draw a picture of their homes, noting how many windows and doors they can see on the front, trying to draw as accurate picture as they can.
Following on from this the children would make their homes out of clay. They could paint them and stick on doors and windows. We would then make our school estate using their clay houses. We could add to this by putting in some green spaces and trees, maybe a playground. This would link nicely with SPHE and Geography; caring for our environment.
When we have made our own school estate we would go on a house hunt around the local area to try and identify different house types. We would also use google maps to find our houses and look at them from a bird’s eye view and then from street view. Children always enjoy finding their houses on google.
Activity Set: Space and Aliens
Class Level: Senior Infants
This lesson would have to take place over a few weeks really to get everything covered.
To begin this lesson on Space and Aliens I would first ask the children a series of questions. Have they ever seen an alien? What would an alien look like? Where might an alien live? Would they look like us? We would record our ideas on the whiteboard.Then I would read the story of The Smeds and the Smoos. The children will see different types of aliens and planets. We will discuss the book and I will get the children to think of their own alien. What would their alien look like? Would it have lots of arms/legs/heads/eyes? How many of each of these things would it have? Would the alien be tall, short, big, small, fat, thin. We would be using a lot of mathematical language.
The children would then draw their aliens, putting in as much detail as possible. The children would then bring their drawings to life by making them in clay. They can be painted and decorated in whatever way the children see fit.
When the aliens are finished each child could tell the class about their alien. They can ask whatever questions they want – does your alien speak like us? What food does your alien eat? What is your alien’s name? We would then compare all the aliens, sort them into similar groups.
As an extension to this lesson the children could write a profile or a story about their alien, they might then visit another class to show their aliens and read their stories/fact files.
This is a great lesson Emma. I love the idea of using the toilet paper rolls and interviewing the aliens.
Activity set: The Sun and Shadows
I like to start any investigation with a picture book or short cartoon. For shadows I would use Can’t You Sleep Little Bear, The Darkest Dark or Moonbear’s Shadow, or any other picture book with shadows or during lunch I might put on Peep and the Big Wide World Shadow Play. I would then ask the children to tell me what they already know about shadows. Have they ever noticed their own shadow? When do they see it? Is it always there? All the children’s answers would be put on the whiteboard.
Classroom activity would involve the children working in pairs. Each pair would be given paper, a pencil, a torch and a small toy animal. They can then explore the shadows the animals make when the torch is shone on them, near them etc. After a few minutes of investigating the shadows, one child will try trace around the shadow while their partner holds the torch, then they swap over. This activity might be tricky but the children will have a lot of fun trying it.
If the weather allows, we would then go outside into the yard with chalk and attempt to trace around our own shadows. Can the children make funny shapes with their bodies to make funny shadows? What happens if 2 children stand next to each other or behind each other, does the shadow stay the same or change?
On a different day we might go out at different times during the day and record the shadows we make then.Photographs can be taken during these investigations as a way of recording the children’s learning and hung around the classroom to remind the children of the investigation. I have done similar activities with my classes over the years and they always love playing with torches making their shadows around the room. They also love looking at their very long shadows in the yard.
I like your lesson plan Zara. I think the children would be very eager to solve the mystery of the missing jellies especially if there were jellies as a reward! Isn’t the balloon a great way to show the fingerprint. This would be a very fun lesson for all.
Inquiry Based Lesson: Properties and Materials
Class Level: Senior Infants
Learning Outcome: Which materials are good insulators?
Prompt: How can we stop Jack Frost’s Hand from melting?
Materials: Plastic gloves, food colouring, plates, water, cotton wool, newspaper, paper towels, plastic, tinfoil, clingfilm (use whatever materials that can cover a hand)Fill a glove with water and add food colouring. Each table group will get their own hand so they need to be different colours. Put them into the freezer and leave overnight. The next morning, when the children come into school they will have a frozen hand on their table. Jack Frost has left them a hand and they need to try stop it from melting. Can they find a material that can do this?
I will show the selection of materials to the class and we will discuss which materials we think will stop the hand from melting. We will record our predictions on the whiteboard. I will also explain to them about the control experiment.
Each group will decide the material they want to investigate. They will cover their hands in that material. We will also have a control hand, which will not have anything covering it. These hands will be placed at the back of the room and children can observe them during the day.
Before going home, they can remove their materials and observe any changes. If the changes aren’t too noticeable the hands can be taken out of the gloves and put back into the freezer and the investigation can continue the next day.
When we have carried out the investigation, we will discuss the results. Were the children surprised by the results? Were their predictions correct? Which material was the best at keeping Jack Frost’s hand frozen?
I have done this investigation with my classes for a few years now and they love it. They are all very engaged and always surprised by the results.