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This sounds like such a creative and engaging way to introduce scientific thinking to young learners! I love how you incorporate art and play right from the start by having students decorate their milk carton launchers—what a wonderful way to build ownership and excitement. The hands-on nature of this activity is perfect for helping children grasp abstract concepts like air pressure and gravity in a concrete, memorable way.
I especially appreciate how you include prediction and discussion as part of the process. Encouraging students to hypothesize and then reflect on their observations really helps deepen their understanding and develops those early critical thinking skills. The idea to vary the container sizes is a great extension that adds a layer of experimentation without making it too complex for young minds.
This would be a fantastic STEAM activity to spark curiosity and open the door for more exploration. Thanks for sharing—I’d love to try this in my own classroom!
For Space Week, I chose to implement the “Build and Launch a Paper Rocket” activity in my junior classroom (1st/2nd class). This activity was hands-on, engaging, and aligned perfectly with the children’s natural curiosity about space and how things move. We began with a simple discussion about rockets—what they are, what they do, and why they are important in space exploration. We then watched a short video showing real rocket launches, which sparked a lot of excitement and questions.
Next, the children each built their own paper rocket using straws, paper fins, and tape. We tested the rockets using puff power (blowing through a straw) and later added a launcher using a balloon or a rubber band. This introduced basic STEM concepts like force, motion, air pressure, and design. The activity was accessible yet rich in learning opportunities.
Incorporating this activity not only encouraged teamwork and creativity but also helped build basic scientific vocabulary like “thrust,” “launch,” and “gravity.” We extended the lesson by drawing diagrams of our rockets and writing short captions describing how they worked, tying it into literacy as well.
Overall, this experience was a huge success. The children were active participants in their learning and were genuinely curious to know more about space. I plan to use this activity annually during Space Week, possibly developing it further into a simple experiment comparing rocket designs or distances launched. I also captured photos and short videos of the launches to share with parents and to reflect on as part of our class STEM journal.
I have found teaching about the moon phases an activity that seems to capture the childrens interest really well. One activity I did recently when teaching about the moon phases was by using Oreos!! In small groups, children took apart the Oreos, and scrope out the inner layer of a few biscuits in such a way that each biscuit now looked like a phase of the moon! They then presented these in order on a paper plate! This activity was a hot in our classroom, and a bonus that they got to eat the biscuits later.
I plan to incorporate hands-on classroom themed activities to foster engagement, critical thinking and colloboration among my pupils. For example, setting up a STEM themed investigation area where children explore simple circuits, magnets, or water flow encourages them to make predictions, test ideas, and problem solve practically. These activities support scientific inquiry while developing fine motor skills and confidence. I would also link hands on investigations to our schools self-evaluation processes by collecting pupil voice through simple surveys or reflection journals, asking children what they enjoyed and what they learned. Their feedback would help me evaluate and improve our STEM provision, aligning it with School Self Evaluation (SSE) priorities around active and engaged learning. Further steps might include collaborating with colleagues to develop a bank of STEM resources or organising a STEM showcase day for parents, promoting wider community involvement. Ultimately, hands-on activities make science meaningful and memorable, supporting deeper understanding and curiosity about the world
Gillian this book sounds great! We have started gathering a selection of high interest STEM books but are finding it hard to source books for the junior end! I will add this one to the list. A silly, rhyming book is perfect to peak the interest of the younger children!
I plan to use the Stars activity set in my classroom because it links beautifully to childrens natural curiosity about the night sky. First, I would engage the class in observing the stars through images or a simple planetarium app to spark wonder. We would then explore stories and myths connected to constellations, integrating literacy and oral language. To support cross-curricular learning, I would connect the star patterns to simple maths by identifying shapes and counting points of light. Finally, I would encourage the children to create their own star maps using art materials or a digital drawing tool. This supports creativity and digital literacy while reinforcing the science behind stars. As a reflective, I would ask the children to present their star maps and explain the stories they created, supporting communication and confidence. The topic is an excellent way to develop STEM skills while keeping learning playful and child-centered.
I really like your idea of using the Planet song as a lively and memorable way to anchor the lesson. The way you plan to pause after each planet to discuss its features is a great way to encourage active listening and deeper understanding. I alos like your idea of the children “adopting” a planet and representing it through art, drama or rewriting a verse. That creative extension would really help them connect with the topic in a meaningful way.
As a teacher, I can see how this approach supports a range of styles, from auditory to visual and kinaesthetic, and promotes colloboration and creativity. I might even borrow your idea of a class performance to consolidate learning at the end of of the topic- its a fantastic way to showcase what they have learned.
I would use the Activity Set: The planets to engage children in understanding the solar system in a hands on and enjoyable way. i would start with an interactive discussion about the planets, encouraging them to share ideas and questions. Next, I would introduce a simple, catchy planet- themed song or video to help children memorise the planet names and their order from the sun.
After this, I would organise a practical activity where pupils create a scale model of the solar system suing balls of different sizes, labelling each planet. this would help children visualise the vast differences in planet sizes and distances. Additionally, we could use online resources or augmented reality apps to explore more feautures of each planet.
To deepen learning, I would encourage children to choose a planet to research and present simple facts about it to the class.
Hi all, my name is Eleanor and I am working with 1st class in Cork City.
My fact about space is that space is completely silent!! There is no air to carry sound!
I am really looking forward to getting stuck into this course. I find resources etc on the topic of space more aimed at the older classes so it will be great to gather ideas for the younger classes.
I love any rhymes that help you to remember things! I often struggle to remember the correct order myself so anything that helps!!
I really liked this experiment using the cotton balls to demonstrate climate change. I feel that this experiment would be suitable for all ages. I also like the fact that is could be very simply recreated at home as the materials are so easily found,
This experiment is just a perfect way to consolidate the effects of climate change in a very effecttive way.
HOME showcases stunning aerial footage of the Earth, highlighting the beauty if our planet and the profound impacts of climate change. It emphasises the urgency of addressing environmental issues and protecting our natural resources.
I would use this with my class as I find the video clips would be perfect to captivate their interest.
I would use images and infographics to explain complex concepts visually.
I would use interactive activities to capture their intereest. For exampl,e I would use simple experiements to demonstrate effects like the greenshouse effect.
I would integrate role play for the pupils. I would have the students act out scenarios e.g being a polar bear in a melting habitat to understand the impacts on wildlife.
Susan, I really like the idea of giving the opportunity to predict temperatures in the future. This idea made me think of doing a classroom capsule. Children could do some research on the current climate and record their findings. Then compile their predictions for the same questions and then put both into a capsule that could be buried on the school grounds.
It would be such an exciting school activity and would be great to refer to over coming years to see how climate trends are tracking and if the predictions are looking to be correct or not.
I found this module very informative. I found myself learning so much and enjoyed looking at the videos as I am a visual learners and this helped me to fully understand concepts such as the greenhouse effects. The PAXI video was very informative and very relatable for children . It can often be difficult to make the link between our own day to day activities and the impact on the environment eg. Leaving the screens turned on when know on is watching. I liked also how it explained how the greenhouse effect is what makes life possible on earth and then went onto explain that human activity is what has increased greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, making the effect of the greenhouse effect too powerful, which has in turn increased temperatures on Earth. I have found this concept difficult to teach in the past. The PAXI video really would help children to understand the WHY humans need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that they produce.
The TEAL tool was a very simple yet effective tool to explore different climate variables as well as carbon emissions for the past 40 years. This would be a great way to link learning about the climate in with maths as children study the different data.
I love the idea of researching things like swings, slides etc. Children know better than anyone how to make things go faster, slower, higher etc. However giving them the opportunity to explore items like these would great opportunity for pupils to explore and learn new language in the area of STEM. It would also give them the opportunity to apply the concepts and the language that they already know to this topic.
It would be vital to this topic to get children to a local playground to explore their findings etc.
