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Hi Heidi, I think its a great idea to use the rockets for a whole school approach during science week extending the challenge for different class groups. Maybe the final rocket designs or a record of the experiments could be all displayed together in the hall for science week? Would be a great way to engage the whole school and compare learning.
Hi Jennifer, I really love this art activity of the children turning themselves into astronauts, such a fun activity.
I think that a rocket building lesson would be a great success with children of all ages and a lot of different ones were provided here!
With senior infants I would use the Rocket Mice experiment as it seems like it would be very achievable, as well as providing the appropriate level of challenge, for the younger age groups.
We would begin by watching a video of a real rocket launch and discussing what we notice about it. We would then begin to make our own rockets. the first step would be to cut out the template provided to make our cone shape. This would be a great fine motor activity for them to try independently. We will then tape them into the correct shape. Once this is done I’d ask the children to think of ways they could make the rocket fly? (After the first few suggestions expend this by stipulating without throwing it or holding it!) Hopefully this would lead to blowing on them and eventually we will use the bottles that the children have brought in. They will work in pairs to launch their rockets discussing how high they can travel, what happens with different bottles or different type of squeeze etc. We would finally discuss as a whole class what worked best and why we thought this was.
For science week there would plenty of ways to extend this using Aistear. The stations could include a role play area to be an astronaut launching a rocket, a small world station with rockets and maybe aliens on a different planet, and an art activity. I saw another person show an example of the children turning themselves into astronauts using a photo and a paper plate which is a brilliant idea that I will definitely be borrowing!
Hi Elizabeth, I agree that Milo and Marvin resource looks fabulous with a lot of potential. The experiments also seem very achievable without too much resource required! I hadn’t considered Drama as integrating with these, that is a nice idea.
As I will be teaching Senior Infants this coming year, my focus in the classroom will be on hands on activities as much as possible. With the unit on Weather there are a lot of hands on activities which could be explored. I think first the whole class discussing the weather and the seasons with the help of pictures would be a great place to start. For example, “Is the weather hot or cold? How do we know? What season do we think this is? Why? What are they wearing? Why?” etc. This could be followed by a quick game of Around the World with questions starting with “Something I’d wear when….”. We could follow this using a sorting activity. I love the idea of doing this using real clothes and maybe a dress up box, making a hot weather pile and a cold weather pile. (However depending on the number of items available this would no doubt also work with pictures of the clothing.) This could be followed up by challenging pupils to find and put on something for a cold day or a hot day. Finally the activity from Esero where they recommend handing a picture of different season to each child to colour and individually asking them about their picture, the weather and the season could provide a great assessment for the teacher. Equally asking the child to draw a picture of themselves on a hot or cold day and asking them to explain what they are wearing and why would also be a great way to assess their understanding.
This learning could be extended into Aistear by providing the dress up box for one of the stations and helping the children decide what weather they will dress for that day. It would also link with Eadaí in Gaeilge, Music through learning songs such as “Mr. Golden Sun” or “Frosty the Snowman” depending on the time of year, and any number of Art activities such as Fabric and fiber to make a collage of some clothing using different fabrics.
For Senior Infants class I would do the “Design a Martian” activity. I think this would be both age appropriate and a lot of fun.
1. To start we would look at an image of earth and describe its characteristics. What does earth have on it that we need to live here eg. air, water etc. Also describe what does it look like, how does it feel in the desert, north pole etc. I think this would provide an important foundation before thinking about what Mars might be like.
2. Look at images of Mars, what do we see, what do you think it feels like etc. Do you think we could live there? Why or Why not?
3. What might a Martian look like/need to live here? Draw a picture of what you think a Martian would look like. Build a 3D model of the Martian based from discussions and plans. The children would be provided with a selection of materials such as playdough or clay, matchsticks, feathers and beads to allow them choice in their design.
The children should be able to orally explain their choices and thinking behind their design.
Depending on ability of class or individual pupils this could be extended to write some words or simple sentences about their Martians.
I like the idea of starting these units with a story to spark interest, and I am getting some great ideas of good space themed books for children from reading other posts.
Hi Mark,
I agree. The craft idea to explore the surface of the moon stood out to me as a really achievable and fun way to extend the learning and incorporate art into a STEM activity. As you say this could be made suitable for any class group.
The topic I would be excited to try in my classroom is the sun and shadows. From the many experiments and examples given here I think that a whole unit of learning across a few weeks could be explored.
1. Explore how the sunlight creates shadows. To begin I would bring the children outside to view and explore their own shadow. I would prompt them to see does changing there position change anything about the shadow and compare shadow with a partner etc. Working together trace the shadow of their partner, do they all point the same direction or in different ways? Discuss what this might tell us about the suns light.
2. Create our own shadows in the classroom using a lamp/torch. Working in groups to share resources the children will use models of a simple landscape with a light source as the sun to create their own shadows. When they move the light how do the shadows change? do all the shadows behave the same way? etc. We will add what we noticed to what we observed with our own shadows and discuss any similarities or differences and what we think this means.
3. Using Frances’s simple sundial experiment to conclude. Setting up a flowerpot and piece of bamboo to create a simple sundial in a sunny place. Every hour the class would mark the position of the shadow with some chalk. At the end of the school day we would take note of how the shadow had moved and changed during the day.
I think these lessons would also connect really nicely into lessons on the spherical earth, and a lesson on night and day would tie them all together.
I like how these lessons don’t require a huge amount of resources, particularly if done in small groups with peers when appropriate.
Hi Michelle, I love the idea of making the ramps from different materials. I have seen similar done with changing the height and length of the ramp, but this is a great way to extend the learning further.
Hi, I’m Ellen. I’m going to be teaching Senior Infants in September. My favourite space fact is that the sun is actually a star. I’m looking forward to learning some new facts here 🙂
Frances from Blackrock Castle came to my school this term and ran through a few experiments with us. One of which was the forces. I thought the lessons for infants in particular were very good and I am planning to try them myself this year. We used cars and also the kits with the matching pictures and objects (marbles, hair clips, elastic bands etc). We started by trying to make the cars move in as many different ways as possible. This prompted a lot of discussion on what was actually moving the car, for example blowing on it, tilting the surface to create a ramp etc. This was also useful for using the language of push and pull to clarify understanding of the two words.
This was followed on by a lesson using the objects. We were able to explore dropping the objects investigating where they land, furthering this to try dropping 2 together to see do they fall at the same speed etc. Again this prompted a lot of discussion and comparison between the various objects. I can see in the classroom how this could then lead to a discussion on how all the objects fell down to the ground, and what gravity is.
