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This sounds like a fun Space Week with some many interesting and engaging activities! We don’t celebrate Space Week in our school buy it’s something I will definitely be suggesting. The children would love it!
I will spark engagement and interest by reading Whatever Next! By Jill Murphy. I will ask the children “How can we make our rocket fly the highest?”
I will show the children 2 different rockets (one with fins, one without) and I will ask them to predict which rocket will go further when we blow it and why? I will record their guesses on the board.
We will then carry out the investigation. The children will be provided with a rocket cutout, scissors and tape. They will launch their completed rockets by blowing through a straw. They can count down from 10 to 0 before every blast off.
We will then come together and chat about our findings. “Did your rocket go far? What happened when you blew really hard?” I will tell them that they air they blew creates a force that pushes the rocket forward.
This activity could be expanded across Aistear stations by building a space role-play area where children can design and build rockets from junk art and 2D/3D shapes. They could act as astronauts preparing for the moon landing.I love this idea Jacob, and how practical it is when the children have their own coats in the classroom to inspect and investigate. They can evaluate the coats and say what the advantages and disadvantages of their features are.
Module 4
Weather: Animals in the Cold
We will read the picture book Over and Under the Snow. I will ask the children “how do the animals stay warm without heavy winter coats like ours?” We will have a discussion about this.
We will also have a look at the powerpoint on Twinkl: Arctic Animals and their Habitat.
We will then carry out the blubber experiment. I will fill a large bowl with ice water. I will fill a Ziploc bag with frytex to represent the animal blubber. I will ask the children to submerge a hand in the ice water for a few seconds to feel the cold. They will then put their hand inside the ‘blubber glove’ and submerge it again. They should then realise that they can’t feel the cold through the fat layer, just like the animals.
We could integrate this lesson with our socio-dramatic play by setting up an Arctic/Antarctic small world area. I could challenge the children to build a warm shelter for the animals from blocks/ magnets/ stem kits. We can integrate with Maths by asking the children to sort animals by traits/ size etc.I love Eimear’s idea of asking the children to suggest adaptations that the alien might need in order to survive on Mars. It’s a great idea for an extension activity for my lesson on creating a Martian and gives the children lots to think about!
Activity Set: Space & Aliens
I would use the children’s book Marshmallows for Martians as a stimulus for this lesson. It’s a book I have in my classroom and has always proven to be very popular. The book has a brilliant rhyming rhythm so there’s lots of opportunities for the children to fill in the rhyming words.
I will read the part of the story where George discovers the Martians. I will ask the children to imagine what their Martian looks like. They will do a quick sketch of their idea on paper. They will then use play-doh to design their Martian. The children can present theirs to the class, describing its features; how many eyes/ears/arms/legs etc?
There are lots of opportunities for extension activities with this lesson: use marshmallows & sticks to create a Martian, build a rocket ship using our polydrons, feed your martian some sweets and count out loud as you do, interview each other in the ‘hot-seat’ as both George and the Martians etc.I love Eimear’s idea of using an action each time a child lands on a particular planet during the game. This is really helpful to remember the planet’s names and a particular fact about that planet, but also it’s great fun!
Activity Set: The Moon
I would love to explore the Man in the Moon lesson with my Junior Infants. We would start off by looking at a circular piece of paper, a semi-circular piece of paper and a polystyrene sphere. Which one is most like the moon? We’ll have a chat about this and discuss their opinions.
I will then allow the children to make their own moon using the materials provided: circular/semi-circular pieces of paper, spheres, scissors, glue, colours. Once they have made their own, we will chat about how we see the moon. I will emphasise that the moon is a sphere, like a ball.
We will then learn the Man in the Moon rhyme and have a chat about it. I will read the story The Man in the Moon by Steve Ellis. We will look at a picture of the moon on the interactive whiteboard and chat about any shapes or shadows that we can see. I will explain that some places on the moon are lighter or darker and that’s why we can see shapes or ‘people’. I will emphasise that there are no people on the moon and that the rhyme and story are just for fun.
I love the simplicity of this activity Andrea. It’s great to be able to use the resources that are to hand. I especially love the way that air resistance can be brought into the lesson in such an effective and simple way.
Module 1:
We will use a Moon Crater inquiry to explore forces and materials. I will ask the prompt question: What happens to the surface of the moon when a space rock hits it?
As a stimulus to this lesson we will read The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers. We will look at the pictures of the surface of the moon.
I will fill a tuff tray with flour. The children will be given marbles or ping pong balls or heavy beads and they will drop them into the flour from different heights. We will observe the crater sizes and have a discussion about it.
- What happens when the space rock hits the flour?
- Why do you think some holes are deeper than others?
- Does a heavy rock make a different mark than a light rock.
- Is the hole different when we drop the rocks from a greater height?
Hi, my name is Emer Larkin and I’ve taught Junior Infants for the last two years and will teach them again this year. I think space is a really fun and interesting subject for them. Fun fact: The biggest volcano in our solar system is on Mars!
Catriona has some great ideas here. The school garden sounds lovely. We don’t have bug hotels or bird feeders in ours so I will definitely be suggesting these. I also love the idea of a biodiversity survey at home or in the local area with parents.
Hi Niall, you’ve thought of lots of great ones here. Having just finished two years in junior infants, I’m annoyed with myself for not mentioning any nursery rhymes. the Owl and the Pussycat is a firm favourite in our house too!
2. Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
The wonder, beauty and scale of the night sky has been influential to so many artists throughout history.
There are many beautiful songs that I know and love that connect us to the night sky:
• “Vincent” by Don McLean (Starry, starry night; a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh)
• “Fly me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra
• “Space Oddity” by David Bowie (this is ground control to Major Tom)
• “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay
A couple of poems by poets that I studied for the Leaving Cert:
• “Ah Moon and Star!” by Emily Dickinson
• “The Stars are Mansions built by Nature’s Hand” by William Wordsworth.
Two very famous works of art by Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch respectively:
• The Starry Night (famous painting with swirling stars)
• Starry Night (dark, shadowy shoreline).How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans:
We will carry out an outdoor lighting inspection of the school. We will map all exterior security lights, floodlights and car park lighting. We will suggest a policy to turn off all non-essential exterior lights at night and to fit security lights with hoods or shields to prevent upward glow. We will ensure that all light bulbs are warm white or amber LED bulbs instead of blue lights.
Our school has a lovely garden which is regularly planted by the pupils. We will create two flowerbeds with night-blooming or heavily scented native plants to attract nocturnal insects like moths. Evening primrose, honeysuckle and jasmine are some good examples of plants that release their fragrance after dark.
We will create log piles in quiet, shaded corners of the school field to provide safe, daytime resting spots for hedgehogs.