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Hi Elaine,
This is such a lovely activity that would really engage the children. I will definitely add it to my list of Science activities.
I love the variety you have created in this lesson. It could be adapted so easily to suit the needs of different groups of children.
I want to focus on the question from ESERO activity titled ‘Where do you live?’. We would start at a very basic level where the children talk about their houses and different types of homes that exist. I would then go on to explain that we live on planet Earth and that there are other planets (but no life exists on these – YET). The children will learn a little about the other planets and then they can decide which planet they would like to live on if Earth didn’t exist. We would then move onto looking at where animals live and we would complete a matching activity to finish the lesson.
I love how you have included digital technology in this lesson. I think it would help to increase the children’s engagement.
I am focusing on the topic of stars with a Junior Infant class. To spark the children’s curiosity and hook them into the lesson I would display a small cardboard box wrapped in shiny tinfoil at the top of the room. This would be called our Space Box. Inside the Space Box I will place a yellow cutout of the Sun and an array of small glittery night stars. We will have a discussion about the Sun and stars and I would explain that the Sun is a star and the reason we can see it so clearly unlike the other stars in the sky is because it is closer to Earth than any other star.
We would then listen to the song ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and the children would be encouraged to respond to the music through their choice of movements.
In groups the children will then complete an art activity where they are given a black piece of paper and they can recreate their own night sky with lots of stars.
We would finish the lesson with a game of Star Catchers – the children become astronauts and must pretend they are in space and collecting stars on command from the teacher.Hi Sinead,
I love your introduction to this lesson!! It provides every child with the opportunity to engage in the discussion as every child has something to say about where they live. It is a great low ceiling high threshold introduction.
I would choose the activity set based on The Planets. This lesson will be aimed at Junior Infants. I will begin the lesson by posing a question to gain an understanding of the children’s prior knowledge of the topic. We will then have a quick brainstorm and create a mind map of the topic. Next up will be the story There’s No Place Like Space! by Tish Rabe. This introduces the planets in a fun way and gives the children more information to enhance their understanding of the topic. In groups the children will be given a chance to engage in an art activity where they use their newly acquired knowledge to create their own solar systems using a variety of resources. To finish the lesson I will have a short interactive quiz for the children to test their knowledge. As a conclusion I will play the planets song to consolidate their learning.
My inquiry based lesson would be centred around the moon and as a class we would explore why the moon changes shape. It would be a very open ended lesson where the children try to formulate their own understandings before being though about how the sun and the moon interact resulting in the moon changing shape. The children could be given opportunities to get creative and show the moon phases using materials of their choice – show and tell could follow.
Hi Caoimhe,
I love this idea of using teddy as a character in the lesson. You could really develop this lesson and do so many activities with it for example a real life teddy bears picnic with water activities to explore different materials!
Hi,
I’m Emma and I will be teaching Junior Infants this year. I am moving from 5th class and have covered the theme of Space with my previous classes and so I am really looking forward to adapting my lessons to suit the younger children. My fun fact about space is that Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet.
The night sky has long been a source of wonder, inspiring songs, poems, and art. To begin this lesson I would task the children to compile a list themselves of all the songs, poems or art pieces associated with the night sky. I would then go through my list. The first song that comes to mind has to be twinkle, twinkle, little star. Although being short it is very effective and majority of children will be familiar with it. It sparks the children’s curiosity and further more complex songs can be introduced to enhance this curiosity. I would then follow this up with A sky full of stars by Coldplay. We would then move on to look at some poems that link well with our topic. The first poem I would use would be “The Moon” by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is an excellent example to use as it contains many poetic techniques such as rhyme, personification and imagery. All of these could be further discussed with the children to enhance their learning. I would possibly follow this up with “The Star” by Jane Taylor. Two paintings that I would focus on would be “Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh and Caspar David Friedrich’s “Two Men Contemplating the Moon”.
How to engage a group of 5th class learners to explore biodiversity in our local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity:
1. Begin this lesson by explaining to two key terms of this lesson: Biodiversity and Light Pollution.
2. Introduce a fictional character which will be used as tool to explore biodiversity and will help the children to imagine what impacts light pollution is having on this character. Henry Hedgehog would be my fictional character of choice. A simple story will be used e.g. The Mystery of the Missing Moths
Read aloud or tell a short story:
Henry notices his moth friends aren’t visiting the flowers at night. The frogs are croaking less. Some birds don’t sleep well anymore. He suspects too much light is the problem.3. We will go on a local biodiversity hunt in our local area. The children will have checklists where they will be on the lookout for trees, plants, insects and birds. The children will be encouraged to look for signs of nocturnal animals.
4. I will assign a homework activity where the children will engage in light pollution investigation. With parental support the children will observe a variety of things with key questions to guide them.
• How bright is the sky at night?
• Are there streetlights near trees?
• Can they see stars?
• Do they notice moths, bats, or other night animals?
In class, findings will be discussed and a chart will be created with the help of the children. This will be on show in the classroom.
5. To finish this lesson the children will be encouraged to create a project to demonstrate their learning. A choice board will be provided to give them a variety of options to express their ideas.