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The mouse rocket idea activity is such a simple but effective one and it is great that children could be further challenged to see what happens if they use a different sized bottle, more/less force, etc for launching. It is great how you have integrated across other subjects here too.
I would use the rocket launching activity with my 2nd class students.
My stimulus would be a video of an actual rocket launching. I would ask the students to tell me everything they know about what is happening in this video. We would then discuss rocket launches, where the rocket might be going, what its purpose might be. I would tell the students that today we are going to investigate how a rocket launches.
I would show them the Marvin and Milo cartoon of the balloon rocket. I would leave that displayed on the board. I would divide the class into mixed ability groups and provide them with all the equipment they need to carry out the experiment. I would circulate between the groups, offering support and help when needed. Once the students have successfully launched their rocket, I would encourage them to think of anyway they might be able to change one thing in the experiment to see if the results would be different, e.g. using a different sized balloon, blowing the existing balloon up more/less, etc.
Once all groups are finished, we would discuss what they have learned. I would ask them if they can guess from their findings in this experiment what force might be behind the launching of a rocket into space. We would discuss how, in a real rocket launch, gas released from the ignited fuel pushes down hard against the ground pushing the rocket up into the sky.
Deirdre, These are great examples of consolidating the children’s learning by use of online games and digital resources. I think games on the ipads like this at the end of a lesson to reinforce key learning would work very well and be very engaging for the students.
The Stellarium website has really impressed me! I will definitely be using it in school as a resource and at home on a clear night too!
Here is how I might use it in my 2nd class classroom.
I would use images of the old Greek depictions of the constellations as a stimulus. I would ask the students what they think they are and how they think they might link to our theme of ‘space’.
I would introduce the students to the Stellarium programme, displaying it in the interactive whiteboard. I would show them the night sky from the previous night over Cork. I would ask them if if they could guess what time sunset was the previous night and what time sunrise was that morning, and then show them how it can be displayed on Stellarium.
I would show them major constellations, such as the Big Dipper, Orion and Cassiopeia. I would ask students to pick specific stars or objects in the night sky that they would like to know more information on. We could select them and find out more information on them such as if they are a satellite or a star, and their name, characteristics, etc.
I would draw the children’s attention to the fact that the constellations appear to move across the night sky and see if anyone can suggest a reason for why this appears to be happening (i.e. due to the Earth’s rotation).
I would pause the night sky at a set time and display the constellations on the board at that time. On a black piece of paper, I would get the students to choose some constellations to draw and label from the night sky at that time using white chalk. They would entitle it ‘The Sky above Cork at 1 a.m. on 18th of September looking North’ (or similar).
Following on from this activity, I would try to deduce from the students how you might use the stars and constellations to find directions.
The Stellarium programme could be used for many more applications than just investigating stars though. It could also be used for sunrise/sunset, seasons and the shortening of the days, planets, Earth’s rotation, etc.
Muireann, I too like this idea of counting the amount of stars they can see in a section of a photo and following it up with a discussion of the collossal numbr of stars are actually out there! It would lead too to a discussion on how we can’t see all the stars with the naked eye when we look up into the night sky.
I have chosen the activity set of ‘stars’ and would aim this for 2nd class students.
I would display pictures of the constellations and ask the students what they think they look like. Then we would discuss what their official names are and what they are commonly said to look like.The activity that I would look to recreate would be the ‘looking at the plough in two different ways’ activity. I would differentiate the activity, with very capable students completing the activity as described in the video, perhaps with the tinfoil squares already cut out for them, but requiring them to measure out the lengths of string and assemble as described. Teacher support would be provided when required.
A related adaptation for other students would be that they could be given the dark construction paper/card and required to pierce holes the card in the correct positions of the stars, as instructed on the supplied template. They could join the ‘stars’ using white chalk to create the shape of the constellation on their page. They could display their work to the class by darkening the room and shining a lamp/torch behind their sheet so that the ‘constellation’ is projected on to the classroom wall.
These two activities together would create familiarity of the ‘plough’ constellation amongst the students, who would all get a chance to observe each other’s creations.
Felicity, I love the idea of tracking shadows on the playground using chalk and noting how they change as the day goes on. I reckon this is something that a lot of children notice but may not have really thought about why. They may also not have made the connection between the length of their shadows and the time of day.
I have chosen the activity set of ‘The Moon’ and would design these lessons for 2nd class students.
First, we would discuss the moon. I would elicit from the students what they already know about the moon. Over the next number of days/weeks (starting when the moon is in its third-quarter phase) we would try to observe the moon in the mornings and document out findings.
From this activity, I would hope the children would notice that the shape of the moon appears to change over time. This would lead to a discussion about the phases of the moon. I would show the students the wonderful video ‘Paxi and our Moon: Phases and Eclipses’ and we would discuss it afterwards. We would then use the knowledge we have learned to identify what phase the moon that we have viewed that morning is currently in. We could check if we are correct using an online moon phase resource.
Following on from this activity, I would darken the room and divide the class into four groups, giving each group a lamp (representing the sun) and a hollow white foam ball (representing the moon). The students can stick a pencil into the bottom of the white foam ball to allow them to hold it like a lollipop. The student holding the ‘moon’ acts as the Earth, slowly rotating around on its axis. By completing this, the students will clearly be able to see the phases of the moon displayed on the foam ball as they rotate around. The students could take turns doing this so they could all see it in action. It would be important when completing this activity to remind the students that the Earth rotates on its own axis in 24 hours, but it takes the moon approx. 27 days to orbit the Earth.
Hi Sharon. I love this simple idea of the globe, torch and the dark room to show the students the idea of ‘day’ and ‘night’. It would be very visually effective and would spark great discussion and inquiry amongst the children.
Hello everyone!
My name is Elaine O’Donoghue and I am teaching 2nd class this year. My favourite space fact is that there are apparently more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on the Earth! There are apparently billions of galaxies in the universe each containing billions of stars. We are so small on the grand scale of things!
An inquiry-based lesson that I might do would be challenging the students to design something to float a lego man back to safety from the water.
I would engage the students by standing a lego man on the side of a clear basin of water and asking them to design something to allow him to travel across the water to the other side of the basin, without getting wet.
First, we would discuss the concept of floating and sinking, investigating what objects available to them sink or float. The students would then divide into groups with a variety of materials to design their raft (e.g. straws, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, foil, tape, etc.). Once they design their rafts, they could test their buoyancy and stability in the basin of water. Once they have successfully created a floatation vessel that works to keep the Lego man afloat, they could try optimising it, improving it and making its design more impressive, while other groups are finishing theirs. Each group would then present their raft to the class, discussing what worked well, what problems they encountered and how they overcame these problems.
