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I really like your idea of using Steallarium as it makes learning about the night sky so much more interactive and accessible for pupils. Displaying the sky from the children’s own location is a great way to make the lesson meaningful. I also think your use of clear visuals, simple language and matching picture cards is an excellent idea.
‘Create an observing plan for autumn that shows which planets are visible in the evening sky.’
This lesson would involve some pre-teaching so that children have prior knowledge of the planets and the stars, and their place in our solar system. This lesson would also be great for those children in our classes who prefer a more hands-on approach to their learning.
Children would also need to have an understanding of how days get shorter as Winter approaches.
The children could look at a star chart or astronomy app such as ‘Sky View’ or ‘Solar Walk’ to find out which planets are visible in the evening sky during autumn.
The children could also involve their parents by making evening observations at home
Children could keep an observation log. They could record date/time/which planets were spotted/weather conditions.
Observations could then be discussed in class.
I also really liked the YouTube videos in module 2 that showed different hands-on/art activities that I could try with my 4th, 5th and 5th class. There were some great ideas for cross-curricular lessons.Hi Monica, I will also be teaching 4th class this September. I really like your idea of letting the children experiment with a torch first before moving on to the sundial. This would give them a great chance to explore how shadows change in a fun, hands-on way. I also like the idea of involving the class in choosing the best location for the sundial, this would encourage interesting discussions and problem solving.
“Plan how your students could “observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting and at different times of the day”
I will be teaching 4th, 5th and 6th this coming September. The children I will be teaching have a great interest in Science and I think the content from module 1 will be great for them!
I think it would be a good idea to bring the class outside at different times during the day and get them to note where the sun is in the sky. This could be done in groups. I would ask them to predict where they think the sun will be in an hour or in 2 hours. They could also have an object that creates a shadow and observe the position of the shadow throughout the day.
I think this would be a fantastic interactive way to make the children be active learners.
As the Liston paper says, STEM should be more than just ‘teaching science’. It should involve meaningful learning and I think this lesson would be perfect for that.
