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Hi Janet,
You have so many great ideas here with such variety. You have integrated so many curricular areas. This work would make for an excellent programme of work for Science Week too, with so many learning opportunities for the children.
Building a spacecraft, using the resource “Make a Spacecraft”
Engagement: This work would provide for active learning in our classroom, with pupils engaged in building their own spacecraft. We would begin this work by watching a digital video showing spacecrafts launching. Pupils would be provided with a selection of photographs and examples of spacecrafts, built by our senior classes.
This work would support shape work in mathematics.
Investigate/Construction/Design: Pupils would complete a plan of their spacecraft, in their Science Log, to support their construction of their spacecraft. Pupils would work in pairs. Pupils would be provided with the step by step guide – Building a rocket using the resource “Make a Spacecraft”, to guide their work.
Take the next step: We would extend this work with the following: A Fizzy Launcher
Using a vitamin container (tube) and using the vitamin tablets to make the fizz supporting the children’s understanding of the gas that powers/propels the rocket.
We would test our spacecrafts in our outdoor classroom and complete our fizzy launcher test. We would integrate this work with P.E. and consider the area of force with our soft javelins.Hi Laura,
Your assignment plan is very inspiring and really well planned. It provides clear aims for this area and clarity in how these goals can be achieved. Providing pupils with opportunities to explore, to be active and have a voice in this curricular area is so important. I have used Engineering week in school for a number of years and find the resources really engaging.
Animals in Cold – Supported by ESERO 7
Use of Digital video in class to begin lesson – Happy Feet
Story Book read to pupils based on Polar Bears and Penguins
Sample of questions:
What animals live in cold areas?
What is the weather like there?
What keeps these animals warm?
Can we name animals that live in these cold places?
We will compare these animals – Penguins and Polar Bears
We will make use of digital photographs for pupils, as they are working collaboratively, the pupils will complete a paper project on one of these animals. Recording of their findings, using iPads, will be shared on our IWB, our class comes together to share what they have learned, to allow for teacher observation as assessment.
Vaseline will be rubbed on the pupil’s hand to show how the feathers of a penguin and the fur of a polar bear also have a greasy layer on their fur and feathers.
Integration of Drama with hot seating – pupils take turns to be a penguin or polar bear and to answer questions for their class mates.
Visual artwork would be completed with a collage of a Polar Bear in their natural environment.Hi Andrea,
This sounds so engaging and would greatly motivate children, The use of Google Earth is great and kids love this digital resource in class. Being able to integrate science with visual artwork and creating their own alien would be so much fun. You have also allowed for follow on activities and learning with this work too. It is a very exciting area of work for pupils.
I would make use of the supports and resources to complete a set of work based on Stars, with the junior classes. I would integrate this work with music and literacy, with story and poetry. We would begin our work with a prompt singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the poem Star Light, Star Bright.
Questioning would be used to investigate what they pupils know about stars, What do the look like? Where are they? When can you see them? Do we know the name of any stars? Pupils would be provided with iPads and digital resources selected by the teacher based on stars. We would investigate making a star set with torches, black paper and gold stars. As part of our work we would consider constellations and the children would look at the various constellations and create their own constellation, with resources provided.
As a unit of work we would integrate this with maths and counting and visual artwork with creating a star lantern, with follow on work based on the Sun.
To assess our work, we would write a short explanation of our learning, to support our visual art presentation.Hi Kevin,
This work sounds really interesting and would create great fun and activity for your pupils. The use of a Science Journal is a great reflective learning resource. I found the video within the module on sundials very interesting too. Always great to have opportunities to make use of our outdoor environment in our teaching.
Engage: As part of a module of work on the Moon, as an introduction to astronomy I would begin with making use of a digital video as a prompt to our learning, based on the moon. I would integrate this work with 3-d mathematical shape work.
We would begin our module of work ascertaining what pupils Know already with the use of a KWL chart, with the use of questioning. I would ask the pupils to work together, to create a digital mind map, that we could revisit after our work, examining what we know now about the moon, adding to this when we have completed our KWL work.
As part of this work on the moon, I would like to investigate craters on the moon.
Investigate: As teachers we can support pupils as they consider their observations of craters, using digital resources in our work. Pupils would build a model, visualising a problem, communicating their ideas with each other and we could record observations with the use of iPads. Pupils can develop their explanations, utilising balls of different sizes, making craters of different sizes. Pupils can record their observations and the use of talk and discussion would support our learning.
Take the Next Step: As an extension of this work I would utilise the visual artwork, creating the moon with collage.
Reflection: Completion of our digital KWLHi Conor,
This sounds really engaging and the pupils would be really motivated in their learning. The use of digital videos in our teaching is a wonderful resource and provides for inclusion and accessibility to each pupil, with so many features, from subtitles, to playback speed. Your work would allow for so many lessons to extend this topic.
Strand: Energy and Forces, Materials
Strand Unit: Forces, Mixing and other changes, Properties and characteristics of materialsCurriculum Objective: Observe and investigate the movement of objects such as toys on various materials and surfaces
Engage: Playtime – pupils take toy car/truck from home to engage the learning and our science work, short clip played from Disney movie Cars.
Pupils would work in pairs and make predictions as to how the toy car would move on each surface, which would be the smoothest surface, which surface would allow for the fastest speed, would different surfaces require the car to be pushed. This would allow for questioning, talk and discussion and would allow for opportunities to develop language in the area.
Investigate: How our toy cars in our outdoor classroom move, using different surfaces, for example, wooden planks, the tar play area, grass, sand areas.
Pupils could complete a work sheet together using emojis in completing these. We could also include digital technology to record each pair at work and to ensure access to all pupils, with voice recording of their ideas.
Take the Next Step: This work could allow for the area of force, when we consider push and pull and gravity on an object.
Conclusion: We would share recordings/findings of our work on our IWB.
Assessment: Self and peer-assessment of our work, teacher observation with the support of digital technology.Hi, my name is Fiona and next year I will be teaching in SET, supporting the Junior Classes. I hope to use many ideas from this course to engage and motivate the younger pupils. One of my favourite space facts is that we weigh about 1/6 of our Earth weight on the moon!
Kay Mc Nulty was born in a small Gaeltacht area of Donegal. On the day she was born her father was arrested and on his return from prison, at the young age of three, she and her family emigrated to America. At this time Kay could only speak Irish, however she was a very hardworking student, a bright mathematical pupil and was greatly encouraged by her mother to do well in school. She received a scholarship to Chestnut Hill college and attended every mathematics lecture she could. She graduated and began working, on a secret team of five females,for the US Government, on the ENIAC, one of the world’s first electronic computers. She was referred to as a “computer” and her work was at a very top secret level. Kay contributed to the war effort, supporting the advancement of modern computer engineering. Once married she raised a family, leaving the workforce behind, yet she continued helping her husband’s work in the area of computer programming, in the background. Kay is considered today as one of the mothers of modern day computer programming.
(Information from Kiddle online and EPIC)
Hi Vera,
You have wonderful ideas here, integrating so many creative aspects to so many curricular areas. I think your creative writing work would greatly engage your pupils and there are so many opportunities for music, from Holst to Coldplay. Having the children recreate the work through visual artwork would allow for consideration in how they could use older methods and resources to work with, aging paper and using charcoal, this would be great fun.
Hi Aaron, Your are most fortunate to live so closely to such an inspirational piece of engineering, the children would find such inspiration from this bridge, to support their own design work. Your work would provide so many ideas for integration with other curricular areas, from visual artwork to music, with wonderful opportunities for extension of their learning, when considering the natural world around the bridge.
Using a bridge in our local area as inspiration, describing a plan of work for our class, challenging pupils to design and make a bridge . How we would integrate mathematical thinking and incorporate the maths skills appropriate to the class level:
Resource used: CURIOUS MINDS, ESERO RESOURCE DESIGN CHALLENGE: DESIGN AND MAKE A BRIDGE
Prompt of local bridges in our area, class would visit the bridge closest to our school and a slideshow of the other bridges in our locality would be shown to the class.
Wondering stage , use of questioning
Exploring – investigating the design of bridges
Planning stage – making decisions on types and materials to use, collaborating with team mates, considering scale, criteria relating to uses of the bridge,what weight the bridge can carry, for example two lego/toy cars.
Incorporation of mathematical knowledge and skills: Use of 2 d/3-d shapes, length in maths, data. Length of the river to be passed over. Skills of lines, angles. degrees. The weight the bridge can carry.
Drawing and design of our bridges, completed using both paper/white boards and digital resources for example, tinkercad/minecraft.
Making of bridges together in class, variety of materials provided for pupils and materials taken into school by pupils too.
Sharing of completed work, showcase day, invitation to another class to view our bridge designs, pupils discussing their bridges and answering questions on their designs.
Evaluation of our completed bridges, asking questions, for example, what went well, what might we do differently next time, did the bridge change when compared to initial plans, did the bridge meet the criteria set out at the beginning of their project work.