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  • in reply to: Module 3 – Stars, Space and Aliens #218210
    Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
    TeachNet Moderator

      Deirdre,

      I’m not familiar with Five little Aliens.

      I found these words : https://kcls.org/content/five-little-aliens/

      Five Little Aliens Flying Out in Space
      the first one said, let’s have a race.
      The second one said, watch me go
      The third one said, that’s so slow
      The fourth one said, my ship’s fast
      The fifth one said, I’m always last.

      There is also Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer here:

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/z6qgscw

      in reply to: Module 2 – The Moon, the Earth and the Sun #218209
      Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
      TeachNet Moderator

        Deirdre,

        note the nice discussion about shadows from the Sun booklet from Dr Maeve Liston where she argues that shadows should not be coloured in, since they are the absence of light.

        We have used multiple lights to make ‘shadows’ that are the absence of one colour of light – which is a great “take the next step”

        in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #218208
        Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
        TeachNet Moderator

          Hi Laura,

          another teacher shared this book and her class’ Leprechaun traps just a few days ago. I’ll have to check out the book,

          Design and Make that uses the children’s understanding is a great way to use the inquiry process. The investigation step looks slightly different, instead of

          • Starter Question
          • Predicting
          • Conducting the Investigation
          • Sharing: Interpreting the data / results

          You have

          • Explore
          • Plan
          • Make
          • Evaluate

          In both formats the children should refer to what they know and what they find out from the investigation/design as they incorporate their new understanding into their science modelling of the world.

          in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #218207
          Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
          TeachNet Moderator

            Robyn,

            with inquiry in this course we specifically refer to the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry. We tend not to refer to hypotheses, which they will meet in second level school, but to making predictions based on their scientific understanding.

            They may well use “books, videos, and interactive simulations to help them explore the topic further” to help them find out answers to their questions, particularly their own (or teacher guided) “starter question.

            So, if you planned to use “What would it be like to live on Mars?” as the prompt, the children may then wonder and explore their thinking as they share questions/ find out facts to frame a starter question.

            This might be around: Is there water on Mars? – and they might use the Mars activity set at spaceweek.ie to explore how water channels are formed and if Mars images have those types of shapes.

            The more general activities you have described might form part of the “take the next step” as they might consider how Mars is like/unlike other planets,. or consider how the distance from the Sun to Mars is greater than the distance of Earth from the Sun and how that affects Mars – it is colder.

             

             

            in reply to: Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills #218073
            Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
            TeachNet Moderator

              Ciara,

              do you have enough computers for the children, or would you be setting this up as a station that the children can visit? The nice thing about stellarium app is that you don’t need the internet to use it, so you can install it on a device and freely let the children use it.

              We had a set of 10 laptops at BCO that we used to use with Stellarium – so I have seen a lot of children get quite lost in the sky and in time. This is when you need to know the short cut of  ‘Press number 8 to return to now.’

              in reply to: Module 5 – Rockets & Alien Chemistry #218069
              Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
              TeachNet Moderator

                Maeve,

                from experience, get decent vinegar (no discount brands) for this to work. Film canisters are very hard to find now, so try fizzy vitamin tablet tubes, or small plastic  bottles and corks.

                We created a short series of videos a while ago (I can’t believe 10 years!) with my former colleague Ria and Dr Niamh Shaw (as Eunice). This one demonstrates the baking powder and vinegar reaction.

                https://youtu.be/KfMOEVt2zh4?si=eF-sqPAf0uZWLwPG

                in reply to: Module 3 – Stars, Space and Aliens #218041
                Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                TeachNet Moderator

                  Josie,

                  I’m not completely clear on the shoebox constellations. I found this example of making one with holes punched to let light through, but I’m not clear on the string and tin foil with the shoe box.

                  https://youtu.be/sI71pmj_wKY?si=SQSXmo1oXk0ZVmRo

                  in reply to: Module 3 – Stars, Space and Aliens #218038
                  Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                  TeachNet Moderator

                    Fionnuala,

                    we created a nice short activity on living in space and what would you take. You can find it at Mission to the Moon on spaceweek.ie.

                    I’m glad you name checked my fellow Canadian Chris Hadfield – I’m a big fan!

                     

                    in reply to: Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills #218035
                    Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                    TeachNet Moderator

                      Fionnuala,

                      Stellarium (the main app) has a function whereby you can turn off the ground to see all the stars that surround the Earth – not just the ones above the local horizon. That would be useful for spotting Orion, since some of the time it is below the horizon, and in May/June it is behind the Sun altogether.

                      On stellarium web, look for the white shape of two trees at the bottom, and click it to turn off the ground.

                      in reply to: Module 3 – Stars, Space and Aliens #218031
                      Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                      TeachNet Moderator

                        Maeve,

                        You can bring inquiry into this activity by recording the children’s predictions about the conditions on other planets based on their understanding. They might think that planets that are close to their Sun are hotter than planets that are further away. They could then verify this – a simple and quick inquiry process adapted from the Framework for Inquiry.

                        Flying Tiger currently have a cute set of alien pencils and bookmarkers that might be nice items to have in the classroom when you take your Alien Worlds tour.

                        You could also share these exoplanet travel posters from NASA, which have guided tours  (for example: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/exoplanet-travel-bureau/hd-40307g-guided-tour/) a commentary on the art and also colouring pages that let the children express their own views on how the planet might look.

                         

                        in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #218020
                        Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                        TeachNet Moderator

                          Hi Susanne,

                          you have the key point about the inquiry framework starting from the children’s interest – tractors vs trucks. My children lived on a train line when they were very young – so everything for them was about trains!

                           

                          in reply to: Module 2 – The Moon, the Earth and the Sun #218011
                          Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                          TeachNet Moderator

                            Maeve,

                            I like how you plan to look at

                            how the Sun lights up different parts of the Moon.

                            since even though Phases of the Moon isn’t part of the Ireland’s primary curriculum (but is in second level), it can be treated as an example of light and shadows.

                            It is also a subject of many misconceptions: https://ed.ted.com/best_of_web/XA7WNT0o

                            in reply to: Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills #217976
                            Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                            TeachNet Moderator

                              Cillian,

                              check your units – Vega isn’t that far away! it is only 25 light years.

                              Vega is one of my favourite stars and is so easy to see in the sky in the Summer – just look straight up when it first gets dark.

                              It is great to compare it to Deneb, which appears a little bit dimmer, but is 1400 light years away. This makes you think how bright it must be, if it is so much further away, yet looks only slightly dimmer.

                              in reply to: Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills #217974
                              Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                              TeachNet Moderator

                                Thanks for sharing this outline Siobhan.

                                I am not particularly familiar with Lámh, so thanks for sharing the video link.

                                I fairly recently learnt about aphantasia and wonder just how common it is, this article suggests ~4% of the population experiences it. My son (age21+) fullly completed school before he realised he has it!

                                in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #217968
                                Profile photo ofFrances.McCarthy@bco.ieFrances McCarthy
                                TeachNet Moderator

                                  Martina,

                                  as I have commented earlier, dropping objects has a great link to objects rolling down ramps, and ramps has the advantage of slowing it all down so that children can really compare the effects of different masses, different materials etc and how gravity pulls them down.

                                  If you use marbles or balls of similar size but different mass, the air resistance will be minimal, which will allow the role of gravity to come through more clearly.

                                  This is a complex topic, and was not well understood for thousands of years, so children do need time to explore and develop their own understanding.

                                  See Peeps (https://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/en/educators/teaching-strategies/1/family-child-care-educators/2/learning-environments/17/ramps/) and and example in a class (https://wondersinkindergarten.blogspot.com/2015/04/ramps-and-pathways-play-based-learning.html)

                                  all of which use the ideas from Iowa Regents Centre for Early Development Education. (https://qappd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/fun_physical_science.pdf)

                                Viewing 15 posts - 211 through 225 (of 993 total)
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