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Ciara,
I think the mess potential is quite high – I have done this with slightly older 7-9 year olds, and we covered one large table with newspaper and went at it!. From the star splatters we decided how to assemble them to make a huge collage of a galaxy, with rich star regions and more sparse outlying areas.
Marie,
Growing cress seeds is popular activity, and separating the concepts of germination vs growth is structured in the curriculum where Infants are expected to “explore conditions for growth of bulbs and seeds” and 1st and 2nd class extend this with “explore, through the growing of seeds, the
need of plants for water and heat (design, make or adapt a suitable container for growing seeds) & investigate how plants respond to light”I’d be very clear in distinguishing between what is needed to get a seed to start to grow (germination) vs keeping the plant growing once it has sprouted.
I used to mark Junior Cycle science and many of those students were still confused about germination vs growth.
Niamh,
you have outlined a lovely set of stations that promote playful learning – nice stuff. May we use this in our end of course shared resources?
Margaret,
Your space week plan seems to be a lot of fun – nice stuff. Neil Armstrong definitely has one of the most recognisable names in space history, but Buzz Aldrin is still alive, so I’d add in an image of him (ask the children if they know the name of the 2nd person on the Moon!).
For a real stretch -ask them if they know the name of the 1st woman on the Moon (there hasn’t been one, yet). Artemis will carry women to the Moon.
Fiona,
please do see some of the resources from PolarStar, a past European project where we did produce material in Irish. Curious Minds have a wealth of activities and you can search for those in Irish directly at https://www.sfi.ie/engagement/curious-minds/teacher-resources/classroom-resources/.
Some are in the process of being rebranded, so if you have used one in the past, it will be back again shortly. Amazing Triangles is one of my favourite, and the new Irish version has just been released.
If other teachers have go-to sources of material in Irish, please do share.
Ellen,
there is so much science that can come into the children’s designing of a Martian.
I think it is great that you plan for “The children should be able to orally explain their choices and thinking behind their design” – if they have designed an Martian with a wooly coat, they understand that Mars is cold and that wooly coats can keep animals warm on Earth. Great stuff.
Síle,
did you realise that most of the Mars rovers have 6 wheels? Part of the reason is if one or two break, the rover can still keep moving.
One of the small rovers – Opportunity I think, had a problem with a wheel, so used to drive backwards part of the time. You can see this in the wheel tracks on the Martian sand.
Fiona,
I do like your specific arts focus, working with green and tints/shades is great.
Another material you might consider is one we use at BCO – Model Magic from Crayola. It is an air drying modelling material in a range of bright colour that can be combined.
We use it for making planets!
I hope you enjoy your Stellarium experience and agree with you that it is a very useful tool. I like the sheer number of possible ways you intend to use it, that really shows that you have taken the time to explore its features.
If you would like to construct your own DOME to use, you can find details on one of our European project pages: https://dome.nuclio.org/
Another option is to use a regular data projector and shine onto the largest wall in a dark room. This can be very impressive.
Deirdre,
Stellarium-web.org is the version that works in a browser, would you consider downloading the Stellarium app (which does not require internet once installed) and allowing the children to explore freely?
At BCO we have used it with children from 2nd class up, and for all ages of space enthusiasts at our summer camps. For some children, it is the highlight of their visit as they can ask a question and then explore the tool to find their own answer.
Pointing out cardinal directions and relating them to the position of the Sun in the sky and the time of day is very easy to do with the software.
Thanks for reminding me of that YouTube channel – a teacher had mentioned it last year and it had slipped my mind.
This is the channel – you can see the various books that have been read: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryTimeFromSpace
I really like how you have combined arts and creative activities against space themes and rocket investigations. Would you also demo a rocket launch? I like water rockets for the excitement and height that they reach, but stomp rockets are good too.
Muireann,
Did you know that teachers who register events on spaceweek.ie are sent a special image, taken with our telescope at BCO, with a classroom resources to support it. Last year’s picture was one of the Messier objects and the supporting document is here.
Of course, this may spark discussion about astronomy images, and are they “real.” Some telescopes (I’m looking at you Hubble and Webb) are able to detect light that is different to the light that our eyes can see, so, no, not every astronomy image is the same as what we would see.
Rachel,
how much fun to recreate the constellations with bodies. My Brownie Guides did a similar activity at an adventure centre, they had to make different letters of the alphabet while lying on the ground, and use all the members of the six.
Do you think your children will design 4 pointed, 5 pointed, 6 pointed stars? You could show them some found in art or in quilting, where 8 pointed stars are common.
I have used this folding activity to make a 5 pointed star -good for 2nd and up because of the hand strength needed to cut through 10 layers of paper.
Robyn,
what a gorgeous little story! I can see so many spots where children could stop and discuss what they know.
To explore Mars, use google Mars (from Google Earth) and zoom into the images to show what Mars looks like from the rover’s viewpoint.
Mars is one of the first workshops we offered at BCO, and still popular today.
My Brownie Guide leader is shuddering at the picking of the flower – what happened to Leave No Trace!
Niamh,
I’ve frequently mentioned how important ramps is as a learning activity, so it is great to hear it from the classroom. My go-to-link for the pedagogy is this from the Ramps and Pathways team.
It is an ideal design and make, and we do it at BCO with pipe insulation cut in half, easy to source, reusable and flexible. Get it from your local builders providers, choosing the widest interior diameter and thinnest outer material to get something that is easy to curve and can accommodate a lot of different size marbles. Give different groups different colour marbles, so if they lose their marble you can check that another group hasn’t collected it before you move every item of furniture looking for it. (that’s from experience!).
