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Hi Mary,
The fingerprints activity can easily be extended in incorporate more inquiry – as the video showed when the children wondered if identical twins have similar fingerprints. Children can be encouraged to wonder what might affect the appearance of fingerprints — this will be based on their own curiosity and understanding. One child might notice that their hands get puffy when they do the washing up – and wonder if their fingerprints are larger when their hands are wet — they could then test that.
Elizabeth,
Great to see the Biodiversity framework in use, I’ve used it a few times in teacher CPD and it is popular.
How easy do you find it getting acorns? I cycle to work and carefully watch to see when the oak trees drop their acorns – and grab as many as I can when it happens!
Maria – what fun! I like how you have identified specific appropriate texts, and plan to use images and videos to prompt the children’s interest.
You have clearly used the Inquiry Framework to structure the plan, with plenty of opportunity for children to work together and explore aspects of the topic that interest them particularly.
Will you use the Solar System Resource in Irish or English to support the planet size comparison? This could be an opportunity to add some Irish language.
Niamh,
the mighty materials is a very accessible intro to the Inquiry framework, really allowing children to make their own questions, in a context that is quite familiar to them.
You could emphasis maths and measurements (of quantity or time), science and close observations, and it lends itself to fair testing and the importance of fair testing very well.
Michelle,
You’ve outlined a lovely set of activities based on the Moon and the stories people have shared about the Moon.
You might add to this by asking the children if they can look for the full Moon rising – it will rise at sunset, making this doable without having to stay up late in the winter.
There is a full Moon on Sept 7, rising at 8pm, October 7, rising before 7pm, Nov 5 rising at 4.30pm.
If they look on September 7 they’ll be able to see a partial eclipse of the Moon, which will make it look reddish. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/ireland?iso=20250907
Olivia,
check out this Aistear station with checklists, countdowns, and a bit silver rocket in the corner
Mary – the inquiry framework is built around children’s questions, but to ask questions they need some familiarity with the topic, which is where the wonder and explore come in.
As my college lecturer said: the child who says “I got it” (because they are bored and want to move on), is the child who hasn’t understood a topic. Once you master a bit of a topic, you’ll have lots of questions!
Siobhan – check out Module 3 (aliens and Mars) and Module 5 (Journey to Space) for more Martian and rover activities.
You’ve described a lovely way to use the inquiry framework to structure a design and make activity on vehicles. Great stuff.
Tara,
this has me pondering on “next steps” – the children might look at astronaut pictures of the Earth – see NASA Gateway to Astronaut Photography
They could compare their model Earths to the pictures and evaluate how well their models show the Earth. I think it would really well as a design and make activity.
Mary, great to hear evidence that Inquiry approaches improve the learning of children in science – not just in skills, but in terms of content knowledge.
This is something that has been shown in research across Europe, although there continues to be issues over defining inquiry learning! (see this article that discusses types of enquiry learning).
Mary – a teacher’s Solar System Race sounds fun – particularly if the teacher is dressed as a planet, and their class has made the costume!
Each year BCO offers “ESERO Space goes to school” where we match schools with speakers from the broadest sense of “space industry” over Zoom. It is a popular programme, with great impact.
You can find out more about it and register your interest here.
Jenny, could you also look at the school building from Google Maps, and show how it is in a neighbourhood of a church, some shops, a playground, etc.? This might get around individual homes being identified, particularly if the children come from different economic backgrounds. This will very much depend on the location of your school. My own lads went to the same primary school as their father – in class with the children of people he went to school with, with some of the same teachers!
Audrey,
you have outlined a playful set of activities, with plenty of scope for the children to explore how they feel heat / and how heat moves. Some objects might be physically warm, but because they are good at conducting heat, you feel that they are cool to touch. Other objects might be cooler, but because they don’t conduct heat very well, they feel warmer to you when you (a source of heat) touch them.
The Sun resource from Maeve Liston that was shared in Module 2 looks at heat and temperature in a bit of detail. Certainly 1st class should:
• learn that temperature is a measurement of how hot something is
• measure and compare temperatures in different places in the classroom, school and environment.
The key is distinguishing between hot and cold environments and how we experience them, to items that might be hot or cold.
Orla,
I think
The other children will ask the student questions about their alien and the child presenting will answer in character as their creation.
is a simple, and brilliant idea. A child who may be very shy and reluctant to talk can work that into their alien’s persona. Perhaps their alien comes from a planet that is very quiet (thick atmosphere?) so only speaks very quietly themselves?