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Have you seen the Powers of Ten film? or one of the remakes… a powerful set of visuals on the size and scale of the Universe.
Susanne – the 3-D Plough is nice, but use a rigid strut to hold the stars for younger children – the pulling the string to the right length is fiddly and you’ll be poking lots of holes in lots of bits of card!
Leana, I love the “I would encourage the children to create a persona for their alien: “My alien loves flying and eating space rocks!””
I have asked children to come up with a personal name for their alien, a type of alien name and a place they come from, giving them the example:
I’m Frances, a human from Earth.
Possible answers are: Bob, a Martian from Mars etc
Laura- by doing this outside you can also connect to the movement of the Sun as the Earth turns – it is amazing how quickly the shadow changes. If you have speedy chalkers they might not notice this, so guide them to return to their chalked shadow after 10 minutes and they will notice that their shadow no longer fits.
I think it is an interesting time coming up with the changes across the primary curriculum and Geography/History moving away from Science. I think the linkage that teachers can continue to make will keep the Earth and Space strand of Geography connected to the new Science curriculum, but the timetabling might be a bit more fluid. Certainly Geography skills and Science skills share many similarities.
Sorcha,
it’s exciting times in human space exploration. ESA’s first Irish/UK Astronaut has finished her training – you can read more about her at
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Rosemary_Coogan
(born in Northern Ireland makes her Irish for me)
Margaret,
Rocket Mouse is a staple of my infants workshops for good reason – inexpensive materials, re-usable bottles (once you’ve collected them you’ve got them until they are too cracked to hold air) and a simple task with an open ended solution.
I like to add in: “what top tips would you give to someone who isn’t here today?” and focus on finding out the children’s best ways to launch. Some children will provide the base instructions, others will say – “to make it go high – do XX” I’ll then ask – “did you try to launch it another way? Then how do you know – go back and try the other way….”
Louise – glad you find Marvin and Milo so appealing – I do too!
are there particular ones that you think would work?
As far as confidence goes – I recommend for all inquiry activities with children that you, as teacher, generate a slightly bewildered expression -and say something like “last time we tried this as a class it was sunny/windy/a Tuesday (or whatever), so I don’t know if it will be the same this time … we’ll have to try it and find out what happens…” This takes the onus off you having to get the “right” set up – the science happens when the children try to explain what they see.
Of course, with Marvin and Milo, there is a nice explanation, so perhaps chop that bit off for the children.. and see if they can come up with working models that are similar.
Emma,
I’d also look to promote the digital models that can be used – Stellarium for example. It doesn’t provide text answers, but allows children to observe the passage of time at a quicker pace to be able to build knowledge about the motion of the Earth in space.
Emma,
one of my colleagues has a nice bit that she includes in planetarium shows – she asks if the audience know the difference between planets and stars – and then says ” you all know the song “Twinkle twinkle little planet” right….?”
when they say – it’s “star” not planet, she points out that that is one of the differences – stars twinkle and planets don’t.
Aisling,
In Ireland the key concepts for Earth and Space are found in SESE Geography:
Infants: The child should be enabled to
• identify and discuss the sun, the moon and stars
• recognise the difference between day and night.1st/2nd: The child should be enabled to
• recognise the sun as a source of heat and light
• identify the sun, the moon, stars, day and night
• develop familiarity with the spherical nature of the Earth.Gravity appears in Science explicitly for 5th and 6th class – so I would lightly touch on it – as the force that pulls us down – with more emphasis on how we experience gravity near the Earth rather than “orbit demos”.
In outdoor observation, you can plan for the Moon when it is at 3rd quarter and visible in the morning sky. BCO produces a Moon calendar each year to help you plan this: the current version (good until October) is at https://www.spaceweek.ie/for-organisers/for-teachers/
Laura,
I like how the practical exploration and looking for patterns precedes the knowledge construction – and the questions that you ask are all part of “wonder” and “explore” in the engage section of the Inquiry Framework.
You have a great “next step” and playdough is great for making boats – since as a lump it will sink, but when hollowed out it will float.
I did make a boat with my Brownie Guides (ages 7-10) and they had the most fun making paper boats with pea passengers.
David,
there’s so much maths that could link to this stars activity too. In a later module we introduce “Stellarium” which has constellation patterns as part of the display. It is quite straightforward to add the children’s own drawings into the software – so that those are the constellations that would be displayed.
I like the LEDs and dark cloth – this cold be very effective. I used to have some small chains of LEDS that were battery powered – from Flying Tiger I think.
Then a “next step” might be to look at how far away can you clearly see the pattern – which is a more complex idea that links to resolution and telescopes.
Jessica,
I really like your playful plan for the Planets — and linking it to the Earth the whole time should really connect to those children who don’t appreciate “space” the same way as some of the others.
I was one of the “space” children – can’t remember a time when I didn’t think space and stars were the neatest things around!
Position in space related to the Sun nicely connects to ideas about heat transfer and why it is warmer next to the radiator than on the other side of the room – a simple idea for a further investigation.
Edel,
I’ve used “model magic” from Crayola, an air drying modeling material. It is non-sticky, smells nice and mixes wonderfully into different colours. You can get it at Art and Hobby – a bit pricey, but a tub goes a long way.
Children make small planets, big planets and can combine the colours to make swirly gas planets.
