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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!).
Mary,
the Galaxy sensory bottle seems similar to lava lamps, just without the bubbles to keep them going. I found these instructions: https://capturingparenthood.com/oil-water-galaxy-sensory-bottle/
I’m interested in how you are starting BIG (with galaxies) and coming step closer to home each day, to stars, then the solar system and then near the Earth to the Moon. Ending with aliens is fun, since we don’t have proof that they exist, but the very scale of the galaxy means that there is likely life out there. (Unless you accept the Fermi Paradox).
Olivia,
if you base it on the ISS you will have lots of three dimensional shapes to include and a range of nice cylinders make that so much easier. Start saving the Pringles!
You could extend this to an understanding of no air in space, so spacecraft built in space don’t need to be aerodynamic, but spacecraft that get you to space do need to be.
Children could then categorise each other’s spacecraft (and you could test them on a windy day)
https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Make-a-Space-Station.pdf
Helen,
I hope your class have fun with the rockets. By showing them first and then asking them to extend their learning with what they have just seen they can carry out true inquiry. I’d give them a few balloons to play with first, or demo one so that they know the balloon shoots off. If they have never seen that before, how will they be able to predict what will happen?
Children’s predictions should be grounded in their science understanding. When I work with children I ask them…
what do you think will happen when…. and this is because…
or .. if [this] is the case, then [this] will happen…
So: “The balloon moves when you let it go. If we put it on a string, the balloon will follow the string.”
They test this and find out that if the ‘nozzle’ isn’t lined up to the string, the balloon goes in circles around the string, and they can then refine their thinking and improve their balloon rocket.
Siobhan,
Science Blast brands itself as being for 3rd to 6th class. I’ve heard radio ads for it, and took our StarDome to it in 2023, in Dublin, Limerick and Belfast. It’s a pretty hectic experience in Dublin, which is the largest set up, much calmer in Limerick where it is more spread out and in Belfast where it is one day.
Sinead,
having recently been very interested in family history, I have been spending a lot of time with the Irish census. Did you know that in the 1911 census, housing was evaluated? You could share one of the census images and ask the children to engage with the table on house and building descriptions.
This is a random sample.
https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002019173/
from the main search page: https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Órnaith, there is a wealth of shared experience in the forum, so please do check it out as your prepare your own reflections from each module.
Hi Felicity,
please see this “What If” from the creator of the XKCD cartoons. It is all about your fun fact.
Hi Pol,
searching for that book title found me this space reads list from Michigan Public Libraries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7XmxDsjOU8
There are planet facts on this set from Armagh Planetarium but you may need to adapt them for your class.
Is this the website?
https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/
Is this the static electricity activity?
I don’t find it easy to search – how do you find what you need?
Thanks for sharing Emma. It’s amazing how effective a black (bin bag?) background can be when sending a class to space!
Grace,
you’ve given a comprehensive list of possible activities for Aistear stations.
Do you have a bingo game ready made? Or would you create one with https://bingobaker.com/
This one has clothes and weather mixed, but could be modified I think.
https://bingobaker.com/view/6239146
Ciara,
have you particular games you like? I crash on the spaceship one, matching shapes is more my level!
https://www.esa.int/kids/en/Games/Milky_Way_Match
