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Aoife,
there is a playdoh solar system that you could create with an older class who are happy with fractions and dividing into parts. We have used it with ages 8+
Here is one version of it: https://www.schoolsobservatory.org/sites/default/files/activ/playdohplanets/PlayDoh-Solar-System-Instructions.pdf
and the original one that we have used (we did write it up with pictures!) https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/classroom/scales.shtml
Laura,
I like how you have changed the emphasis from how high the rocket mice go (which is tricky to measure) to how far away from launch do the land.
Children who want to take the next step might check to see if those two aspects are related. This will be a very early exposure to angles and has lots of spatial awareness and location, and measure from mathematics.
Hi Dan,
where you have ‘students make guesses and learn from what they see- – this is part of the explore section of the Framework for Inquiry. When the children are carrying out their investigation, if they have no clue what will be happening and are just guessing – then their science understanding isn’t engaged. They need to have a bit of background to be able to build on.
I’d offer children a class plant that needs to be looked after – and you can do this as a class for a month. Then they might wonder — does it need to be watered every day? What if we do / do not water it? Then you might grow some cress seeds (and treat the germination as a separate issue) that they can then use to test their ideas.
Patricia,
we visit the Moon in module 2, so you may want to incorporate some of the suggestions that teachers have made in that module into this very nice activity for infants.
I like the comparison between seeing with eyes open and not being able to see when your eyes are closed, and making that connection to light being needed to see something. Then, the changing appearance of the Moon is linked to the lack of light on one side of it.
Carolann,
would you ask them to practically determine if the coat is better at keeping something warm? A common way to do this is to connect the insulating properties of keeping a warm thing warm by not letting the heat through, will also keep a cold thing cold, by not letting the outside heat through.
This then gives you the ice cube in different types of socks. Offer thin socks, tights, thicker sports socks and hiking boot socks. Which will keep the ice cube from melting?
Orlagh,
the construction video is really nice, and could be used with the 2-stage rocket challenge for children who have succeeded in the balloon rocket making.
Margaret,
I like the idea of the paired shadow work – could you ask the taller children if they could fit into the shadow of the infant? Since the shadows do move pretty quickly, having help to draw their shadow is a great idea.
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:
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”
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.
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.
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.’
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.
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.
