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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!).
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.
