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Shirley – what a lovely trigger and context to explore floating and sinking. And so many opportunities to discuss the waterproof-ness of the materials, their weight, their flexibility etc.
Eimear – magnetism is definitely one of those topics that lends itself to discovery by exploration. I’ve noticed that some rectangular fridge magnets are made with north/south on the sides that make contact with the fridge – so a rectangular magnet that you might expect to have N-S at the ends (like the image),
actually has the poles along the faces.
This is something that the children should have the chance to explore.
Thanks for sharing the book link Lisa. Can you describe:
I’ve seen another lovely idea where the children work in threes to create portraits of their face.
a little more?
Emma – with a 2nd class would you want to extend the music to include a bit of Holtz? https://www.classicfm.com/composers/holst/pictures/holsts-planets-guide/
When the children make a physical model of the solar system, would you ask them to have the planets at the appropriate relative distances? You could use the solar system walk to get the distances.
Irene – the Universe in Box booklet has many super activities, and the Spherical Earth set is one of my favourite.
Do you have an Earth Ball or will you use a ‘regular Earth globe’?
Observing the Moon is great– it can tie into weather observations – as in — “if it is cloudy in the day, we won’t be able to see the Moon.”
Sarah – I like they way you have planned a great trigger – the Sun ball – and how you will use it to get the children to wonder and question. Most children will tell you that you shouldn’t look at the Sun, but this activity with uv beads could leads to the children checking how well the “items would you need for a day in the sun?” actually protect from uv. They might ask and then check: does my T-shirt protect me from the uv? Do my sunglasses protect me from uv …
Irene – in the Materials>Materials and Change strand and strand units, children should
“– explore the effects of heating and cooling on everyday objects, materials and substances (Infants)
— explore the effects of heating and cooling on a range of liquids and solids (1st and 2nd)”I think adding in particle theory for children in junior classes is expecting too much. The animation from https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/k-8/inquiryinaction/second-grade/heating-and-cooling.html refers to molecules and uses quite advanced language. This is something I would have used with students in second level.
There are some nice ideas in the activity, but they need to be adapted for the junior classes.
Great song choice there Sarah – I just played it out loud and got a “what on earth is that?” from the other side of the room!
Research tasks, like finding out about planets, can be inquiry based, particularly if the children choose a question that they would like to answer. Astronomy has always been an observational science. We can look at distant objects, and in the last 50 years have sent spacecraft to have closer looks at some of the nearer objects in our solar system, but we can’t ‘do an experiment’ on a planet! Instead, we ask questions and look for patterns in what we see and try to make predictions about what else we might see.
Hi Ciara – welcome to the course. Please do check the forums – they are rich with shared experiences of the Junior end of the school.
Magnets is a great inquiry topic – since simple ideas can easily be tested — ie “I think all metals are magnetic” – and if the children have a range of metals to test, they very quickly find out that only some metals are attracted to magnets! The trick is then getting them to work that into their own science thinking. I once did this activity with an informal group, and one of the leaders (an adult!) told the children that all metals were magnetic, and then made up some very odd explanation as to why the tinfoil didn’t stick to the magnets.
Patrice, thanks for sharing that video link – I had forgotten that one! I like how it shows the relative sizes of the planets -(ish). I have done an activity on modelling all the planets to scale – but it uses a lot of playdoh! There is a version here for older children, as well as an alternative for the Earth/Moon and for Earth/Moon and Mars.
Marcella – your older children might be able to explore how the model of the Moon’s surface is or is not like the actual Moon surface. The nature of the Moon’s surface (the layer called the regolith) was only really sorted once un-manned space craft landed on it.
If you read the transcript of Neil Armstrong’s first moonwalk – he talks about the surface a lot. And this image shows it: https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/as11-40-5918hr-lunar-module-footpad
Karen – there are some great pictures and posters of the planets, I like the simple ones from ESA: https://www.esa.int/kids/en/Multimedia/Downloads/Paxi_Posters.
There is a great opportunity to explore colours, why things are different colours etc – which the children might suggest or wonder.
Hi Emma – could you check settings and enable sharing of your mind map?
If someone gave you a link to this diagram they might also need to give you permission to view it.
Teresa – I have used LED lamps that I got from Halfords — and tried using desk lamps that could be plugged in, but small flashlight styles really are better – and sunlight is the best!