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thanks for sharing the mind map Enya – could you share some of the particular videos of astronauts that your class has enjoyed?
The heat insulation activity might fit in with Animals in the Cold, an activity that appears in module 4.
Hannah – there is a lot of discussion right now about the next astronauts to go to the Moon. The mission is known as Artemis and launch dates for the first mission to test the systems have just been announced for the end of August / early September for an un-crewed mission to the Moon!!!
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1
What a cool fact Deirdre — I didn’t know that, so looked it up to find: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Astronomers+Say%3A+Centre+Of+The+Milky+Way+Galaxy+Is+Raspberry+Flavoured-a0393137964
Apparently the new limited edition Coca Cola flavour is also “space-flavoured”
Marie, I like how you have incorporated the inquiry framework with a lovely trigger, plenty of opportunity for the children to wonder and explore, and a key activity that they can investigate to deepen their understanding of colour. The technology usage at the end is a nice touch.
Thanks for sharing your mind map, don’t forget to keep adding to it over this course.
Hannah – would you use https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/design_a_bridge.pdf ?
I have used it with 8-10 year-olds and they had a hard time applying learning from a warm up activity on triangles to their bridge design. Will your activity be more about the strength of materials, or more about the structural assembly of the bridge?
The primaryscience activity suggests restricting the material to paper, so that structure is the key focus. If you use different materials, then you might want to use a common design to allow for comparison.
Hi Aoife – there is an ESERO Activity: Does Saturn Float? that adds a space spin to this activity. It is designed for young children, so you might want to use it early in the year with a 1st class, or adapt it a bit for later in the year.
Design a Boat goes a little bit into some trigger questions and background information. An additional activity to really get children thinking about this is to ask them to push an inflated beach ball down into a large bucket of water. Can they feel the ball pushing back on them? what must be pushing on the ball? etc….
Hi Aisling, welcome to the course. Do you have a favourite astronaut? I am a fan of fellow Canadian Chris Hadfield – he of the most excellent moustache and cooking demos. (https://youtu.be/AZx0RIV0wss)
what a lovely detailed list of ways to engage children with the Moon! and on 20 July too!
At recent conference we asked participants (who were all teachers) to model the Moon going around the Earth at the same time as the Earth & Moon went around the Sun. Great fun, with lots of discussion from the more astronomy confident teachers with the others, and plenty of motion.
Hi Laura – this activity allows the children to wonder and explore a great deal. Is there a particular science question that they might find out more about?
The trees in different seasons booklet from Science Week 2018 had Investigating Fruit as an activity, and you can find it as a stand alone in English and Irish.
Happy Moon Landing Day everyone!!
See more about how we are trying to return to the Moon here: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/First_steps_returning_humanity_to_the_Moonand explore classroom ideas with https://mooncampchallenge.org/resources-discovery/
Welcome Marie – plenty of other teachers of senior infants here, so I hope you can share ideas and engage through this forum.
Do you know this song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaEsMmWBTp4
Hi Aine – be careful with the question about seeds and sunlight — seeds can germinate in the dark (think about bean sprouts, or planting seeds in soil underground). To explore how well a plant grows, I’d start with already germinated seeds, radish seeds work well, and then ask about what the plant needs to grow.
Hi Aine – what particular science question do you think the children will ask about shadows? There are so many possibilities, and with very little equipment they can explore so much.
What source of heat do you reckon you would you with your class? Would you let them choose from different sources? ie leave it on a sunny windowsill, put a bowl of chocolate on a radiator, wrap a bar of chocolate in foil and sit on it?
There is plenty of scope for discussion of fair testing if you use different heat sources.
