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Hi Fiona,
have you seen the SEIA resource on different clothing for different climates?
The full set is here: https://www.seai.ie/community-energy/schools/primary-school/resources-for-teachers/
and the material on clothes is designed for 3rd and 4th class. There is a flipchart for the IWB and a ppt version.
Hi Kevin,
the fingerprint activity can be a great starting point for inquiry learning. I think the important part is the questions that the children pose themselves as they are carrying out the activity.
They might ask – which powder makes it easier to see the fingerprint? Do we need to have a lot or a little of it? How are fingerprints the same or different?
In each case, they should use their own understanding to make a testable question – and this might be quite informal as they quickly say – ‘I think it needs to be a just enough to cover the fingerprint – let me try that.’
I used to have a beautiful set of constellation cards that could be used to make star viewers.
A quick search has produced it here – but the original was from a museum in Australia. These are reversed, for use in star viewers, so that you punch from one side, but look from the other.
Dean,
I recommend Model Magic – it is a great material that makes beautiful, bright planets that are air drying. It is pricey, but a little goes a long way and the planets that can be created are gorgeous.
These are ones left over by children from workshops at BCO:
or you can go really big – like these ones I saw at a planetarium in Portugal
Michelle – there are some ESA activities on space debris for primary children.
There is a Framework for Inquiry to support their use here.
Michelle – adding seasons to this is just a great idea.
Even photos of the shadow of a tree at 1pm at different times of year would be great.
Irene –
Depending on the children in your class, you could include images of houses from different countries. I grew up in Canada, where houses have to be designed to withstand snow in winter (it affects the roofline) and deal with hot summers. Timber frame is the norm there, so siding is often used on the outer skin of the house – quite different to here.
Sinead, I completely agree with you on stellarium web being used by teachers – it is a complex site with lots of functions to show the night sky.
It looks great on a whiteboard, but if you have a spare data projector, take it to the biggest wall you can find in a room that can be darkened and point it to the wall for a huge display of the sky. Mindblowing and huge!
Have you particular Marvin & Milos that you think would work with your age cohort?
I like stellarium web, but the original downloadable stellarium software is so powerful – and the fact that it doesn’t need the internet once installed means that you can happily leave a few students exploring it.
Hi Barbara,
what age would you do this with? Life cycle of a star was in the curriculum when I taught second level in the UK, but not anywhere in the Irish curriculum.
If you have children who are interested in this, you can engage everyone in the class by asking if they have noticed that stars at night are slightly different colours – in particular if you look at Orion, the top left star is slightly reddish tinged, and the bottom right star is a brighter blue-white. This has to do with the type of star they are.
Orion is visible in the early evening in January-February, so easy to see as soon as it gets dark. It disappears into the sunset in May.
Hi Sinéad ,
the children might not get the reference any more, but I always describe this as a ‘Father Ted’ moment — this cow is nearby and small, that cow is far away and big!
Hi Roisin,
do you have links to the particular story and songs you use? it’s great to learn from each other.
Creating surface collages for planets is so great – and looks fabulous as a display.
Hi Sinéad,
You could adapt that demonstration to become more inquiry focused by showing the rainbow happening, then asking the children what they wonder or would like to try differently (and why they think it would make a difference).
for example: ” I wonder if we could make the rainbow faster… what would happen if we used different paper (like greaseproof paper)? or put the colours in a different order or ….”
These set demonstrations can serve as a wonderful prompt, but the science learning by inquiry is based on the children using their own understanding to develop their ideas further. For that they need to have familiarity and some working mental model of the scenario and be challenged to explain it further and to use it to predict what will happen.
Hi Michelle,
I agree with you on children coming in with more science background – and even if they don’t, tidying up a mess is a frequent, familiar context for them to use for their science.
