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Treasa,
I like how your Moon activity looks at the surface of the Moon. This is a real research topic – did you realise that before we landed space craft on the Moon, nobody was too sure what the surface was like!
Currently, a simulation of the lunar regolith is made with volcanic rocks! See more here: https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/digging-the-dirt-nasa-benefits-from-lunar-surface-simulant-testing/
Martha,
if you like music, try this music starter with a space theme:
https://gitikapartington.com/training/warm-up-of-the-month/
- 5-4-321 lift off!
- I can’t hear you do you read me…you’re breaking up….
- Rock-rock-rock..I’m in a rocket…rock rock rock…lift off
- There’s aliens in space x2 oh yeah!
check the video on this site for the rhythm.
Niall,
keeping things warm and cold is a key part of the infants and 1st/2nd class learning, but I’d only lightly touch on the term “insulation” since it only appears for 3rd class up.
Infants should:
identify ways of keeping objects and substances warm and cold
and investigate materials for different properties, for example materials that keep us warm
and 1st/2nd should
become aware of and investigate the suitability of different kinds of clothes for variations in temperature
recognise that some fabrics keep us warmer than others
design and make or assemble an outfit for someone who is going on holiday to a very warm or cold placeClar,
I agree with you that https://spark.iop.org/balloon-rocket is great. It didn’t work for me for about five years, but then I worked out that I needed fishing line (not string), and needed to hold the line really taut.
There is an older child version of the balloon rocket in the senior ISS Education Kit – page 25 of this resource. – very much for teachers, with these suggested questions:
Explain and analyse what happened.
• Compare what you expected to happen with what actually happened – is there a difference?
• What causes the movement of the balloon?
• What makes the balloon stop?
• How can you increase the distance the balloon travels?
• How would a balloon with a different shape behave?
• What happens if you add extra cargo to the balloon rocket?Grainne,
I love everything about your stars learning sequence. You’ve taken the abstract concept and really thought about ways to use the idea of stars with young children – great stuff.
May I share this with the wider public as part of our space week resources?
Jennifer – thanks for sharing how your class uses weather as a theme.
Do you maintain a longitudinal record to allow the children to look at the bigger picture of how the weather changes over the seasons?
Have you seen the Met Éireann weather facts?
https://www.met.ie/cms/assets/uploads/2024/06/YP-Fun-Facts-Temperature.pdf
from https://www.met.ie/education/school-resources
In quilting and textiles there has a been a recent trend to make temperature quilts – here is an example from Irish quilter Paula Rafferty:
https://paularafferty.blogspot.com/2021/07/emoture-my-temperature-quilt.html
Fiona,
the rocket mice are fairly straightforward to make, but I agree with you that sometimes the sticking of the tape can be tricky. Borrow a few helpers from 5th or 6th class (if you can) and the mice will be made in no time!
I like the idea of testing squeeze strength before checking volume of bottle.
The next step of looking at shape of bottle (is that keeping volume the same?) is interesting – might give some unexpected results.
Sharon,
thanks for sharing a super activity that includes all the key points of inquiry learning, in this case using their knowledge in a design and make context.
I really like that you have included “describe and give reasons for their choices/style etc” since this really lets them reflect on why they made the design choices that they did.
Meaghan,
Module 2 looks at the Moon in more detail. The inquiry outline you have shared is a type of research inquiry, with a few practical possibilities.
Using an image of Moon to start the engagement is great – particularly if you start around Full Moon in the winter – when the Moon can be seen by the children fairly early at night.
Moon cratering is a lovely activity – with lots of scope for children to explore what makes a crater big, what makes it deep or wide – so plenty of maths language for them to use.
You can find an outline of this activity from this ESA teacher resource: https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/PR04a_Tell-tale_signs_of_a_shooting_star-teacher_guide_and_pupil_activties.pdf
Grainne,
have you seen this video of the author reading the story? https://www.adamscloud.com/blogs/videos/benji-reads-adams-amazing-space-adventure
lots of funny voices added to the gentle story. I’d ask the children which bits of the story are from real facts, and which bits are made up.
This is a popular recommendation:
We are the planets of the Solar System
Rachael,
I’d be careful using language like ” some stars are bigger and brighter than others” unless you clearly distinguish between what we see and what is actually out there.
Stars appear as tiny points of light – some are brighter than others, and may appear more twinkly, but shouldn’t appear bigger to the eye.
Children might notice that some stars appear bigger in photographs – but that is because more light came from the star, so made a bigger shape on the detector.
Source: https://www.eso.org/public/italy/images/potw1428a/?lang
A follow up activity (a next step) could be to wonder why some stars are brighter than others, and play with torches at different distances in a large dark hall – noticing that far away torches look dimmer than nearby torches.
Amanda,
I like the idea of sorting the bottles — but controlling the amount of push and speed of the push might also come into it. Rocket Mouse is an ideal activity since there are often unexpected results, so children really have to think about what is going on and attempt to control variables (although I wouldn’t use that language with them). Once they have a pretty “repeatable” squeeze, they can try different bottles. I find different brands of milk bottle are also differently “squeezable”, due, I think, to the thickness of the plastic used to make the bottle.
Louise,
have you a particular “a clip about gravity” that you would recommend?
There is plenty of scope for the children to get into fair testing with the activity you have planned. Different objects that are different masses, different sizes etc will fall differently, so you could encourage children to notice the differences and think of simple ways to keep as much as they can the same.
A piece of paper as the object lets the children really look at shape, given that it is the same mass each time.
Ann-Marie,
what a lovely way to use inquiry learning. I particularly like how you set the scene one day, giving the children an opportunity to see what happens when ice melts, then extended it the next day. This allows children to have a body of knowledge that they can use when they consider what might happen, and then they can test to check their understanding.
I grew up in Canada, so know that Canadian children would have the experience in using salt to melt ice faster- knowing that you can sprinkle rock salt on a path after an ice storm — did your children have any ideas about the salt?
