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What fun – and an opportunity for so much discussion and early maths. I have asked classes to name their aliens before- and nearly every time, one of the aliens is called “Bob”. I have also shown images of aliens from books, films and tv shows and asked children if they have read or seen aliens in books or films – this keeps me current!
Do you have the link to the Storybots video you mention?
With regards to phases of the Moon — it’s interesting, but doesn’t appear in the primary curriculum – so treat it as an activity around light and how something has to be lit up or making its own light for us to see it.
The Oreo cookies are a lot of fun to do — but make that more maths centred on shapes.
Children will meet phases of the Moon in their Junior Cycle.
Hi Jane,
I got solar beads from Science and Chemical – before they merged with Shaw Scientific, and they still have them: https://www.shawscientific.com/product/uv-detecting-beads-mixed-colours-xwv410030
It’s a little pot, with 100 beads.
Hi Barbara,
nice inquiry about melting linked to the ever popular dinosaur topic. Helping the children to explain why they think the radiator will be faster is so key to this type of inquiry — and do any of them ever suggest a sunny windowsill? Differing views, with reasons for the views are at the heart of inquiry learning.
Jane – your prompts to engage children to apply their science understanding are super. A child who can explain that their alien has a different sense because of where they live is showing really advanced science thinking.
Deirdre, I agree with you on using Cassiopeia – it is one of the simplest distinctive constellations to form. Orion is also distinctive, but not visible in the sky in the summer since the Sun is in Gemini, just to one side of Orion. Give us a few months and the Earth will have moved around the Sun and we will be able to see Orion again.
Hi Deirdre – I was chatting to people from other parts of the world, nearer the equator, and they shared that where they live, they don’t have four seasons, they have two – rainy and dry. This could be interesting to explore with children who might have visited or have family in that region.
Hi Michelle,
I always remember the tag line for the film ALIEN: IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM! (am I showing my age? – I just looked up that this movie came out in 1979!! – not one to show to infants…)
I’ve made planets with children using “Model Magic” – pricy, but beautiful to work with.
Have you a preferred material that you like to use?
they are so cool! (literally – that is why they show up as dark spots, since they are cooler than the surrounding area).
Mags, have you seen https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/HDEV/
which shows the view of the Earth from the ISS. It used to sometimes show the astronauts inside, and of course, each astronaut makes videos while they are on board, you can see some on tiktok by European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti https://www.tiktok.com/@astrosamantha?lang=en.
Maria, I like the idea of showing images, and this is a chance to show different cultures and different parts of the world. There are a range of images of extremes of weather in different parts of the world in this resource from ESA: https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/edu/PR37_Moon_shelter.pdf, which is about making shelters -and has a suggested age of 8 to 12.
Mags, are there particular instructions that you use or do you ask the children to design and make based on what they are trying to measure? The Greenwave project (no longer running, but the resources are still on the sfi page at https://www.sfi.ie/__uuid/47f80047-293e-4b86-9392-e4c66ab141ab/) has some ideas to get children going.