Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Catherine,
I like your engagement idea of reading the poem ‘I’m building a Rocket’. You have lovely integration ideas in this lesson which also includes eliciting information from previous lessons (planets) and establishing new parts (creating a balloon rocket).
Hands-on classroom themed activities;
Animals in the Cold;
How do aanimals keep warm in the cold?Engage the children in the lesson by asking what kind of weather are we familiar with? Discuss warm, wet, windy, cold, snowy weather etc. Explain to the children that certain weather is more prevalent in some areas i.e. warm hot deserts, the Poles having cold snowy weather. Ask the children do they know of any places or have they seen any films that have a lot of cold snowy weather etc, perhaps Christmas films or films about penguins / polar bears etc. Read ‘The Snowman’ by Raymond Briggs. Show a clip from the film ‘Happy Feet’ that has a lot of penguins.
Ask the children would they like to go to the South Pole or a very very cold place that has a lot of snow. Ask the children would we be able to survive on an iceberg. How would we keep ourselves warm? Add scarves, coats, hats etc. Would adding extra layers of clothing be sufficient? Can animals add extra layers of clothing? Show photos of a penguin and a polar bear. How do they keep warm if they can’t add layers of clothing.
Explain that the animals have a thick layer of fat under their skin to help them keep warm. However, this layer isn’t enough for such cold conditions so polar bears have a thick coat of fur and penguins have a thick coat of feathers. The fur and feathers are covered in a layer of grease to repel water.
To explain how this layer of grease repels water, add some vaseline to the childrens hand and sprinkle some water over it, watch how the water rolls off the greasy layer, this is how it works for the animals too.
Encourage the children to try that at home too (with supervision).Hi Saoirse,
All that use of digital resources sounds great. I particularly liked the way you intend to use Stellarium-web.org for virtual stargazing. Children love chalk and black paper so I’m sure recreating patterns and constellations of stars would go down well with the class.
Activity Set; Space and Aliens
Elicit prior knowledge from the children from previous lessons based on where we live etc. Revise the fact we live on Earth, Earth is a planet. Introduce the fact that there are other planets in space. What do the children like about living on earth. Tell the children that as far as we know there are no people living on the other planets. Get the children to imagine that there are aliens / martians living on another planet, it could be their imaginary friend for a day; what does it look like, what is its name. This alien is going to make a one day special visit to Earth and it is up to each child in the class to decide what would be the best things to show this alien while they are on earth, it could include bringing them to a certain place, showing them some animals, teaching them how we do things etc. The children can draw what they would show or do with this alien.Afterwards, the children will have the opportunity to show their drawings, act out their drawings or tell the children about what they drew if they wish. Have a class discussion on what a busy, fun day the alien would have if they visited Earth for a day.
Tell the children that even if we wanted to visit another planet for a day it wouldn’t have the right conditions for us to survive. Earth is perfect for us as it has an even temperature, we have an abundance of liquid water and we are sufficiently far enough away from the sun; not too hot or too cold.
Hi Eleanor,
All that sounds great. The integration is brilliant. In our school second class learn the tin whistle and one of the first songs they learn is ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ so that would tie in nicely.
Hello there, This is how I would teach the Activity Set; The Sun and Shadows.
I would start by showing photos of daytime to the children and asking them to descibe the photo, focusing in on words such as sun, daytime, daylight, bright etc. I would then ask what activities we do during these hours e.g. have our breakfast, go to school, play, eat lunch etc. I would ask what is the opposite, i.e. nighttime and the moon, look for words such as bedtime, dark, stars etc. Not only would I compare daytime and nightime light, darkness, different activities etc I would also compare heat and temperature etc. Explain how we get heat and light from the sun etc.Pull the blinds down in the classroom, put on a bright light, as the children to face the light, is it bright? Ask the children to turn 180 degrees so they are now facing away from the light, is it still bright or has it gotten darker??
Put the children into pairs, head outside to the yard and ask the children to trace each others shadows using chalk at a given time during the day. Come back again a while later and see has the length of the shadow changed or is it gone completely etc? ehy is that? The earth has moved etc.
For a follow up activity about the sun and shadows, get seeds and two pot plants. Divide the seeds and plant them in two different pot plants. Place one pot plant on the window sill in sunlight and give it water. Place the other pot plant in the press without light and water. Compare the pot plants after two weeks or so; do they look alike now etc? No, the seeds need water and sunlight to grow, hence, the pot plant in the press did not flourish.
Hi Mary,
That sounds like a great idea to pair up the children and bring them outside and use chalk to trace their shadows. Children love using chalk and I’ve no doubt this would enhance your lesson.
Hello there,
I loved all the ideas for inquiry based teaching in this module; the stolen jellies, push and pull, soaking up a spill lesson; they all depicted great teaching and learning based on inquiry based teaching. To teach a floating and sinking lesson, which I have peviously done with first and second class, I would entice and engage the children in more before the lessons with ‘I wonder’ comments and ‘What if’ etc. I would engage the children more through means of prompting, wondering and exploring. We would then investigate different materials for floating and sinking such as big items, small items, all filled items, dense items, long, short, heavy, light items etc. I would get the children to predict what they think would float and sink, would the amount of water have an impact on whether an item floated or sank etc., could an item float at first and then sink or vice versa. After this we would conduct the investigation in groups and interpret the data then. As a whole class then, we would discuss our findings and go on to discuss why arm bands, life jackets, life buoys etc all stay afloat. I would record a personal reflection then myself afterwards on what part of the lesson went well and what could be improved on the next time.Hello there,
My name is Irene and I’v been teaching first and second class with many years now. My fascinating fact is that diamonds can be found throughout the Solar System, Galaxy and beyond.Hi Michelle, thanks for sharing about Brian Cox, I had never heard of him but just enjoyed numerous videos by him.
