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I would choose the Make a Rocket from this module. I will be SET for Juniors and Seniors so we will use the Rocket Mice section. Two years ago we ran Space Week in our school and I prepared the resources for all class levels to engage in Rocket making from the Rocket Mice in the junior end to the Heavy Lifting Rockets activity for 5th and 6th. My own class did the Balloon Rockets using straws and string. We had great fun, having Rocket Races and changes of design after each set of races. The Junior and Senior infant teachers at the time said the children loved making the rockets, and learned a lot from the activity, so I would definitely do it in the coming year. Before making their rockets, I would show the children a clip of a rocket launch to ignite their curiousity. Or the first attempt, I would use the templates, encouraging children to cut carefully and helping those who needed it. I think they would really enjoy the initial experience. I would let each child make their own “Mouse”, but give them one launcher per group. I might give each group the same size launcher at first, but have some variations available. There would be two ways to direct the lesson after this, changing the launcher/ pressure on the launcher, or allowing children to make more bespoke designs, decorating, changing, adding. It would be nice to do both, perhaps over two days. Changing the launcher size (capacity) would lead to great learning about what is propelling the rocket and why these changes would change the outcome. Plenty of scope for questioning and predictions. Allowing the children to redesign or modify their rockets would provide opportunities to discuss design of other flying things, wing and fin design etc. Children who opted to decorate would discover that extra things might lead to extra weight and hamper the performance of their rockets, perhaps prompting further redesign. For older children, this type of consideration is very much linked to real rockets, and the design challenges that engineers face.
One of the most beneficial things for us participating in a whole school examination of rockets in the same week, was that we could invite other classes to some of our testing activities, and children could explain to older or younger students what they were trying to do, and get advice from each other. It certainly upped the ante and excitement, deepening the experience for everyone. It is also a great way of encouraging home school links, with further design/ investigation ideas shared with home.Thanks for sharing suitable book titles in the forum that can be used as stimulus for lessons, it really helps with thematic planning.
There are lovely ideas here Muireann, particularly the many ways you have thought to include all children in the lesson.
For this module I picked the Activity Set: Where do you live? Weather
This is a brilliant set of activities that offer learning outcomes in several curricular areas. Children start by describing their own house. Then, using the worksheet they pick the house that most closely resembles theirs. They can then colour the selected house to match theirs. After this activity children build a 3D version of their house using play dough or clay. Then the models are grouped to make a village. This leads to discussion about what is missing e.g. in the morning who eats toast? Where will we get our bread. A bakery, a shop, what is also be needed to make bread? Wheat- that grows in a field, so we need a wheat field. Milk, comes from a cow, who lives in a field on a farm. The children now make all the missing things they have identified that the village also needs. E.g. school, post office, GAA pitch, playground. This leads to recap discussion on all the things needed.
Animals in the Cold is a lovely lesson. It starts with a discussion about types of weather, and could be linked to your English word wall. Explain that in some places the weather is different. Some places are very dry and sunny. Some get a lot of rain. Some are very cold. Children’s experiences of travel can be brought in here. The teacher can ask for examples of a really cold place, eliciting North and South Pole, asking the children what they know about these places. What animals live there?
This takes you to the bulk section of the lesson- How do animals keep themselves warm?
Children should be able to identify the Polar Bear and the Penguin, they may even have seen penguins in Fota and a Polar Bear in Dublin Zoo. The children will probably offer that the Polar bear has fur to keep him warm. But the teacher should explain about the thick layer of fat. As well as fat, the penguin has a thick layer of feathers. Then you talk about what people do when they feel cold. Now, the teacher might ask if you have ever been wet in cold weather. What happened? Did you get the shivers? Change your clothes? Get a towel? The polar bear and penguin can’t do that, so they have a special layer of grease on them to repel water. You can demonstrate this with a volunteer by putting Vaseline on their hand. Recap the discussion to reinforce the three main ideas- the three ways these animals protect themselves from the cold- thick coat, thick layer of fat, greasy layer. The word adapted might be introduced here.
Now, showing the children the pictures again, we ask if they notice anything else. They will probably notice the prevalence of white. This leads to a chat about camouflage. The penguin’s black back means when they are swimming, they can’t be seen from above. The words predator and prey are not mentioned in the lesson, but there may be a child or children in the class who know the words.
What clothes to Wear and Hot and Cold are also perfect for Junior students. What clothes to wear includes a lovely guided movement activity which I will definitely use. Hot and Cold is also a very active lesson which children would enjoy, and they have opportunities to justify their answers.
The lesson could be extended by using a lesson from another module, where students designed a coat for a teddy to wear- either for insulating or waterproof properties.For this module I have picked the Lot’s and Lot’s of starts activity from Esero as the one I would like to try next year with Juniors and Seniors. The lesson starts with a discussion prompted by putting 5 marbles in a jar, then the number of marbles equal to the number of children in the class, and then filling a container and eventually asking children how many containers of marbles they think they would need to equal the number of stars. This is very aligned with the New Maths Curriculum, even purely as a mathematical activity. The teacher then explains to the children that there are so many stars that we need computers to do the counting for us. The discussion continues with questions e.g. Have you seen stars? When have you seen them? Is the sun a star? etc. Through this discussion children will learn that the sun is a star that like other stars emits light and why we see stars at night time, barring cloud cover, and why we don’t see them in daytime.
The second part of the lesson is an art activity where students make a Starry Sky painting using a splatter technique and options for how you might do the splattering are included in the lesson plan. The fact that students can choose the colours for their stars helps the teacher to highlight that real stars come in many colours.
Next, children discuss their Starry Sky pictures, recapping on what they have learned through this.
The last activity is a maths worksheet with drawings of stars, giving the children the opportunity to practise drawing, counting and reading and writing numerals.
There were many lovely suggestions in the forums about using music, art and poetry to enhance a lesson like this, including using Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting to integrate the learning even further. I like the lesson because it is achievable, doesn’t need complex resources and already has integration and linkage built in, which is very important as teachers have so much to cover, and the questions and activities would guarantee that students are engaged and would add to their understanding in the lesson. As well as the math aspect, students will learn that there are lots of stars, the sun is a star, stars emit light, you only see them at night and why. That is a lot of learning packed into one lesson.This is really well sequenced through your use of questions Irene. I would definitely like to try it, especially as it has an outside option. And yes, as you pointed out there is a lot of learning about light, time, and how the Sun affects our world in one lesson.
I would like to use The Man in the Moon activity combined with other ideas from this module in the coming year.
I would start by engaging children by showing them a white paper circle and asking them if it looks like the real moon, then repeating using a crescent shaped version. I would ask the children if they have ever heard anyone talk about the Man on the Moon? If so, what have they heard and who do they think he is? I would share the WALT for the lesson – We are going to find out what the Moon looks like, and why it is that some people say they can see shapes like people on the Moon.
I would then do the Make your own Moon activity using the listed resources. When finished we would discuss why they made theirs the way they did. A child may use the word ‘sphere’ during discussion, if not I would explain that the Moon is really a sphere, and look at/talk about other spheres we encounter. I would explain that from the Earth we can only see one side of the Moon at a time, which is why it looks flat. I would hope to elicit from children that we sometimes see the Moon as a circle, and sometimes as a crescent. (This may have happened in earlier discussion.) I would demonstrate this using a torch and sphere as described in “The Reflecting Moon “activity from UNAWE Universe in a Box. I might also show a video demonstrating this.
I would then use the Moon Rhyme and the questions with that activity e.g. What does the Moon look like here? I would explain that the darker places make it look like there are figures on the Moon, but really there are no people or creatures on the Moon. The poem could be used to further language curriculum objectives and I think the minute you use the Moon as a starting point you open the door to so many curriculum integration possibilities. Studying Neil Armstrong, moon landings, songs and poems about the Moon. Art work based on the Moon.
Another activity from this module I think I would do following this lesson, is the Lunar Landscape activity from The Universe in a Box resource. This would be a fun, hands on way of exploring the creation of the craters etc. There are easy to find resources for the activity, which is always a plus. I tried it myself but my baking tray was not deep enough. I would use a shoebox or deeper dish instead.It is always so important to give children time to explore objects before you give any other instructions. A lovely, detailed lesson with good questioning.
Class- Juniors and Seniors.
Learning objectives-
Explore magnetism, magnetism as an invisible force, learn that magnets push and pull, predict and check what things might be magnetic.Tell the children you have magic powers. Have a paperclip attached to thread taped to a desk.
Hold (concealed) a strong magnet just above the paperclip so it floats in the air.
You could also put on a glove with the magnet inside and pretend it is your glove.This should lead to some discussion/ questions. Students might want to try the glove. You could give it to them with or without
the magnet. However you proceed, eliciting or showing it, the children find out you used a magnet.
This would generate a discussion into magnets at home and in school. How do magnets work? What would happen if you put two magnets
together?
If you have them, the red and blue clearly marked poles magnets are perfect for exploring pushing and pulling.
Allow the children in pairs or groups plenty of time to explore. What can you do? Let them come to the idea that the magnets will
push each other or pull each other. If that’s not the language they use, mirror theirs and use that language.
Recap – what have we found out? Magic? No, a force. Magnets can push and pull. I have not taught a class at this level for many years,
but I will be next year. Perhaps you can introduce “poles” if they are able/ understand or are using another word to describe this, if
they have noticed the correlation.Referring back to your earlier discussion magnets at home and school- are there some things a magnet will stick to (is attracted to)?
Select whatever items are handy for you in your classroom, magnetic and non- magnetic. Arrange the children in their groups.
You could give doubles of each item to do a simple prediction sheet. A large x and tick on a sheet divided in two. Before they
test the items they make their predictions by placing them on the correct side of the sheet. If you only have one item, you could photograph
the prediction sheets before they start.Extras-
We have a lovely magnetic car set, where you put the magnets in the cars and can investigate the push and pull this way.
Children could design simple fridge magnets. You can buy suitable packs in art & craft shops. You just need some stiff card for their designs.
Children could use the knowledge from the materials tested to make a simple game- how many paperclips can you attach in a line. This
could lead to a further investigation to check which magnets are strongest.A great lesson staple, and for a reason. Children bring their own experience of objects and floating/ sinking from washing and bath time so you are starting from a place of experience to new and more specific learning and vocabulary.
Hello my name is Orla, I will be working as an AET next year attached to Junior and Senior Infants, so felt this course would be an interesting and fun starting place to adjust my mindset for younger students. Fact- our moon in lemon shaped!
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to
connect us with the Night Sky?
I found a nice collection of art on Art UK to use in the classroom.
Artworks- Starfield, Blackthorn by Susan Derges (Painting)
The Warm Room from Newcastle University School of Architecture (Photograph)
If Only This Moment Would Last Simeon Banner (Painting)
The Great Comet of 1843 Charles Piazzt Smyth
A Comet John Everett
Asteroids in Space- Clarke- good trigger for nebulae and you could connect it to a activity using splatter painting.
Space City Anthony Michael Crosse
Moonlight Winslow Homer
https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/stars-art-and-history?dd_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F has Nebra stardisk amongst other art.
https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/night-sky-paintings/ includes Starry Night Over the Rhone by Van Gogh
Poems- Stars by Robert Frost
Summer Stars by Carl Sandburg
Emily Dickinson Lightly stepped a yellow star
Astronomy Trek have links to Shakespeare quotes on astronomy, comets and the moon.
This link has poems written by children around the theme Space https://www.kidspoetryclub.com/space-and-the-sky-select-poetry
These poems written by children have more questions and children wondering about heavenly bodies and might be more accessible to primary aged children e.g.
“Goodnight Sun”
When the sun goes down, where does it go?
Does it go to theater to see a great show?
Or does it take advantage of the quiet at night
for grocery shopping with no one in sight?
Or does it stay home and put up its feet,
after a long day of working, providing us heat?
After thinking this through, the only answer I see
is the sun goes to shine a long way from me.
Val Harris- The Night Sky is available on this link https://dirigibleballoon.org/poem/The-Night-Sky and would be a good way of teaching vocabulary.
If pupils were doing planet projects a nice literacy link would be to write a Haiku poem about each planet.
Music
David Bowie’s Starman was already mentioned but you could also use Major Tom if you were doing any work on rockets/ moon missions/ astronauts/ gravity- “I’m floating in a most peculiar way”. More modern- Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. I think Holst’s The Planets was mentioned already in this module. It is an excellent classical work and it is a suite so there is a piece of music for each planet. I have used it several times over the years, as it ties into so many subjects. The piece “Mars” (God of War) in particular is an amazing piece of music and very dramatic. Suites are an excellent resource in the primary classroom as the individual pieces are shorter than other works, so it’s possible for children to hear the whole piece several times for different treatments.