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Elsbeth this is a great lesson, especially linking it to a story they know well. I would suggest asking them ‘Are fingerprints unique?’ so they can investigate for themselves and compare all of their own fingerprints to come up with a conclusion.
Hi Elspeth – I love that fact too. There’s also a radio telescope on the grounds of the castle called LOFAR that is connected with others across many European countries to create a telescope essentially the size of Europe! I did an internship there 6 years ago and I got to walk the beautiful grounds every day and see the Leaviathan.
Sean I really like your comment about how enquiry based learning doesn’t need to be complicated. Stimulating children’s minds with questions and investigation is important for helping them develop their critical thinking skills.
Hi Rachel- using the outdoors as a classroom is always great fun for children and a change to the classroom setting. To expand on your shadow activity with the chalk, you could record the time of day alongside your shadow outlines and make your own human sundial!
Hi Siobhan, I love the mosaic activity. Fine motor skills are so important to teach from an early age, and this is also a great activity to have a discussion during about Earth and it’s features.
Hi Rebecca – I love how the stations approach allows you to explore the topic through various learning forms.
Hi everyone – I’m Jane, also from BCO in Cork. I’ll be helping Frances out with the facilitating of this course and I can’t wait to read through all of your lesson plans and insights!
Susanne – I love your point about how marble runs can be adapted easily for various ages and skill levels! When we do it with children at Blackrock Castle they naturally want to try more complex structures once they get comfortable with a simple set up.
Maria – This is a very comprehensive list of resources you have put together, well done. How would you use any of these during a lesson?
Hi Maria, that’s a very nice lesson. Using balls and a light to explain the moon phases is extremely engaging for children and teaches them about moon phases in a way that is easy to understand. I recommended buying cheap foam balls and pushing some sticks into them so that they are easier to hold and see. What story/video would you show them?
Hi Sinead – using a globe to explain up/down is really effective and the concept really does confuse a lot of people.
Linda- Using a video prompt at the start like Neil Armstrongs moonwalk can be a really great way to get children excited and immersed in the topic! I like how you bring the topic across multiple subjects
Hi Grace, this is a very nice lesson for inquiry. It’s effective to act confused and try to resist the urge to tell the children which is waterproof or not!
Emma – the fingerprint activity can be a great starting point for inquiry learning. The mystery element helps to keep children engaged and lead to lots of lovely questioning and discussion