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Hi Emma – lovely lesson and I like your idea of linking your learning to things like sports. Just to note, the balloon is moving as you mention because the the air rushing out from it pushes it forwards. This is not why an arrow flies when doing archery – in this case pulling back the string of the bow stores potential energy and when you let go this is converted into kinetic energy that propels the arrow forwards.
Hi Emma – great to hear you plan on starting doing reflections in your class. For your mighty materials lesson, what would your trigger be to catch the children’s attention?
The ice cube activity is great because it is just so simple to do. I like how you mention linking it to seasonal weather patterns. You could do it twice throughout the year, in winter and summer for example, and record how long it takes to melt each time to compare the seasons.
Lovely lesson Denis! I love the idea of getting children to track and document the moon phases. It works so well as you mention because the Moon changes very quickly, so it’s easy for children to figure out the pattern themselves.
Nice lesson Andrea – the balloon rocket experiment is so nice for a classroom setting, especially infants, because it is much more controlled than other rocket types due to the string. You won’t have children launching rockets into others and causing extra chaos!
Hi Lianna – rockets can be such a a great topic for engaging children. For an inquiry based lesson however, be careful with giving them a task that can have a wide range of answers or is open ended. You want to focus on a clear question, followed by a hands on investigation that allows them to learn and draw conclusions by themselves.
Lovely lesson – just to note it’s not the handle of the plough that points to the North Star, it is the front of the plough. Following the curve/arc of the handle actually points you to the bright star Arcturus.
Kate, I like where you mention getting the children to draw the moon over a period of time. You could have them draw it every day (if possible – we can’t always see the Moon every day if it is cloudy, rises after the children go to sleep, or is blocked by the Sun) for a full Moon cycle and then make your own Moon calendars for the school year based on the observations they did.
Interesting lesson Eve, this seems like a really nice balance of science and art. Did the children understand from the investigation that the salt was absorbing the water? For an inquiry lesson it’s important that the children feel like they can learn independently.
This is a great topic for an inquiry lesson Andrea, because it is so easy to investigate moon phases with simple tools as you desrcibe. Very nice work!
I love how simple a lesson on the sun and shadows can be – it’s as simple as going outside or using a torch in a dark classroom. I’m sure the children will find this very engaging!
Aliens are such a great stimulus for creativity and work well as a topic to integrate into so many subjects such as english and art. I think it is important however to try keep it a little scientific, so it might be nice to discuss what type of planet their aliens would be from or something similar. For example if they describe a furry alien, they might be from an icy/cold planet, or the alien could look like a fish and be from a planet entirely covered in water.
This sounds like a great lesson Deirdre – it’s such a nice touch that each child gets their own sunflower to take care of personally and eventually bring home.
I like how you discuss both waterproof materials as well as what materials might be good for absorption. Mixing these together in a lesson is very nice!