Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Very nice David – I love the simple activities you have come up with like matching clothes to weather and I think its a great idea to integrate with Irish. Wonderful!
This seems like a really well rounded week of Space Week activities Criona. I like how you incorporate the topic into other areas of learning like art and writing. What digital tools would you use to document learning?
I like how hands on this lesson is. Experimenting with balloon size and angle are great for getting children thinking and I find that they are always very determined to get their rocket to go as far as possible!
The outside shadow experiment is so fun! If you have a big enough area you could use your shadow measurements and chalk to make a simple sundial.
Hi Ciara, that sounds like a lovely lesson. This is a great topic for children and I really like how you talk about tracking the weather, that’s a lovely simple experiment for the children and great for showing the change in weather throughout the seasons if you can consistently track it throughout the school year.
Hi Ciara, a fun thing to do when looking at Mars is show the kids a mix of images from Earth deserts alongside Mars images, and have them guess where the image was taken. Certain areas of Earth do share a lot of the same features Mars has and it’s quite nice to show them how the planets are so different to Earth, but still be somewhat familiar to us.
Good work Ciara, allowing the children to make their own guesses and predictions before giving any guidance is so important for developing their critical thinking.
Making your own floating device is also a great way for them to test out what they’ve learned in a creative, hands on way.
Great lesson Caroline, I like your use of the KWL chart and giving them the opportunity to try out making different kinds of rockets is very nice. Rocket mice are especially very simple but so fun.
Hi Caitlin – this would be a nice lesson for 5th class to practice making simple circuits. You could link it to light pollution by creating a simple circuit with a light and discussing/creating ways of focusing that light downwards with simple covers on the top of the light source.
This is a lovely lesson Amanda! I checked out the story you mentioned – I hadn’t seen it before but it’s got a great amount of detail on the planets. There’s also a great ESA video with their kids mascot Paxi about the Solar System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mibxJwpennU&t=9s
Hi Aine – Stellarium is a really great tool, we use it all the time at Blackrock Castle Observatory. Another one that’s great for visualising the solar system as a whole is NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System: https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/home?embed=true
This is a really great lesson Sharon. I really like how you get them to think of some objects that may/may not float themselves first before you show them options. Great idea to do this outside in the sunshine as well, no need to worry about getting a little wet!
Hi Lisa, welcome to the course!
That’s a lovely lesson. You could consider using tactile materials like playdough, foil, glitter etc to build their planets which is great for fine motor skills and inclusive learning.
Hi Aisling, lovely lesson incorporating art and science. I’m curious what simulator you would use to explore the life cycle of a star?
The star lantern is a very nice activity to do!
Hi Aine, shadow activities are really great. You can use this lesson as an opportunity to discuss day and night and why that happens. The torch can represent the sun, and shining the torch on a ball and viewing the ball from different perspectives in a dark room is a simple way of demonstrating phases of the Moon or day/night on Earth.