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I would use the sun activity in my class. Using the ideas of shadows. Going outside and tracing our shadows on the tarmac. We could also create shadow art in class.
Hi Louise, I really like your idea of integrating this lesson with maths shapes. This would be an excellent way to give meaning to 3D and 2D shapes to children. Thank you for sharing!
The children in my class are already fascinated with rockets as the 5th class in my school created a project on them this year and made rockets. They invited my junior infant class to see the their creations and my class were very impressed.
I would introduce the lesson through meaningful context such as stories like Oliver Jeffer’s ‘The Way Back Home’ and ‘Aliens in underpants save the world’. Also showing the children the video of the Vega launch. My class would enjoy the Marvin and Milo cartoons also. We would discuss as a class about rockets, their use and what they know and would like to know about them. Then I would provide the children with a range of materials to create their own rocket. I would invite the 5th class to buddy up with my class and help them with this task. Then they can help with each child’s investigation. Asking them to predict how far their rocket will travel and measuring the distance during the investigation.Hi Louise, I really like the idea of using google earth as a tool here. Often at infant age that don’t have the concept of the world being such a large place and that people live in different places etc/ I will steal this idea in my class, thank you for sharing!!
The activity I would like to use in my junior infants class. Is ‘Hot and Cold’ use the sun. This lesson can provide lots of opportunity for integration and cross -curricular link, looking at weather , the different seasons/months and the weather associated, melting and freezing in science and so on.
I would introduce this lesson with a meaningful stimulus for the children, using the song ‘In Summer’ from Frozen which is sung by Olaf the snowman. This could begin the discussion about melting and why is he melting? what is creating the heat?Then we could go outside and explore areas that are very hot and areas that feel cooler, why are they cooler? What is creating the shade? Then we could go on on to carry out the experiment with the ice cubes shown in the lesson plan. Placing one in the shade and one in the sun. Asking the children to predict what will happen and then recording their results. Discuss about the heat at different times of the year, how do we keep warm when the sun is not giving us enough heat or the clouds and rain are blocking it?
AN extension activity for art/sensory art would be to do ice cub painting outdoors. Observe what happens the ice cubes in our hands? Why are they melting and so on.
That is an excellent book suggestion ‘You can’t eat a princess@ thank you for sharing. I love the other suggestion below also ‘Aliens stole my underpants’ the children in my class love this. Storybooks are such a powerful way to engage children and also to take any nerves away from the topic of aliens!!!
I really loved looking at the universe in a book booklet. I think my children would enjoy the activities from this very much. I actually found the topics myself very interesting and engaging.
The activity set I would look at here is stars and in particular looking at constellations. Lesson 5.4 Constellation shapes. I would introduce at first using a stimulus that is meaningful to the children , using the nursery rhyme twinkle twinkle with movement and also reading one of the books we enjoy from our library, ‘How to catch a star’ by Oliver Jeffers.
I would then use one of the videos linked to engage the children in this topic, questioning throughout. After learning the different facts about constellation facts the children can create constellation shapes using the stars, plastic straws of different lengths and playdough. Get the children to draw a constellation from night sky at home. Can they see any shapes in the constellations? An extension activity in art after this would be to make a star lantern to project their own constellations on the wall.
Hi Doireann, great lesson idea and could be incorporated with other similar lessons in this them. I love using Bear’s shadow book in my class my children love it!
Activity Set: The sun and the shadows
I have chosen this set as every day in my junior classroom we look at the weather and our weather chart. We talk about if it is sunny or cloudy or rainy. Looking at the sun with junior infants encompasses many different curricular links.
The Activity I would like to do with the children is on p. 14 of the Sun Booklet by Dr. Maeve Liston at MIC. It is called the day and night sky. The children could look at pictures in class and spot the differences, what do they notice, can they see shadows and how are shadows created? As a part of their homework I would get the children to go outside in the night sky with an adult and observe what they can see and not see. What gives us light during the night time and during the day time? This also links to the topic of time in Maths. I would ask the children to describe (literacy-oral language) what they saw use using colour, shape (linking to maths), texture and then draw what they see in the day and the night sky. What gives us heat during the day time? Why do we need this? I would show the children parts of the world that do not get as much day light as us and why this is.
I would further extend this topic to an art lesson where the children could use a variety of materials to make a collage of the day and night sky.
Great lesson idea! I love the use of the oreos very clever and engaging. This would be a big hit with my kids in school. They are always fascinated with the moon and the addition of oreos would make them even more excited! I like your ideas regarding assessment at the end of the lesson also!
Helen, I must look at Chris with my class I think they would really enjoy his videos. Love the fun fact about the tear!!
An inquiry lesson I have enjoyed doing with my junior infants class is a science experiment based on floating/sinking. This was something the children really enjoyed doing during the very hot weather before the end of term. We were also learning about water safety at the time. The children chose the objects they wanted to use in their small groups. I was fortunate at the time to have TY students there to support this experiment. The children each had to make their prediction on each object before carrying out the experiment. We ensured each dish had the same amount of water, revising our capacity learning in Maths. The children were given the chance to share their thoughts at the end!
Hello, my name is Kate-Anne Fenton. I currently teach junior infants. I am excited to learn about space, the recent moon mission really sparked my interest further and we had fun in our infants class keeping uo to date with this excursion!
Climate change is effecting our local area causing more extreme weather conditions. Coastal towns like Bantry and Skibbereen in West Cork have seen increased flooding due to this. Local businesses and homes are damaged because of this. On the opposite end of the spectrum we are experiencing higher temperatures than before and the waters are becoming warming impacting marine life and the plants and animals are under stress due to the changing temperatures and rain patterns. It is having an impact on agriculture as well.
Ways to engage pupils in this topic includes project work exploring how climate is impacting our local coastline and sea levels as well as the local agricultural industry. Talk to local fishermen and farmers. Investigate outdoors as a class tracking temperature and rainfall. Have a climate committee in school and a climate action week.
Actions that schools and students can take to slow down climate change include, reduce resuse and recycle. Planting more trees and creating more biodeiversity. Reduce energy usage in school turning off lights and devices and having cycle or walk to school days where possible.
The modules learnt about development education in this course would support my schools SSE plan under the following areas, Wellbeing – empathy, global citizenship, and inclusivity. Student Voice – empowering pupils to speak out on important global issues. Teaching and Learning – encouraging cross-curricular learning. Inclusion –Respecting diversity and understanding cultural differences