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I think the STEM lesson Dancing Raisins would be really fun and engaging to do. It is simple but it encourages curiosity and questioning which are great skills to introduce to infants. It also promotes inquiry based learning. I would start the lesson by asking the children what they think would happen if I put the raisins in the sparkling water. The children could make predictions here to start their exploration.
When the children observe the raisins moving up and down I would use talk and discussion to ask why the raisins are moving and what is making them rise? I would use discussion to help them understand the gas bubbles attach to the raisins to make them rise and that when the bubbles disappear the raisins sink.
I think this lesson promotes STEM in different areas. The exploring gases and movement through observing, recording, predicting, etc. It could also be further explored by using other objects. We could link it with Maths by counting how often the raisins dance.
Overall I think the lesson promotes creativity and problem solving. It relates to the new curriculum framework as it places the child at the centre of the learning.
Hi Hannah, I think this lesson is great and I love the use of everyday objects as it is something the children could explore again at home themselves if they wanted to reinforce their learning. The use of the cartoons is such an engaging way to gather their interest at the start of the lesson and it is so important to get their previous knowledge. I think the children would have so much fun testing their rockets. They could also record their rocket testing and send the video home and discuss their learning with their parents to involve parents in their children’s learning.
Lesson “Animals in the Cold” for infants.
WALT: How animals stay warm in cold places?
I would use photos as a stimulus to start the lesson. We could use talk and discussion to explore photos of polar bears and penguins. We could create a class chart exploring questions that we wonder about the animals and how they stay warm eg. why do polar bears have fur?
We could then use our investigation skills and do the Blubber experiment. The children could put one finger in vaseline and compare how it feels in cold water to a finger that has no vaseline. I think then we would have a discussion on how the thick layer of fat helps keep animals warm inside their bodies.
The next activity then which I think the children will enjoy would be to get the children to create their own animal that could survive in cold weather. They could talk about using feathers, fur, fat, etc.
I think then this lesson lends itself to exploring the artic in aistear or our structured play time. We could do loads of different small world activities with the artic animals, write reports on penguins, junk art to create the animals, sensory play with ice.
I think the hands on learning experience would be great and really enjoyable. It links to the new Primary Curriculum as it promotes inquiry learning through questions, investigation experiments and communicating. I think the design an animal activity allows children to use critical thinking STEM skills.
Hi Louise, this is a really engaging activity. I like the use of the stimulus question and how they think about different sources of heat. I think their responses would be great. The hands on investigation is great because it gives children the chance to explore in an active way instead of just being told about it all. I think it could be a good idea to ask the children why the think the dark materials might feel warmer than the light materials. It all links so well with inquiry in the curriculum framework.
For this lesson I have chosen to focus on aliens as they would grab the attention of the children in my class. I would begin by reading the Marrog poem to the class. This is a wonderful hook to garner the attention of the children as it is full of descriptive language and lends itself very well to the description of a potential alien. We would focus on the language used to help us to design and pan our own creative aliens. This would lead to a discussion on what an alien might look like, what adaptions it might need to live on a different planet with different conditions. Would our alien need to adapt to sands blowing, no oxygen or extreme temperatures?
The main body of the activity centres on using modelling clay and oddments such as pipe cleaners, pom poms, eyes and sticks to create our individual aliens. The children would then accompany their creation with a short descriptive writing piece that would describe their alien to their peers.
Discussion at the end of the activity would include a description of the alien and how it survives on it’s home planet.
I think that this is a very good idea. I think for the brainstorming session using the pictures like you suggested Elaine would help the reluctant children to contribute something to the class discussion on what an alien might look like.
I would begin by reading the poem “The Spinning Earth” by Ailleen Fisher as a hook to focus attention on the Earth and that we will be learning a little about the Earth today. Then, I would show the children a picture of the Earth with a penguin on the bottom and a polar bear on the top. “I wonder why the penguin doesn’t fall off the Earth?” Explain that there is no conventional top or bottom of the Earth.
Expand – Place a person in Ireland and a person in Australia. Will the person in Australia fall off the Earth?
Activity: using a globe and blu-tack, allow the children to stick their characters on different countries and slowly rotate the Earth on it’s axis. emphasise that these people will not fall off the Earth because there is no top or bottom.
Activity: Explain to the children that we are now going to show this through artwork. Distribute the Earth mosaic sheets and allow the children to design their mosaics with an “above and below” ground section; above with trees and houses and below with rocks and soil. When completed, arrange them into a circle so they resemble the Earth’s outline.
Questioning: Allow the children to decide which way is up and which is down. It should be clear that there is no up or down from any perspective. In my classroom, this visual demonstration would enhance the concept of Earth having no up or down section.
This is a very good lesson as it has lots of oral language development opportunities and questions involved particularly around a difficult concept such as a shadow.
Inquiry Based Lesson: Heat: First Class
Prompt: Teddy beside a warm water bottle. “Poor teddy is cold because his warm water bottle loses heat too quickly and gets cold. I wonder if we could we help him to stay warmer for longer?” Clarify meaning of cold, hot and warm and cool. Encourage and record predictions.
Investigation:
Which materials could we wrap the bottle in to keep it warm for longest?
- Warm water bottles or jars
- Bubble wrap
- Cotton fabric
- Tin foil
- Wool
- Paper towel
- Stopwatch
- Simple recording sheet
Allow the children to handle and explore the materials before making a prediction. Groups choose one material and questioning demonstrates why the group chooses a particular material.
Experiment: Children choose a material to wrap the warm bottle. Check temperature by feel for younger classes, or by thermometer for differentiated work for older classes. Check after 5/10/15 minutes.
Record, reflect and question responses. Why did this keep it warm for longest?
Hi my name is Killian and I will be moving into SET next year. My favourite space fact is that Pluto was named after the Roman god of invisibility because it is smaller and harder to see than the other planets!
I really like the idea of collecting local stories and asking family members for information to give a local feel to lessons.
There is a wide array of songs/poems and art that can be used to connect us as learners to the nights sky and they are as follows.
Poems:
– The Moon Was But a Chin of Gold – Emily Dickinson
– Celebrate – Anna Akhmatova
– The Lamplighter – Robert Louis Stevenson (good to open a discussion on artificial light)
– Alone – James Joyce
– Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night – Dylan Thomas
Songs:
Fireflies – Owl City
Talking to the Moon – Bruno Mars
Sky Full of Stars – Coldplay
Art:
Starry Night – Van Gogh
Flight into Egypt – Adam Elsheimer
Fishermen at Sea – JMW Turner
Nocturne in Black and Gold – James Whistler
Starty Night Over the Rhone – Van Gogh
I work in an urban set school in a busy town. I see from our diversity plans that we naturally care for and are mindful of animals that are active during the day. We often look at caring for animals that are active during the school day; such as many insects and some birds. However, we often neglect to set up areas for nocturnal animals.
We would begin by creating an audit of nocturnal animals that are local to our school, such as bats and owls, specifically adding them to our biodiversity plan. We could then promote awareness of these animals in our school through posters and surveys.
We would then focus our biodiversity plan to caring for these animals in a nocturnal friendly environment. We could create safe spaces in darkness, such as corners away from street lights, to add bird boxes and safe areas.