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I have chosen the Activity Set about Rockets.
I would begin to engage children’s interest by showing a picture of a rocket. I would also show the video of the Vega rocket launch that was included in this module and discuss this with the class. I would show children videos of how to make some of the different rockets suggested in this module, e.g. the balloon rocket, penny rocket, rocket mouse. After exploring these different types of rocket the children could carry out their own investigation. I would have different materials on each table to create the different rockets. I would allow the children time to explore the variety of materials and work in small groups to plan a design to make a rocket. Then children can make their chosen rocket design. After this they could check to see if their rockets work, investigate how changing forces can affect their rocket and show their creations to the rest of the class.
Hi Sinead, you’ve thought of lots of great ideas to incorporate in school during Space Week. I’m sure the children would really enjoy them. Thanks!
Hi Ciara, I think using the ESA Kids website for group work during Aistear is a great idea. The children would really enjoy it. Thanks for that!
I have chosen to use the Activity Set about Weather.
I would begin by reading a story about weather, eg “Eva and the Perfect Rain” by Tatyana Feeney, or “What Will the Weather Be Like Today?” by Paul Rogers. Then we would discuss different kinds of weather. I would pick a “Weather Watcher” who will look out the window with binoculars and update the class weather chart daily. They will also pick suitable clothes for our class teddy display, e.g. wellies and raincoat for a rainy day, etc.
We would discuss the seasons. I would put a box of different clothes in the middle of the room and have the children pick out suitable clothes for Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Discuss why we need different types of clothes for different seasons, i.e. the weather changes and may be hot or cold, wet or dry.
I would ask “What are our coats made from?”. Next I would have children take turns to pick a material from a “Feely Bag” of various materials and describe what it feels like. Then ask children which material could be best suited to a coat for winter / summer.
They would then design a coat for a teddy. I would remind them to consider what season it will be for, what the weather will be like, what material they will use.This website sounds great Sinead. I hadn’t heard of it before. It seems to have many great experiments for children. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Eleanor, there are some lovely lesson ideas here. You’ve thought of lots of ways to integrate the theme across so many subjects. Thanks!
I would use the Activity Set : Stars.
I would start by engaging the children’s interest with the activity “How many stars are there?”. I would show the children five marbles and ask who thinks there are more stars than these five marbles. I would repeat this for the number of children in the class. Then I would fill a third container to the top with marbles and ask the question again. I would use questioning to gauge children’s prior knowledge of stars, eg What do stars look like?, When do you see stars?, Do stars give light?, Why do they look so small?. Through this discussion children would learn that there are lots of stars in the universe.
I would then look at drawings of constellations and ask children what they can see and if they recognise any of them. We could listen to some constellation stories to show children how different cultures might see different images in the constellations.
Then I would have them design and make a star lantern. They could choose whether to copy a constellation or create their own constellation.I would choose the activity set about the Sun and Shadows.
I would begin by asking questions to gauge children’s prior knowledge and understanding about the Sun, “What do you wonder about the Sun?”, “What do you think it’s made of?” etc. I would read a book about the Sun, such as “The Sun is my Favourite Star” by Frank Asch.
I really liked the Sun’s Energy activity. I would start with a discussion about the sun’s light and its benefits, introduce the idea of ultraviolet light and how it can cause sunburn so we need to protect ourselves. I think the role-play of a day out at the beach etc would really engage the children and would get them brainstorming ways to protect themselves from ultraviolet light, eg wear hats, sunglasses, sunscreen. Making UV bead bracelets would also reinforce their learning about UV light as children can see the beads change from white when indoors, to rainbow colours when outside.
I would finish the lesson by discussing what we now know about the Sun to reinforce their learning.My name is Laura and I will be teaching 1st class in September. My favourite space fact is that space is completely silent.
A lesson that I have done before is to make bird feeders with my class. I started by posing the problem – “It is Winter and birds find it difficult to find food to survive”. We discussed what we could do to help and suggested making bird feeders. I had a variety of materials ready that children could explore and use when making the feeders. They worked in groups and decided on their plan. Some groups used an empty plastic bottle filled with seeds and made little holes for birds to feed from. Other groups used an empty toilet-roll tube, covered it with peanut butter and rolled it in seeds. They then threaded a string through this to hang it from a branch. We then hung them outside and eagerly waited for the birds to eat the seeds. We made predictions about the types of birds that we might see and were excited to see if our predictions were right or not. We also discussed which feeder we thought worked best and decided the plastic bottles lasted longer and didn’t crumble in the rain.
A lesson that I have done before is to make bird feeders with my class. I started by posing the problem – “It is Winter and birds find it difficult to find food to survive”. We discussed what we could do to help and suggested making bird feeders. I had a variety of materials ready that children could explore and use when making the feeders. They worked in groups and decided on their plan. Some groups used an empty plastic bottle filled with seeds and made little holes for birds to feed from. Other groups used an empty toilet-roll tube, covered it with peanut butter and rolled it in seeds. They then threaded a string through this to hang it from a branch. We then hung them outside and eagerly waited for the birds to eat the seeds. We made predictions about the types of birds that we might see and were excited to see if our predictions were right or not. We also discussed which feeder we thought worked best and decided the plastic bottles lasted longer and didn’t crumble in the rain.
