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I choose the activity set on Rockets. This year, I engaged the children in my class in creating and launching our own rockets.
To begin the lesson, we recalled what we had learned about Neil Armstrong and his mission to the moon in our History lesson. I explained to the children that in todays lesson we would be creating our very own rocket. I re-showed the children the video of Neil Armstrongs rocket launching into space. We discussed the video and asked and answered questions about the video. I then engaged the children in creating their own rockets using paper. The children coloured their rockets, cut them out and stuck the two sides of the rockets together. The children then experimented using a straw to launch their rocket across the classroom. We realised that the sticking of the two sides of the rocket was very important when launching the rockets across the classroom and many of the rockets had to be re-stuck before the children could get them to launch. This step was a bit tricky for infants. If I was to do this lesson again, I would definitely try out the rocket mice idea using a bottle. I think this idea is more suited for infants. After launching the rockets in the classroom, we discussed the force needed to make the rocket move and we explored ways to make our rocket go further.
Hi Hilary, this looks so fun. I look forward to incorporating the ideas in your photo into my Aistear area. Thanks for sharing.
I choose the hands-on classroom themed activities for the activity set on where do you live?
To begin the lesson, I would show the children pictures of a variety of different homes and engage them in discussion about how the houses are different. I would be sure to incorporate the new vocabulary throughout this discussion. I would then ask the children to share what their houses look like. I would ask them how their houses are similar or different from the pictures of the houses. I would then engage the children in creating their homes using clay. I would then engage the children in painting their clay to look like their house.
As an extension activity, I would discuss with the children the facilities in the local area. I would also bring the children on a walk around the local area and would engage the children in creating the facilities in our local area in small.
Hi Clodagh, I love your idea of bringing their alien to life. The children would love absolutely that. I will definitely be incorporating that idea into my alien lesson next time. Thanks for sharing.
I choose the activity set on space and aliens. This year I engaged my class in listening to the poem “The Marrog” and creating their version of the alien, the Marrog.
To begin, I engaged the children in listening to the poem “The Marrog”. I engaged the children in asking and answering questions about the Marrog, who is he? where did he come from? what would you do if an alien came to our classroom?. I then engaged the children in discussion about the features of the Marrog. We brainstormed the Marrogs features eg. three eyes, blue nose, teeth half yellow and half red etc. We listened to the poem a few times to ensure we had as many features as possible brainstormed. The children then got into creating their version of the Marrog. The children enjoyed how the all of their creations of the Marrog looked different.
The extension lesson, I engaged the children in coming up with their very own alien. The children had the most wonderful ideas for their aliens. They also came up with a name and a planet to call home for their alien.
Hi Catherine, I love your wonder wall idea. Sounds like a great way to document the children’s questions so that they aren’t forgotten. Thanks for sharing.
I choose the activity set on the planets. This year I engaged my class in creating the solar system using paper mache to form each of the planets.
To begin the lesson, I engaged the children in looking at and predicting what the picture book “Solar system” is about. I then read the book, asked and answered questions about the book. I explained to the children that our focus for this lesson was the planets. I engaged the children in discussing each the planets and their features as a whole class. I then divided the class into small groups and allowed them to choose a planet. Each group chose a different planet. I then encouraged the children to brainstorm the colours and sizes of their planet and discuss how they were going to create their planet. We created the planets in accordance to their sizes in paper mache. We completed the paper mache and allowed them to dry over the weekend. We then recalled our brainstorms and decorated the planets using paint and a variety of other material to create the features of the planets. Once all of the planets were complete, we hung them up in order on the roof in our classroom.
Hi, my name is Leanne and I will be teaching multiple classes this year as a Supply panel teacher.
My favourite fact about space is that a day on Mercury lasts longer than its year! Mercury moves around the sun faster than any other planet – making its year the equivalent of 88 Earth days. While a day on Mercury – the interval between one sunrise and the next – lasts 176 Earth days!
An inquiry-based activity that I taught this year involved the children in exploring forces. Strand: Energy and Forces. Strand unit: Forces. Learning outcomes: Explore, through informal activities with toys, forces such as pushing and pulling. For the lesson, we discussed forces and the effects they had on objects. The children then got involved with using forces to move toy cars. We drew a line on the tables and the children took turns to explore the amount of force needed to help our toy cars reach the line. The children loved to experiment with different ways of pushing and pulling the cars to get them to move just enough to reach the line and not fall off the other side of the table.
I look forward to learning more about space throughout this course.
