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Hi Suzanne,
I love your suggestion of a “Space Exhibition”, for other classes or parents to visit. As you state, this would give a very meaningful and real life opportunity to the children to explain what they have learned and what skills they have developed. As part of a home-school link I think I might include a similar exhibition or space museum and share with parents/guardians via Seesaw with the children explaining each piece.
Assignment: Consolidate your experiences and action plans in the course by creating a class plan to engage with SPACE WEEK
During Space Week 2026 Oct 4th -10th, I would use the ESERO Ireland and Curious Minds resources to provide a fun, hands-on, inquiry-based learning experience for my infant class. I would begin by reading a space-themed story or use Paxi, to stimulate curiosity and encourage children to ask questions about the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. Together, we would create a class mind map of what we already know and what we would like to discover.
Throughout the week, I would use the Curious Minds/ESERO Framework for Inquiry to plan lessons to allow the children to participate in a variety of practical investigations. We would explore Sun and Shadows by observing our shadows outdoors at different times of the day, making predictions, and creating simple sundials to investigate how shadows change. We would also learn about day and night through role play, using torches and globes to demonstrate how the Earth rotates. I would also use the fruit demonstration shown in Module 2, to help the children appreciate the differences in size of each planet.
The Curious Minds activities would encourage children to investigate, predict, observe, and discuss their findings through the Alien Chemistry activities. I think my class would love the Dancing Raisins and Alien Slime projects. STEM challenges, such as designing and building mice or balloon rockets from recyclable materials, would develop creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Opportunities for integrating art, music, mathematics, and literacy would include creating star pictures, singing space songs, counting planets, and writing simple captions.
At the end of the week, pupils would share their learning through a classroom “Space Museum,” celebrating their investigations and encouraging reflection on what they had discovered which could be shared with other classes or parents/guardians at home via class Seesaw or school Newsletter.ASSIGNMENT: What further steps might you take towards a STEM focused SSE?
The teacheing staff of my school have selected STEM as our curricular area of focus for next school year 2026/27, so STEM focused SSE would provide an excellent opportunity to review current practice, identify strengths, and establish clear priorities for improving STEM teaching and learning across the school. As a teacher, my first step would be to work collaboratively with colleagues to gather evidence on existing STEM provision. This could include, pupil surveys, teacher questionnaires and an audit of STEM resources and digital technologies.
Using this evidence, we could identify areas for development and agree on achieveable targets within the SSE process. For example, we might aim to increase the use of inquiry-based learning through coding activities or improve opportunities for engineering design challenges. We would develop a clear action plan outlining responsibilities, timelines, and success criteria.
In my own classroom, I would begin to embed more hands-on STEM investigations that encourage pupils to ask questions, predict outcomes, test ideas, and reflect on their learning. Examples could include designing bridges from recycled materials, creating weather stations, or using Bee-Bots and Scratch to develop coding skills. I would also make greater use of resources such as ESERO Ireland, Curious Minds, and Primary Science and Maths Curriculum supports to enhance lessons.
At one of our Croke Park meetings, I would encourage collaboration among staff by sharing successful lessons and creating opportunities for team teaching. Progress would be monitored through pupil work, teacher reflection, classroom observation, and feedback from pupils/parents. By engaging the whole school community in the SSE process, STEM learning in our school would become more consistent and enjoyable, helping pupils develop the creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed for the future.Hi Colin,
<p style=”text-align: left;”>I love that you’ve included a variety of options for your students to record their findings, ensuring that the lesson is accessible to all at their level of understanding and allowing them to represent what they’ve learned through their preferred medium. 😀</p>I completely agree Lucy. I feel teachers can often underestimate students’ knowledge and competence in areas of STEM. As a mum of 4, I know my children were always more drawn to books with scientific facts and based on inquiry so its very important to assess prior knowledge and areas of personal interest among our students, allowing them to use their student agency prior and during our lessons as well as in conclusion for assessment purposes. I have often had students who in fact will know more than I had intended to teach, which allows them to share their expertise and area of interest with their peers.
Hi Shauna,
Your lesson is such a good example of how Science and Art integrate so well together and is such a lovely way of consolidating the scientific ideas theorugh the medium of painting. Perhaps using the Don Mc Lean song ‘Starry starry night’ would be a nice track to use as your background music?
Lorraine
Activity Set: Sun & Shadows
Stimulus: PE game: Shadow Tag
After playing “Shadow Tag” I would ask the students to share their observations on the positions of their shadows as they moved around the yard and ask them to support their observations. I love the idea of integrating the topic of Sun & Shadows with HIstory and Maths using the Sundials STEAM activity suggested by the DPSM/ESERO. I found a lovely simplified sundial idea on http://www.science-sparks.com which I think would be a lovely introduction to sundials for infants who have not yet been introduced to reading time. The activity involves safely placing a reasonably sized toy from the classroom outside(they suggested a toy giraffe 🙂 )
Each hour of the day a supervised group of children draw a chalk outline around the giraffe’s shadow. At home time, the whole class are brought out to observe the multiple shadow outlines and asked to explain what has happened. I would also incorporate some form of rhyme/song such as The Shadow Song https://youtu.be/8QYz2jJjz38?si=QE6C7Rk64JgnKHnL.
I found the Too Young to Learn article interesting but not surprising to any teacher who has spent time in an infant class. The article confirms what most of us are acutely aware of which is how crucial the formative years of education are and also how great the capacity is for young children to understand and develop new concepts and vocabulary, so I would ensure to introduce the students to the vocabulary suggested by Scoilnet in the teaching of Light/Shadows eg. Opaque/translucent/transparent/prism/energy/spectrum/lens/refractionHi Niamh,
I love your idea of encorporating digital learning into your activity and the oral presentation of research findings with the class would be a great opportunity for self and peer assessment. Maybe you could give the students an option to add a short Kahoot quiz to the end of their presentation for a fun element and to motivate active listening from their classmates.
Hi,
My name is Lorraine and I am hoping to be teaching in an Infant class next year.
Using STARS as the focus of an inquiry based lesson would foster students’ natural curiosity and encourage scientific thinking. By exploring questions such as “What do stars look like?” Or “Why can we only see stars at night?” they would have opportunities to observe, predict and share ideas. I could use storybooks, songs, sensory play and simple art activities to support their investigations. I would This multi sensory approach to a scientific question would also promote language development, encouraging the children to describe their observations and share their thinking with their classmates. I would initiate open ended questioning and further exploration to the lesson by introducing glow in the dark stars and torches.
FUN FACT FOR INFANTS: Stars are not actually “star shaped” They are giant glowing balls of gas!
Hi Nicole,
I loved your floating and sinking lesson ideas. Younger students seem to absolute love both the experimental elements and sensorial elements of water play. I have observed SEN children using the hands on in water of such a lesson as self regulating.
Hi Laura,
Our theme for our next An Taisce Green Flag will be Global Citizenship and the Marine Environment and you’re idea of promoting reduced use of single use plastics in school is an idea I will certainly aim for in 2025/26. I’m wondering if our Green School Ambassadors might audit the usage of SUP in Sept and again in June and maybe school crested reusable bottles could be a fundraising project for our Young Entrepreneurs Project. Lots to think about!!
Involving children in a beach clean at Rossnowlagh Beach offers wide-ranging benefits that go beyond just tidying the shore. It can impact their personal development, community awareness, and environmental responsibility. By getting students involved in a local beach clean they can learn first-hand about marine pollution and its impact on wildlife. Seeing litter on the sand and in the tide gives them a real, tangible connection to issues like plastic waste and ocean health. It can also promote a sense of responsibility and pride in caring for their local environment. Friends of Rossnowlagh is a local action community group focussed on promoting and protecting Rossnowlagh Beach as an important local amenity in South Donegal. In collaboration with Clean Coasts project, Donegal Co. Council and Flossie and The Beach charity, children could see themselves as active citizens contributing to the well-being of their own community while increasing their feeling of connectedness to their home, heritage, and natural surroundings. As emphasised in Module 5, it is essential that children learn about sustainability, responsible consumption and production from an from an early. Involvement in a monthly Beach Clean Inspires Lifelong Sustainability Values. A hands-on activity like this makes environmental issues personal and memorable and children are more likely to adopt eco-friendly habits at home (recycling, reducing single-use plastics) and advocate for sustainability in the future.
As Saoirse Ronan said in the Bord Bia promo “We haven’t inherited the earth from our parents, we have borrowed it from our children”
Hi
Meal Planning is a great way for students to engage with the Food Pyramid especially for any 6th class students hoping to study Home Economics in post primary where meal prep for differing groups of people is required. It amazes me how aware young children are these days about nutrition and I think highlighting natural sources of protein, as Module 4 has done, will refocus them away from the highly processed protein alternatives they see on supermarket shelves constantly.
Teaching children about the nutrition of seafood is important for several reasons that connect to health, learning, and future lifestyle choices. It can promote healthy eating habits by teaching them that seafood is rich in high-quality protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins (like D and B12), and minerals (iodine, selenium, zinc) encouraging children to develop balanced diets and carry healthy habits into adulthood. Teaching children that seafood strengthens bones, muscles, and the immune system helps them make informed food choices. It develops food literacy—understanding what’s in food, where the food originates and why it matters. Linking seafood nutrition to better learning outcomes can help children see how food directly affects their ability to do well in school – focusing on Omega 3 fatty acids and introducing fun activities/project work titles like “Seafood Superpowers” or the Seafood Eye spy activity. Teaching the Food Pyramid in its entirety is so important in our primary classrooms.
Although, our students are not purchasing their own food, nowadays they have a huge influence on what is bought and cooked in their homes. Each year I cover the Food Pyramid/Pirimid an Bhia with my class, usually focussing on encouraging a more balanced, varied diet “Eat the Rainbow” and Fairtrade products on the shelves of our supermarkets but this year I will definitely use the slides from Module 4 to focus on Seafood and the ASC/MSC/Green Origin labelling with my students.
