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I decided to describe how I would plan and conduct a lesson on map making in the infant classroom for this assignment. As a precursor to the lesson on map making I would introduce the idea of using a map from two stories that are often used in the infant classroom. These are ‘What the ladybird heard’ which has a map of the farm and the story Spinderella in which the spider gives a birds eye view of a classroom, both of these books are written by Julia Donaldson. The heritage in schools 3D map making video could then be used before taking a walk around the school and to the local park. We could then use Google maps to identify the different areas we will visit before starting our walk or to decide the route we will take. It would also be useful to show the birds eye view concept with children as they view our school from above. The children could then gather materials on their walk to make a 3D map version of their walk on returning to the school garden. It would be lovely for the children to look at each others maps and have explanations by each small group.
Hi Yvonne,
I really like the idea of using both the natural material map and also the LEGO version of the map. With some children that are exceptionally creative with LEGO in my class it would be a really interesting idea. It would also be lovely to make a giant map using other classroom materials such as duplo, straws and pegs etc. I think the children would sometimes be even better than us when it comes to being creative with designs and the resources they have to hand.
I read the article by Dr. Maeve Liston for this module task. I thought it was a very interesting read and really made me think about activities that I have labelled as STEM in the past when teaching. These activities, even though I had the best intentions of completing a STEM lesson, were probably better labelled as Technology or Science lessons. I think the description she used to describe a STEM activity is something I will be much more aware of and I will definitely try to integrate more engineering into my lessons. As stated in the article ‘Engineering is the glue that integrates science, mathematics and technology and forces them towards a workable solution’ and gives the great example of how a pen is technology showing that technology doesn’t always have to mean involving online work or an iPad. I think this article would be a great intro for staff to read before the new curriculum is used in our schools.
Hi Katie,
I totally agree, inquiry based learning is so important and it definitely does help encourage life long understanding and love of science. The resources on the curious minds website are fantastic. I am looking forward to trying the rainbow spinner activity in my classroom.There are a wealth of different songs/poems and some art pieces that could be incorporated into lessons to utilise integration of the subjects. As a school we teach the children about space and the nights sky thematically in November which is a great way to get all children interested in space and chatting about it in the yard etc. It would be great to have a working list of artistic pieces we can incorporate into lessons. Here are some I can think of.
Songs or poems – Twinkle, twinkle little star, fly me to the moon, star light star bright, I see the light, when you wish upon a star, all the story-bots space themed songs, Zoom, zoom, zoom, were going to the moon etc.
Art work – Starry, starry night and the Starry night by Vincent Van Gogh.Although it is not a painting or star related specific song as such there is a beautiful video created by three astronauts from the international space station featuring the song ‘The sound of Silence’ that the children in my class have been obsessed with every year I show it. It features images and videos taken from the ISS and its just beautiful. We use it as inspiration every year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgBKFEeXfww
Hi Catriona,
These are all great ideas. I actually found it quite hard to think of artwork that might have space or stars as a main feature but that’s a great idea to include aboriginal artwork and would be a really nice relaxing activity to create their own artwork inspired by these gorgeous pieces. Also great idea linking it into the nativity, we generally use November to teach about space in school so that would be the perfect time to link into the next months theme of Christmas.Exploring the biodiversity of the local area would be a lovely activity to do with the pupils in my infant class. Although the school is in a very built up urban area, we are very lucky to have a wonderful park within a five minute walking distance from the school that we regularly use for nature walks and play time. The children could spend some time learning about the types of animals that may be found in the local areas from minibeasts to foxes and squirrels in the classroom before venturing out to investigate the local environment with a visual checklist. A nice home school link could be made by asking the pupils to bring their visual checklist home and investigate what minibeasts or nocturnal animals they might they find at night at home with their parents. When this is completed we could discuss the impact of light pollution on these animals seen linking back to the possible previous lesson discussed in module 3.
Hi Catriona,
That is so lovely that you have so much access to nature in your city based school. I would love to try establish this in my own school. We have a small very underused garden but I think adding some flowers, a bug hotel and some bird feeders to this spot might be a nice start. It would make a great spot to do a minibeast hunt. Interviewing the caretaker is a great idea and something I think the children and the caretaker would probably really enjoy! This is something I think the children in my school would love to try too.
Hi Laura,
I think you are totally right. Children have totally become accustomed to light pollution because it has always been a part of their life. That’s such a lovely idea to compare what the children see in the nights sky with what children might see in a different part of the country such as near a dark sky area. The stellarium website would also be great to look at to see what they actually should be able to see in the night sky without light pollution.
As an infant and special education teacher, I think investigating light pollution in the local area and exploring this with the pupils would be an interesting activity to complete. The school I teach in is in a very built-up urban area. In the local area there are a large number of high-rise apartments that are regularly lit up in the afternoon and evening. There is also a brightly lit train station and a GAA and soccer pitch that regularly uses floodlights close by. Even our own school has some very bright security lights that are on for a large portion of the evening in winter. Using a basic map of the local area and pictures of the area at night, a lesson could be conducted as to how the light pollution impacts the local community and wildlife. We could discuss how we might try to reduce light pollution as a class and the small changes we could make such as turning off lights in our own houses or apartments when not un use, setting our school security lights on timers etc.
Hi Irene,
This sounds like such a lovely idea. I think that the idea that the moon is only visible at night is a misconception that many children have so showing the children photographs of the moon visible during the day is a really great starting point. I think the children will love being moon detectives and making recordings and sketches will really help develop the skills working as scientists. Having an activity like this throughout the year as you planned would be so lovely and I’ll be sure to take note of the dates you have suggested to do something similar with my class. Thanks for the idea!An activity that would work well in my infant and special education class would be teaching about the nights sky using the web version of Stellarium. The children in my class are so enthusiastic about space and learning about the constellations and stars visible in the night sky would be a wonderful way to connect learning in school with parents and guardians at home possibly using seesaw or Aladdin to communicate. We often begin our lessons with a song to catch the attention of the young learners so I would start by using the stroybots videos about the moon and sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i235Y2HRksA . Using stellarium we could observe what will be visible in the night sky that evening with a particular focus on the moon, the planets or recognisable constellations such as Ursa Major. It would also be a lovely way for the children to see how the night sky changes depending on location, we have a very international population in the school so it would be lovely to show children the night sky of their birth country too.
Hi Monica,
I also chose the Gravity/Weight – assemble an Earth Tube and one other planet tube activity, however I work in an infant and special education setting. It is really interesting to see how the activity could be extended so much further in the older classes such as your 4th class. The idea of having science journals is so lovely and such a nice way of keeping all their ideas and learning together in their own words. I also thought of bringing the children around the school to discuss their activity. Through working in special ed I have seen the importance of encouraging children to share ideas and achievements and how much it can improve their confidence and encourage communication.As an infant and special education teacher, I feel like the children would really enjoy the activity Gravity/Weight – Assemble an Earth Tube and one other planet tube. This activity would be a lovely way to engage the children in a multitude of different ways and would integrate a number of subjects such as science, maths, art and wellbeing. The children could first be introduced to the concept of the different planets and discuss their characteristics using the ESA Paxi videos and introduced to the concept of weight and gravity on different planets. Talk and discussion could be used to hypothesise what a tube of pringles would weigh on different planets. The children could pick two planets they would like to compare. The children could decorate the tubes to represent the planets based on the Paxi video and description of its features. With teacher support, they could fill the two empty tubes with the correct amount of rice to mimic what the tube of crisps would weigh on the different planets. As the school completes thematic teaching as a whole school, they children could visit other classes to demonstrate the concept and show their learning.
Hi John, that’s a really good idea having a rockets theme running through the school for space week. I think the children would love it especially if they had time to show some of the other classes how successful their rockets are. It would probably build excitement for the next year too when the kids see the more advanced experiments in advance.
