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The activity that I have chosen to discuss and reflect on is the fizzing and foaming activity that was part of the OneDrive files. The dancing raisins will be very enjoyable for younger children to see. They will discuss what they think will happen when we drop the raisins into the water and when we drink the raisins into the fizzy liquid. They would get great enjoyment out of seeing the raisins bounce up and down. The children would also really enjoy the glittery explosion activity. The result being a colourful glittery explosion would be fascinating for the children and I know they would just love the colour and chance to choose this as well. We could also use these fizzing experiments when we are learning about volcanos as the children can seethe explosions and it would feel real to them after learning all about volcanoes as part of sese lessons.
The Activity set that I have chosen to discuss is ‘hands-on classroom themed activities’. The activity I particularly enjoyed from this module was the activity based around children’s coats. I think this activity could be changed and adapted in a variety of different ways to allow children to explore what would make a good insulator for example or maybe another example could be what materials could be used to make the coat waterproof. This is an excelled hands on STEM activities exploring materials and uses of materials and figuring out what would work best. This activity would also contribute towards our whole school self evaluation plan as we aim to promote and improve STEM activities in our classroom. The children would have to gather evidence/ ideas as to what result they need. Perhaps this coat might be designed and then actually made for teddy and they can all show off their designs.
Activity set: stars. I really like looking up to the sky on a dark night and gazing at the stars. As a child I always remember imaging what the shapes in the sky could be or what story they could tell. The activity that I have chosen to try in my classroom is the draw your own constellation activity that was outlined in the OneDrive as part of module 3. Children have great imaginations and I think younger children would love to do this activity. They would be given a few examples to discuss as part of a pair or in a small group. They would form their ideas and share them with the class. I would then get them to create their own and allow the children to identify what they think others have created. As a concluding activity, I would create a dark space in the room by closing blinds and turning off lights and get the children to examine constellations on the IWB.
Activity Set: The Planets. I would use the planet song to introduce the children to the theme of planets. The song is lively, catchy and the video which is available on youtube, is very colourful and inviting for children. I would teach the children then about the individual planets and in a more senior class I would allow them to research the planets individually before the formal teaching takes place. Research in pairs would be a nice idea and then the pair or group could share their findings with the class. At the end of the findings the whole class would have an abundance of facts and information about the individual planets. The song is the original prompt and would be referred back to on a regular basis to refresh the children on their knowledge of planets. This lesson could also be integrated into other subjects such as English, pretend you live on planet X, describe life there, or art, a picture of the planets.
The inquiry based activity that I would love to try in September with my class based on this module would be the one where we were given the question ‘What do we need to do to get things moving?’. I liked this question as it would encourage children to think about what already moves in their lives and it would make them reflect on what they think the question actually means. I would then show them the prompt of the picture of the car to see will that change some of their ideas or enhance some of their ideas. I wouldn’t show the image until after they had formed their own opinions though as then they might automatically just think of cars and vehicles instead of other things that move or objects we can physically move. We would then investigate moving things using the force of pushing and pulling. The children would then have to think about objects that don’t move by pushing and pulling.
For the purpose of this assignment, I have chose to answer the first question. We are very lucky in Co. Carlow to be associated with such a famous scientist. That man is John Tyndall. He was the first person to prove experimentally that atmospheric gases like water vapour and carbon dioxide absorb radiant heat. He explained why the sky is blue by discovering how light scatters off tiny particles suspended in liquid or gas. He invented the fireman’s respirator which was an early gas mask to protect firefighters. These are just some of the many reasons why he was famous. I would get the class to do some more research of him and find out what he achieved and then try and investigate some of his findings. E.g. he created the mask, maybe the children could come up with their own ideas for a mask, or maybe we could change the idea to a different function like a coat, which coat will keep us warm/dry etc.