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Hi Denise. Space week is my favourite week of the school year. I find that it is perfect opportunity to be creative and to have lots of fun! Something that has worked really well in our school is to have an experiment day where the whole school spend the day conducting science experiment. Some of our younger classes get the opportunity to visit the senior classes to watch their experiments. The senior pupils are effectively the teachers for the session. The activities also allow for integration across other curriculum subject most notably literacy and maths.
The activity I have chosen is the Build a Spacecraft lesson
As a starter I would show the children you tube video’s of rockets and rocket launches. This would encourage the children to discuss rockets. How are they made? What are the different parts of a rocket? Where have you seen them before e.g films, video games. Children could then discuss the history of rockets and space travel. What do they know already? Who was the first man in space? Who was the first man on the moon?
Next I would ask the children to draw the rockets that they are going to make. From the drawing I would ask the children to identify materials that they might use in order to build their rockets. Once this had been established I would ask the children to work in groups to create a plan for building their rocket. A procedural writing plan could be used to do this. After the children have finished their rocket I would get them to present their model to the class. Here they could discuss materials used and their set of guidelines and instructions for building the rocket
All three aspect of the module have provided plenty of food for thought. The SSE section highlights the importance of effective planning for Science and the importance of developing scientific thinking in our children. The online resources provide excellent opportunities to incorporate technology as a medium for learning which is massively important as technology is a huge part of children’s . The hands on activities provide brilliant ideas to create a fun learning environment in the classroom.
I have chosen to focus on the Hot and Cold lesson from the hands on classroom themed activities. I have chosen this lesson as I feel that it allows ample opportunity to explore links between different strands of the science curriculum. By using the sun as the starter for the lesson we can revisit previous learning on the solar system. Children can discuss the sun as part of the solar system. It also allows us to revisit light and how the sun is our primary source of light on earth. This would lead to discussion on night/day and the seasons. By identifying the sun as a source of heat we can revisit plant growth and the plant life cycle. The ice cube melting can show the relationship between heat and changes in materials. How did the ice cube change? What caused the change? From this the children could discuss what might happen if the melted ice cube was left in the sun. The children could leave the plate in the sun and check difference over a few days. When the water is gone, what has happened? We might also look at reversible changes. Can we change the melted ice cube back into ice? What do we need to do?
Through investigation , discussion and experiment we would have engaged with different areas of the science curriculum and helped the children to develop valuable scientific thinking skillsYou have some excellent ideas here Dean. Technology is a huge part of our children’s lives. The use of interactive resources and computer based resources is an excellent way to motivate the children to learn and to ensure that engage fully with their learning experience
I would use the activity set on Aliens to adopt a thematic , cross curricular approach to teaching in the classroom. Central to the teaching would be the ‘ Aliens Love Underpants’ book. I would use the book as a stimulus for learning. To start I would use a visualizer to read the book with the class as a whole. During the reading I would encourage the children to focus on the words, language and illustrations in the book. Using the books I would then identify subjects in which I could teach lessons using the book.
English; The book could be used for lessons on rhyme and also to focus on word types. To develop a sense of fun whilst learning the children could engage in activities where they develop their own alien language. How to say hello, Alien names and colours in their alien’s language.
Drama; The children could engage in role play activities of aliens coming to earth. They could use fun creative alien language in their role plays
Geography/Art; Types of houses. Children could do a lesson on different types of houses/ dwellings that people around the world live in .They could then draw/design their own alien dwelling
Art; Draw design an alien dwelling. Playdoh activities to make aliens. Paint blowing activities to make aliens. Make aliens using different materials and fabrics
Maths; Aliens maths work sheets, aliens counting interactive games( Maths Playground) Link to Planet Maths work book
Counting/ Adding activities. How many eyes do all of our aliens have altogether? Which tables aliens has the most/least eyes? Compare the amount of eyes at each table.Music; Songs and poems about alien
By being creative there are many more subjects which could be taught through the them of ‘ Aliens’. Twinlkle provides numerous resources/ work sheets/ maths games etc which can be used to help to teach the topic
Hi Eleanor
I really like the cross curricular approach to teaching the lesson. Science offers many opportunities to deliver lessons and learning objectives in a creative and cross curricular way. Teaching in this way allows us to be inclusive in our teaching and to ensure that all types of learner in our classes can engage in lessons
The module has provided many excellent activities and ideas for the teaching of Planet Earth and space. Fellow participants have shared some brilliant teaching ideas, a lot of which I will use in the coming school year. I have chosen the sun and shadows as the activity that I would like to share my teaching ideas.
The teaching of the sun and shadows allows for the teaching of different areas of the science curriculum, Light , Materials and their properties and Planet Earth and space can all be visited.
To start I would revisit light. What is it? What colour is it? Does it travel. I would ask the children to discuss different source of light. Where does it come from?
Next I would ask the question of what causes shadows. Children could experiment using torches to make shadows on white board by making shadows of different things and making shadow puppets. The class could discuss if the shadows were different for different objects. Here we could revisit the properties of material e.g transparent / opaque.
Once these activities have been done the children would then focus on the sun being a source of light. Children would then go to the yard and use chalk to draw around each others shadow. Once they have done this the children should be asked how the sun and their body formed the shadow. Throughout the day the children should revisit the yard and from their original shadow they should draw another shadow. Questions and discussion would follow. Is the shadow the same? How has it changed?The module has provided many excellent activities and ideas for the teaching of Planet Earth and space. Fellow participants have shared some brilliant teaching ideas, a lot of which I will use in the coming school year. I have chosen the sun and shadows as the activity that I would like to share my teaching ideas.
The teaching of the sun and shadows allows for the teaching of different areas of the science curriculum, Light , Materials and their properties and Planet Earth and space can all be visited.
To start I would revisit light. What is it? What colour is it? Does it travel. I would ask the children to discuss different source of light. Whare does it come from?
Next I would ask the question of what causes shadows. Children could experiment using torches to make shadows on white board by making shadows of different things and making shadow puppets. The class could discuss if the shadows were different for different objects. Here we could revisit the properties of material e.g transparent / opaque.
Once these activities have been done the children would then focus on the sun being a source of light. Children would then go to the yard and use chalk to draw around each others shadow. Once they have done this the children should be asked how the sun and their body formed the shadow. Throughout the day the children should revisit the yard and from their original shadow they should draw another shadow. Questions and discussion would follow. Is the shadow the same? How has it changed?Hi Claire,
I find your idea of using stations to teach science really interesting. Station teaching in the main is reserved for maths and literacy in our schools, why not science. I think the structure of station teaching allows children to learn at their own pace. It promotes social learning and also caters for different types of learners
Hi Susan, your idea of a home for an alien is brilliant. The scope for cross curricular opportunities is endless. From arts and crafts to geography to drama and literacy. These cross curricular links are hugely important to children’s learning as they provide excellent avenues to inclusion and diversity
Hi
My mane is Mark King. I teach in O’Connells Primary school in North East Inner City Dublin. Science is a subject that has fascinated me from childhood. The magic of science caught my attention as a child and it is brilliant to see children experience that same awe and fascination. My favorite fun fact from science is that there is no sound in space
Classroom Activity; Sound in Space
Children find it very difficult to comprehend that there is no sound in space. Video games and films contradict this with booming lasers and space ships blowing each other up. I find the a lesson on how sound works is an ideal way of helping them to understand the lack of noise in space.
Simple ways to do this are lessons that show that sound is caused by vibrations through the air. Ask children to gently scrape a coin on their desk . Their partner has to listen to see if they can hear the scraping. They will hear a feint scraping sound as the vibrations have to travel through the air. The child then puts their ear to the table while their partner scrapes the coin on the table. The vibrations are more intense and the sound is louder. After the lesson explain to the children that the coin caused vibrations in the air to make the sound. There is no air in space therefor the are no vibrations. No air means no sound
