[Mary Nolan]

Rocket Launching

I would begin by showing a video of a real rocket launch. We would discuss what is happening. Where do you think the rocket is going? Who is inside? What will they do in space? How long do you think they will be in space?

I would then read the story Moustronaut by Mark Kelly. `This tells the story of a little mouse going to space in a rocket with astronauts.

After the story I would explain that mouse is eager to get back to space. How can we help him? Discuss gravity and how we need rockets to go to space.

Children make and decorate mice from the mouse template then decide how to use bottles to launch them. After they have played with the launchers I wonder which bottle will make mouse go the furthest. Pupils make predictions and test different bottles. Was your prediction correct? Was there anything else that changed apart from the bottle – force applied. Does the force applied make a difference to how far the mouse goes? Does it make a difference if you are standing/sitting/kneeling? We would try all these things out and then discuss is it a fair test.

Children agree on one property to change, make their predictions and conduct the test again.

We could extend this by talking about other things that fly in the sky and what is similar/different. Children could make paper aeroplanes and see which goes furthest.

[Mary Nolan]

Hi Sarah,

I like that you are showing a video of real life rockets and then consolidating it with a book. It would definitely get children interested. I also love that the children get to name and display their rocket. I imagine every day they would come in and talk about each other’s rockets. This is a great way to keep discussion going.

[Mary Nolan]

The children in my class always love this poem about Aliens by Brian Moses:

Aliens Stole My Underpants

To understand the ways

of alien beings is hard

and I’ve never worked it out

why they landed in my backyard.

 

And I’ve always wondered why

on their journey from the stars,

these aliens stole my underpants

and took them back to Mars.

 

They came on a Monday night

when the weekend wash had been done,

pegged out on the line

to be dried by the morning sun.

 

Mrs Driver from next door

was a witness at the scene

when aliens snatched my underpants

I’m glad that they were clean!

 

It seems they were quite choosy

as nothing else was taken.

Do aliens wear underpants

or were they just mistaken?

 

I think I have a theory

as to what they wanted them for,

they needed to block off a draught

blowing in through the spacecraft door.

 

Or maybe some Mars museum

wanted items bought back from space.

Just think, my pair of Y-fronts

displayed in their own glass case.

 

And on the label beneath

would be written where they got ‘em

and how such funny underwear

once covered an Earthling’s bottom!
<p style=”text-align: center;”>  – Brian Moses</p>

[Mary Nolan]

Online Resources and Tools

I am truly excited about STEM and the topic of Space – there is such a wealth of online resources available and such excellent resources at that. I personally loved learning about Stellarium-web.org. I love looking to the sky and picking out the small number of constellations I know, so this is an amazing resource to have available, I will be telling everyone I know about it just for general knowledge purposes! In the classroom I will use it to show how the sun rises and sets and how the sun/moon, look from different places on earth at the same time. I would use this after the investigation where we shine the light on the globe and spin it around as I feel it would reinforce what they have just discovered.

I am also looking forward to using the Marvin and Milo experiments. I think the comic style experiments will resonate with children. Each experiment will need prompt and a starter question followed by some time for the children to investigate before showing the complete comic strip but I like that they have a “What happened?” at the end of the experiments.

I like the ESA website but thought a lot of the experiments were aimed from 2^nd class up.

I thought Spacescoop.org is very good, full of lots of information. I feel children from 1^st/2^nd class could use this when they are researching topics. It’s laid out in a clear, easy to access manner. I love the pictures on the website and think they would be great topic starters. I think the children would like the cool facts that are associated with every story.

[Mary Nolan]

Hi Sharon,

I really love your lesson ideas. I think Tom Crean is a great starting point and children always love a real life connection, especially to a real life explorer from Ireland! Investigating what materials keep an ice cube cold for longest is a lovely hands-on experiment. Building any structure is always exciting so building a shelter for an Artic/Antarctic animal would incite lots of excitement and great vocabulary I would imagine! I love that you have integrated it across lots of subjects and included teamwork and thinking skills. Great lesson!

[Mary Nolan]

Space and Aliens

I would start by talking about space and where it is. I would ask can they name any planets in space? We would dance and listen to Unicorn Noodles on Gonoodle as a mnemonic to remember the order of the planets -My Very Excellent Monkey Just Served Unicorn Noodles.

Next I would read the story Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. We would discuss aliens, if they think they exist, and if they do, where do they live? I would use questions to elicit information about their thoughts on what aliens look like and what the landscape looks like. Is the land cold or hot? Is it dark or bright? What do aliens breathe? Is there water in this land etc?

I would give the children time to draw their own alien and the landscape where they live. In another lesson, they could use junk art/clay to make the alien. We could use maths eyes to ask questions or make statements about the aliens.

I often use the idea of aliens in English lessons when introducing procedural/instruction writing. As every step has to be explicitly stated I always say “you are writing this for an alien who has just landed on earth, they don’t know that you spread butter with a knife!” (This is during a sandwich making lesson). This is another link with the theme of space and aliens.

[Mary Nolan]

Hi Emma, I love the idea of the class coming together to create a collage of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night! The song “Catch a falling Star” is so lovely and one I imagine they would be singing on the way home. I love the way you have integrated the arts in this lesson both visual and music.

[Mary Nolan]

I would use the activity set Activity Set: The Sun and Shadows.

I like the idea of sharing the story Moon Bear’s Shadow as an introduction and to get interest in the topic. I would start the investigation by giving torches and bears and lots of free investigation time. After that I would use the Bear Shadow Challenge cards getting children to work in pairs to investigate how to make shadows longer and shorter paying attention to the placement of the torch. We would discuss the sun in the sky and shadows and how they equate to the torch and the bear.

When we investigate shadows I always have a shadow race during the day. Getting the children to run and predict who will win the race, them or their shadow. Then we turn and run the opposite way and predict who will win. The children usually want a number of these races to verify the shadow always wins one way and they always win the other way.

The children then draw around each other’s shadow. At this point we always discuss whether the shadow should have a face or features. Often it takes a lot of discussion to realise why there are no features on the shadow and we use lots of objects to ensure no other colours or images appear on the ground. It is just the shape of the object obstructing the sun hitting the ground (because light travels in straight lines). We normally don’t go back and try fit ourselves into our shadow but after this module, I think this is a good addition to this part of the lesson as it will show how the shadow changes during the day.

We also create a sun dial during the day using the corner of the school. 1^st thing in the morning, using chalk, I draw along the shadow the corner of the school makes on the ground and write the time. We go out at regular intervals throughout the day and draw the line, watching how it has moved every time we go out. We look at the length of the shadow and discuss when it is longest/shortest. The next day, if it is still dry, we can check the time using our sun-dial at the side of the school.

[Mary Nolan]

Alyson, this is a great lesson. I love that you start with the children’s prior knowledge and ask what they would like to learn. We love KWL charts in my classroom! The cross-curricular ideas are excellent for linking all knowledge together. Different stories about the man in the moon is a great link to other cultures and a great prompt to get children interested. The lesson on phases of the moon using oreo biscuits reminds me of the old advert for Jaffa cakes and has made me smile – full moon, half moon, total eclipse. Thank you!

[Mary Nolan]

Inquiry Based Science Lesson: Properties and characteristics of materials
Learning Outcome:

• Explore the effects of water on a variety of materials /Observe and describe materials when they are wet /dry
• Identify some materials that are waterproof

Prompt: Show children an umbrella. What is it? Do you have one? What are the uses of an umbrella?

Inquiry Question: I wonder what umbrellas are made from!

Discuss: What does ‘waterproof’ mean? Do you have clothes or boots that are waterproof? Are the clothes you’re wearing now waterproof? How do you know?

Explore: Look at a variety of materials. Discuss and examine each item. What are they made from?

Investigate: Is it waterproof? Examine a range of dry materials. Predict whether or not they are waterproof. Record your prediction (Children work in a group but may record their own individual predictions). Test each material by pouring water over it in a basin. If water goes through it or soaks in, it is not waterproof. If water sits on top or flows off, it is waterproof. Group results into two categories: waterproof and not waterproof. Was your prediction correct?

 

Share results. Do we notice anything about the materials that are waterproof?

How can we use this information?

Extend: In the next lesson read the story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. Now we need to make willies for our teddy bear to go on a bear hunt – what sort of material will we need? I would hope someone would say it has to be waterproof.

[Mary Nolan]

Hi Sharon,

This is a great lesson. Children love astronauts and seeing them floating around is a great prompt that would really grab their attention.

I love that the follow up activity would be magnets as it makes the links between different types of forces. Definitely a lesson I will use next year. Thank you.

[Mary Nolan]

Hi. My name is Mary and I teach Junior Infants – 2nd class in a 2 teacher school. My space fact is 1 million earths could fit inside the sun.

[Author]

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