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Class Plan For Space Week with infants
Monday: Introduction to Space and Rockets; What is space? Why is it exciting?
Story Time: Read “There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System” by Tish Rabe
Use the website https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/launching-into-space/en/ for images and videos
Activity: Rocket Craft using materials from our Junk Art area of the classroom. Children will decorate their own toilet paper roll rockets.
Outdoor Fun: Rocket Launch Activity: Stomp Rocket Launching
Demonstrate how to use stomp rockets and let each child have a turn launching a rocket.
Rocket Science Activity: Balloon Rocket Experiment
Materials: Balloons, string, straws, tape
Instructions: Set up a balloon rocket race using a string and demonstrate how air propels the balloon. (If time allows also try the penny rocket and mouse rocket experiments
Tuesday: The Moon
Discussion: What do you know about the moon?
Story Time: Read “Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me” by Eric Carle
Activity: Moon Craters on the Tuff Tray
Materials: Flour, cocoa powder, small rocks or marbles
Create a moon surface with flour and cocoa powder, and simulate craters by dropping rocks.
PE: Moon Walk Simulation
Materials: Pillows, mats
Instructions: Create a ‘moon surface’ with pillows and mats and let children pretend to walk like astronauts.
Moon Phases
Activity: Oreo Moon Phases: Use Oreo cookies to show the different phases of the moon (full moon, half moon, crescent).
Wednesday: Stars
Discussion: What are stars? When do we see them?
Story Time: Read “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers
Activity: Star Constellations Craft
Materials: Black construction paper, white crayons, star stickers
Instructions: Children create their own constellations using star stickers and crayons.
PE: Star Jump Relay
Materials: Cones for relay race
Instructions: Set up a relay race where children jump like stars from one cone to another.
Activity: Create a Starry Sky: glow in the dark stars
Materials: Black construction paper, glow-in-the-dark star stickers
Instructions: Children create their own starry sky using glow-in-the-dark star stickers.
Thursday: Space Exploration
Discussion: Who goes to space? What do they do there?
Story Time: Read “The Darkest Dark” by Chris Hadfield
Activity: Astronaut Dress-Up
Materials: Cardboard boxes, foil, tape, markers, scissors
Instructions: Children create their own astronaut helmets and pretend to be astronauts.
PE: Space Obstacle Course
Activity: Space Mission Obstacle Course
Materials: Cones, hula hoops, tunnels
Set up an obstacle course representing different space challenges (crawling through tunnels, jumping over obstacles).
Friday: Space Celebration
Review: What did we learn this week? Favourite activities?
Story Time: Read “Curious George Discovers Space” by H. A. Rey
Games and Activities using the ESA Kids website https://www.esa.int/kids/en/homeMary anything that can help the children to fasten their coats faster at breaktimes would be great!!!!
Online Tools and Resources
The ESA website for kids is fantastic. There is a lovely range of sections that can be used in the classroom. Children most especially love interactive lessons and this website has huge scope. I think they would engage really well with the virtual tours. It is also a website that they themselves can use at home with their parents, as an alternative type of homework assignment. The News section is great too as the children can check in on any recent missions. The videos, animations and visuals on the website are lovely in that they explain complex topics in layman’s terms for the kids! The games quizzes and hands on activities are very doable. Older classes would benefit from using this website when completing project work.
Milo and Marvin. I like the literacy links elements here. The read aloud can be used for discussion on the plot, characters and space concepts in the story. After reading allow the children to think critically about the story and its space related theme. The videos and animations are really nice where M&M explain various space topic which can be discussed afterward to reinforce the learning. The children again get to partake in games and quizzes which is always a winner! There are many drama opportunities too when using this resource. I haven’t used this resource in the past but would love to try some of their activities next year as I tend to use the same experiments over and over again.
I would like to familiarise myself some more with the stellarium website over the summer but at this point I think that I would use it live in the classroom on the IWB to point out visible planets, stars, and constellations.Frances, thanks for providing the information on this. The children (and teacher) would love using the Model Magic!
Activity: Space and Aliens
I would begin this activity with a yoga and storytelling activity: Going to meet an alien!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kanagmDoZw (Get up and move with yogapalooza)
Most children will have heard about aliens- so Brainstorm what they know etc.
Then introduce the word martian to the class- see what they know. Are aliens and martians the same or different etc
This will allow for the development and exploration of Mars. Make a fact sheet with the class.
Begin the Design a Martian lesson (from the Mars Workbook Activity) make a drawing/ 3d martian.
We can read the story Martian Rock by Carol Diggory Shields.
Compare their creations to the ones seen in the book. How do they differ? Are any similar.
Group their creations accordingly. (same amount of eyes etc.
When all martians are completed see if the children can as a group come up with a way that they can make their own red planet on the tuff tray. This will be used to display all their martians. Write on the board what the red planet would need to look like. Can they think what materials could they use etc. Teacher can then provide the necessary materials. If a variety of ideas are suggested the teacher could allow this to be completed during aistear time. This would link nicely into Art and cover a range of strands- clay/ fabric and fibre etc.Children are kinaesthetic learners and any chance to incorporate movement and music into a lesson pays off. I like that this lesson can be taught out of the classroom on the yard or in the hall- The Planets lesson using hoola hoops is just lovely for infants and the ideas tie in and transition really well especially for the children who find it hard to sit still and need movement breaks. The dance and spinning activity at the end will be perfect.
The Family of the Sun Planets song is also very catchy. (Has lovely literacy rhyming links too) Here are some songs that I have used in the past which name the planets and give some information on each. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrlgH97v94 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2prtmPEjOc ,
The moon is a lovely introductory point when teaching about the Planets. And one which we can discuss and record daily using a visual on our class calendar. Compare the changes over the course of the month. Children enjoy learning about the lunar missions too and looking at pictures from this time in history. I would extend this activity using Drama and Teacher in Role/ hot seating techniques to allow the children ask the astronauts some questions!
The man in the moon activity is one the children can do during Aistear and integrates well with other subjects. The rhyme is easy and the picture stimulus would work well with a small group for discussion and brainstorming.
Kayleigh I really liked the fingerprint activity too and I think that all kids would love it. I can just imagine all the theories they would have about it and then the fun exploration they would have to do to find out! Such an engaging lesson.
My name is Liz and I currently teach multi-grade infants.
Space Fact: The number of stars in the Milky Way is probably higher than the number of humans that have ever been born!!
This is an example of an inquiry based activity that I used in my Junior and Senior Infant class in May.
Exploring Ice: understanding how it melts and how salt can affect melting.
Engage the pupils by asking the pupils what they know about ice. Where do they see it? What is it made of? Write down their ideas on the board.
Explain the activity: Tell pupils they will be scientists exploring ice. They will observe how ice changes and see what happens when they add salt.
Investigation: Give each pupil a small plastic bowl or tray and an ice cube. Hand out small amounts of salt and give them magnifying glasses.
Observing the ice: Ask pupils to look closely at their ice cubes using the magnifying glasses. Encourage them to describe what they see. Is it clear or cloudy? What shapes do they notice?
Melting observations: Have pupils hold their ice cubes in their hands for a minute and then put them back in their trays. What happens? The pupils should notice the ice starting to melt. Adding salt: Ask pupils to sprinkle a small amount of salt on their ice cubes. – Observe and discuss what happens. The salt will cause the ice to melt faster. Pupils can use magnifying glasses to watch this process closely
This also lent nicely into follow up hands on Aistear activity using ice. I froze mini dinosaurs and other small animals in shallow trays: the children became mini archaeologists using little tools and salt to uncover what animals were hidden in the frozen ice. This activity was completed in the classroom and out in the yard in the sun!
