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Oh I love this idea from your child’s school about making an experiment and then conducting and explaining it to your peers. How engaging!
Definitely something I am going to take note of!
Celebrating space week in Infants – below are idea & topic I would complete with my class to celebrate space week.
Literacy:Read books about space, such as “There’s No Place Like Space” by Tish Rabe or “Roaring Rockets” by Tony Mitton.
Space Journals: Kids can draw and write (where possible) about what they would see and do if they went to space.Maths:Counting Stars: Use star stickers to practice counting and simple addition/subtraction.
Shape Rockets: Create rockets using different shapes & tangramsP.E.Astronaut Training: Set up an obstacle course to simulate an astronaut training camp with activities like crawling through tunnels and jumping over “craters.”
Space Walk: Go on a “space walk” kids need to move slowly as if they’re walking on the moon, while practising balanceART – Making rockets using junk art materials or paint and print a galaxy on black paper.
Drama – Space Role-Play: Students can role-play as astronauts, mission control, or aliens.
Music: Space Songs: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” or “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon.”
Create Space Sounds: Use instruments to create sounds that represent rockets launching, stars twinkling etcScience: Rocket Launch Experiment: using the balloon with straw on a string method.
Constellation Creations: Use black paper and white chalk or stickers to create constellations or use images and try recreate these on our school playground.Hi Dolores, this is a favourite of mine too. I especially like the use of vaseline from the ESERO activity. It is a simple but yet such effective hands on way to support the children’s understanding.
Hands on classroom activity – exploring hot vs cold in an infant classroom
I would start with a simple discussion about temperature, asking students if they know what “hot” and “cold” mean. Show examples, such as a picture of the sun and a snowflake. We would then read the book “Hot and Cold” by Susan Canizares together.
Experiment – I would fill one bowl with warm water and another with cold water.
Place a few small plastic toys or objects in each bowl.Students take turns feeling the water in both bowls.
Ask them to describe how the water feels (e.g., “The water is warm/cold”).
Ice could also use thermometers to measure the temperature of each bowl.
I would show these to the children and perhaps print large image of a thermometer and colour in the reading we took to display.Kid identify which bowl felt warm and which felt cold.
Discuss how we use our sense of touch to feel temperature.
Use chart paper to create a visual chart of objects that are hot and cold.Ask students how they feel when it’s hot outside versus when it’s cold.
Discuss the importance of dressing appropriately for different temperatures.Summarize the activity, emphasizing the difference between hot and cold.
Reinforce that temperature is something we can feel and measure.
To finidh off I would have students draw pictures of things that are hot and cold.Topic – Aliens – What to martians look like?
I really like the idea of children creating and visualising their idea of what a martian would look like using clay.
We would begin with looking in mirrors and passing it around the circle. We would discuss how we are all human however we have different physical features or eye/hair colour.We would discuss shape – and revise 3D shapes n particular. I would display different 3D shapes at the top of the room and the children would then draw their idea of a martian on paper.
Following this they would then design and make their martians using the clay ensuring to adopt as many 3D shapes into their design as possible.
When complete our martians we would sort them, by size, by use of shape, number of eyes/arms etc
Finally we could make a whole class pictogram displaying the number of different 3D shapes we used in our creations. Discuss the most/least popular shape used.Topic – The Moon
I would sit the children in a circle and send a feely bag around the group. Inside the bag would be a replica of the moon. The children must feel what is inside and describe what they think it could be. We would listen to one another and record similar thoughts or ideas.
I would then get the children to close their eyes and listen in order to receive their second clue. I would then play the moon landing sound only.
After this we would come to the conclusion that perhaps it is a moon inside the feely bag. I would be remove it and we would discuss what we have learned about its appearance e.g. its spherical shape and crater indents etc.
We would then use little tubs of flour and different size ping pong balls to create our own crater forms and explore how they differ in size.
Finally using clay we would roll them into spheres, and push spherical smaller items into them to create craters. Once dry we would paint and display.
I agree Mary, I have also found that some children are completely obsessed by the idea and can offload numerous interesting facts about the topic. While others are completely oblivious or really have not had the opportunity to ask and try answer questions about the topic!
Hi everyone, I’m Katie-Jo and have been teaching infants for a number of years. This coming September I will be teaching junior & senior.
My favourite space fact would be that you can fit 1 million Earths inside of the sun. I think it really heals visualise the scale.
I absolutely love enquiry based learning and I feel that the problem solving and idea that come from it are never something you could have planned for.
A lesson I thoroughly enjoy is exploring materials and specifically waterproof materials. We explore some materials that may or may not change within water first to create a discussion. I always have a sample few materials at the ready but kids can choose things from around the classroom.
We then look at the materials that did not change in water, explore pouring water over them etc usually a child will use the word ‘waterproof’ then we discuss what this means? why do we need waterproof materials? we think of times we’ve used waterproof materials eg on the farm wearing wellys and in the rain using umbrellas.
I then introduce Teddy – he wants to go to the farm but doesn’t want his beautiful fluffy feet getting wet and has asked the children to help him solve this problem.
Kids then problem solve as to how he could walk through the mucky pig pen or go to the pond to feed the ducks without getting wet.
We then use our knowledge gained from our materials and change experiment to create welly boots and a coat. Children test materials and record results then together we create a farm proof outfit for Teddy that we have tested and are sure will keep him dry. I then take Teddy to my family farm and share images of him in his waterproof materials nears the pigs and the pond.
Hi everyone, I’m Katie-Jo and I have been teaching infants for a number of years now. I absolutely love enquiry based learning especially with the younger classes.
My favourite space fact is that 1 million earths can fit inside the sun. Even though the sun is merely considered an average sized star!
