[Niall Smith]

Thanks for the reflective piece Emma. I like the idea of the teacher being a facilitator, very much in line with inquiry-based approaches and removes the need for the teacher to know “all the answers”.

[Niall Smith]

Hi Emma, welcome to the forum and thanks for your fun space fact. Venus is completely covered in clouds, so how do we know its day is so long? How do the pupils think we can find this out?

[Niall Smith]

Hi Anna-Rose, great to see Caoimhe was able to help and apologies I didn’t get to reply sooner. The mind map encourages your students to look for connections and to build a mental model of how the universe is put together. Do they think there might be other building blocks in the universe that are unknown to us? And how might we go about making measurements to test our ideas? This question helps to think about the need to continue to explore and use inquiry-based approaches because we don’t know what we don’t know! That makes it fun to ask questions.

[Niall Smith]

Hi Pearl, welcome to the forum. Thanks also for the link to the ISS. When it does pass over ireland it’s really visible, the brightest moving object in the sky. Incredible to think there are humans living there. With so many satellites now in orbit it’s also possible to see many of these “moving points of light” on any clear night. It could form the basis for an evening activity for children to go outside and see how may satellites they see in 10 minutes. Could compare how many are seen where the kids live in rural areas with less light pollution compared to urban areas.

[Niall Smith]

Thanks Laura! You could also mention how the Moon and Sun pull on the oceans through gravity to give us tides. Push/pull can happen at a distance and even when there’s no visible connection, as in the case of gravity.

[Niall Smith]

Hi Sarah, that’s a fun fact to make us all jealous. What an experience! Artemis is a programme to put humans on the Moon permanently. So it heralds an exciting new chapter in space exploration. You could ask the children to compare life in 1969 when we first landed on the Moon with life in 2030 when we might next land on the Moon. Would be fascinating to see what they think and understand.

[Niall Smith]

Hi Laura, welcome and thanks for that new space fun fact. It opens up the possibility to discuss how important the sun is for life on earth. Without it we would live in darkness all the time and the temperature would be minus 250 celsius. What do the kids think would be the consequences of this?

[Niall Smith]

Welcome Meabh and thanks for the fun facts about Venus. It has been called Earth’s twin (because it’s of similar size) but there the similarities end!

[Niall Smith]

Hi Linda, welcome to the forum and thanks for the fun space fact. I really like your lesson plan and it’s also highly relevant at the moment as a return to the Moon by humans looks to be ever closer. Lots of the kids to consider, from understanding the lunar environment (e.g., over 100 degree celsius during day, minus 150 celsius at night, no air, no running water, no plants or insects or animals, etc.) to what humans need to survive or have fun (e.g., how would we have sports on the Moon if our spacesuits are too bulky?!).

[Niall Smith]

Welcome Laura, I’m sure you’ll find lots of ways of incorporating space into your teaching with all the great ideas on the forum and the supporting materials.

[Niall Smith]

Welcome Louise. Thanks for the fun space fact. It’s a popular one and opens up possibilities to discuss how sound travels and what is needed to make it possible. You can ask if you think the Moon is  silent place, and why. And what this means for communicating there, given that astronauts will go there soon.

[Niall Smith]

Hi Catherine, I think mind mapping would work particularly well here as it helps to make connections between concepts or objects or events which might otherwise seem disconnected.

[Niall Smith]

Hi David, thanks for the fun fact and the lesson idea. These are big open-ended questions, but fundamental to the way we approach discovery. After some discussion you could encourage the class to focus on one or two topics that particularly interest them, to narrow the scope and dive a bit deeper. One thing which is very poorly understood, according to repeated research on the matter, is how kids (and adults) perceive and understand the solar system, our galaxy and the universe.

[Niall Smith]

Welcome Orla. Thanks for the fun space fact. The lesson you outline is great and adds to some of the discussion on the forum about footprints!

[Niall Smith]

Welcome Catherine. Lovely to have you on the forum. I’m sure you’ll get great ideas, and do share any of your own. Everyone is keen to hear as much as possible about other people’s experiences!

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