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Hi Chantelle, that’s a new space fact on the forum and it’s intersting that space has an odour. I wonder what the odour would be like on the Moon (no atmosphere) or Mars (thin atmosphere) or some alien planet. What makes odours and why do humans have a sense of smell? Lots of questions to build off the fun fact.
Hi Emily, that’s a great way to think about why the length of the day on venus is very different to the length of a day on earth. It does indeed encourage them to think about how unique the earth is and how different other worlds are. And we only know that by exploring and trying to imagine what the rest of the universe beyond earth is like.
Hi Paula, that’s a very nicely laid out approach which uses the ESERO framework very well. Interestingly there are other objects in the solar system that might have oceans of water beneath their surface – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa (all moons of Jupiter) and Enceladus (a moon of Saturn). Imagine what fish might live there!
Hi Paula, Venus is a planet of extremes. It also rains sulphuric acid and has a surface temperature of over 450 degrees celsius. Could humans live there? What would be needed to do so? Would it be easier to live on the Moon where there’s no air and the daytime temperature reaches 120 celsius and the nighttime temperature drops to below 150 celsius. Comparing the properties between planets is a great way to showcase how wonderful our Earth is suited to our needs and the needs of the creatures we share it with.
Hi Edel, welcome to the forum! Astronauts floating in space is really interesting. It offers lots of possibilities for engaging with the children and there’s also interesting side effects on the human body, such as loss of bone mass, that the kids might discuss – if we go to space for long periods where we float, what would that do to our bodies?
On a winter’s night the full Moon, in particular, casts shadows. These are most evident in darker areas, but I have seen lunar shadows from my back garden in Cork City, so it’s not only applicable to rural or dark sky locations. In winter it’s dark by 5pm, so well before bedtime. You can ask whether shadows cast under Moonlight at night seem to behave the same way as those cast under Sunlight during the day.
One unrelated point, but the Man in the Moon is easier to see when the Moon is near the horizon and almost full. There are lots of calculators to tell what phase of the Moon is when. One I like is https://stardate.org/moon-phase-calculator
The lesson is a great way to show that inquiry-based learning and imagination are important and can work together to motivate and inspire. The astronomer and science communicator, Carl Sagan, wrote in his book “Cosmos” (published in 1980): “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.”
Encouraging our young pupils to “imagine” is actually crucial. Within the inquiry-based framework there is, and should always be, room for imagination.
Welcome Laura. The idea of diamond rain is bizarre, but potentially true. You could ask the kids to design a mission to bring back diamonds perhaps and what would it need. Would it be manned or unmanned? Which is safer?
Really nice idea about how changing shape matters! That’s such a crucial – and possibly surprising – observation. As your students found out, place a lump of metal into water and it sinks, but reshape it into a massive ship and it floats. For many of us, that’s counterintuitive. There’s an opportunity to discuss the idea of density here, though it might be tricky depending on the class.
Hi Gail, welcome to the forum! Let’s hope we all get to inspire and enthuse the girls and boys about inquiry-based learning using space as the catalyst. I was at the Air and Space museum many years ago, but what an amazing place for capturing what we humans can achieve when we work together and solve problems together.
Hi Glenys, your fun fact underscores one of the big differences between the Moon and Erath and is a great one to add to the forum. You could ask the kids how long they think a footprint would last on the Earth and maybe even ask if it matters whether it’s on grass, in mud, on sand, etc. You fact allows you to ask the kids how they think weather influences the world we see around us, and how this is very different on the Moon (and to a lesser extent Mars, which has a very thin atmosphere and SOME weather, notably dust storms).
Hi Elaine, that’s a great chapter and great to know it sparked curiosity amongst your classes. Your space fact is one of those surprising ones and allows the kids to ask questions about “what would it mean to climbers if Olympus Mons was on Earth”. If they had to go three times higher, how would that challenge them?
Hi Mags, welcome. Your fun fact emphasises just how populous the Universe is and possibly how big it must be to fit so many stars, each similar to the Sun. Still boggles the mind!
That’s a really nice addition, Ellen, of bringing in salt as another variable in the experiment. You could also flip the experiment. Based on how an object floats, could the kids use that to say how salty the water is?