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  • in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #215009
    Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
    TeachNet Moderator

      Hi Mark,

      a resource from Night Sky Network is here:

      https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=317

      This has an activity outline and a power point, with a video of the activity in action.

      We have a larger version of this gravity bucket that we used with summer camp children. Colleague Danielle and Cian used it with this short video on Jupiter.

       

      in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214855
      Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
      TeachNet Moderator

        Hi Elaine,

        I like how you have restricted the children to rafts, so that floating is the key issue, and the rather more complex ideas of buoyancy and boat design can be met when they are a bit older.

        In Cork one of the local councillors has run a Model Boat competition for a number of years (14!). This year’s rules are here: https://corkharbourfestival.com/register-now-lord-mayor-kieran-mccarthys-make-a-model-boat-project-2024/

        and previous year’s images can be found on his website.

        https://youtu.be/JkAAhec70Cw?si=AoLijhjT2DKTw2sd

        Have you a large pond nearby that they might use to float their boat?

        in reply to: Module 3 – Stars, Space and Aliens #214850
        Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
        TeachNet Moderator

          Sharon,

          one of our colleagues at Blackrock Castle ends her planetarium shows with “what is one difference between a planet and a star? — not sure — well, think of the old favourite ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Planet’ — what? I said it wrong? — then there’s a difference.”

          I have seen these made with star stickers or yellow plasticine stars, all can be effective. The interesting learning around mathematics will come when the children look at the models from different angles and see that the Plough Shape is only visible if you are directly above, or, if you hang these on the ceiling , directly below the model.

           

          in reply to: Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills #214779
          Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
          TeachNet Moderator

            Eoghan,

            given the changes that are coming with respect to STEM in the Irish primary curriculum, I think it is important to assess where your school currently is on STEM.

            There are changes around SESE vs Science, Technology, and Engineering Education and Social and Environmental Education which have changed the time allocation over a month. As this course has tried to show,  Geography Skills and Science Skills work so well together, so that may be a way to continue to offer science within the 3h 20 min to  4 hours a month that is suggested for junior classes.

            in reply to: Module 2 – The Moon, the Earth and the Sun #214764
            Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
            TeachNet Moderator

              Felicity,

              have you a class set of torches? I have found that the more inexpensive torches are often multiple LED lights and when they act as a source of light, multiple shadows are made.

              It might be worth looking at getting some desk lamps if you have plugs that can be used safely with your classroom arrangement.

              in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214755
              Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
              TeachNet Moderator

                Eoghan,

                how will you measure the speed? I think it is more likely that you will use a fixed height and drop two objects together and see which one hits the ground first, in essence comparing time.

                Note that using the actual formula pushes this activity very much to the upper end of primary.

                (Maths has Explores the relationship between time, distance and speed, but as a j).

                By using different objects, the variable the children will be investigating is likely to be surface area. If they are also varying mass, then comparing objects will be quite difficult.

                This Gravity resource from Engineers Week structures the inquiry slightly and might make it easier to ensure that the learners are building up their knowledge.

                in reply to: Module 5 – Rockets & Alien Chemistry #214746
                Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                TeachNet Moderator

                  Siobhan,

                  thank you for sharing your space week plan, please do register your school as hosting an “event” at spaceweek.ie. The activities you have described would make up the event. If you wanted to showcase at the end of the week and invite parents to visit, then that could be part of the Curious Minds Awards as well.

                  Hold a science open day or evening where students present their STEM work to the school, parents or wider community.

                  in reply to: Module 4 – School Self Evaluation & Science Skills #214734
                  Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                  TeachNet Moderator

                    Michelle,

                    thank you for sharing the video link, what a lovely, informative video it is to act as a clear prompt for the children.

                    The questions that you ask and the children can then wonder allows them to share what they understand as they pose their own starter questions.

                    Blubber glove can be a very clear way to show the effect of insulation.

                    Some of the concepts will also be covered by older classes, particularly in relation to adaptation for environmental conditions, but this is such a clear theme that is very suitable for younger children.

                     

                    in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214717
                    Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                    TeachNet Moderator

                      Niamh,

                      I like your relevant context for this investigation activity, which could be treated as both science content learning and as applying learning in a design and make.

                      Keeping Jacko dry is very important, and in the summer months you could revisit this to make a sun parasol to keep him from getting sunburnt.

                      A quick google search for an image to support your prompt gave me this:

                      source: https://www.dreamstime.com/teddy-bear-dressed-jacket-shorts-running-rain-generative-ai-image286853346

                       

                       

                       

                      in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214713
                      Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                      TeachNet Moderator

                        Hello Sharon,

                        Have you a particular story book in mind? If you review some of the previous posts in the forum you will find a wealth of suggestions.

                        You could also look at the ESERO activity Day and Night in the World about nocturnal animals or What do you do in  Day (part of Module 2’s downloads).

                        What do you expect the children will do with the cotton wool when they create day and night scenes?

                        You might want to look ahead to the Sun resource (also part of Module 2) from  Dr Maeve Liston from Mary Immaculate that suggests:

                        Activity: The Day and Night Sky
                        You will need: Pictures of the day and night sky, paper and crayons.
                        1. Place different pictures of the day and night sky on display and ask the children “what are the differences?” between the two.
                        Questions: Describe the sky during the day. Describe the sky at night. What is the difference between day and night?
                        2. Ask them to list as many things they see in the sky at night (Moon, Stars) and during the day (Sun, Moon, Clouds). Get them to describe shapes, size, textures and colours of these objects and the sky using descriptive and comparative language for example light, dark, bright, shade etc. Discuss how we are never in total darkness because of the Moon and stars.
                        3. Ask them to draw pictures of a day and night sky or make a collage of a day and night sky as a whole class group.

                        Your questions are interesting, we have found that in response to “Why do you think it gets dark at night?” young children tend to offer people-centric responses such as “So we can go to sleep”, and so we often re-word this to ask “What do you think is happening to the world when it gets dark?”

                         

                        in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214712
                        Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                        TeachNet Moderator

                          Robyn,

                          Offering children a playful opportunity to explore magnets is very much in keeping with the inquiry process as described by the Framework for Inquiry and perfectly fits the SESE Science Curriculum for Infants (• investigate the fact that magnets attract certain materials /• investigate materials for different properties, for example materials that are attracted by magnets )

                          Through their play they will explore and wonder. If they then form the mental model that metals are magnetic it is valuable to include some metals that are not magnetic in the materials that the children test. Coins are an easy option, as are jewelry items made from silver or gold, and aluminium cans.

                          The curriculum for 1st and 2nd class looks at specific metals: (• investigate that magnets attract magnetic materials, such as iron and steel). So, depending on the school plan for Science, you may want to plan for play with Infants and a deeper exploration at 1st/2nd class level.

                           

                          in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214711
                          Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                          TeachNet Moderator

                            Hi Síle,

                            are you familiar with the ESA videos that told the story of Rosetta?

                            ESA made a cartoon characters that voiced the different spacecraft.

                            https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2016/12/The_amazing_adventures_of_Rosetta_and_Philae

                            https://youtu.be/HD2zrF3I_II?si=HoJPXXLAiYzjsh4O

                            The “science” ones are here.

                            When we opened the science exhibition at Blackrock Castle in 2007, Rosetta was still enroute to Comet 67P, so we included an interactive game that was based on landing on the comet.

                            in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214703
                            Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                            TeachNet Moderator

                              Michelle & Ellen,

                              Ramps have been suggested as one of the key topics to help young children directly experience forces in playful, unstructured learning.  The team at Iowa’s Regent’s Centre for Early Developmental Education have done a lot of work on “Ramps and Pathways,” which you can find here: https://regentsctr.uni.edu/ramps-pathways/ramps-pathways

                              They state “Ramps & Pathways provide contexts for children to feel success, and also a context to understand how mistakes are opportunities to learn.”

                              and suggest that teachers should pay particular attention to vocabulary and avoid words such as acceleration, mass, velocity, and momentum, using instead :

                              Positional Words and Phrases
                              Higher, lower, next to, between, on top of, under or underneath, beside, behind, in front of, below, above
                              Directional Words
                              Down, up, forward, backward, sideways, through, over
                              Descriptive Words for Movement (or lack of)
                              Fast, slow, stable, steady, solid, wobbly, roll, slide, jiggle, tumble, teeter, jerky, bumpy, bouncy, smooth
                              Descriptive Words for Properties
                              Hard, soft, flexible, metal, glass, wood, plastic, heavy, light, hollow, solid, round, cylinder, cube, sphere
                              General Vocabulary
                              Incline, ramp, pathway, track, object, speed, system

                              in reply to: Module 1 – The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework #214574
                              Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                              TeachNet Moderator

                                Pol,

                                this is similar to an ESERO activity called “The Ice is Melting” that looks at the difference between melting sea ice and land ice.

                                Sea ice floats in water, so when the iceberg melts, it fills in the space that it was already occupying.

                                Water in a glass will increase in volume when it freezes, but there shouldn’t be an increase in volume when ice in water melts.

                                You could modify this plan to mark the water level before you add the ice – and then you are showing displacement in action. However, when that ice melts, it will not increase the volume any more.

                                in reply to: Module 2 – The Moon, the Earth and the Sun #214571
                                Profile photo ofNiall.Smith@mtu.ieNiall Smith
                                TeachNet Moderator

                                  Sinead,

                                  would you enhance the learning by showing them a video from the ISS? There are a few that start over one part of the world and go to another.

                                  There is also this live feed:

                                  https://www.youtube.com/live/P9C25Un7xaM?si=_YBpr0z7rtd0cz0Q

                                  Note that due to the ISS’s orbit, it is out of signal for some of each orbit, and at that time you get this screen:

                                   

                                   

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