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Rocket Launch-Mouse Rockets
I would begin the lesson by asking the children “What is the difference between cars and rockets”. Following this discussion, I would engage the children in discussing how does the rocket go up. We would watch some videos of different rockets launching and analyse how they are similar. I would also ask why do the children think the rockets are shaped the way that they are.
We would then move to the rocket experiment. Being first with the rocket mouse template, I would allow the children a few minutes free play with their rockets to explore. We would then gather to discuss their findings. I would then challenge them to use different implements (a ball of paper, a small cardboard box) and see what happens. The children would make their predictions first.
We would then gather to discuss whether these worked better or worse and why. I will also allow the children to trial their own suggestions or make changes to the mouse templates. We will talk about how the point helps the mouse rocket to move through the air. We will also talk about the force needed to move it higher.
Hi Niamh, Sounds like a lovely lesson. Allows for analysis in a way that feels natural rather than forced. Allowing them to make their own rockets and analysis of a fair test will really engage the children
Where do you live?
I would introduce the topic by reading the children “A place called home” by Kate Baker. This book looks at styles of homes throughout the world and why the way a home is built reflects its location. While reading the book, I will engage the children in prediction and discussion around the homes and their locations. We will also look at the houses visible from the school window and analyse why they were built this way.
Following this would be a sorting activity where the children will work together to match the home to the correct location. They will be asked to provide reasoning for their selections.
The children will then be given a location and a description of that location. They will be invited to create a house to match the location. The children will choose the medium through which they represent their house (through drawing, lego, cut and stick etc.). They will then present their house to the class if they want to.
Hi Aoife, love the idea of the toys frozen in ice to allow the children to explore melting and whaat things have an effect on ice. It is a great opportunity for active exploration.
I would use the aliens as a follow on lesson from learning about planets.
I would begin by playing the alien drawing game. This is where I call out instructions (the alien has three eyes, the alien has four hands, the alien is small etc). At the end, the children hold up their aliens and we look to see do they look like each other.
We will then review what we know about each planet. I would explain that the children are going to design an alien for each planet. I would divide the class up into groups and supply a fact sheet oon each planet-information like temperatures, landscape, liquids on the planet etc). The groups would then design their alien to match the planet through drawing. They will create a fact sheet about their alien with 5 facts, I will assist with writing etc where needed.
The children will present their aliens to the class and advise why their alien is suited to the particular planet.
Linking in with art could be creating the alien through clay.
Hi Katie, this sounds like a lovely lesson. I really like the idea about encouraging them to think about how the alien lives, moves etc. I think it will really get them interacting with what they create.
The Sun and Shadows
As an introduction to this lesson (with Second/Third class), the children will engage in a group discussion about shadows. The children will share what they already know and be invited to list any questions that they might have about shadows.
The children will engage in some free play with shadows using handheld lights. They will be invited to create pictures. Following this activity, they will discuss what affected their shadows (light position etc.) I would then introduce the topic of how the sun moves through the sky and why this happens.
I would engage the children in a day long observation of an object in the sun. This object would be a doll etc (something that can be easily traced. I would place this object in a well lit area with a large piece of paper under it. Every 45 minutes during the school day, a child will be invited to trace the shadow of the object on the page and mark the time. Different colours will be used to differenciate the markings.
The children will share their observations from throughout the day. This will be linked in with discussions around why we call it midday etc. Children will be encouraged to research ways we rely on the sun and how the sun’s movement effects us.
Hi Sharon,
I think that this is such a lovely way of integrating a story with teaching about shadows. I can see this working really well with the infant classes. Gettin the children to predict what happens when the light or object is moved is a great opportunity for enquiry based learning and learning through doing.
For my enquiry based science lesson, I worked with the children on a paper plane race. I started by asking the children to engage in creating a paper plane. We discussed why the children thought do the plane have wings. We watched some videos on how to create planes and the children choose their preferred method of construction. The children created their planes, with assistance where required. The children completed practice runs. The children then completed the paper plane race, two children threw their planes and the person who got their plane furthest stayed on until the next round. After the activity the children discussed what worked and what didn’t work. In a follow up lesson, the children were given a chance to make a new plane based on their findings and we conducted a second race. The planes were much more effective the second time and there was clear evidence of the children using what they had learned.
Hi Doireann,
This is a lesson that I have done with infants before also. It is a great one for challenging perceptions and the children are always engaged in guessing. I found it interesting to observe what they thought would sink. There was a great discussion about heavy things floating also.
Hello everyone,
My name is Niamh and I work in a Junior School in Dublin. I will be teaching Junior Infants next year. My space fact is that it rains diamonds on Neptune. This is due to intense heat and pressure.
I will be teaching a younger class this year. I have decided to take a proactive approach in looking at what can we do.
Research Question: What can we do in our classroom every day to reduce waste? Often, I find in the younger classes, there can be additional waste sometimes as more worksheets, colouring sheets etc can be required.
I would start with a story to engage the children-The Story of Rubbish. We would begin with a whole class discussion about what we are getting rid of every day. We would partake in a day/week long analysis of our wase as a class, taking note on a designated board when anything is noticed and making use of the investigation plan.
At the end of the analysis, we would discuss what we can do to assist with reducing waster. When doing something similar with a past class, we realised that there was a lot of waste during art and free time, with pages/scraps of paper being discarded. This led to the implementation of a scrap paper box, where early finishers etc. could use the scraps for artwork rather than using new blank pages.
We would implement our changes and engage in analysis over another day/week period. Once completed, we would compare the findings.Hi Cillian,
This is such an impactful activity. I have done something similar with one of my classes and I found it to be really beneficial in getting the message across.
I went through the Nose up in the Sky resources in this activity. I think that using old weather proverbs is a lovely way to start the activity and is very accessible for all children. In conjunction with the resources, I would probably begin this as a whole class discussion and brainstorm. This will allow me to assist with a few of the sayings if needed. It may also be a nice activity to include family members in, maybe asking the children to find out sayings and bring them in for the following day. I did find that some of the wording on this worksheet may be challenging for my younger class so I would adapt that.
Again I think the sensing the weather is a great idea that is very accessible. A walk might be a nice idea to include with this. News 2 day have a nice simple weather segment that would allow the children to compare their findings with, and is very child centric.
As mentioned in previous posts, I think the building your own weather station is an idea that can be easily integrated into the daily routine. It is very accessible for different age groups and can be an enjoyable activity.
Hi Aine, I agree that exploring old weather proverbs is a lovely way to engage children. I think weather superstitions/sayings are something that children find interesting/can relate to. I know having engaged in these discussions that children will often bring sayings that they have heard to it-e.g. their grandparents telling them that cows lying down means rain etc. It brings a bit of fun to the topic.
