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What moves rockets through space is sure to engage the whole class and stimulate brilliant discussions
I would use the Rocket Mice activity with my class because it is a fun, hands-on way to introduce pupils to the ideas of forces, motion and scientific investigation. Before starting, I would ask the children to predict what might make a rocket mouse travel further, encouraging them to think like scientists by making observations and asking questions.
Working in small groups, pupils would build their own rocket mice using simple classroom materials. They would test their designs, measure the distance travelled and record their results in tables or charts. After each test, they would discuss what worked well and decide on one change to improve their design. This would help develop problem-solving skills, teamwork and an understanding of fair testing.
To extend the activity, the class could compare their results, identify patterns and explain why some designs were more successful than others. Cross-curricular links could include measuring and graphing distances in Maths, writing a short explanation of the investigation in English, and creating colourful rockets in art.
Great idea to have students design shelters from recycling materials and is sure to engage every learner
I chose Sustainability world, a Minecraft Education demo world that teaches students about environmental sustainability through an interactive city. Learners explore topics such as renewable energy, sustainable housing, recycling, water treatment, forestry, and food production. The world encourages students to investigate how communities can reduce their environmental impact while meeting the needs of people living in the city.
Lesson plan, learning objectives and associated resources:
The lesson plan is divided into six themed activities, each focusing on a different aspect of sustainability. The learning objectives include:
understanding how sustainable systems work in everyday life
exploring renewable energy and responsible resource management
developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills by investigating environmental challenges and
applying knowledge to real-world sustainability issues.
The accompanying resources include teacher lesson plans, classroom discussion prompts, student activities, and extension tasks that support both individual and collaborative learning. These resources make it easy for teachers to integrate the world into science or geography lessons.The opportunities for outdoor indoor learning are great and really do foster observation, questioning, investigation and mathematical thinking
I would use the Activity Set: Space and Aliens with my junior primary class as part of a one or two week thematic unit on space. I particularly like the activity where children design their own alien and describe its features. I would begin by reading a picture book based on space to introduce the topic and encourage discussion about what children think aliens might look like. We would then brainstorm descriptive words together and create a word bank on the board.
Next, each child would design their own alien using art materials and write or dictate a short description explaining its appearance, where it lives, what it eats, and how it travels. For children who need extra support, I would provide sentence starters such as, “My alien has…” and “It lives on…”. More confident writers could write a longer story about their alien’s adventures.
To extend the learning, students would work in small groups to create a habitat for their alien using recycled materials. They would present their creations to the class, explaining why their alien needs that particular environment to survive. This would develop oral language, teamwork, and creative thinking while also introducing basic scientific concepts about habitats and living things.
I like this activity because it integrated literacy, art, science, and oral language in a meaningful way. It encourages imagination while giving children opportunities to communicate their ideas, work collaboratively, and build confidence.
The activities on The Spherical Earth, The Planets, The Moon, and The Sun and Shadows provide engaging, inquiry-based learning opportunities that encourage pupils to develop scientific thinking through observation, prediction, and investigation. I would use these activities as part of a hands-on science unit, allowing pupils to work collaboratively in small groups to explore concepts before discussing their findings as a class.
For the Spherical Earth activity, I would use a globe and a torch to demonstrate how light falls on Earth, helping pupils understand day and night. The Planets activity could be extended by having pupils create a scaled model of the solar system and research one planet to present to their classmates. During the Moon activity, pupils could observe the Moon over several weeks and record its changing phases in a science journal, linking classroom learning with real-world observations.
The Sun and Shadows activity would be particularly effective outdoors. Pupils could measure and record the length and direction of shadows at different times of the day, make predictions, and discuss why shadows change. This would integrate science with mathematics by collecting and interpreting data.
Hello everyone,
My name is Grace, and I teach First Class. I am looking forward to learning more about space and discovering new ways to make science exciting and engaging for young children. I enjoy using hands-on, play-based, and inquiry-based learning in my classroom because it encourages children to ask questions, investigate, and develop their curiosity about the world around them.
One of my favourite space facts is that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus. This is because Venus rotates very slowly on its axis while it travels around the Sun more quickly. I find this fact fascinating, and I think it is a great way to spark children’s curiosity and encourage them to ask questions about our solar system.
Space
The Solar System
Sun
Eight planets
Dwarf planets
Earth
Day and night
Seasons
Moon
