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Lesson on Rockets:
To begin and to grasp the children’s attention I would show them this video:
I would then put a visual of a rocket on the board and brainstorm what the children already know. We would then sit around in a circle and read ‘Aliens in underpants save the world’.
Next I will show this clip of a child-friendly explanation on how rockets are made:
Following on from this I will explain to the class that I am going to set them a challenge. I will divide them into groups and give each group the various materials required to make a balloon rocket from Marvin and Milo. I will set out hoops on the ground various distances apart and see which group can launch their rocket the furthest. I will ask the children to predict what will happen.
Finally we will see if our predictions are correct and determine if it was a fair test.
I love the idea of using the passport to Space as it is something the children can really relate to.
Hi Aideen linking it to Aistear is a great idea and I really love the idea of freezing the box and observing what happens to it.
Lesson: What clothes to wear.
To begin I would use this song to get the children active https://youtu.be/_BkkzF9z4-g?si=Azf_M1H3PRis-Yqa
Next I would use an activity similar to the one in ESERO 11 where I would have a box of clothes and 4 teddies. I would divide the children into 4 groups and give each group a teddy and a season. They then have to dress the teddy in clothing suitable for that season. They will then explain to the class the reasons for their choices.
I will then play Guess the Season. One child dresses from the clothes box and the rest of the class have 4 response cards with a season. They hold up the season they think the child is dressed for.
Next I would use the rain, wind and storm idea from ESERO 11 where you describe a season using a story. I would start it off and get the children to continue it on.
Finally I would give the children the colouring pages based on the seasons and use the Artists Chair where certain children come up and explain why these choose certain clothes and colours to represent each season.
Activity Stars:
I would begin by singing twinkle twinkle little star with the children. Next using their whiteboards and get them to draw their idea of a star. Next I would do think-pair-share and ask them what a star is.
Then I would use the marbles activity from the ESERO: Lots and Lots of Stars activity sheet.
Next I would play this video for the children. https://youtu.be/lSuAPFMXcYM?si=vV6PoFnBA050NQQ- I think it is important and most children think a star has to be yellow and have 5 points.
I would then explain about the Sun and how it is a Star and that it is the closest one to us that was it is so big. Children find it difficult to sometimes understand the concept of the Sun as a Star.
I would then divide the children into groups and using the recommendation provided in this module I would have pre-cut straws ready for each group and get them to make the Plough from the You Tube Clip in this module.
Finally to conclude I would with this
Hi Rachel, that sounds like a fun and engaging lesson. I have used the torch and puppets idea in the past and the children absolutely loved it. Another idea I have done is where the children traced each others shadows and they really enjoyed it too. The chalk is a great way to show the changes using the different colours.
I would choose the activity on ‘The Planets’.
Having taught about the planets before this is the way I did it. Firstly I sang the song ‘Mr Sun’ with the children (Oh Mr Sun, sun, mr golden sun, please shine down on me ) as the children had previously learned this.
I then explained to the children that the sun is at the centre of the universe and that the planets revolve around it. Next I would use the idea of the hoola hoops from this module and put the yellow hoop in the middle and the various other hoops around it. This will help the visual learner to visual the idea.
I would then ask a child to stand in each hoop holding a card with their planet name. I would then play the Planet Game from this module with the children. I feel it is a great way to introduce active learning. Following this I would use this clip from Drake and Josh about the Planets as I have used it in the past and children seemed to like it.
We would then order the hoops in order of closest to the sun, having the yellow hoop first. When we have that done I would inform the children of the acronym to help them remember the order of the planets ‘My Very Excellent Mom Just Served Us Noodles’.
Hi Aoife,
I really like the idea of the lesson on the stars. By beginning with the song the children are familiar with and you are also integrating then with music. As all children are familiar to the song they call all relate to the lesson then and it leaves nobody out. I also love the idea of creating your own milky way to display in the classroom.
Hello, my name is Orlagh and I will be teaching first and second class this year. One amazing space fact that I discovered with the children this year was that one million Earth’s could fit inside the sun. The children found this fascinating.
One inquiry based approach to learning I have done with children in the past was about wellington boots. We had a child who has autism in the class and they were fixated on wellington boots so I used this within my lesson. First a read the children a story about Paddington Bear and of course Paddington wear Wellingtons. I then created a scenario for the children where Paddington had lost his Wellingtons and he was going to have to make some and what materials would be best for him to use.
The children were then divided into groups and each group was given a piece of rubber ( from a rubber glove), kitchen roll, tin foil, cling film and toilet paper. They had to predict which would work best. It was amazing the amount who thought kitchen roll as their parents etc use it to clean up spills.
The children then carried out the investigation and discovered that in fact rubber was the best material.
