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I really liked all the different activities that you gave for Space Week. I particularly liked your idea of Planetary hopscotch where the children hop to different planets in the correct order from the Sun. This a great way of getting the children to learn the order of the planets from the Sun. I also liked the idea of a quiz on what they have learned. I have done this using Kahoot. The children love quizzes and really enjoy Space ones.
Dancing Raisins – Exploring Gases and Floating and Sinking, investigating how gas bubbles affect objects in water.
Engage: Show the children a handful of raisins and a bottle of sparkling water or 7UP. Ask the children what they notice about the raisins? What do they think will happen if I put the raisins into the sparkling water? Will they float, sink, or do something else?
Investigate: In small groups the children are given a clear glass of sparkling water. Each group drops 6-8 raisins into the glass. Pupils watch carefully and record what they see. Encourage the children to look closely at what happens first? Do the raisins stay at the bottom? What happens after a few moments? Do they keep moving? Get the children to draw and label what they observed. Bring the children back to discuss their observations and discuss the scientific explanation as to why the raisins appear to dance.
Take the next step: Encourage the children to extend their thinking by asking: Would the experiment work with grapes? Would it work with still water? What other small objects could we test? As an extension, the children can carry out a fair test by comparing sparkling water with still water and record the differences.
Conclusion: With the whole class, discuss the investigation. Discuss if predictions were correct, what we discovered today, what caused the raisins to move and what new scientific words did we learn.
I really like Karl’s lesson ‘Where do you live?’ The children in my class last year were using the i pads for free time and I found some of the children looking up their house on Google maps as they knew their Eircode. This showed me that children love finding things on maps and linking it to their own area creates great interest and learning.
Animals in the Cold (ESERO 7 Activity)
The children will explore how animal survive in very cold habitats, identify adaptations and carry out a simple investigation to discover how insulation keeps animals warm.
Engage: Display photos of Arctic and Antarctic environments and animals such as polar bears, penguins, seals, etc. Invite the children to think, pair and share: What do you notice about these places? How do you think these animals stay warm? What problems might animals face living in such cold conditions?
Investigate: How does insulation help animals stay warm? Ask the children to predict whether a layer of blubber will help keep a hand warmer in cold water.
Put the children into small groups getting to children to put their hand into a bowl of cold water. Then give the children Vaseline to put on their hand. Now get the children to place their hand into the cold water. Get the children to discuss how their hand felt when they placed it in the water in both occasions and discuss any other findings.
Take the next step: Pupils choose one Arctic or Antarctic animal and complete an adaption sheet including the name of the animal, habitat, diet, adaptions that help it survive, and label the drawing.
Conclusion: Bring the class together and review the investigation. Ask what did we discover about insulation? Why is blubber important? Can you name another adaptation animals use to survive in the cold?
I love your idea Michelle of giving the children a bit of creative freedom with science. Children love to be active in their learning and designing an alien is an excellent way of getting the children to learn about a planet. I found creating a lesson like this has actually made me aware of the conditions on Mars and what creatures could survive on Mars. This is an excellent way of integrating other subjects like Art, Music, Drama etc.
Space and Aliens – Make a Martian
Introduce the children to the planet Mars and its environment. Show the children photos of Mars and ask questions about what they notice . Discuss some facts about Mars – Red Planet, very cold, thin atmosphere, lots of rocks and dust, dust storms, very little water, etc.
Tell the children that they are going to become space scientists and their job is to invent a Martian that could survive on Mars. Discuss what a creature needs to survive on Mars.
Get the children to plan their Martian by drawing it first and then decide what art materials they will need to make their creature. Get the children to complete the sentence: My Martian has ________ because ________. E.g. My Martian has five eyes because dust storms make it hard to see.
Children present their Martian to the class and let the children ask questions. Prompt questions like would it survive on Earth?
Conclude activity with questions like What is Mars like? What does every living thing need? What is an adaptation?
I agree Claire with you that the song used in this course for the planets is a much better song than the song I would have previously used to teach the planets. I like your idea of integrating Art into the lesson when you the children to paint the planets and then sing along to the planet song to put the planets into the correct order.
What does the Moon look like?
Children will learn to observe and describe the appearance of the Moon and identify the four main phases of the moon.
Engage: Get the children to bring in photos, books or objects related to the Moon. Display these items in the classroom. On a large sheet draw a large Moon in the centre. Work together to create a Wordbank and record ideas in the Wordbank.
Investigate: Each child gets an observation sheet that they will record what the moon looks like each evening for four weeks. At the end of each week discuss what the children have found
Take the next step: At the end of the four week investigation gather all the children’s observations. Discuss the changes and introduce the idea that these changes are called the phases of the Moon. Teach the four main phases. Teach the Dance to the Phases of the Moon song
Conclusion: Display a selection of photos of the Moon showing the different stages. Get the children in pairs to sort the photographs and match each photo to the correct phase.
I really liked your idea Megan of designing a rocket. Children of all ages love making rockets and get very excited when doing so. This hands on approach makes learning fun and exciting. It is excellent for teamwork and problem solving. I got my Second Class to make a boat that would float last year and they really enjoyed doing it and learned so much from doing this activity.
Inquiry based activity for Second Class – Why do we have day and night. The children will look at how the Earths movement affects day and night.
Engage: Show the children pictures/videos of the Earth from Space. Ask questions about why is it daytime now? Is it daytime everywhere in the world? Where does the sun go at night?
Investigate: Put a torch in the center of the room turned on. Put the children into small groups and get them to use a globe to investigate using the following questions:
Which part of the Earth can see the Sun?
Which part is in darkness?
What happens when the Earth slowly turns?
Does the Sun move or does the Earth move?
Get the children to record their findings.
Take the next step: Bring the class together to explain that the Sun stays in the same place, the Earth rotates on its own axis once every 24 hours, the side facing the Sun is daytime, the side facing away from the sun is nighttime.
Conclusion: Return to the questions asked at the start of the lesson and get the groups to report back on their findings.