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Light pollution is increasingly affecting my local area, washing out the natural darkness of the night sky. Once-visible stars have faded, replaced by the constant glare of streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated buildings. This artificial brightness not only disrupts the natural sleep cycles of residents but also confuses wildlife, such as birds and insects, that rely on darkness for navigation and survival. The loss of our night sky means fewer opportunities to connect with nature and experience the quiet wonder of the stars.
To engage infants in exploring this concept, I would focus on sensory-rich experiences. Using soft lighting and contrast play, I’d help them explore the difference between light and dark through shadow play and reflective objects. Gentle songs about the moon and stars, nighttime storybooks, and walks at dusk would begin to build awareness of natural rhythms. These early experiences lay the foundation for a lifelong connection to the natural world.Hi Dennis
I think that this is great example of effective use of chat GPT in lessons. I also like the integration of different subjects within the lesson!
Activity 4: Star constellations
Engage: I would begin the lesson in a dim room with a flashlight showing constellations. I would sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” with my infants and encourage them to look and point.
Explore: I would provide black paper and white/yellow paint. I would guide my infants in finger-dabbing dots (stars).
Investigate: The children would then investigate the different star constellations they could make using wool to join each of their dots (stars) together
Interpreting data/results: The children will share all of the constellations they made with the class- It looks like …. (an animal /person/ thing).
Applying learning: I would create felt boards with pre-made constellation shapes. I would allow my infants to explore by sticking and removing stars, connecting them with wool (in groups, adult-assisted)
Task 3
Infants:
To help my infant class observe and record the sun’s position, over several days, I would bring my class outside at two key times: morning, and midday. I would mark a safe observation spot and use a simple sun dial to show shadow changes.
Following this, I would use some storytelling: “Let’s follow Sunny the Sun on its journey!” I would ask the children to notice where Sunny is in the sky and how shadows change. I would then record positions using drawings on the whiteboard. The children would copy my drawing – a sun low on the left in the morning and high at noon,. They would then colour their drawings.
I would engage them with songs about the sun, and use a wall chart to place stickers for each observation time.
Hi Collette
I really like this plan that you have created. It addresses the theme of Space from many different angles and is very engaging for children.
I have used the Aliens in Underpants story as a stimulant in a lesson before and my class really liked it. It really grabbed their attention from the beginning of the science lesson. We then moved onto looking at the absorption of different materials through the inquiry based approach. The children made washing lines with underpants on the washing line. All of the underpants had to be the same size to make it a fair test. They dipped each of the underpants in water for 2 seconds and observed how long it took for the water to stop dripping from each of the underpants. From this, they then identified which material is best for making underpants. This lesson turned out to be a huge success in my classroom.
I really like the rocket mice activity outlined in this module. Making rockets in infants has always been something I have avoided due to uncertainty about how to do it safely and productively. I think it would be a great addition to my Aistear stations during Science week in future.
Hi Suzy
This sounds like a lovely lesson. I like how you have incorporated different strands from different curricular areas in one lesson, particularly music and art. This integration would enable the lesson to be very engaging for the children that you are teaching.
An activity that I would like to use in my classroom would be the ESERO5 activity- Where do you live? Before engaging the children in my classroom in this activity I think it would be important for me to develop the children’s descriptive language, considering i teach infants. In order to do this I could use a storybook. A storybook that I could use could be ‘If I built a house’ by Chris Van Dusen. Discussion about this book could stimulate the children’s thinking about the different features of their house and therefore develop their descriptive language in discussing their homes. Following dicussion about their homes the children would use playdough to build their home. They would then progress onto making a village and having discussions about what a village is and what makes a village. I believe that the children in my classroom would love this lesson as they love storybooks and playdough.
Hi Carol
This seems like it would be a really nice lesson to teach in the classroom. I really like how you have outlined each of the steps of the curious minds/ESERO inquiry framework in explaining how you would make use of the space and aliens activity set.
An Activity set that I would be interested in exploring in my classroom is the Stars set. An activity that particularly interests me in this set is the star constellation activity from Space Week. I would use this activity at the end of a lesson, following some investigation based on stars using the curious minds/ESERO inquiry framework. I would use this activity to conclude a lesson based on stars as I believe that it would encourage children to reflect. It would encourage children to reflect as it would promote quite a lot of discussion. It would promote discussion as in this activity the children would have to explain the different patterns they can identify in the same constellation. In this way it would tie a lesson together quite nicely as it would stimulate childrens imagination. The children would have to use their imagination to identify different shapes within the same constellation.
Hi Saoirse
That sounds like a really nice lesson! I like the range of resources you have incorporated in the lesson to keep the children engaged.
An Activity set that I would explore in my classroom is the Sun and Shadows set as plenty of learning opportunities can be created using this set.
A focus that I could explore using this set is how shadows are formed. This focus could be explored using the curious minds/ESERO inquiry framework as outlined below
Engage:
Trigger- showing the children a video of shadows around the world
Wondering- I wonder how those shadows are created…I wonder what your shadows will look like… Why?
Exploring- The children would go outside to see if they can create shadows of themselves
Investigate:
Starter Question- how are shadows created?
Predict- the children would discuss how they might be able to create shadows and draw images to display their predictions
Conducting investigation- The children will stand in a position that allows them to create a shadow of themselves. They will draw eachothers shadows using chalk
Interpreting and showing results and data- I would facilitate a whole-class discussion on the position that the children had to stand in to find their shadows( back to the direction of the Sun).
Applying/making connection: shadow art in the yard
Hi Laura
I have taught this lesson before too and it worked really well. I like the idea of using ipads to share results. I will definitely try it again in the future using the ipads.
An Inquiry-based lesson for my Infant class:
Strand: Energy and Forces
Strand Unit: Forces
Curriculum Objective: investigate how forces act on objects through grouping objects that float or sink
Skills Development:Questioning, Investigating, Experimenting
Engage:
Trigger- Read aloud: Who sank the boat? Pamela Allen
Wondering- Q+A: I wonder why the boat sank….
Exploring- Discussion about boats and what they can be made from.
Investigate:
Starter Question- Which materials are best for making a boat?
Predicting- The children could discuss and record their predictions through drawing pictures of the materials presented to them
Conducting investigation- the children could test their predictions in groups using basins of water and placing the materials in the water to see if they float or sink in water
Sharing and Interpreting results- the children could share their results through pictograms. The teacher would record an overall pictogram on the board to identify the best material to make a boat.
Applying learning:
Design and make a boat in aistear
