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The globe at night is a great website and resource. There are maps of the constellations, information on light pollution etc., and my favourite – Dark Skies Rangers Programme https://globeatnight.org/dark-skies-rangers/ a light pollution awareness programme with lots of resources and a completion cert as well.
The class can partake in the Globe at Night programme on a monthly basis, 10 days after the full moon, when the moon is not up and more than 1 hour after sunset (so in Ireland, that won’t be too late for the pupils in the winter months especially). The information being looked for is:
1. When
2. Where
3. Current constellation of the month & then the pupils select the chart that matches the visible constellation
4. sky conditions at time of observation – clear/cloudy etc.
5. sky quality (optional)
6. submit (and your data will be visible on a data map along with worldwide data )This could be run alongside the moon charting in the morning as both are nicely linked.
It could either be run as a class observation activity – which would be interesting to see how their observations develop and refine throughout the activity, or a group each month could be responsible for entering the data. If it was too big an ask to observe every month, I think that an autumn, winter, spring and summer viewing would open up conversation nicely and lots of comparisons could be made.Hi Louise,
That’s a great story about driving at night & the Americans. I reckon that could be said of an awful lot of rural places.
I had relations from mid-UK over a couple of years ago, we were driving home to Dublin late at night on the motorway & main roads and they were shocked at how much lighting there was. Like yourself, they reckoned that we should be using our car lights and not overhead lights at night. It wasn’t something that I had thought about until they pointed it out.
Plan to observe the Moon:
I love the moon – it’s such a peaceful object in the night sky, but I never thought about observing and mapping it during the day/morning.
We’ll be seeing a Super Moon on 18th September this year, that could be a very good jumpstart to the conversation about the moon and a launchpad for observation. From approx. 24th September, we could begin observing and noting the moon’s phases in the morning. This could be done as a first-thing activity in the morning when the pupils are lining up to come into the school and then different pupils keeping record when we enter the classroom. Discussion, observation and inference would increase as the Moon Chart gained more information.
Naming the Super Moon would lead me into questioning the pupils as to the why of the name, and then to looking at the orbit of the moon and seeing if there were other related names/positions.
As observation of the moon continued, we could identify the phases of the moon and again, investigate why the moon ‘changes’ – using torches, spheres and physical demonstrations.
But there is more to the moon – it has such a mystical presence throughout the years, that each new moon has a different name – these names can change depending on the country, religion or era (Harvest Moon, Wolf Moon….). This would be a nice side-investigation and would bring history and culture to the fore as well.
Hi Niamh,
I love the idea of looking at the stars from different cities. It could be used as a group, pair or even an individual exercise, depending on your class. I also like that there is peer teaching happening as they tell the class what is going on in the sky in their part of the world.
In the paper ‘Unravelling STEM’, there were a couple sentences that really spoke to me:
‘Engineering is the glue that integrates science, mathematics and technology and forces them towards workable solutions.’ For me, this is very encouraging, as in the senior classes, construction, design, hands-on, concrete learning can often be left aside in favour of book/rote learning. Challenging the pupils to solve real-world problems gives them a sense of purpose and also allows for many different answers/solutions‘Technology is anything that is made by human and used to solve a problem.’ A paperclip, a door stop, a biro the wheel – these everyday items become elevated. They had to be thought about, constructed, trialed, etc., but now that we use them everyday, we don’t even give them a thought. This Technology statement, frees the pupils to think small in order to be able to think big. It encourages them to observe, to see needs, to come up with solutions and to keep thinking.
For my assignment, I intend to construct a sundial with my class in the coming year.
I like this activity as it incorporates history, practicality, maths, construction and teamwork.
We have a very small garden that could possibly be used – so after looking at time keeping through the ages and discussing the possibility of an apocalyptic world with no electricity (it’s all over the tv nowadays – earth disasters/zombies etc.) The pupils could group up and look at how and where we could design a sundial in our school.
They would need to ascertain the direction that the garden faces and allow for the trees and walls etc. that will block their shadows (this they will find out through trial and error – I won’t be telling them) or maybe they will decide upon the paper design from the video.
Back in class they will present their ideas to the class who could suggest further ideas or note an issue.
For the next lesson – the pupils will need to work on the nuts and bolts of construction – what do they need? paper? glue? stones? chalk? and what time frame do they need to construct it (allowing for trial and error)
Then they can view each of the other sun dials and as a follow up to their own construction – they could note 2 things that went well for them and 1 thing that they would change the next time.Hi Valerie,
Yes, I immediately liked the idea of making the planet tubes when I read the assignments. The integration is quite wide, you’ve got measurements as well as science etc. I wonder if the groups could decide how to decorate their tubes… paint, drawing, paper pulp, fabric & fibre or…?
I really like your ideas of adding 2 pieces of information on each tube and then presenting them at an assembly. I’ll probably steal those! Thank you.
Thank you – you found it. 🙂
It was my second attempt and I was crying at the thought of typing it up a third time!
Wow, what a great selection of great activities and resources! And all of them are very do-able with infants, even in our large Irish classes.
I’m looking at the Sun Activities, in particular the ‘What Makes Shadows’ section.
We could start outside, if it’s a sunny day and play Shadow Games.
Don’t Step on My Shadow – the boys run around trying not to get stepped on.
Then there’s Shadow Tag: this is where a child is caught if another child steps/stomps on his shadow. He then has to freeze and hold his hands up in the air. To be freed, a friend must either release him by pushing his arms down or if the boys are able – they can try to use their shadow-selves to do it.
After all of that activity, the boys could either go indoors or stay outdoors and discuss what was happening. What did they notice? (if anything) Why do we have shadows? Are they always there? Are they always the same size? How do we make them go away? Do they need food/sleep? Do plants or animals or buildings or other things have them? What makes the shadow? Why?
If outdoors: draw around your shadow. Can you change it? Can you go somewhere your shadow can’t? Go out at a different time, is your shadow still the same? Why/Why not?
When Indoors: Ask the boys how they can make shadows when they are indoors. Again explore changing size and shape once they have figured out how to do it.
Play ‘The Day I Met my Shadow’ for the class. Discuss the book in light of their investigations.
Give out compare bears and/farm animals/trees etc. and ask each group to make a small scene. Then give them a torch and ask them to create different shadows – long, short, in front, behind, tiny….
To finish the class off, depending on how the session went and the boys’ level of understanding/energy, I would show either ‘The Day I Met my Shadow?’ or one of the two stories.
Extension:
Shadow heads: Draw around each boy’s shadow head. Can the boys guess whose head is whose?
Videos/Books:
MoonBear’s Shadow: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=eP__dfb6Yh0
The Day I Met My Shadow: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=8L52xSUtJNg
What Makes a Shadow?: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=mdW7xyH7mXs
Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=u1aJimzuzbg&t=117s
Frances,
I submitted my piece about Shadows about 10/15 minutes ago, but I think it has disappeared into the ether…
<span style=”caret-color: #163c42; color: #163c42; font-family: ‘Hind Madurai’, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”>Hi Katie,</span>
<span style=”color: #163c42; font-family: Hind Madurai, sans-serif;”><span style=”caret-color: #163c42; font-size: 12px;”>I like the way you have incorporated such a variety into your Moon theme. I particularly like the cultural aspect to it. My boys love to listen to a story before hometime, so a Moon themed set would be perfect for the week I was teaching that topic. </span></span>
<span style=”color: #163c42; font-family: Hind Madurai, sans-serif;”><span style=”caret-color: #163c42; font-size: 12px;”>Aistear would indeed lend itself very nicely to this theme too – role play, lists of what the astronauts might take with them – design a space-suit/space rocket. Making a tactile moon using sand/playdough/fabric/found objects would really fire up some of the boys’ imaginations. </span></span>
Hi Aoife,
The bridge designing activity is a great one. There is an awful lot to it and it can be made as long or as short, as deep or as fleeting as you want. It’s nice to begin by looking at bridges around the world (as I once heard the term, you are giving them ‘tools to put in their backpack’ – you are giving them a springboard from which they can come up with their own ideas)
I also like how you have catered for the group that finishes first by adding a further challenge
Hi,
My name is Rachel. I have been teaching infant boys for the past few years.
My favourite fact is that is rains diamonds on Neptune and Uranus (or is thought to at least). One of my boys taught me this.
We have a giant space/planets jigsaw in class and it is a great source of conversation and discovers as they groups make it up throughout the year.
One of my favourite inquiry-based activities to do with the boys is to get them to find somewhere in the classroom where their frozen ice-filled rubber glove will melt the slowest/fastest.
They talk about what might affect the outcome, look/search around the room for ideas and then as a group, they place their frozen rubber glove.
Once the gloves have all been placed, they then try to predict which ice-glove will melt the slowest.
As the day progresses, we keep a check on the gloves and maybe, update our predictions.
At the end of the day, they suggest why each glove melted as quickly/slowly as it did and possibly then suggest a better place.