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Activity to teach about the Spherical Earth in Senior Infants. I would integrate this lesson in with 3d shapes in maths. First of all I would ask the children to make their own Earth using playdoh. We would then have a conversation about Earth being the same shape as the 3d shapes we are learning about a sphere. We would look at a globe and notice that is like a ball, we would find Ireland on the globe and compare it to our flat map of Ireland. I would use our breakfast club and give each child a small orange to hold, touch and discuss. We would find other spherical items in the class. I would drop the orange on the ground to explain to the children that even though the earth is round, gravity keeps us on the ground.
I love the idea of using the Oreos to teach about the moon. This sounds like a brilliant, engaging lesson.
There are several different ways I have used hands on learning and inquiry based learning to teach space in Senior Infants. One of the lessons children really enjoy is learning about the first man on the moon. I show them a clip on youtube of the moonlanding. Our school is very close to the town park where there is a walkway called the Neil Armstrong way so we normally go down here and imagine what it would have been like to take steps on the moon. We have also used toilet roll tubes, bottle tops and foil to make rockets and to tie in with maths use 2d shapes to make rockets. I also find that a role play area in the classroom is a great way to get children interested in space. We purchased a set of Space helmets that we get great use out of between the various classes but particularly the infants up to 2nd class. Space is a lovely topic that can be taught with lovely hands on inquiry based learning.
Hi, My name is Sarah, teaching Senior Infants this year and looking forward to getting some tips and tricks on teaching about space. My favourite space fact is that Saturn would likely float in water because of its density.
I would introduce this by showing the children 2 images on the interactive board – one of a star filled dark sky and another one of a city sky with very little stars. We will discuss what we see and I will introduce the term ‘Dark Sky Place’ and how we can protect the dark skies by reducing unnecessary lighting. We will do an investigation into light pollution, where we put a flashlight inside a darkened container, which has star stickers on it. We will observe what happened when the light was on, compared with the light off. In groups we will design our school’s Dark Sky Place. The students will think of a suitable location and what features should it include, for example, minimal lighting, seating, star observation area. As a whole class we would discuss how will it help nocturnal animals if we created this space in our school and what kind of actions do we need to do, as a school to reduce our light pollution. The children will then reflect on our lesson by doing Think-Pair-Share on what we have learned today.
I feel there are lots of opportunities for this topic in our school as we live next to a National Park. First, I would introduce this topic by showing different images of light pollution around Ireland. As a whole class we could brainstorm ideas on how we could reduce the effects of light pollution in our local area. I would then go on a Nature walk around the school grounds. The children can have a sort of checklist to note any animals or plants they have observed in the area. We have previously used Google Lens, so the children could use this again back in the classroom to look up information on what things they have seen. Following on from this, we can have a discussion on the local animal habitats and look at nocturnal animals. This would then lead to the effects light pollution have on our local biodiversity. As a group we can come up with ways to reduce light pollution in our home or school.
I love the idea of interviewing the caretaker! The students would love that and I’m sure the caretaker would be happy to take part.
I would begin this topic by reading to my class ‘How to Catch a Star’ to engage the class. I will also put on ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ for the children. After this I will show various images of the sun, moon, a torch, street lights, lights from a house, etc. We will sort these images into natural lights and people made lights. We will then do the Star Jar experiment, where you have a clear plastic container with star sticker inside it. The children will count the stars in the container and then shine a torch into the container and count the stars again. I will question them – was it easier or harder to see the stars?, what happened when we shone the torch? On the interactive whiteboard I will show various images of different scenes at night time, e.g. street lights, curtain closed, stars in the sky, a house with outdoor lighting, a lamp switched off. We will become light pollution helpers and sort out these images into helping to make the sky brighter or helping the night sky.
I was unaware of this website but I am excited to use it going forward. We would explore the Solar System with Worldwide Telescope with my class. I would introduce the topic by showing them images of different planets and putting questions to them, for example, which planet is the largest, which planet do you think is the hottest/coldest, which planet would you like to visit, etc. We will take a look at the different planets using the Worldwide Telescope and discuss any observations. The students can record any facts or observations they notice about each planet we see. In pairs the students will choose a planet to investigate. As a whole class we can compare and classify the information we have gathered to create class chart and sort the planets into groups. As an extra activity the students can design a poster with their chosen planet and all the information they have gathered today.
I think the older classes would find this resource particularly useful and I’m sure would be able to do more with it than me!
Sounds like a lovely and engaging lesson for the students. I like the way you have incorporated the new school into it too. This will add another element of excitement for them.
I would begin this topic I would show the class pictures of Earth and Mars and ask questions such as, “Would we weigh the same on another planet?”, “Why can’t we float off Earth?”, etc. This would spark the children to share their own ideas and make predictions before we completed our investigation. In our groups I would get the children to create their Earth tube and they choose another planet. They can investigate their chosen planet more and decorate their tube according to their findings. We can discuss and compare their two planets on how gravity differs between them. We would look at ‘ESERO 68: How much do you weigh on other celestial objects?’ and discuss our findings. Each group can present their plants and their findings how gravity affects weight on their chosen planet.