[Sharon Mulvehill]

Dancing raisins is a lovely simple experiment that I will try this  year for Science week. Last year my class enjoyed experiments involving reactions with vinegar and baking soda. The children made lava lamps, self inflating balloons and volcanoes.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Theme : Space and Rockets
Space Week: 1st and 2nd Class Level

Introduction
Show the children pictures and videos of different rocket launches.
Poem ‘I’m building a rocket’ by Kenn Nesbitt

Discussion
Why do rockets go up? (discuss vocabulary such as force, launch, gravity push, pull, thrust)
Play the recording of Apollo 11 moonwalk. Discuss the Astronauts: How were they feeling? Clothes they were wearing.

Conclusion: discussion and recap on new vocabulary.

Art
Design and make a rocket from recycled material.
Activity: Balloon Rockets
Use of Milo and Marvins cartoon strip on balloon rockets. Discuss the steps involved in designing and making a balloon rocket.

Blow up a balloon and ask a child to let it go. Children notice what happens.
The air coming out pushes the balloon forward.
Pull string through a drinking straw. Tie string to two chairs and pull tight. Connect long balloon to straw. Blow up balloon and ask different children to release. Discuss what happens.

Activity
Mouse Rocket.
Children would enjoy designing their mouse template .
Launch the mouse rockets out on the school yard and measure how far they travel

[Sharon Mulvehill]

I like the idea of including discussion about what makes a community. Such a good idea to focus on what facilities the children would choose for their local community.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Science Skills- Where do you live? Hands on activties for 1st class.
Resources: ESERO 5. Pictures of different homes. Recyclable materials to make various homes. Crayons and paper to design. Worksheet to label.

Introduction
Homes and shelter. Why do we need a home?
Show pictures and labels of differnt types of homes. Children work as a group to correctly label the pictures.
Class discussion.
Talk about the different rooms in a home. Homes common in the city. Difference with homes in the countryside etc. Advantages/ disadvantages to city life/ country life.

Draw their own home
The children draw their own home. Teacher labels to stick on pictures include vocabulary roof, windows, door, garden.
Children must write a few sentences underneath. I live in the country/ town. My house is ——-. My favourite room is _________.

Construct their home using cardboard and other recycled materials. (collected over the course of the week)
Children then draw on the windows and doors.

Conclusion
The children display their houses for the classroom and play guess the home.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Michelle I loved your idea of the children picking something special  to show their alien. Acting out and guessing what each classmate picked  also would be great fun and make the lesson more meaningful.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Activity set: Space and Aliens.
What a great topic. I think the children would be instantly captivated.
Introduction: Picture Book ‘ The Way back Home’ by Oliver Jeffers.
Discussion on life on earth. What conditions we need to live on earth.
Conditions on Mars. Is it hot or cold….How do animals on Earth differ in hot places/cold places.
Observe pictures of Mars on google Mars and study of pictures.
Investigation: What would a Martian look like?
What would an alien need to cope with the dust storms on Mars..
How would it cope with the big fluctuations in temperatures.
Think pair/ share with your partner,
Design and draw an alien on Mars.
Use of modelling clay and various materials to make a 3D Martian.
Present to the class, explaining the functions of the features of your alien.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Sounds like great fun. I like how you included the prediction of length and measuring of shadows. A great lesson to integrate with measurement in maths. Puppets a fun conclusion also.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Activity set: The sun and shadows.
Junior/ Senior Infants

Introduction: Read the book ‘What Makes a Shadow’

Questioning: What do you need to make a shadow?

Activities:
Go outside on a sunny day. Children work in pairs to draw around their shadows with chalk.
Children go on a shadow hunt and find shadows made by other objects.

Classroom discussion:
1. What does your shadow look like?
2. How do you think shadows are formed?

Classroom activity
Set up group activities with children using lamps and various objects to make shadows.
Draw pictures of the shadows and colour in black.
Questioning: Does the shadow change it’s position if you shine the torch from a different angle.

Conclusion: children should explain their understanding of shadows.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Hi Alison,

This lesson sounds like great fun and also something very different. I will use with my class next year. Anything with teddies and a bit of adventure goes down well.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

An inquiry based activity I have done is with 2nd class. Our topic was Irish seals.
As part of learning about Irish seals we explored how seals stay warm in the cold Irish waters.
Lesson: What is insulation?

I introduced the lesson by letting children choose the best clothes for keeping us warm in winter. Each child came up and picked an item of clothing from the basket and explained why it good to wear in cold weather. Examples to choose from gloves, snow boots, hat etc.

Experiment: Melting Ice experiment
Learning outcome: The children will learn which materials are the best insulators.

Question: which materials will best slow down the ice cube from melting.
Materials plastic cups, ice cubes, a timer. Materials: wooly hat, bubble wrap, newspaper etc.
Steps.
1.Wrap one material around each cup . Leave one cup with no material as the test cup.
2. Place one ice cube in each cup.
3. Start the timer, observe and record every 5 minutes.
4. Analyse the results. Which material was the best/ worst insulator.

[Sharon Mulvehill]

Hi there. My name is Sharon Mulvehill. Currently teaching 1st class. Looking forward to getting some ideas for school especially for Science week. Fun space fact : Sound does not travel in space. Space is silent!

[Author]

Posts