Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Activity set – Space and Aliens
Introduction: Story – Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman.
1. Wax Crayon Painting
Needed: paper, white wax crayons, watery paint, paint brushes.
Children draw an alien from the story using white wax crayons. Ensure they press hard with white crayons while drawing, chunky white crayons work best.
Talk about what the children notice, can they see their drawings? …..explain its difficult to see as both paper and crayons are white.
Now do some magic painting to make their drawings appear.
Children paint over the top of their drawings with watery paint.
Why can they see their picture now?…….Watery paint won’t stick to the wax from the crayon.
2. Flying Alien
Needed: green balloons, markers, toilet roll, sellotape.
Draw an alien face on the (uninflated) balloons using the markers.
Blow up the balloons but do not tie them.
Using the sellotape attach some toilet roll to the slimmer end of the balloon to make a tail.
Let go of the balloon and watch your alien whizz around the room.
3. Grow a Balloon Alien
Needed: bottle, vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, balloon, marker.
Before beginning, blow up a balloon. Pinch the end closed and use a marker to draw an alien face on the balloon and then let out the air. This will make the balloon easier to inflate when doing the experiment.
Place two tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda into the bottle.
Add 200ml of vinegar.
Immediately place the balloon over the mouth of the bottle and hold tightly.
Watch the alien grow as the balloon fills with gas.
If the reaction is slowing down, give the bottle a little shake to mix the ingredients together.
Carefully remove the balloon and tie it.Introduction: To view day and night in the context of the Earth spinning on its axis.
Needed: a balloon (inflated), string, paper, pen, scissors, torch.
Draw the shape of Ireland onto paper and cut it out.
Tie the balloon so it is free hanging.
Place the picture of Ireland on the balloon in its approximate global position.
Shine the torch onto one side of the balloon.
Slowly turn the balloon.
Try holding the balloon to show these times: midnight, sunrise, midday, sunset.Exploring size – Earth, Sun, and Moon.
If the Sun and moon are different in size, why do they appear to be the same size in the sky?
Needed: A tennis ball (moon); A Basketball (sun); Outside space.
Allocate roles to the children.
One person to be the moon, one the sun and one the Earth.
The Earth will stand in front of the moon (holding the tennis ball) and the sun (holding the basketball).
The Earth will ask the sun to move backwards until it appears to be the same size as the moon.
Swap roles so everyone has a turn at each position.My name is Sinéad and I will be teaching Junior Infants in September.
An interesting fact about space…..Mars has dust storms. Often called the red planet, huge dust storms can last for months and make it hard to see the surface.
An inquiry-based activity……. I’ve tried this experiment a couple of times and its very effective ……How to grow a rainbow – science experiment.
Needed: Kitchen roll/paper towel • Markers • Two small bowls of water • Paperclip • Thread
Cut the kitchen roll into the shape of a rainbow. At each end, use markers to colour a rainbow about 2cm up from the bottom…..red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Attach the paperclip to the top of the rainbow and tie a piece of thread to it. This will allow you to hold your rainbow. Add water to the two bowls. Hold the rainbow with both ends slightly submerged into each bowl of water and watch your rainbow grow.
Explanation: The fibres in kitchen roll have lots of little holes. Water is absorbed through the kitchen roll because when the first water molecule adheres to it and begins to move upward, it pulls the next water molecule up with it, like a chain. This same action is how water moves up into plants from the roots.
