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A really clear and succinct breakdown of how to teach rockets in a way the extends the learning each time. Once all teachers are ware of the plan, they can access prior learning more effectively and build on the learning more playfully. Thanks for sharing!
Choose one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module – How would you use the activity in your classroom? or consolidate your experiences and action plans in the course by creating a class plan to engage with Space Week.
I have used Chris Hadfield’s ‘The Darkest Dark’ with my first class and it was a joy to watch their enthusiasm and interest grow. There is a wealth of videos of Chris discussing Space and performing various experiments on YouTube. These are all done using child-friendly language and Chris is a character! I would highly recommend this as an introduction to the general topic of space/astronauts.
Any science experiments are a sure bet in primary school. I would use Marvin and Milo to access the balloon/penny rocket experiments with my class. We would read the comic, make predictions and carry out our own investigation. Posing a starter question is a great way to increase motivation. We could display the question on our window, assign a discussion for homework, and then complete the investigation the following day. Paper aeroplane making is a great extension to this.
Great ideas here! The weather is something we see and discuss daily (especially in Ireland :’) So it’s great to have some solid playful lessons and activities we can use. It’s also a handy one for integration as Ghaeilge.
Making a topic like Space hands-on is a real challenge. Unfortunately, we cannot bring our children into space to have a nosey around. They cannot touch, smell, taste, hear or see ‘Space’. This makes it difficult to teach. The hands-on classroom activities outlined in this module are therefore a useful resource for teachers going forward.
I teach first class and some activities I look forward to using in my classroom are:
The Marvin and Milo collection. Making it personal and familiar with the use of repeated characters will definitely increase motivation, engagement and play. It also uses a medium of reading that children don’t get exposed to enough – comics. Automatic interest generator.
Astronomy picture of the day is a fantastic idea. It will ensure we are improving our oral language with discussion and allow us to revisit the topic of Space as and when needed.
Stellarium is such a rich resource. I found teaching cardinal direction so tricky with 3rd class two years ago. We were repeating “rises in the east, sets in the west” but I found it hard to find a video that showed this clearly. I will definitely be using this (alongside my globe & torch!)Great use of the tough tray and making the lesson playful! It takes away the time pressure of stand-alone lessons and ensures children have more time to explore the topic if they wish. Thanks for sharing!
I would use the Stars activity set in my classroom. I teach first class and am always trying to think of ways to make learning playful, engaging and fun. This activity is inherently playful and provides scope for integration with subjects such as drama, art and literacy.
I would begin the topic through the medium of art. We would look at Van Gogh’s starry night painting and try to guess how many stars there are. We would recreate this painting in our own way with paint. I would ask children to look out on a clear night and try to count how many stars they can see.
I would then show them some real-life photographs of the stars taken by telescope. We would again discuss the amount of stars we can see.
As part of our reflection, I would show the children the videos on how many stars there are in the sky. They love a bit of closure on our open-ended/investigative discussions!
If children were interested in more, I would bring in the idea of constellations. We would try to pick out patterns in a starry sky image ourselves first; “Can anyone trace the dots to make a picture?” I would provide them with a print out of the stars to allow them to have a go at tracing them.
I would then show them a few examples of constellations that can be seen from Ireland at the moment. We would spend time listening to the stories of the constellations. I would challenge them to go out at night and have a look for one.
I would bring in marshmallows and toothpicks. We would spend time trying to recreate some constellations or make our own (before eating up our sweet stars afterwards).I think bringing in some aspect of our own lives can make learning much more enjoyable for children. Bringing in photographs is a great way to increase interest and motivation. Thanks for sharing!
I would choose the Spherical Earth Activity. I teach first class so I would aim to make this a very playful activity with lots of oral discussion.
The use of puppets would be effective here, as the children could interact with the puppet on north/south pole and ask it questions.
The puppet could bring in photographs of their home, they could map routes on the globe for how to visit the puppet.
Then I would introduce the toy ship/airplane to show them how to travel to north/south pole.
I would use the puppets to investigate the idea of ‘up/down’ with the children, rotating the globe as needed to explore how both puppets feel they are standing upright.
I would also bring in photographs of my own recent trip to New Zealand to explore how things look when you are on the other side of the globe.Thanks for sharing that brilliant lesson idea. It sounds very hands-on and exciting for the children. I sometimes find people can shy away from water-based activities for fear of a mess, but I think we underestimate children at times – I know I’ve never had a problem with water play.
Hi everyone, my name is Sinéad. I teach first class and I have always had an interest in space. When I was younger we had a telescope and I used to be fascinated with the moon and its craters. My favourite space fact is the one about Jupiter’s storm. It had been in existence for years and continues to circle the planet. It is the spot you can see in pictures of Jupiter – so I can only imagine how big it is!
One inquiry-based lesson I would enjoy implementing in my classroom would be how light travels through various surfaces – opaque, translucent and transparent. Using torches and classroom materials the children can explore how light travels and if you provide mirrors/coloured plastics the learning becomes even more exciting.
