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Weekly Plan for Space Week – 1st/2nd class
Set up an area in the classroom to display all space week vocabulary, story books and art work.
Monday: Begin the week by recapping on the names of the planets using the planets song. Design a Martian in a 3-d form using playdough/clay. Examine images of Mars.
Tuesday: Shadows: free play outside with shadows at 10am,12 noon and 2pm observing the differences throughout the day.
Wednesday: Lots and lots of stars. Investigate stars and constellations. Create pictures of starry night using paint and toothbrushes to create copious amounts of stars. Discuss. Listen to Vincent(Starry Starry night) by Don McClean/Reach for the Stars by S Club Seven.
Thursday: Create Alien Slime: by mixing fragranced shampoo and cornflour together to create a consistency that is neither a solid or liquid.
Friday: Rockets: Engage with a picture of a rocket. Explore a variety of materials and plan a design to make a rocket. Check to see if the rockets work ,exploring changing forces and show their creations to the class.
The resources on spaceweek.ie/resources for teachers are endless. Book suggestions, song/poem suggestions, art activities will lead to a fun filled space week in any classroom.Activity – Where do you live?
We would begin the lesson looking at a powerpoint presentation on different types of homes around the world. We would pinpoint the countries on the globe. Next I would ask the children to describe in detail their homes naming their features. Then I hand out worksheet 5 and ask the children to circle and colour in the house that looks most like the house they live in. We could discuss other homes and amenities in their community.
I would explain that they’re going to make a model of their home using modelling clay. Encouraging the children to express as many features possible from their own house.
Finally group all the homes and explain they have made an entire village. Discuss what amenities may be missing – schools,shops etc. Encourage them to design the models of missing buildings.
Books that could be read are Let’s Build a House – Mick Manning, Building a Home -Polly Faber/Klas Fahlen, Iggy Peck, Architect -Andrea Beaty.
Follow up activity:
Invite parents/past pupils(architect/quantity surveyor) to talk to the children about designing homes/buildingsThe activity I would choose from this module is Special Life – Life in space. The learning outcomes will investigate the possibility of alien life in space, followed by a discussion on what they find special about living on Earth. Exploration of life on earth and what they would like to show visitors from other planets could prove interesting and further develop their appreciation of our planet. Incorporating art and drama by asking the children to sketch/draw special animals or objects on earth and acting out their messages. Following on with discussion how successful the enactment was. Was it easier to act out their special object?
A follow on lesson from this I would introduce is from the Mars Classroom resource booklet. Investigating and designing a 3D Martian using clay and a variety of materials would be appropriate for 1st/2nd class. To conclude we would determine that no-one has found any real aliens yet, so we don’t know if they exist or what they look like.The activity I would choose from this module is What does the moon look like? (Journey to the Moon) There are a vast range of learning outcomes in this lesson. The children are learning to work together, learning to move to music, learning to listen to rhythm and music and recognising the four phases of the Moon. It integrates with other curricular subjects (Music and Literacy). I like the idea of setting up a display table based on the Moon. Developing a word bank would enhance the children’s scientific vocabulary. The hands on activity of observing and recording the phases of the moon each night is stimulating and makes the children more aware of the stages of the Moon. I think this homework task would prove enjoyable and interesting. Introducing the dance to the phases of the Moon sounds like fun. Recording and evaluating their results worksheet template is interesting and easy to follow instructions for this age group. Reading the story Moon Man? by Tomi Ungerer would be a relaxing end of day activity.
The inquiry based lesson I plan to introduce is the Glitter Germ Experiment. It helps children to actually be able to see the ‘germs’ and give them a more concrete understanding of how handwashing and germ prevention work. Younger children can find it difficult to understand that germs are everywhere! Only four ingredients are required to explore how germs work. We want to emphasise that even though we can’t see them, they’re everywhere. A shallow dish, water, blue washing up liquid and gold glitter. Pour water into the dish almost to the edge. Sprinkle glitter generously over the surface. Squirt liquid directly into a mass of glitter. The children will see when liquid soap is added to the water the germs(glitter) moves away. The more soap the faster the reaction. The children could also coat a finger in soap and try to touch the ‘germs’. A follow up activity could be to read a book on the importance of handwashing and practice good handwashing. I think this would be an extremely worthwhile activity, particularly with younger classes!
