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Activity Set: Rockets lesson idea for Senior Infants.
I would envisage using this lesson following on from work related to the Activity sets based on planets and the Moon. I would also cover the Story of Neil Armstrong in SESE:History and complete some work in Drama related to his story before starting this lesson.
To engage the children at the beginning of the lesson, I would display my NASA Saturn V rocket poster on the board and also show the children a video clip of the rocket launch as the stimulus to get the children talking and wondering. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViNcBQ8cDA0
We could discuss rockets their shapes and sizes, explore different types of rockets, all the time encouraging children to make observations, ask wondering questions and discuss and share their ideas with the class. I feel it is very important for the children to lead this area, and I would follow their lead with my questioning or prompting. Could we make our own rockets and launch them in the classroom?
I would allow children to explore in small groups the materials available and see what ideas they could come up with first. Next I would teach the children how to make a Mouse Rocket https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKCT2L3DjA&t=26s or the Balloon rockets from https://spark.iop.org/balloon-rocket (depending on the fine motor skills of the class!) I would encourage the children to explore how the rocket is launch and see what wondering questions they come up with.
For the investigation our starter question may be- Does the rocket travel further if I push harder/ blow the balloon bigger? Children will share their predictions in their group as the teacher circulates the class and engages with the different groups. Next the children will carry out their investigation. Teacher will use prompting to help children decide if their test is fair. the children may use whiteboards and marker to collect their Data. Afterwards they will discuss and interpret their data before sharing their finding with the class.We will then compare the finding with the predictions made.
When completing of next PE lesson on throwing, we could use the foam javelins and see if the children can make connections and apply their learning from the rockets to how the javelin travel the furthest.
Hi Christine,
This is a fabulous well structured plan, I love how you set a theme for each day and included the links to the teaching lesson/ideas from the resources.
How I would use this online tools as a teacher.
https://stellarium-web.org/
This is a fantastic online tool, the graphics are amazing, and the subject matter is breathtaking for kids especially those with an interest in space, however, I feel it would be best used in a teacher lead manner in the infant classroom. I would use this lesson after introduction lessons to the stars have been completed. We can view the stars above our town and let the children spot the patterns and families of stars they think they can see. They make draw the shapes on their whiteboards. We could then view the constellations patterns on screen and see did any of the children find similar shape patterns. Afterwards we could investigate if the night sky on the opposite side of the world has the same star families.https://spark.iop.org/collections/marvin-and-milo
Milo and Marvin resources are in great abundance here which plenty of easy, simple, experiments the children could explore.They are very child friendly with bright appealing characters. I think I will try a few of these out next year during Science Week. It is also a nice way for parents to get involved with Science investigations at home.https://www.esa.int/kids/en/home
https://www.esa.int/Education/Teachers_Corner/Primary_classroom_resourcesThere are fantastic space related art and crafts lesson ideas to be found across the esa kids page. The first thing I noted was the ‘A Ride to Space’ art competition which I know my children would love to take part in. I could use the site to explore rockets and their design before embarking on a design and make a rocket lesson with the class. I think the ‘At home with Paxi’ link is simply fantastic and can allow further learning for children with a keen interest in space related topics. There are lots of other links where teachers can explore items such as exoplanets, comets or even the aurora lights with the children. I feel the interactive games would spark a great deal of fun in class and would be a fantastic why to round up a lesson at the end. There is just so much content and resources to explore on these two sites all of which can spark wonderful lesson ideas for teachers of all class groups.
Thanks for sharing your great ideas. I really liked your Stellarium pointing also the patterns in the sky. I thought the Contellation Art button was fantastic and something the children would enjoy exploring greatly. They could extend the lesson by desgning their own constellation on a geoboard, for example, naming it and also creating the art to go with it. Being capable of viewing the sky from different locations around the world is simply amazing.
I love the idea of using Space themed Music as a trigger for discussion. Definitely one that would catch my classes attention and curiosity.
The Activity Set I would choose is Space and Aliens.
I would most likely use this lesson below as a follow on from Planets and after having a look at the Mars landscape with the children. (Using lessons for the Space Week Workbook) We would have created our own models of a mars landscape through Art and Crafts using clay, sand, paint and modelling tools and completing a comparison lesson to Earths landscape.
I would start by reading a picture book- All Time favourite ‘Aliens love Underpants’ by Claire Freeman and Ben Cort in circle floor time. It really engages the children and brings even the more reserved pupil out of their shell with laughter. While there are great activities and lesson ideas you can take from this book for literacy , it is a greater starter for Talk and discussion on the activity Set Space and Aliens. Do Aliens exist? Have people ever found aliens? What might they look like? We would discuss the children’s ideas together before allowing them to draw their own alien/Marian on paper. Each child may show their alien to the class and describe it. (Children could be encouraged to use their maths shape and spatial language here.
Following on from this activity I would build an aistear plan for the week using the following stations.
1. Creative Arts and Crafts- Using your drawing can you make your alien from the modelling and craft materials. Maths language flash cards for shape, lines, length would be available to inspire the chidren to describe their aliens to others. We could encourage children to use language in describing their aliens to others without showing the finished product. Can the others follow your instructions.
2. Drama: Space Exploration . Using our Big Cardboard Box the children can turn it into a space ship to travel to and explore Mars where they will meet some Aliens. Children could use aliens drawing or 3D created models for small world play using their mars landscapes.
3. Construction: Lego The children could build alien spaceships for the 3d alien models
4. Communication: Puzzles and board games. Rockets and comets from Orchard Games. The children will play the games using space vocabulary developing good social and communication skills.
There are many cross curricular opportunities (Literacy, Maths, Geography, STEM, Art, Drama) and skills development opportunities while teaching this topic.
Hi Saoirse,
That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.
Hi Saoirse,
That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.
An Inquiry Based Lesson for My Classroom. ‘ A Safer landing’ How can I change the speed of a rolling object as it falls towards the ground? Inspiration- Marble runs
Strand: Energy and Forces
Strand Unit: Forces
Curriculum Objective: investigate how forces act on objects through experimenting with different materials
Skills Development:Questioning, Investigating, Experimenting
Trigger: Oops a lego ball drops to the ground and smashes.
Wonder: I wonder could we help the ball to get to the ground a safer way using some of our junk materials. (toilet roll tubes, masking tape, egg cartons, cardboard.)
Explore the materials and discuss ideas.
Starter question: Can we build a some ramps and tunnels to help the ball travel to the ground in a slower safer manner using our materials along a wall.
Predictions: Children state and record ideas and their reasoning.
Conducting the investigation by constructing ramps/runs for the lego ball to fall safely to the ground without breaking.
Share and interpret the results. What worked best?
Applying our learning and making connections to build class marble runs in Aistear.
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>Hi Saoirse,</span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”> </span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.</span></p>I would choose the Activity set: The Sun to explore in Senior Infants, In particular I would focus on exploring Shadows, how they are created and how they change as the day progresses. Firstly as a stimulus I would keep my fingers crossed for a clear sunny day and play a game of shadow tag with the children. After the game we could engage the children with some wondering thoughts about shadows. Are they all the same/different? Do they change size? Are they always there? Can I escape my shadow? Allow children to explore these question in small groups outside.
Next, We could read Frank Asch book ‘ Moonbear’s Shadow’ in circle time. or ‘The Shadow’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A9rkH0X3J4
Children could the explore how shadows work using or creating Moonbear forst models in Aistear. Resources Green card, trees, paper, toy bear, yellow card and torches.
Questioning would be used for prompting children and children can manipulate the model to form ideas and make connections to their own world and experiences regarding shadows.
Once the children have formulated ideas about the shadowns changing depending on the suns position we could measure or own shadows outdoors usingchalk outlines. We could record these measures using the ipad camera to share and intrepret our results and draw our conclusions at the end of the day.
We could compare and test other conclusions re cloudy days, rainy days as a follow up another day. Or lead in to ‘Do all materials create shadows?’
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>Hi Saoirse,</span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”><span style=”font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;”>That is a lovely lesson with lots of engaging activities and movement for the children . Another nice resource that I’ve come across is https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ is great too for the children to grasp the size of planets and space items.</span></p>Hi Eleanor,
I think this is a lovely extension lesson to the materials lesson in module one. It definitely allows the children to apply their learning from that lesson to your one above. I would also like to note the importance of collaborative work during STEM and science lessons particularly in developing the science skills. Pair work and group work are vital to allow the children to discuss, share ideas, challenge themselves and others, promoting critical thinking and problem solving skills. It encourages active learning and inclusion for all.
An Inquiry Based Lesson for My Classroom. ‘ A Safer landing’ How can I change the speed of a rolling object as it falls towards the ground? Inspiration- Marble runs
Strand: Energy and Forces Strand Unit: Forces Curriculum Objective: investigate how forces act on objects through experimenting with different materials Skills Development:Questioning, Investigating, ExperimentingTrigger: Oops a lego ball drops to the ground and smashes.
Wonder: I wonder could we help the ball to get to the ground a safer way using some of our junk materials. (toilet roll tubes, masking tape, egg cartons, cardboard.
Explore the materials and discuss ideas.
Starter question: Can we build a some ramps and tunnels to help the ball travel to the ground in a slower safer manner using our materials along a wall.
Predictions: Children state and record ideas and their reasoning.
Conducting the investigation by constructing ramps/runs for the lego ball to fall safely to the ground without breaking.
Share and interpret the results. What worked best?
Applying our learning and making connections to build class marble runs in Aistear.
