Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I liked the Esa Spacecraft assemble and the Milky Way Match games for the younger classes. They had a short activity with quick results, perfect for the attention span of younger children. They were also great for giving bitesize information while the children are completing an activity. They also gave an opportunity to practice visual and motor skills for junior classes. Follow up activity locating the satellites on the Orbitrack app could be explored. Milky Way match and the Space Memory Game are perfect for junior infant classes.
I have to admit that I found it difficult to control the Paxi spacecraft in the Space Cleanup and the Solar System Explorer games and died repeatedly! I am sure the children would be far better at it. The Catch the Craft game was easier to control and I think they would enjoy the destructive side of it. It requires concentration and impulse control which are important skills for children to develop.
Overall I liked the Esa games site as it allows for children of varying abilities to choose and work at their own level and learn about space in an indirect and engaging way. Even if they all don’t understand the language or names they are becoming familiar with them.
Unawe.org was good for older classes perhaps. Catchy titles and activities like Your Birthday on another Planet. I really liked the activities on Marvin and Milo and will try them when I have an older class.The activity I chose is Draw Your Own Constellation. I would start with a discussion about what people would have done at night before electricity , tv etc. to show the children the importance of storytelling and the connection that people had with the natural world. Light pollution could be brought into this as well as dark sky reserves. Then I would tell them some myths and legends about the constellations from in-the-sky.org.
Following that I would show the children simple pictures and names of constellations and ask them to match the picture and the name and to explain their choice. This should help them to visualize connecting the stars to create a whole image.
I would then use Stellarium to show them the night sky. Stellarium gives you an option of viewing the night sky with or without the constellations marked. I would ask the children to try and spot constellations before revealing them.
I would use dot / graf paper at the start when encouraging the children to create their own constellations. I think the structure may help them create a picture and could tie in with math. It may also help them understand that they are not a perfect outline of the intended image. At the start their partner could join the dots to reveal their constellation. When the children are more comfortable creating their constellation they could draw some free hand.
Follow on activities could be night sky art drawn with the children lying under their tables and their paper tacked above them or a creative writing / storytelling activity creating their own constellation story.That’s an incredible visual of the solar system. The children would love being able to show family at home as well.
Return to the classroom and ask the children why they think the shadows are dark? Do you always have a shadow? How do you think shadows are formed? Where is the light coming from?
Really interesting questions to get the children thinking and curious
I have started a lesson on the sun and shadows before with a video on shadow puppets and letting the children explore and discuss how to create the best shadow. I have then taken the lesson outside to play a game of shadow tag. Usually, some children will figure out how a shorter shadow makes it more difficult to catch them. You can pause the game to explore and discuss this drawing the children’s attention to the position of the sun before letting them continue the game and see if they can apply this knowledge to shorten their shadow to make it more difficult to catch them.
I liked the idea of getting the children to bring in a teddy as a scientific buddy to trace it’s shadow and check through the day how the shadow has moved.
Older classes I have had have really engaged with the story of Aristotle noticing how something round cast a shadow on the moon and deduced from that that the earth is a sphere and not flat.
I have made sundials before with paper plates stapled together weighted down with sand or pebbles and using a shortened barbecue skewer. They worked ok but blew away easily even when weighted down. The kids really enjoyed designing their own sundials though and looking at past designs.
I really liked the wording of what a shadow is. “A shadow is a dark shape that appears when an object blocks light. Using chalk and teddys or objects familiar to the children is a lovely way of engaging the children in the activity.
My name is Niamh. I will have 2nd class next year. I have had 3rd and 4th class for several years and they have always really enjoyed hands on science activities. Two space facts I found interesting were that about 14 tonnes of space dust falls on earth everyday landing on all of us and that precious metals like silver and gold are forged when dead stars collide.
Based on materials I already have and on the curriculum, I chose an enquiry based lesson on meteorites
Wondering : to get them thinking about what is in space and if space material lands on earth.
Exploring : A collection of different rocks. Background knowledge of space and planets using videos and the internet.Starter Question : Which rocks could come from space / be meteorites?
Predicting : Encouraging the children to look at colours, marks, hardness to apply their knowledge of space to their guess.
Pick: Encourage the children to explain their choices and record their prediction.
I don’t actually have a meteorite but I think leaving it unanswered can be a valuable part of a lesson at times. It can promote curiosity and critical thinking without the focus on correct or incorrect answers. It can encourage the children to look at the world with imagination and to think of the magic in the things around us. Perhaps not very scientific but …It may also introduce the idea of hypothesis. We could develop the lesson by searching for meteorites on the internet and finding out how they were discovered. The connection to the extinction of dinosaurs could also be explored.Love this idea. I like that the materials are simple enough that each child can design and participate with their own mouse. Sometimes during group experiments quieter children can get a little sidelined.
