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Hi Orla, You have a well structured and fun plan for Space Week. It would be a lovely week that brings the whole school together around the theme of space. I really like the post it notes to begin the week, it would be more meaningful than a whole class KWL and they can be revisited. It’s a great way to give pupils ownership of their learning and for self reflection at the end of the week. Your use of Stellarium on Wednesday is a brilliant way to link digital tools with real life for the children, the star lanterns is an activity I hope to use with my class too. Thank you for sharing!
Balloon Rocket
The topic of rockets was very engaging in this module, the Balloon rocket is a hand on activity which I would like to complete with my class. This hands on STEM activity brings science to life and taps into children’s natural curiosity about space and movement. I would begin the lesson by asking the children, How do rockets get into space? to spark discussion and prior knowledge. Then, we’d watch a short video from the ESA Kids website showing real rocket launches to build on the children’s interest.
We would engage in the Marvin and Milo cartoon Balloon rocket, then move into the rocket building challenge using paper, straws, and balloons. In groups, with assistance, the groups would build a simple balloon rocket that travels along a piece of string. Before launching, children would make predictions about what would happen. To involve digital technologies for the children, they could take a video of the rocket launch on the school Ipads. We would vary elements like balloon size or string angle and observe what changes happened. They would be encouraged to use unit of measurement they have learnt in maths, to record measurements travelled by the rocket.
The children would record their findings with drawings and simple written points. As a whole class we would reflect on what made some rockets travel further than others by watching the videos each group took and responding to it.
Hi Martina, thanks for the great idea. Using marshmallows or play dough with toothpicks to build the constellations is such hands on and fun way to bring STEM into the activity in a very tactile way. Linking it to being engineers and using materials to represent something from the real world is a great idea, that connection would really helps develop early STEM thinking. I would love to try this activity in my own class. I think my pupils would really enjoy the building process and sharing the stories behind their own constellations.
Online Resources and Tools
There were many digital resources and platforms in this module that will be very useful in my future teaching. Two online resources that I look forward to exploring and using in school are Stellarium and ESA Kids.
Stellarium‑ As a teacher it would be very engaging for the children to be able to host a virtual stargazing session on the IWB, guiding pupils to explore live sky maps, identify constellations. Questioning such as “What do you see in the night sky?” “What shapes can you see in the stars?”
Pupils could draw their favorite constellation and give it a new name. Also we could explore them from different countries, exploring some of the countries that the children are from or their families come from.
The to reflect they could share their drawings with the class and explain their The ESA Kids- This resource offers high quality image galleries, interactive games, and short videos explaining weather systems, Earth observation, and the impact of satellites. As a class we could watch a short video for example What is a satellite? This would lead to a discussion, Why do we need satellites to watch Earth? The children could explore how satellite images of clouds or storms from space on ESA. Then draw what Earth might look like from space during a sunny day, storm, or snowy weather. Label features like clouds, land, sea, and weather types.Integrating these resources supports many science skills while also developing digital literacy. These resources also contribute evidence for our SSE targets in STEM of integrating digital tools and planning inquiry based lessons. Photographs of pupils interacting with the tools, screenshots of their constellation findings or copies of their work.
Hi Siobhan, what a lovely and imaginative lesson, The idea you have with the toy to explain how stars appear smaller from far away is both clever and accessible for that age group. I would use this in the future.Introducing the constellations through visuals and storytelling, then encouraging the children to find their own shapes in the stars is great. The creative activity of making their own constellations with paint and naming them is great for fine motor skills and their language development. The game with the sticky notes is another great idea I hope to use again.
Activity Set: Space and Aliens
I would begin with a engaging story as a hook to the topic. Reading a story like Aliens Love Underpants and asking questions like: What might aliens look like? Where could they live? This book could help with the children using their imagination and visualising aliens. The to develop the lesson I would ask the children to imagine an alien has landed and ask them what message from Earth would you share. The children would be encouraged to draw and create a role play sending that message in pairs. They then design their own alien, thinking about its body, habitat, and how it survives. In small groups, children would create a 3D model of their alien using play dough or art materials, and build its environment. Afterwards, they write a Alien Fact File or draw and label their alien. To reflect we could have a space walk, where the class go around the classroom exploring all the different aliens that the class created. The children would be encouraged to ask questions about the aliens features and habitats. To bring in a digital element, the children could take photos of the aliens using school tablets. These photos could then be used to create a digital class slideshow or an online book where each page has a different alien, along with the groups written description or an audio recording. This adds in digital literacy.
Hi Mary, thanks for sharing a lesson full of great ideas. The integration of science, art, music, and outdoor learning is brilliant. It really makes the concept of light and shadows hands on and fun for the children. Using the song Where is Shadow? as a fun and engaging hook is a lovely way to make the topic engaging. The hands on shadow tracing activity with small world animals is such a creative idea, and comparing morning and afternoon shadows adds to the inquiry. Revisiting the activity in a different season is something I wouldn’t have thought of.
Activity Set: The Planets
I love the Planets activity from it offers inquiry based fun for the children. I would focus on exploring the spherical nature of planets and their place in our solar system.
I’d begin by showing simple 3D models of different planets, which we have a set of in the school. I would use the magic bag where the children would come and pick out a planet from the bag, in groups they could try to name the planet that came out of the bag and describe what they see. When we have them all out of the magic bag, I would ask some leading questions,Do all planets look the same? Are they all round? Are the the same size? I would use this discussion to sparks curiosity and prompts children to notice differences in size, colour, and texture of the planets. Pupils work in small groups with playdough and or various sized spheres to create their own planets. They will then place them under a torch, to act as the sun, to observe light and shadow. They record observations: Which shapes show curved shadows? This hands-on modelling encourages them to see that planets are spheres/round/curved. They present their planets in a show and tell, explaining the features and what happened when the sun was shining on them.
Hi Niamh, That is a great inquiry based activity. It is really suited for junior classes. The Oops I spilled my water trigger is such a relatable and engaging way to spark curiosity, and it naturally leads children into asking meaningful questions and being engaged in the inquiry. Exploring different materials and their properties gives them hands on experience with scientific testing, and it is great how you have emphasised using predictions, testing, and discussion. The activity of designing a waterproof jacket for a teddy is creative and fun for the children that also makes the lesson cross-curricular.
Hi Everyone, My name is Tara and I’ll be teaching 1st class again this year.
Space fact: My space fact is that the planet Saturn could float in water, due to it being less dense than water.
One inquiry based activity I have used is based on the planet Earth from space inquiry. it is an engaging and fun hands on exploration for the children. Starting with a real image of Earth to hook the class into the topic. The question would be Why is Earth blue and white? They would enjoy sharing their ideas and opinions on their understanding of the blue and white planet and why it looks like this.
To investigate, they would be manipulating real materials such as water, cotton,blue food colouring, paper or other materials suggested by the children, in groups they would work together to physically model the planet and see how light behaves making abstract concepts concrete. The children could be encouraged to shine a torch over their experiment to mimic the Sun, observing which surfaces reflect light and how it looks from space. They could record their observations through pictures/pictograms whichever is age appropriate for the class to represent their findings. Creating an Earth postcard showing the planet from space but labelled with their observations and share it with their peers is also a good way to reflect on their inquiry.
Hi Sinéad, thank you for sharing such a great research plan. I really liked how you connected increased rainfall and flooding specifically to a local location like Cork City which makes the project very relevant for the children. The inclusion of local data sources like Met Éireann and Cork City Council is a great way to help children learn how to use real scientific information in their research. Your ideas encourage critical thinking and data analysis which are great skills for them to develop.
Research Question: How does the amount of litter in our school playground and Longford town affect our environment, and what actions can we take to reduce it?
I think this climate issue is relatable and it also in the children’s everyday experiences. Litter is something pupils see daily, and they often make comments about it to me during the school day. By using the Climate Detectives Research Question Planner, I would guide the class in breaking the question down into smaller parts such as:
The types of litter we find in the yard.
What areas of the yard/town we see the most litter?
Who could be responsible for it?
Why is the litter being thrown/dumped?
To encourage participation, I would take a whole class and inquiry-based approach. Pupils would work in groups and collaboration would be a key approach in the research. Before the research would begin, I would bring the class out litter picking around the school grounds one afternoon, after the activity we would discuss and look at the amount of litter we picked. During the research the children could take on roles, data collectors, photographers, mappers, and interviewers. I have found this very beneficial in previous class projects, the children have a sense of purpose within their group and clear expectations. We could explore litter in our yard/town, conduct surveys with the school/local community, and write a letter to the local county council/tidy towns, interview members of the green school committee in school, and watch educational videos. I would also integrate the project across the curriculum using graphs in Maths, reports in English, and map work in Geography.
Hi Niamh, I agree with your thoughts, it is such a useful and valuable resource. I also really liked the inclusion of weather proverbs, it’s a good way to connect science with history and literacy. The home-school linkage encouraging children to talk to older family members about how weather was predicted in the past is a lovely idea. It’s great to see how easily this can be adapted for all class levels.
3. After exploring the ESA resource Nose Up High in the Sky I found it to be a highly engaging and a well structured resource that would make excellent lessons for a wide range of class groups. The activities are practical, hands on, and link closely with the SESE curriculum. I especially liked how the resource encourages pupils to observe and describe the weather using their senses, which is a great way to develop vocabulary and oral language skills. The instructions for creating simple weather instruments like a rain gauge and anemometer are easy to follow and require very little materials. This would make it accessible for most schools, even those with limited resources and funds. I liked the fact that this resource promotes outdoor learning and collaboration among pupils. I would definitely use this resource in my class for Geography and Science lessons, particularly during a unit on weather or climate. It supports inquiry based learning and helps children make real world connections, while also being fun and interactive.
