[Tom Clyne]

That sounds like a great lesson Patrick.  I’ll definitely look into doing that.

[Tom Clyne]

 

 

Having researched the best times to observe the moon, it seems that the best times to observes are in the 3rd quarter (roughly 5-7 days after the full moon).  In Ireland, this will occur on the 24th September.  That gives 3 weeks to prepare the children.

 

I would look at teaching the children  the monthly changes in the moon are based on the moons orbit around the earth. Before the lesson we would review that the cause of night and day are based on the rotation of the earth on its axis.

 

I would also introduce torches and get the children to explore self-shadow and cast-shadow and how shadows can vary.  I would use this method to explain that the moons self shadow is what causes the different phases of the moon. This method of self and cast shadow can become quite tricky so  I would use different sized balls with the torch representing the sun, moon and earth.

 

Allowing the children to explore with different methods will give them a better understanding.  Hopefully, on the 24th of September the children will be able to have discussions around it.

[Tom Clyne]

<p class=”MsoNormal”><span style=”font-family: ‘Georgia’,serif; color: #333333; background: white;”>Making planet tubes sounds like a great lesson.  It offers a variety of cross curricular integration (history, geography, art, maths, English).  Each child could spend a week at home researching their given planet or they could use iPads in school to get the relevant information they need. </span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”><span style=”font-family: ‘Georgia’,serif; color: #333333; background: white;”>There are a number of ways in which you could differentiate for every ability in the class.  </span> Higher ability students could go into the deeper sections such as weight, mass and gravity etc while the other students could look at its place from the sun and art.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”><span style=”font-family: ‘Georgia’,serif; color: #333333; background: white;”>It is a great activity to promote team work and what I really like is chance they students would get to present this to their class and also some of the younger classes as I feel they would be really engaged given the art work needed. Students could also create a PowerPoint presentation to go with their tubes. </span></p>

[Tom Clyne]

I agree Patrick, there is huge potential for cross cussicular integration and it is something I will definitely try next year.

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