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I agree Alyson that the moon is a good starting point as children are fascinated with it. My7 year old son was watching TV today and later said to me did you know when you land on the moon you have to put a flag on it and say it’s for mankind :). I showed him some of the video of the background knowledge about the moon and we went onto discuss astronauts etc I printed the astronaut template from lesson 20 where you have to design an astronaut suit. He really enjoyed it!
Hi Elaine, thanks for the book and video suggestion. I haven’t come across this before and think it would work well with my lesson also on how do rockets launch.
Activity Set: Rockets
Class : 1st / 2nd
I like to use a picture book as a stimulus for an inquiry based lesson as much as possible as it sparks curiosity, encourages questioning and provides a meaningful context for learning. I think ‘Roaring Rockets’ by Tony Mitton would be a great stimulus for this lesson.
We will begin our lesson by reading the picture book ‘Roaring Rockets’ pausing to discuss the illustrations. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Where are the rockets going? How do you think they got into space? This will stimulate lots of conversation about rockets; the children’s prior knowledge, space related questions, rocket vocabulary etc. I would record their answers under 2 headings ‘What we know’ and ‘What we wonder’.
We will then focus on how we think a rocket launches into space. We will look at a short How Do We Launch Things Into Space? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids.
Following this we will complete the activity ‘Making Balloon Rockets’ using a balloon, string, straw, tape and chairs.
Children will make predictions on what will happen when the balloon is released.
Children investigate what happens? Does a bigger balloon travel further? What happens if the string slopes upwards? Which balloon is fastest? The children will be encouraged to try different ideas.
Following this activity a whole class discussion to include relevant vocabulary such as rocket, force, push, air, launch etc. A simple explanation when the air rushes out on way, it pushes the balloon the other way. Real rockets work in a similar way using hot gasses.
Return to previous chart on what we wonder. What can we answer now? Did anything surprise you?
Children will then be encouraged to design their own rocket inspired by the book and include a rocket name, labels, where is it travelling, who is inside.
Reflection:
Today I discovered…I still wonder…My favourite part was…Activity: Animals in the Cold
Class: 2nd
I would use the picture book ‘Over and Under the Snow’ by Kate Messner as a stimulus for the lesson. It explores how animals survive during the winter and introduces concepts such as insulation, hibernation, and habitats. This leads into the blubber experiment as mentioned in the ESERO lesson 7.
After a discussion about the animals in this story and learning about Arctic and Antarctic animals. Some questions to guide the discovery. Why do some animals need thick fur or blubber? Which animals live above/ below the snow? How could we investigate how blubber keeps animals warm?
Before the investigation, the children would predict which hand would stay warmer. The children will take turns with placing their hands into a pair of marigold gloves, one covered with Vaseline. They will then plunge their hand with Vaseline into a bucket of icy cold water. They will compare this with the other hand which has no Vaseline.
Afterwards, they will discuss what happened and explain why animals such as polar bears, seals and penguins need blubber to survive in cold climates.
This activity supports a STEM focused School Self Evaluation by encouraging children to ask questions, make predictions, carry put a simple investigation and explain their findings. Assessment would take place through observation, questioning and class discussion. This activity develops scientific thinking, curiosity and communication skills while giving children a fun, practical way to understand how animals adapt in their environments.Hi Sharon ,Some wonderful ideas thank you for sharing. I particularly liked the idea of designing and building shelters for the animals. Testing and reviewing their designs and thinking like engineers with real-life problems. Reflection at the end of the lesson is always a great way to consolidate new learning.
Lesson: Stars – The Plough
Class: 2nd
Learning Intentions :Children will
Observe the pattern of stars called the Plough
Understand that groups of stars can make patterns called constellations
Investigate how people have used the Plough to find direction
Develop their observation and questioning skills.
Materials: picture of the plough, black card, star stickers or white chalk, torch, dot to dot worksheet of the plough,
Introduction:
-Recap on what the sun, moon and stars are.
-I would show the children a picture of the night sky with the Plough highlighted and ask questions such as What do you notice? Does this pattern remind you of anything? Have you ever seen this pattern before? Why do you think people gave groups of stars names? How did people use it long ago? I would make a connection to the movie ‘Moana’ where she uses the stars to find her way.
Investigate : Finding the North Star
Follow the pointer star. Using the picture of the Plough . Identify the 2 stars at the end of the bowl and draw an imaginary line through them to find the North Star., Which stars are helping us? Why might this have been helpful before maps or gps?
I will guide the children’s discussion to identify what a constellation is. How people long ago played connect the dots and made up stories . Sailors and travellers used the Plough to help find the North Star, which points north. The stars may appear close together but are actually far apart.
The children will then create and label the Plough on black paper using stickers or chalk.
As an extension creative activity, |I would allow the children to design their own constellation using the same materials and ask them to name it and tell the class about it.
Assessment:To finish the lesson , children will a quick assessment using 3 sentence starters such 1.Today I learned..
2. The Plough is..
3. 1 question I still have is..
Thanks for sharing this idea. I haven’t come across this book before. it sounds like it would act as a great stimulus for my lesson on the sun and shadows.
The activity with torches and classroom objects is another great way of extending the lesson and reinforcing the main idea and vocabulary of the lesson also. recording their observations also provides an opportunity for differentiation.
Science Lesson: The Sun and Shadows
Class Senior Infants
Learning Outcome:
Children will explore know that the sun gives us light. Understand that shadows are made when something blocks the sun’s light. Notice that shadows can be different shapes and sizes and are always black.
Inquiry Question / Introduction
Go outside to the school yard. Discussion about the weather, clouds and sun in the sky. Further discussion about the sun. What is it? When do we see the sun?day/night time? What does the sun give us? Look at the ground what do we see? A shadow.
How is this shadow formed? Pay attention to shapes and sizes.
Main Activity:
Shadow Hunt- find their own shadow. Jump, dance wave etc. Stand beside a friend and compare shadows. Look for other shadows around the yard, trees , benches, equipment etc.
Pair Work: draw a shadow around each other using chalk paying particular attention to the fact that they cannot see the features of their faces on their shadows and therefore must not be drawn on. Question prompts to compare- what does your shadow look like? Are they the same/different? How do you think shadows are formed? Where is the light coming from?Conclude that:
Shadows are made when light is blocked.
Shadows can become longer, shorter or change direction depending on where the light source is. Shadows are only black.Science Lesson: The Sun and Shadows
Class Senior Infants
Learning Outcome:
Children will explore know that the sun gives us light. Understand that shadows are made when something blocks the sun’s light. Notice that shadows can be different shapes and sizes and are always black.
Inquiry Question / Introduction
Go outside to the school yard. Discussion about the weather, clouds and sun in the sky. Further discussion about the sun. What is it? When do we see the sun?day/night time? What does the sun give us? Look at the ground what do we see? A shadow.
How is this shadow formed? Pay attention to shapes and sizes.
Main Activity:
Shadow Hunt- find their own shadow. Jump, dance wave etc. Stand beside a friend and compare shadows. Look for other shadows around the yard, trees , benches, equipment etc.
Pair Work: draw a shadow around each other using chalk paying particular attention to the fact that they cannot see the features of their faces on their shadows and therefore must not be drawn on. Question prompts to compare- what does your shadow look like? Are they the same/different? How do you think shadows are formed? Where is the light coming from?Conclude that:
Shadows are made when light is blocked.
Shadows can become longer, shorter or change direction depending on where the light source is. Shadows are only black.An inquiry based lesson that I have used many times is investigating which materials are attracted to magnets.
Class: 1st/2nd
Learning Outcomes:
The children will work in pairs to recognise that magnets attract some materials and not others. Predict which everyday objects are magnetic. Test objects using a magnet. Record their findings using words or pictures. Explain what they discovered using appropriate vocabulary.
Resources:
Magnet wand. Investigation tray with random items such as a paper clip, coin, marble, plastic spoon, steel nail, aluminium foil and so on.
Intro:
Prompt: Show pupils a magnet wand and paper clip. ‘I wonder can I move the paper clip without touching it’. Move clip using the magnet.
Prompts: What do you notice? Why do you think that happened? What do you think magnets stick to? Do magnets stick to everything?
I record some of their ideas on the board using sentence starter prompts such as I wonder, I predict etc
Exploration: ‘Which objects are attracted to magnets?
The children will work in pairs to look at each object carefully. Predict yes or no and record on their sheet. A simple worksheet with 3 columns object, prediction, what happened? Test with the magnet wand. Record results . Magnet hunt around the classroom.
Question prompts: Why did you think that? What evidence do you have? Did anything surprise you?
Sharing results:
Class discussion with a focus on relevant vocabulary such as magnet, magnetic, non magnetic, attract, metal. Magnets are attracted to certain types of metal such as iron and steel.
Discuss where magnets are used in real life such as whiteboards, fridges, headphones, handbags, scrapyard cranes etc. Why are they useful in that object? Which jobs might use magnets everyday?
Hi Doireann,
Thank you for sharing this detailed lesson. It is certainly very hands on which children love. I particularly like the time given for discussion and predictions and ‘what ifs’. I also like how you bring to their attention that not all heavy objects sink and all light objects float. Your extension activity also gives the children a great opportunity to choose their own objects , predict and test out the theory reinforcing the main concept of the lesson.
Hi everyone,
My name is Tracy Murphy. I am currently working in SET in the Junior end of school. I have enjoyed teaching the theme of space as a mainstream teacher but with limited knowledge. I look forward to gathering some new ideas for literacy and numeracy.
My favourite fact is that there are so many stars in the sky nobody is able to count them.