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For this assignment, I would use the lesson based on Animals in the Cold – Climate. As with so many of the lessons on this course, there are lots of opportunities for integration. I would use some of the stories based on animals in cold climates in this link: https://mrsjonescreationstation.com/20-animals-in-winter-books-for-little-learners/
The introductory talk about the weather would definitely yield results, as even at 5 or 6, children in Ireland are very well versed in weather-speak! Some children in the junior end of our school have been very lucky to get to Lapland in recent years and have brought back photos and stories about the animals they encountered which they would love to share.
The idea of fur and fat as ‘coats’ that the animals wear is very accessible for the children. The half term after October in the run up to Christmas would be an ideal time to explore this lesson as we could use discuss not only coats but hats, gloves, scarves, thermal layers, skins in sports activities, etc., any protective layers or covers that we all use during cold weather.
The use of Vaseline would be very impactful to illustrate the effectiveness of a layer of grease on fur and feathers. This could be extended to include other substances that are fatty in nature but not as effective e.g. butter, oil, cream.
The white colour of polar bears and on the front of penguins can be extended to explore other arctic animals that are white all year, e.g. beluga whales, dall sheep, and, animals that turn white in winter for protection, e.g. artic foxes and arctic hares.
I like your idea of neighbourhood, Niamh and linking the types of homes to various types of clothing. The children, for the most part, love to talk about home and would really enjoy the construction aspects of your lesson.
The activity I would pick from this module would be Space and Aliens – who doesn’t love the idea of aliens in a primary classroom!!
I would use the Special Life – Life in Space lesson as I think the children would enjoy it hugely and there are so many opportunities for integration. I love the idea of the children coming up with recommendations for visiting aliens, they could create an itinerary for a tour around Ireland, or a tour around the locality even. This would integrate nicely with SESE and could see some focus on local areas of historical interest.
The continuation of this into animals and plants that visitors should see would be great fun for the children, they could include family pets, maybe animals on farms at home, or animals they have seen elsewhere, zoos, etc. I love the idea of acting these out so classmates can guess. This could be extended to food also. I have conversations with children regularly about what’s for lunch, what’s for dinner that evening, etc. They would love the chance to suggest favourite dinners aliens would enjoy while visiting!
This activity would work well in groups or as an individual activity. The scene could be set with some reading from some of the books on this link: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/76018.Children_s_Picture_Books_with_Aliens_
I like your idea of the children drawing their interpretations of aliens, Alyson. I think they would really enjoy this, lots of room for creativity and imagination!
Hi Irene,
I love the hands-on aspects of this activity, especially the flashlights! Infants would love this. There would be lots of opportunity for integration. Here’s a link that might be useful for books with shadow themes: https://kidminds.org/15-books-about-shadows-to-inspire-young-scientists/
The activity I would pick from this module is from the Universe in a Box and it is to do with creating a lunar landscape. I think this would work very well with 2nd Class and would be ideal for the summer term, as an outside lesson. Safety would be front and centre, as there would be stones flying at speed so another adult would definitely be needed and clear instructions beforehand!
The children could work in groups of 4 if possible. Everyone would have a chance to throw their stones, discussing in advance the direction, force, angle, etc. Then the resulting craters could be examined for depth, size, width, etc. The throw-off created by the stones would be compared with pictures of real lunar landscapes and keywords and concepts like throw-off, velocity, crater, direction, projectile, could be explored.
The different groups could then present their landscapes to the class, detailing the types of throws they did to create the various craters. I like the follow-on ideas in this activity for creating a more solid structure with paper mâché, paint, etc. This would be a longer-term project and could be presented to classmates as well as the rest of the school at assembly, for example.
Hi Stephanie,
I like the pair aspect of your activity. Sometimes, group work can be very successful, but sometimes pair work is preferable as children have more of an opportunity to be involved, and feel involved.
The inquiry-based activity I would use is the one involving liquids. I think this would work well in many classrooms, but especially Junior rooms, as there are generally plenty of real-life examples to draw on every day!
The prompts for this activity could come from home or school. Children would all have a real-life example to share and would enjoy the class discussion on this.
Working in groups, this activity lends itself very well to exploring the different methods of soaking liquids, the recording of soakage efficiency through smiley faces makes it accessible for everyone as full attention can be given to the experiment rather than literacy issues presenting a difficulty or a block to participation. Involvement in reporting findings is also facilitated nicely.
I like the extension activity of waterproof coats for teddies. During the summer term, we had teddies coming in for picnics, story-telling, sports events, etc. This experiment would integrate successfully with any of those and make it more impactful for the children.
Hi,
My name is Valerie.
I will be in SET this year, with a focus on junior classes. I’m looking forward to using some of the material on this course in Literacy groups.
Hi Barbara,
I love this idea involving construction. The pupils would love it, very engaging and perfect for integration also. Thank you!
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
When we consider songs, poems and art based on the night sky, the list is endless. The night sky has provided so much inspiration for artists from all genres for centuries and still does today. Even the act of looking upwards can raise the spirits and encourage us to look beyond where we are. Whenever I see a sky full of stars, I think about all of the other people who must be looking at the same sight. I think the night sky creates community, something which is needed more than ever. In particular, I think the constellations provide perspective as you consider how they appear in different parts of the world to other people.
I really enjoy themed lessons in this context as you can use a piece of art, or a song, poem, rhyme, etc. as a prompt and develop individual lessons or longer term projects which can integrate so many different subjects.
This link is to lots of clips with a stars/space/planets theme including a great one of Chris Hadfield playing Space Oddity on the ISS in 2013.
https://www.space.com/11037-space-music-playlist-astronauts-wakeup.html
Another on the above list is by Arana Grande and Kid Cudi from 2021 called Just Look Up from the film Don’t Look Up which parodies the climate change crisis and is well worth a look. It could be used as a start point for so many of the activities covered in this course.
This next link is to lots of poetry for children based on a space theme. Again, so many of these could be used as prompts to encourage creative responses from pupils in composing their own poetry.
https://rainydaypoems.com/poems-for-kids/space-poems/
I like this one by James McDonald, One Day I’ll Be. I think it would work so well with primary school pupils as that age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is still such an important one!
One Day I’ll Be
Today at school my teacher said,
I wonder what you’ll be?
When time has passed and you’ve grown up,
And the world is yours to see.Right then and there I stood straight up,
And looked her in the face,
And said with pride and confidence,
I plan to live in space.Like pirates of so long ago,
My ship will take me far,
Around the moon and back again,
And to a distant star.So when you talk about the world,
And say it’s yours to see,
I believe I’ll have the greatest view,
Upon the cosmic sea.This poem could be the starting point for activities based on dreams for the future and could be integrated very effectively with Art, SPHE, Geography.
This third link is to the Dark Sky International site which has a nice alternative to Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. It has Van Gogh’s Starry Night over the Rhone which features water and allows for exploration of the reflection created by the water.
https://darksky.org/news/7-pieces-of-art-inspired-by-the-night-sky/
The possibilities really are endless, as endless as the stars themselves.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
When we consider the beauty and majesty of the night sky, it’s no surprise that it has provided so much inspiration for so many artists in different genres over the centuries and into the present day. I am lucky to see large, dark skies in Co. Wexford and am constantly struck by their beauty. Even the act of looking up can raise the spirits and encourage us to look beyond ourselves. I always get a sense of perspective from the constellations when I think about how they are viewed from different angles by people all over the world. The night sky can create community – more important than ever.
The link below, the astronauts’ playlist, has got lots of songs with the themes of night/space/planets etc. The first clip is of Chris Hadfield singing Space Oddity on the ISS in 2013. This would provide a super prompt for activities based on space and the night sky.
https://www.space.com/11037-space-music-playlist-astronauts-wakeup.html
The second link is to poetry with the theme of space. I love the James McDonald one, One Day I’ll Be as it is based on the theme of dreams for the future and relates to that age-old question still being pondered today – “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This poem could be a very meaningful and inspiring start point for lessons that could integrate literacy, art, music, SPHE, Geography.
https://rainydaypoems.com/poems-for-kids/space-poems/
One Day I’ll Be
Today at school my teacher said,
I wonder what you’ll be?
When time has passed and you’ve grown up,
And the world is yours to see.Right then and there I stood straight up,
And looked her in the face,
And said with pride and confidence,
I plan to live in space.Like pirates of so long ago,
My ship will take me far,
Around the moon and back again,
And to a distant star.So when you talk about the world,
And say it’s yours to see,
I believe I’ll have the greatest view,
Upon the cosmic sea.The third link is to art based on the themes of night sky. There is a nice alternative to The Starry Night. It is Starry Night over the Rhone which is interesting as it features reflections on the water.
https://darksky.org/news/7-pieces-of-art-inspired-by-the-night-sky/
The possibilities are endless, like the stars themselves.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.
I would start with a brainstorm to elicit prior knowledge from the pupils. The video clips from Dun Laoioghre-Rathdown and Laois Co. Councils on biodiversity would be an ideal start point to focus the minds and start the pupils thinking about the meaning of biodiversity and where they can see this in their own area.
We would be looking at rural and urban biodiversity as we have pupils from both settings which I feel would add greatly to this activity. We would compile a list of all of the examples of biodiversity in both settings and then consider the setting of our school and identify biodiversity there. We do have small raised beds for each class in our school that have inadvertently become re-wilded so I am sure there is plenty of biodiversity to observe!
I think it would be extremely important to gather information on the effects of the loss of biodiversity. Pupils can look at financial, health, social, impacts of the loss as well as the damage to flora and fauna and the knock on impact of those on our communities.
In terms of light pollution, pupils can research their own home settings and examine what changes could be made either in their own houses, on their streets, parks, etc. that could help to reduce light pollution.
Remaining solution-focused is so important so that they feel they can actually affect change even in some small way at home. As in previous activities, the pupils need to feel a sense of empowerment and thus be motivated to do something about this loss. If they feel there is a solution and some hope, they are more likely to act.
