Space in the Early Years Part B

Transcription

1 Space in the Early Years Part B Jan Homden Consilium Education

2 For more moon songs and rhymes visit: Preschool Express Click on the train above to follow the link Music to listen to: Ground Control to Major Tom Major Tom is a fictional astronaut referenced in David Bowie's songs "Space Oddity" Gustav Holst - Mars Mars, from Gustav Holst's Planet Suite, being played by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. Gustav Holst Jupiter Jupiter, from Gustav Holst's Planet Suite, being played by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. 1 P a g e

3 War of the Worlds music part 1 The First Track of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds - Journalist spoken by Richard Burton - Inspirational for movement and dance sessions (suitable for older students in upper primary/middle school) Space Themed Ideas & Activities for Early Years Space & the Planets Free Early Learning Resources for Teachers A collection of outer space related primary teaching resources, including a collection of space counting cards, a large solar system display banner, a space themed small world play backdrop, some alien role-play masks and NASA photographs. Click on the logo to follow the link Outer Space, Astronauts Theme and Activities - Click on the astronaut logo to follow the link for lots of great ideas Space Crafts and Ideas to Inspire For more ideas - to - I heart crafty things 2 P a g e

4 Space Station Role Play Resources from Primary Treasure Chest Space / Planets / Astronomy Themed Resources To support learning through a role play area, we have made many fun school resources for educators to use when teaching children about a space station and outer space. Many of the space station role play resources have been given a time saving double mounted effect, which will also save on your classroom stationery. Click on the portholes to follow the link. Construction with large 3D Shapes Estimation - Early morning challenge On the carpet in small groups the children design and make a rocket or space ship using 3D shapes. Are they all participating, collaborating and listening to each other s ideas? Are they able to change or adapt their model if someone makes a good suggestion? You need coloured marbles in different sizes (planets) and a clear plastic storage jar with a screw on lid. Each morning for a week put a different number of planets in the jar and screw on the top. Stick lots of post-it notes on the table and put out pencils. As the children come into class ask them to guess how many planets are in the jar and to write the number on a post-it. They also write their name and stick their post-it on to the whiteboard. At the start of your maths session show the jar again to the children and ask them if they think there are more than 10 planets in the jar or less than 10 planets in the jar, more than 20 etc. Unscrew the lid and empty out the marbles - hold them up one by one as everyone counts. Check all the post-it notes on the board. 3 P a g e

5 Moonscape in the tuff spot Children will enjoy making up their own space stories. Create a moonscape in the tuff spot: spray silver a bag of split peas, a bag of beans and small stones/pebbles, enhance with glass pebbles and/or round disc paillettes. Add rockets, spaceships, spacemen and a few aliens! Or make your own space models and aliens. Sensory Space Play In the sand tray add White play sand Glow in the dark stars & planets Space TOOB With 10 Out Of-This-World Toy Figurines Scrunch up balls of tinfoil (meteorites) How heavy are the moon rocks? Weigh the moon rocks - use actual stones and polystyrene balls covered in tinfoil and scrunch up balls of tinfoil. Is the biggest rock the heaviest and the smallest rock the lightest? 4 P a g e

6 Catch a Star! Add dried black beans to the tray & scatter different coloured plastic stars. Children have to lift the stars using tongs/plastic tweezers and pop them into their jar. Use a sand timer. How many stars can they collect in 3 mins/5 mins? Perfect for developing fine motor skills In the Sand Tray Make Craters Have fun making craters by dropping marbles of different sizes and other small balls (meteorites) into a tray of flour sprinkled with cocoa/hot chocolate powder. Materials Tray Plain white flour Hot chocolate powder/cocoa powder Marbles/other balls Instructions Cover the base of the tray in a layer of flour, at least 2/3cm deep and lightly sprinkle hot chocolate powder/cocoa on top. 5 P a g e

7 Drop marbles and balls of different sizes into the tray from different heights. How can we measure the different heights? Are the craters all the same size/shape? What happens to the flour? How can we measure the craters? In the Water Tray watch jelly crystals grow! Add jelly crystals or water marbles which start out as tiny, colourful balls and grow 200 times their size when placed in water. Children will enjoy scooping them up and filling containers. Filling, scooping and pouring activities help develop fine motor skills in under 5s as well as using concepts such as less and more. Note: remind children not to put things into their mouth. If using the jelly crystals in the water tray for children to pour or fill various containers, adult supervision may be required if the children are very young. At the Messy Table Moon Rock Craft from dltk kids Spikey aliens Click on the moon rock to follow the link The children will have fun making their alien from modelling clay, matchsticks and googly eyes. Click on the aliens to follow the link 6 P a g e

8 Or make this paper plate alien using squares of green tissue paper and shapes cut from purple and white cartridge paper for the ears, eyes and mouth. Click on the image to follow the link Galaxy playdough Thank you to Anna at The Imagination Tree for this recipe. Ingredients: 2 cups plain flour (all purpose) 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1/2 cup salt 2 tablespoons cream of tartar Up to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right) Black food colouring (Wilton Food Colouring) A few drops glycerine (optional- adds more shine!) GENEROUS amounts of glitter (use regular sized and fine silver glitter and star sequins to give the playdough a cosmic appearance) Method: Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl Add food colouring TO the boiling water then into the dry ingredients Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough Add the glycerine (optional) Allow it to cool down then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. * This is the most important part of the process, so keep at it until it s the perfect consistency!* Sprinkle with glitter and roll in star sequins. (If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right) 7 P a g e

9 Make a balloon rocket to fly across the classroom! For simple instructions and questions to extend this experiment Google: Make a balloon rocket Science Bob For a variation on the theme read how Mrs. Spolter and Mrs. Bergere captivated their Pre-K class when the balloon rocket they made took off vertically. The children counted down from 10 and watched their rocket soar on Blast Off! Click on the picture above to follow the link to their blog. For more ideas go to pinterest click on the link below An experiment for older children to try: The Royal Institution Make a juice bottle rocket fly through the air with some fizzy tablets and water in this fun science experiment for children. Click on the image to follow the link More info about Fizzy bottle rockets download this PDF 8 P a g e

10 Listen to John William s music from Star Wars The Throne Room. Played by Stanisław Moniuszko School of Music Symphony Orchestra in Bielsko Biała, Poland Click on the image above to follow the link May the force be with you! Jan Homden, Consilium Education An early years teaching specialist and designer, Jan has taught in international schools around the world. 9 P a g e