This week we have been learning about space. We didn't have a book of the week but instead we used a laptop to look up various things like the International Space Station, Rocket launches, our solar system and star constellations.
The children have enjoyed making versions of the solar system using pieces of wood that they sawed and glued onto a piece of card. Some of them made their own rockets using longer pieces of wood and coloured tissue paper for the flames. We also made some rockets that flew using straws and cut out rockets. This was a good opportunity to discuss different 2D and 3D shapes for example, when drawing the rockets we asked the children what shape should go on the top (triangle) and what shape the main body of the rocket is (rectangle) this was then moved into discussing the 3D equivalents (cylinder, cone etc).
The children were really interested in watching a video of an astronaut giving a tour of the International Space Station. Conversations about gravity and oxygen subsequently began which led us to run some experiments demonstrating how the weight of an object affects the speed with which it falls to the ground.
Later, we made two large group paintings: one of the solar system and one of a rocket which the children enjoyed doing together. We also made planets using clay which is fantastic for working the muscles in their hands, and enacted the solar system and the planets spinning around the sun again, as a group session.