Astronomy

New for May: 10-Minute Teacher Calendar and Space Day

/ Heidi / 4 Comments

space day

Happy May! I’ve got a lot going on this month, as I’m sure you do too. Our calendar fills up quickly and we are all full of activities and weekend events. One new thing I will be implementing is my 10-Minute Teacher Calendar. Everyday during the week there is a new calendar topic (and one for each weekend) that you can use to engage with your children. Maybe it will include a 10-minute discussion over dinner, or maybe it will turn into something you want to explore deeper to learn more. The hope is that we can use this calendar to add a few minutes of education to our day, as well as giving us the opportunity to connect and have a quality discussion with one another. Want to give it a try? Download the calendar here: May2015 10 minute teacher and hang it on your fridge. Everyday I will be posting here about that topic with links, resources and books you can use to further your discussion and exploration, and sometimes a few extra topic ideas. Let’s get started!

10 minute teacher

May 1st is Space Day, generally celebrated the first Friday in May. This day was created to remember the advances and discoveries we have made through space exploration. Here are some links you might be interested in:

Space Day Information and Events

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/Live/of-the-people-space-day-2015.cfm

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/education/educators/spaceday/index.asp

https://nasajsc.secure.force.com/SpaceDay2015

 

General Space Information

http://www.nasa.gov/

http://www.spacefoundation.org/education

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/centers/kennedy/home/index.html

http://ncesse.org/

 

Games and Education

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/search/page/k-5/science/-/-/index.cfm

http://www.spacefoundation.org/education/resources

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/centers/kennedy/erc/index.html#.VUOsM_lVhBc

 

Books, Sticker Books and Flash Cards

Click on the images for more information

Usborne Book of Astronomy & Space  Astronomy and Space Sticker Book   Sun, Moon and Stars   living in space   100 things to spot in the night sky   look inside space   space   build your own space ships sticker book   First sticker book space   big book of stars and planets   solar system   on the moon

 

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Studying the Sky

/ Heidi / 1 Comment

studying the sky

Our science unit right now is Objects in the Sky. We use the Science Fusion program by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I included the link for visual reference. The book is an interactive work text that the student can write in and is functional on its own. However, if you want to get the most from this program, I recommend buying it from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt directly and getting set up with the online teacher component. With the online component you and your student will have access to online lessons, inquiries, and leveled readers. There are also printable vocabulary cards, additional inquiries, assessments, and so much more. We have really enjoyed using it this year.

Anyway, we’re studying the stars, moon, sun and general changes in the sky from day to night. The unit is short and doesn’t dive very deep into the astronomy aspect, which my son loves, so we are using some of the inquiry activities (there are lots of great inquiry activities for this unit, especially for first graders who are new to this topic) and adding a few of our own explorations.

My husband has been taking the kids out at night to look at the stars, and yesterday I printed up a constellation map. Today, my son is making his own constellation map by simply poking holes in a piece of black construction paper. He is trying to recreate Orion and adding a few of his own creations.

star map

I also found a great workbook on Education.com called Skywatchers. It has lots of cool information about constellations, astronomers, the planets, the moon and more. I’m a subscriber so I can print up as many workbooks as I want – just today I printed three new workbooks to use for our studies. I really like this site and I use it a lot to get study materials for both my preschooler and my first grader.

Here are a few books about astronomy that we are planning on adding to our collection (click on each book for detailed information about each title):

Astronomy and Space Sticker Book    Astronomy

Usborne Book of Astronomy & Space   Sun, Moon and Stars

What are some of your favorite astronomy-related activities?

Usborne Publishing Ltd. (UK) has no connection with these pages and does not sponsor or support their content.