Day Ninety Nine of LOCKDOWN!

Working on a new city

Sorting the countries of the world according to their shape

We worked on a different topic today, with a space themed day. As Zachary already knows lots about space (more than Mummy and Daddy!), we had a look at constellations, which is something he hasn't yet covered in depth.

Working on a constellations comprehension

Tahlia's finished solar system

Making space pictures

We looked at how constellations are named - mostly after Ancient Greek myths, although some other cultures around the world thought they looked like different things, for example, the Chinese thought Leo looked more like a horse than a lion.

We had a go at making up our own constellations; this one, Tahlia named 'the prison' (perhaps in reference to lockdown!).

Ptolemy's were like star lollipops

We watched some videos about the constellations

We looked at how our view of the constellations is different to how they would look from a different point in space; to demonstrate this, we made a mobile of the Big Dipper.

We looked at the names of each and measured string for each star according to its distance from Earth (to scale)

The finished mobile; this is how the stars in the Big Dipper would look from the side

When you look from underneath it, you can see the view from Earth

Spot the Big Dipper

This afternoon, we looked at the solar system. First, we had a closer look at Zachary's poster with facts about the planets.

We used props to demonstrate the movement of the Earth around the sun (red space hopper) and the moon around the Earth (golf ball); Tahlia span the Earth to show the days

We headed outside to mark the distance of the planets from the sun to scale; here, Tahlia draws the sun (size not to scale)

Finding our place on the Earth

Working out the next distance; marks have now been drawn for Mercury, Venus and Earth

Marking the last planet (top); we discovered that the outer planets have much bigger gaps between them than the inner ones

Colouring the planets to incorporate into a space themed board game

Putting it together, including question spaces

Playing his new board game with Daddy

Spin and win

Playing a space themed online game

We made some 'cookie dough' using peanut butter, honey, ground sunflower seeds and nuts, then coloured it to shape into the planets

We also decorated with sprinkles, according to the colour/texture we needed

Squashing them into a line

Ptolemy's finished creations (with a little help)

They sat down to watch a few episodes of CBeebies Stargazing

Enjoying their snack creations while they watched