Launching Rockets and Imaginations in Pre-Primary School

Student questions open new doors in the Pre-Primary School, sometimes even launching the curriculum to the stars! Pioneers teacher Ana recently noted that her students were curious about how we get day and night and were mentioning astronauts more and more. Together with Georjean in the Wonder Lab, the class embarked on an exploration of space. 

 

Students began by sharing what they already knew about the sun and the earth and used globes and a flashlight to demonstrate day and night. They observed and interacted with hanging models of our Solar System and added in some hands-on learning by creating their own clay rockets and planets. Students discussed gravity and tried to test its limits, but no matter how high they jumped, they came back down to Earth. The class watched a video of astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor reading the book If I Were An Astronaut all the way from the International Space Station and welcomed Commander Greg Karas from the Challenger Learning Center, who demonstrated rocket launches and shared freeze-dried ice cream.

 

It all led up to their own rocket launch on the front field earlier this month. The Pioneers first suited up, donning astronaut vests and helmets. One by one, they selected a small foam rocket and loaded it onto the launchpad. The whole class joined in counting down—5, 4, 3, 2, 1, blast off!—before each astronaut jumped onto the launcher, propelling the rocket into the sky using air pressure. 

 

After the launch, Georjean helped students review their astronaut training from a list that the class created based on what they learned from books, videos, and conversations about working in space. 

The young astronauts diligently moved through the training steps, using their imaginations to lift giant rocks, flip around in “zero gravity,” and read a pretend book full of science facts. The push-ups and runs were real ways to exercise and practice gross motor skills before they headed back to the classroom to drink plenty of water. After this unit, everyone agreed that being an astronaut takes a lot of hard work. 

 

“This unit of study was truly a collaboration,” said Georjean. “One question led to the next and so forth until the students developed their own unit of study. I was there to guide them as they found answers in books, models, videos, play, and each other.”