Footprints in the Sky - Follow up work to use in class

Schools booking the show will receive the follow up work in full. Here is a small sample

Follow up work for teachers

 Introduction

The purpose of the show was to help develop wonder, and encourage curiosity about the world, and to relate it to the science curriculum KS 1&2. The two stages are mixed so that performances to the whole age range within a primary school are possible, and teachers can take what is relevant from the show for a particular group.

N.B. The content relates to understanding the natural world, rather than the application of science through technology.

 This guide is to indicate links that point to one or more areas of the curriculum that can be used in class-work. It is far from complete or exhaustive and is only a beginning. Any suggestions for additions or improvements will be welcomed and appreciated.

 PLEASE NOTE. The show is constantly evolving and every performance is slightly different. There may be references in this material to pieces that were not included the performance you watched.

 General Follow-up Work

 1)     Ask children to state three or more things that they learned from watching the show.

 2)     Create a Book of Questions for the class.

 3)     Ask for three or more questions each for the Book of Questions

 This can be any question about anything: most questions can lead back to the science curriculum, eg. Why do my brother’s feet pong?

 Fill several pages with random questions, then write one question at the top of a page and derive other questions from it eg:

 Q.   How do birds fly?    Answers may include: The atmosphere has buoyancy, leading to

Q.   What is the atmosphere?

 Answers can then lead to questions about pressure and forces, or go off on another tack and ask questions about it’s composition, and what the various gasses do and, how plants use our carbon dioxide and how the carbon cycle works, global warming, and how plants grow upwards against gravity, and now we are back to forces, and can continue to develop that theme.  

Specific Follow-up Work

 1) The Book of Questions and the Curiosity Poem  

The Book of Questions is a device to emphasise Ideas and Evidence and demonstrate the need to first define the question you want to answer before you start looking for answers.

 The ‘Have You Ever Wondered?’ poem is an inducement to curiosity  - We observe something interesting, we become curious, we investigate (ask questions) and discover.

 Finding answers is easy, you don’t have to try,

Just ask a good question, How What When or Why?

 Possible class work would be to think of an interesting question Eg Why trees have leaves, then think of as many questions as possible around that topic eg.

 Does a tree have leaves to keep it warm?

Are they there to look nice?

Are they for birds to shelter under?

Why are leaves green?

What time of year do they fall?

Is the temperature cooler or warmer when they fall?

When do leaves come out again?

Why do they have leaves in summer?

Is it to stop the tree getting sunburnt?

Do trees breathe?

Do they fight? (Yes in that they compete for light but it’s in very slow motion so we don’t see it).

Do they mind birds making nests and hiding in them? (No, they like it because birds are useful for removing insects and grubs that eat the tree)

Do they get thirsty?

Do trees grow all the year round or just at certain times Etc.

 Creative questions should be encouraged because they stimulate imagination: many scientific discoveries were made because people asked silly questions! A whole lesson could be devoted to asking interesting questions.

   2) The Flying Walking Stick as an Introduction to Forces

 A stick that can balance, then fly through the air and whack the unfortunate bottom of William B Curious – what is going on?

 Gravity applied a force to the chair that toppled over. Before hitting the ground with enough force to make a loud noise, it applied a force to the end of the walking stick, whose equal and opposite reaction caused it to fly though the air. The stick then applied a force to the behind of William B Curious who happened to be bending over at just the wrong moment, to pick up some toothbrushes that had fallen from his pocket, also due to the force of gravity.

 Suggestions for class-work and discussion:

 3) The Trumpet, a Honking Cushion and The Nature of Sound.  

This piece is a source for examples about the properties of sound.

The ‘trumpet’ is simple enough, but if you don’t know how it works you have to discover it through investigation. A large instrument produces a bigger and deeper sound, and it will also amplify sounds. Clowns bring inanimate objects to life, and as the trumpet develops it’s own personality, it has to be reminded that it is not alive.

 Suggestions for class-work:

 4) The Floating Falling Scarves and the Mystery of The Rainbow

 Another look at gravity, and the density of the atmosphere and how this creates buoyancy and friction.

 Suggestions for class-work:

 1) Buoyancy

 3) Light

 As for the continuous spectrum of light, where else do you see a light spectrum? – Crystals hung in windows. Oil on puddles, CDs, hologram wrapping paper, security marks on credit cards and banknotes, etc.  

5) Lets Measure a Rainbow!

 This is a simple optical illusion to show the importance of measuring and recording.

 Suggestions for class-work:

 When do our senses deceive us?

6) The Water Cycle.

 Why do living things need water and why do they need to keep replacing it? This was touched on during the show and there is plenty here to elaborate on. We evolved from the sea and we are still comprised mainly of salty water – we carry the sea inside us.  We need a constant throughput of water to get rid of waste – a subject that never fails to engage children!

 7) The Feather Balance

 Children usually assume that this is a trick involving Blue Tac, but it is simply a matter of balancing gravity, movement, and the buoyancy of the air. Interestingly when trying to balance a feather on a finger, children invariably look at the finger – the ‘trick’ is to look at the top of the feather.

 *     *     *     *     *

 These suggestions hopefully provide ideas to make teaching science a little easier and perhaps more interesting. However, the main purpose of this project was to stimulate curiosity and interest in the world and how it works. The centrepiece of the show was the Book of Questions, and this is central to this process.

 Each class can have it’s own Book of Questions. Groups of children discuss what they would like to know, and the questions are written into the book. These can then be topics for future lessons, or for workshops linked to the show.

 I hope this was useful. If you have a school website it would be very helpful to me if you could place a link to my theatre in education website at www.paradoxtheatre.co.uk

Thank you

Footprints in the Sky was devised and written by

Mike Rawlinson

Directed by John Lee

 © Mike Rawlinson 2005

This material is intended solely for teachers to use in class work following a performance of Footprints in the Sky. Schools may photocopy it for this purpose, but any other copying is prohibited.

Footprints in the Sky was possible thanks to funding by Arts Council England

www.paradoxtheatre.co.uk     email curious@paradoxtheatre.co.uk