Use the metal clips to connect the tube to the fan. Stuff one end of the tube into the hole you left on the corner and temporarily tape it into place (use masking tape so it can be easily removed). Turn it inside out and tape along the seam to reinforce it.Ħ. Fold this piece in half and tape it closed so it becomes a long tube. You’ll want to tape the corners really well.ĥ. Cut another piece of plastic about six to eight feet in length. Leave one corner open to add the tunnel for the fan (see diagram 2 below). You should end up with two pieces of plastic, each measuring 20 feet X 20 feet.Ĥ. Place one sheet on top of the other and begin taping along all the edges. Adjust accordingly.ģ. Tape two pieces of the plastic together lengthwise (see diagram 1 below). If I’m remembering correctly, the roll of plastic we used was somewhere in the vicinity of 100 feet long and 10 feet wide (that was for a 20ftX20ft bubble, and we didn't use all of it). Repeat this three more times for a total of four pieces. Ideally, the gym or other large room would be your best option.Ģ. Roll out 20 feet of plastic, cut it from the roll, and unfold. Once blown up, it won’t be 400 square feet it will be smaller than that, but you will still need a fairly good amount of space to spread out. When you’re deciding how big to make your bubble, think about where you will set it up as well. In that case, a 20X20 design will be more roomy. For a class of 20 students, you will likely want to split the group in half and bring 10 students at a time inside the bubble. Decide how big you want to make your Classroom Bubble. And don’t worry, I’ll happily give you tips on logistics and things to avoid as well.ġ. After I provide instructions for building the bubble, I’ll tell you how we presented our star programs both inside and outside (in case you’re not interested in making your own Bubble Classroom). Once inside the bubble, we could show videos or PowerPoint presentations on a small whiteboard, have the kids help decorate (with stars or speleothems), talk about the history of constellations or the animals that live in a cave, and even make a few crafts (with the help of lanterns).
The Bubble Classroom was a popular destination for elementary school kids at my park. That made the program more realistic and definitely captured the attention of our participants. With our Bubble Classroom, we could take students inside and give them a chance to experience the night sky or a cave environment in safety and darkness. This contraption can help you provide information about stars for kids.
Stars classroom windows#
As you may already know, it’s difficult to put a room with a bunch of windows into relatively complete darkness in the middle of the day (without investing in a ton of aluminum foil to cover the windows). He designed it because he was constantly teaching subjects with an element of darkness (such as caves and astronomy).
What do black plastic, a box fan, and duct tape have in common? Not much, but those three items are pretty much all you need to build your own “Bubble Classroom.” This invention was originally developed by a park naturalist I worked with in Missouri. This doesn’t cost you anything, but it makes me happy…so happy that I might even go out and hug a tree! Thanks for your support! Read my Disclaimer for additional information. If you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission. Please note, this post contains affiliate links.
Stars classroom update#
If you’d like to receive an update when the course is available, please subscribe to my newsletter. The course will also include a video of the construction process.
Stars classroom how to#
I’m currently working on a course that will teach you how to use it in just about every way imaginable, making this a wise investment for the hands-on classroom. It’s been modified over the years and can now be used to represent various habitats and historical settings. The concept I’m going to present in this article originated with a park naturalist I worked with in Missouri. So, what’s a teacher to do? Create a stars classroom…that’s what! Last time I checked, the stars aren’t visible that early in the day. That’s hard to do when you have students from 8:00 a.m. My kids are very visually-oriented, and they prefer to see the real thing whenever they can. The study of stars is a tough subject to teach during the day.
0 kommentar(er)
