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From this module, I’ve gathered that sustainability is our way of life and we’ve gotten to here today because of unsustainability in our past generations. Sustainable food to me means that ensuring the welfare of people and animals in what we consume daily in a sustainable environment that surrounds food. In my local area, sustainability is evident in bottle banks, clothes banks, a monthly community litter pick up, and a bottle return scheme. Everyone uses separate bins for recycling and bins for waste and charity shops, a local community garden, and supporting farmers and aquaculture. I would engage children in my class by participating in the school’s green flat organization, a local trip to a recycling centre, fish farm, and collecting single use plastics so that we can use these again for art activities and beach clean up. I think it is so important to instill this knowledge and these skills within children as young as possible so that it becomes a life skill they are aware of as they move on through life.
I really like that idea of cooking demonstrations and creating a meal plan. I think this might instill a interest in aquaculture in some children.
I’ve found this module extremely interesting and helpful to learn about the nutrition of seafood. I feel this module has explained the basic foods our bodies should be consuming daily and I felt it was so interesting to know what foods act as a macro and micro nutrient. Nowadays, I find that everyone tries to steer clear from lactose and gluten and it was a great way to find out which other foods we can consume in replace of that. I always love the term seafood as ‘brainfood’, which has always been drilled into me from a young age and now as I get older, I’m realising the nutrients and vitamins seafood contains. In many lessons, we try to encourage children to lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle which includes a variety of foods from the food pyramid. Children get to experience different programmes in school like ‘Food Dudes’ which encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables. But I find that children today are not encouraged or given the chance to try much seafood. So this is something that could change with the fantastic input from The Arc.
Hi Felicity,
I really like the idea of the children doing an online survey about seafood consumed incorporating the maths topics. This would encourage children to start thinking about fish farming around them.
I really enjoyed module 3 and I’ve gained an insight into the vast amount of job opportunities available within aquaculture. I loved hearing that a fish farm in a local area can bring more people, shops, schools and restaurants and how lucky we are in the west coast of Ireland to have the natural resource of the ocean on our doorstep for learning, farming and nature. The online lessons on the ARC give us some insightful ideas to carry out meaningful and authentic STEM style lessons that are perfectly suited towards primary and secondary school students. The Green Flag project is popular in most schools today and I think these ARC lessons could fit in perfectly with this.
Lesson Idea: Design a sustainable Oyster farm with Oyster Gardens
Class: 3rd/4th class -group work
Theme: Earth Day with focus on aquaculture
Project: In your group using single use plastic from the recycling collection, create an Oyster farm that displays sustainability i.e recycled oyster garden/cages.
From completing module 2, I have gained insightful knowledge around the importance of climate and location for fish farming in ireland. I know that tidal zones and the grade of water quality has a lot to do with the location of a fish farm. In school we teach and encourage children to think spatially through a mathematical and geographical process and I’ve learned some ideas on how I can use this in my own teaching. I really enjoyed the ‘goldilocks’ term to describe the Irish climate and understanding how the moon has everything to do with the position of the tides, things I think children will engage with. From living in a rural coastal community, I’ve seen first hand how Aquaculture farms can contribute massively in a socioeconomic sense by creating jobs for all ages and genders, boosting local food production, the importance of foreign exchange and potential for increased tourism in the area. I think agriculture is also popular. It opens up opportunities for working collaboratively among farmers, sharing resources and knowledge.
I really enjoyed this first module and I’m looking forward to learning more as I move forward with this course. I am currently living right beside an oyster farm where my partner and all of our neighbours work. I’m beginning to see the importance and push on awareness around aquaculture in these rural areas of Ireland where it may be the main source of employment. I’m really looking forward to bringing this knowledge into my teaching and my school which I think they would really enjoy. We are a rural school with a big agricultural background and I know the children would find it extremely interesting. I think this content would be important to use in school especially from a young age, children should have amble opportunities to explore nature as possible and their local surroundings and we teach topics like life cycle of a plant etc. What is stopping us from teaching about aquaculture in our local area. I think BIM is such an amazing organisation who are providing people who work in aquaculture with such fantastic experiences to evolve in their own career. I really hope our school will get a chance to avail of the ARC mobile classroom sometimes.