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I think this is a great research question because litter is something children can easily recognise in their own surroundings. Going on a walk and recording the litter would make the investigation practical and meaningful. I also like the idea of giving everyone a role and creating posters, as this would allow the children to take responsibility and share what they learned with the wider school.
Research question: What type of weather do we experience most often at our school?
I chose this question because I think it would work really well with Junior Infants. Weather is something they see and experience every day, so it would be easy for them to understand and relate to. It also links well with the weather activities from the earlier modules.
I would tell the children that we were becoming “Climate Detectives” and that our job was to observe and record the weather each day. At the same time every morning, we could look outside and talk about what we notice. The children could take turns checking if it is sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy or cold. We could also record the temperature and use a simple rain gauge or windsock in the school grounds.
To make the investigation more visual and enjoyable, the children could create their own pictures, symbols and colour codes for the different types of weather. Each day, they could add the correct symbol to a large class chart. This would allow every child to take part, even if they were not yet confident with writing.
After a few weeks, we could count and compare the symbols to find out which type of weather we experienced most often. The children could then use the results to create a colourful class artwork or weather display to share with the rest of the school.
I agree that this resource provides lots of opportunities for cross-curricular learning. I really like the idea of using Google Maps to compare rural and urban areas, especially as the children could relate it to their own communities and discuss the differences they notice. Designing and testing rockets would also be a fun, hands-on way to develop teamwork, prediction and problem-solving skills.
I chose the “Nose High Up in the Sky” resource as I felt it was the most suitable option for my Junior Infant class. I enjoyed looking through the activities and liked how they encouraged children to observe the weather using their senses before introducing weather instruments. Recording the temperature, rainfall and wind would be manageable for Junior Infants if it was completed as a whole-class activity with plenty of teacher support.
I would set up a simple weather station in the school grounds and give different children the job of becoming the “weather detectives” each day. We could check the temperature, look at the direction of the wind and record whether there had been any rainfall. This would give the children a real purpose and make the learning more hands-on.
I would adapt the worksheets for Junior Infants by using photographs, weather symbols and simple visual recording charts. In my Visual Arts module in college, I explored how information could be recorded using different symbols and visual codes. I think this would work really well with this activity. The children could create their own symbols for sunny, rainy, windy or cold weather and use them to build a colourful class weather chart.
This would be a fun way of integrating Science, Maths and Visual Arts. It would also develop the children’s observation, communication, creativity and early data-handling skills in an age-appropriate way.I really like the idea of creating a class agreement based on the Paris Agreement, as it would help the children feel involved and show them that their actions can make a difference. Connecting the topic to solar panels and renewable energy in their local area would also make the learning more meaningful. Giving children a chance to share their thoughts and feelings is important, as climate change can sometimes feel worrying or overwhelming.
I found HOME very interesting and, at times, quite shocking. The scenery and aerial footage were beautiful, but there was such a strong contrast between the natural beauty of the planet and the damage being caused by people. It really made me stop and think about how connected everything is and how our everyday choices can have a much wider impact. I also found the other clips in the module very powerful. Greta Thunberg’s speeches stood out to me because she was so young but still confident enough to speak up about something she believed in.
As I teach Junior Infants, I would have to introduce these facts in a much simpler and more age-appropriate way. I would not show the full HOME film, as it is quite long and some parts could be upsetting or difficult for young children to understand. Instead, I would choose a few short clips or images and pause to talk about what the children notice.
I would try to keep the learning positive and focus on things the children can actually do. We could talk about recycling, turning off lights, saving water, reusing materials and looking after plants and animals. I could also use stories, songs and simple experiments, such as watching ice melt. I think it is important that children understand we need to care for the planet without making them feel worried or helpless.I agree that the Paxi video is a great way to introduce the activity and capture the children’s interest. Dividing the class into groups to explore different emissions scenarios would encourage teamwork and lead to an interesting comparison of their findings. I also agree that some of the vocabulary would need to be simplified and supported with pictures, particularly for younger pupils.
Activity 3, “Climate Reporters”, very interesting, particularly the use of the tool to explore how temperature and rainfall may change under different emissions scenarios. It gives children a visual way of looking at climate change and helps them understand that the choices people make now can have an impact on the future. I also liked the Paxi video, as the animation explains the greenhouse effect in an engaging and child-friendly way.
As I teach Junior Infants, I would need to simplify the activity considerably. The graphs, emissions scenarios and written climate report would be too advanced for them. However, I could show short sections of the Paxi video, pausing regularly to explain new vocabulary using simple language, pictures and Irish weather words. I could also use the prediction tool on the interactive whiteboard to compare what might happen if temperatures continue to rise.
Instead of writing a climate report for 2050, the children could become weather reporters through role-play and create a simple picture report showing a hotter future. We could then discuss small actions that help the Earth, such as switching off lights, walking when possible and reusing materials.
I think the activity could be improved by including a separate worksheet for younger classes with more pictures, symbols and sorting activities. A practical experiment demonstrating the greenhouse effect would also make the concept easier for younger children to understand.I agree that these activities make STEM practical and relevant to the children’s own lives. Using the local weather in Mayo would make the learning much more meaningful, and I think the children would really enjoy making predictions and checking if they were correct. A class weather station would also be a great way to develop teamwork, observation and problem-solving skills.
After reading Liston’s paper, I realised that STEM education is more than simply teaching science, technology, engineering and maths within the same week. Authentic STEM learning should connect different subjects through practical, real-life experiences and allow children to investigate, collaborate and find solutions.
In my Visual Arts module in college, I explored how STEM could be integrated into art. We looked at tracking information, such as different activities or weather conditions, by creating symbols and visual codes to represent each one. I found this very interesting, as it incorporated STEM into a playful and creative art activity. This connects well with Liston’s paper because the different subject areas were not taught separately but were combined through one meaningful experience.
I found both Weather and Climate activities useful, although they would need to be adapted for my Junior Infants. For Activity 1, I would use pictures and simple weather symbols to help the children sort and discuss different weather conditions. The idea of climate may be quite abstract at this age, so I would focus mainly on daily weather and seasonal patterns.
Activity 2 could work well as a whole-class investigation. We could become “weather detectives”, check the weather and temperature at the same time each day and record our findings using visual symbols and codes. The children could then create a colourful weather chart or collaborative artwork based on the results.
I also think this could become a fun STEM project integrated throughout the whole school. Different classes could take responsibility for measuring temperature, rainfall or wind and then share their findings. Older pupils could create graphs or digital presentations, while younger pupils could record the weather using pictures and symbols. Each class could contribute at its own level, bringing science, maths, technology, engineering and art together in an enjoyable and meaningful way.These are lovely examples of the school working with the wider community to promote sustainability. I especially like the hedgerow poster project, as the children could see their learning making a real difference locally. Involving the Men’s Shed in creating the school garden was also a great way to encourage collaboration and allow the children to learn from others.
Living and teaching in Dublin, I can see sustainability being practised in many everyday ways. Recycling bins are widely available, many people use public transport, walk or cycle, and local groups organise clean-ups of parks and streets. Within our school, children are encouraged to separate their waste, reduce food waste and use reusable bottles and lunchboxes.
In my own classroom, I have visual posters showing the children which bins to use and what items belong in each one. These are particularly helpful for Junior and Senior Infants, as the children can match their waste to the pictures and become more independent when sorting it. I would build on this by examining the waste produced in our classroom and discussing how we could reduce it. The children could also take on small jobs, such as checking the bins or making sure lights are switched off when we leave the room.
We could explore sustainability further by taking a walk around the local area to look for recycling bins, litter and other examples of caring for the environment. The children could also examine clean food packaging and look for sustainability labels, including ASC on farmed seafood and MSC on wild-caught seafood. We could finish by creating posters showing simple ways to care for our classroom, community and oceans. I feel that introducing these habits at a young age helps children understand that their everyday choices can make a difference.I agree that learning about nutrition from a young age is very important, particularly when children are surrounded by convenient food choices. Bringing food labels into the classroom is a great practical idea. I also like how you would use the information to create graphs and present the findings, as this would link the topic naturally with Maths, SPHE and oral language.
This module helped me to understand more about the nutritional value of seafood and the important role it can play in a balanced diet. I learned that seafood is a good source of protein, which supports growth and muscle repair. Mussels and oysters contain high levels of iron, while salmon provides vitamin D and omega-3. These nutrients are particularly important for children, as vitamin D supports healthy bones and teeth, while omega-3 contributes to healthy brain and vision development.
As a Junior and Senior Infant teacher, I would introduce this topic in a simple and visual way. We could look at the food pyramid and discuss where fish and shellfish belong. The children could sort pictures of different foods into the correct groups and learn the Irish names for foods such as salmon, mussels and oysters. We could also talk about the types of seafood they have tried at home.
A simplified version of the “Eye Spy in the Supermarket” activity would work well with infants. I could bring in clean seafood packaging for the children to examine. We could look for pictures, identify where the seafood came from and search for the ASC and MSC labels. This would introduce sustainability in an age-appropriate way and help children understand that labels can tell us about our food. Overall, I feel this topic could link well with Science, SPHE, Maths and Irish while helping children become more aware of healthy and sustainable food choices.I completely agree that the resources can be simplified for younger children through play and activity-based learning. As an infant teacher, I also think they would encourage curiosity, discussion and teamwork. I really like your point about building STEM skills gradually from infants upwards, as this would create a more consistent whole-school approach.