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Hi James,
‘Necessity’ as the saying goes ‘is the mother of invention’. Like you mntioned, the natural evolution of fishing for familial survival is the development of more sustainable fishing methods, which has led to the evolution of aquaculture. We were recently on a trip to Carrick-a-reed rope bridge. The local guide explained how the waters under the bridge once teemed with runs of North Atlantic salmon. The locals devised a strategy of placing a funnel-type net between the island and the main land. They winced in the net using a purpose built crane. The fishermen ensured there were barrels of ice waiting into which they packed the salmon, keeping it as fresh as possible. Strapping these barrels to their backs, they would walk across the rope bridge carrying this load. That evening those same fish would be served up in the major cities of Ireland and Britain. Such an interesting story.
Hello Darerca, I totally agree, the children would be enthralled, glued to the windows, just to see the ARC set up space in the school yard and that’s before they step inside! This would be a once in a school lifetime experience which children of all ages would benefit from.
Our school has the Sustainable Development Goals printed and hung on one of the outside walls of our school. We conducted a school wide drive a number of years ago, to increase awareness within our school community of the SDG’s. The children along with a number of teachers wrote and created a performance based on the same. It’s easier to get everyone excited behind a ‘new’ drive like this, the challenge is to sustain interest as time passes! We have a Green School’s Committee which includes 2 representatives from each class from 2nd up, some of the Senior end children are also the representatives for Junior-1st classes. These children have the opportunity to attend meetings and are responsible for emptying our ‘Green’ bins weekly. They also keep an eye out for maintaining sustainable practices within the class and remind their peers and teachers to turn off lights, whiteboards etc We also have a gardening club and wormery in our school. I have seen the benefit and excitement to individual children as they become involved in the upkeep of vegetable beds etc. We operate ‘Picker Pals’ and have invested in a number of extra litter pickers which teachers can use to provide an opportunity for classes to take turns doing a ‘litter walk’ in the local community. We have a ‘Walk on Wednesdays’ and a ‘Walking Bus’ undertaken by members of the PTA. There are always new ways to improve and make the goal of sustainability a reality in our classes and homes. It often takes energy and time investment to bring new ideas and methods of sustainability to a place where it becomes part of routine. Often we depend on enthusiastic staff members who are generous with their time and effort to this! Thanks to them all.
Hi Kate, we also use the ‘Picker Pals’ programme and the kids love it. It’s a really good home school link that gets the pupils and parents discussing their local area and our individual responsibility for it. An initiative like this, along with the other daily sustainability habits that form the routine of the classroom will hopefully make environmental care and sustainability intrinsic in us all.
I myself did not realise how great a protein source, fish and especially shellfish actually is. The Food Pyramid is a topic studied within the SPHE curriculum in classes throughout the school in an age appropriate way. It would be very beneficial to introduce the vocabulary of macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients, essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids to fifth and sixth classes within the focus on the food pyramid. It’s interesting for the children to hear that 80% of Irish people are deficient in Vitamin D which is essential for calcium absorption and that oily fish is a great source of vitamin D. They would love to take these facts home to their parents. The game ‘Eye Spy in the supermarket’ is a great hands on approach to motivate the children to conduct their own investigation. The enquiry based approach encourages the children to find out for themselves which shellfish and fish sold in our local shop have the different labels and report back their findings to the class. They could present their findings on graphs, pie charts etc bringing in Maths. They could conduct a comparative study between different protein sources and discuss the sustainability of each food source. Looking at land locked countries and researching how they source fish would be an interesting aside in Geography. As teachers we are asked to promote these critical thinking skills among our students in meaningful ways that allow them to become well informed members of local communities who contribute positively. There is so much emphasis on body image everywhere on social media now and children and young people are bombarded. There is also a greater emphasis on fitness within sport which young people take very seriously. I think allowing them to be informed about the benefits of healthy food choices, vitamins, minerals, iron, complete proteins can only be beneficial for them going forward.
One thing that occurs to me though is that sometimes the price of fish and shellfish can be prohibitive for some families so depending on the children in your class and their home background this is a topic which would need a sensitive approach.Katie, I agree that using the Salmon of Knowledge story is a great way to introduce the correlation between the nutritional benefits of seafood and the curriculum. I really liked the ARC rendition of the story with the fire and silhouettes in the background. This would be engaging for the older classes who will already have heard this story earlier in their school years. It would allow for good discussion about myths/legends and the ‘lessons’ they hold…..for example was it because salmon is good ‘brainfood’ that Fiona gained all the knowledge or was there actually something special and magical about the salmon?
Again, this was a wonderfully informative module. I can see how aquaculture is indeed cross curricular and multidisciplinary, making it a perfect topic to explore within the classroom. Global citizenship, environmental awareness and sustainability are hugely topical and relevant for our students. Hearing the statistic that over 2million of our population lives within 5km of the coast makes it even more important that we’re all aware of the richness that aquaculture has added to our communities. The ARC online lesson resources are engaging and interesting for the children, allowing apt opportunities for discussion and further exploration. The videos and word bubble slide on the various job opportunities within the marine sector show the scope within STEM to build and develop understanding around our aquaculture farms. The opportunities to be a drone pilot, ROV pilot and commercial diver open up a whole new way of thinking about the opportunities provided within the aquaculture sector. One objective of STEM education within the SSE process could be to introduce the online ARC lessons as part of a wider goal of working towards gaining a Blue Flag for the school. This would ensure that aquaculure in its cross curricular format would become a feature of the SESE/STEM programme in classrooms.
Hi Darerca, I completely agree with you. Though I have taught senior classes for years, I have never come across a lesson on Aquaculture, fish farming etc in any of the SESE school books. Definitely such an important area to include in future school planning.
This was such an informative and fascinating module. I knew so little about aquaculture and had never given thought to why Ireland, and particularly the west coast of our island is so suited to aquaculture. The rocky, mountainous regions that dominate the western counties mean that these counties are unsuitable in the main part for agriculture. We know from our history of the Great Famine that these areas were hardest hit with starvation and emigration. The Atlantic Ocean which buffets and erodes our rugged shoreline has ensured that islands, inlets, bays and peninsulas are in abundance. Because of the Gulf Stream the Atlantic Ocean brings a mild ‘Goldilocks’ climate creating a perfect temperature for Atlantic Salmon net farms, Pacific Rocks Oysters and Blue Mussels. Killary Fjord also is suited to aquaculture. It is heartening to hear how sustainable these farms are. Very interesting to hear about the 130 Pacific Rock Oyster farms and how they provide a vey real alternative source of protein to this provided via agriculture, lessening pressure on land, for which there is such competition. These farms support local communities along the western front both directly and indirectly. The Wild Atlantic way draws tourists to many little fishing towns and villages, providing jobs in so many hospitality sectors, businesses and places of employment that would have been particularly hard hit through the Covid pandemic. Donegal and Waterford between them export 60% of our oysters bringing huge revenue to these counties and the country as a whole.
I have to admit that I have found this first module very engaging and informative. I can already see how aquaculture in Ireland would be a fabulous topic to explore with the children in school. It is not an area that I have developed or explored at any great detail, personally or with my classes to date, but the children would be intrigued to learn about the abundance of marine life and the opportunities that aquaculture presents.
Our school is located along the coastline so the online resources and videos would be a wonderful precursor to a beach and rock pool visit. Looking at the social licensing and opportunities presented in the aquaculture sector would be incredibly beneficial to the students. Sustainability and protection of the environment are such important issues for the children and wider community. I can see how the children would feel empowered that they could play a part in being actively informed and proud of what we do in Ireland after watching the videos. Taste the Atlantic would be very interesting for the children and hearing the comments of the participants would encourage the children to perhaps sample some sea food for themselves. They would love to be immersed in the ARC experience!