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I think studying famous inventors is a great idea! We did this using iPads for one of our activities for science week, the children enjoyed it and learned lots !
There were a wide range of interesting lesson ideas in the ‘Nose up High in the Sky’ Manual! I will definitely use this going forward in my teaching. It provides teachers with a tool to build on lessons in SESE books and provide more meaningful activities which encourage engagement. A lesson that particularly stuck out to me was the first on on Old Weather Proverbs. Reflecting on this, it is interesting for children as some of them may be familiar with these proverbs or may have heard them by parents or grand parents before! It shows children how these would have been relied upon in the past when weather forecasting wouldn’t be as up to date as it is now! I think this lesson also provides many opportunities for cross curriculum integration for example translating the weather proverbs in Gaeilge or painting a ‘Red Sky at Night’ in Visual Arts!
Question? How Does Climate Change Affect Our Weather in Ireland and what effect does it have on our lives
I carried out a similar lesson involving the above research question in my second class this year. We discussed the differences in Weather and how it is much more humid and also how we have more flooding in Ireland than ever before. Using our school iPads, we researched into changing weather patterns in Ireland and particularly focused on our county of Cork for flooding. This was a lesson the children were really engaged in. We also made a lot of connections to our life experiences- when do we wear coats? how come it rains more? There was also an at home activity where the children interviewed a parent or grandparent about weather patterns when they were children. Our findings highlighted that as a result of climate change weather and its impact on our enviornment are changing.
A student mentioned about a sibling they have in Austrlia. This question sparked up further debate and questioning about forest fires in Austrlia and their impact on the environement. We then explored this more in a follow on lesson!The use of the local environment is very engaging in this lesson. It is also a real world problem that has resulted of climate change and one that the children can make links and connections to!
These sound like great ideas! There are also many links to make to Aistear when exploring the topic of Space. It provides many opportunities for cross curriculum integreation!
The film ‘HOME’ by Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s is very moving! It really highlights the major issues that arise from climate change and how these impact our environment. I think a lot of the concepts mentioned in the Home video are abstract and may need to be broken down for the younger classes. Perhaps a topic could take a focus each week for example: Overfishing on Week 1, Water Pollution Week 2, Deforestation Week 3. By doing this, the children can build on their learning from the previous week but it also doesn’t overwhelm children either with learning all new concepts in one lesson! Prior to watching the video, I would ask the children to take note of 3 questions they would ask about the video. At the end of the video, class discussion would occur surrounding the video and what stuck out to the students. I would then ask the children to share their questions with the class. I would then call on the other students to see if any of them could answer the childrens questions. By doing so, the lesson is interactive and collaborative and everyone is learning from each other! My overall lesson objectives for Lesson 1 would be to introduce the topic of climate change to the children and also to encourage and develop critical thinking skills. I would then build on this learning by focusing on different aspects of climate change in future lessons
Using images to explain the harder concepts is a great idea, this could be particularly effective in the younger classes!
I would introduce the lesson by informing the children we are going to watch an interesting video! Prior to watching the video, I would question the children to elicit their prior knowledge on the topic of Greenhouse gases. I would use a mix of higher and lower order questions to determine where the children are at! I would then get the children to discuss the most important parts of the video in their opinion. I think the video explains in a child friendly way however it may not be suited to the older classes. I think this lesson could be used as a starting point for a series of lessons on greenhouse gases and climate change. I think it is very important to use the children’s immediate environment in order to ensure lessons are pitched at an appropriate level to them
Using the children’s life experiences is a great starting point and will help to make learning more meaningful for the children
Brainstorming to elicit prior knowledge is a great starting point for this lesson. It helps to determine where the children are at and how the lesson should be pitched!
The paper ‘Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics’, was very interesting! It allowed me to reflect on the importance of active learning surrounding STEM lessons in the classroom. It emphasises the importance of involving the children and a hands on approach to STEM. This module really opened up my eyes to how I can enhance the teaching of STEM in my classroom. There are many different approaches to teaching STEM that can be used in the classroom. It could be effective to focus on different areas each term. A wole school approach could also be useful.
Exploring the difference between weather and climate could be a tricky topic especially in the younger classes. The difference between weather and climate could be quite abstract especially when the wording is often used together! Watching videos on these and defining the terms could be a good starting point- what is weather> what is climate? How do they differ I think researching different climates around the world could be a good lesson to emphasise the differences between weather and climate. For this, the children could use iPads and each be given a different country to research. Discussion could occur afterwards based on the different types of climate- are there simialrities/ differences?I definitely agree with you! I love the idea of bird feeders. In the newer parts of our school, we have the push taps which turn off after several seconds. This is a great idea to help reduce water waste
Climate change is effecting our local area by increased flooding. Average rainfall measurements are increasing. There is now a lot more flooding occurring throughout the year compared to past years. This is a consequence of climate change. Pupils could explore this further by carrying out a research project. Another effective idea would be to get parents to interview grand parents and parents about their experiences and memories of floods when they were children. Answers can be compared and contrasted. This enables children to make a link to the learning when relating family members life experiences. Photographs of the past and present could also be looked at.
3 actions that I could do is:
1. Make a conscious effort to continuously learn more about climate change and reflect my learning in my teaching to help the students learn about climate change.
2. Make a more conscious effort to recycle and dispose of waste
3. Engage in projects with my class that help to reduce the risk of climate change.
