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Research question ‘What action can we take to reduce our carbon footprint at a school community level to combat the issue of climate change?’ . The aim of this research question is to enable the children to see themselves as change makers in our community and to identify the small actions each individual can take to make a difference.
This research question would be conducted following a series of work on climate change and the effects of it on our local community. This will ensure that the children have a solid understanding of climate change and the causes of it. Once adequate work has been completed on the causes and effects of climate change, we can begin to look at solutions at an individual/school community level.
To begin, the children would calculate their carbon footprint on the WWF website. As a class, we would agree on one particular area to focus on in order to reduce our carbon footprints eg. how we get to school. They children could conduct a whole school survey on the ways in which students & teachers get to school each day. This could link with data in maths and the results could be displayed in graph form for all school members to see. There are also opportunities to investigate the type of pollution caused by cars/ buses and how this issue is being addressed (electric cars/scooters).
The children could then think of initiatives to reduce the amount of people driving to school eg. WOW day, Walking bus, COW day, carpooling. These initiatives would be presented to the school community by the children and implemented accordingly.
The children could conduct a follow-up survey after a few weeks of the initiative. The new results would be compared to the old results as a means of showcasing the improvements at a whole school level. The children may also recalculate their carbon footprints to see if any changes are evident.
Following this initiative, the children could go on to address another area such as recycling or biodiversity in the school community to continue their action against climate change.
Task 3: I had a look as the ESA resource ‘Nose High Up in the Sky’ and think they would be fantastic lessons to complete with senior classes. The activities introduce students to the concept of observing earth from space. Before jumping into these activities, I would complete some atlas activities to ensure the children are comfortable with the concept of ‘aerial view’. They might brainstorm and identify some local landmarks that they think might be visible from above, giving reason for their choices (eg. size, colour, shape etc.)
I particularly liked Task 2 in which the children are required to match photographs of various landscapes such as mountains, rivers, lakes, cities, islands and deserts taken from the ground, with those captured by astronauts aboard the ISS. Through this process, students will learn the benefits of viewing things from different angles and perspectives, and develop an understanding of why using satellites to monitor our planet is valuable.
Following on from this activity, the children could use the EO Browser to independently explore satellite imagery of landscapes across the world.The video ‘Home’ by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a powerful video that highlights the extremity of climate change on different parts of the world. While it may be overwhelming to watch from beginning to end, I would use certain parts of the video to explore and investigate specific issues such as overfishing, water usage or deforestation, as a means of promoting awareness among the children rather than eco-anxiety.
I think Greta Thunberg’s TED Talk on climate change would be a more suitable video to use in the classroom as a stimulus for investigating the topic Climate Change. Given that Greta is a similar age to children in the senior classes, I think her message surrounding the need to combat climate change becomes a lot more relevant and interesting for the children. Following this video, the children could use the TEAL tool to investigate climate variables for various countries around the world. At a school community level, the children could follow up this video by calculating their Carbon Footprint, examine Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and create a suitable School Plan, or develop school initiatives to promote awareness around Climate Change and the need to take action.
Activity 3 seems like a really engaging and effective lesson for senior classes. I would complete this lessons after a series of lessons on Weather Vs Climate and The Greenhouse Effect as it requires a solid understanding of topic-specific vocabulary and concepts. I think the PAXI video is an effective way of activating and assessing the children’s prior knowledge of The Greenhouse Effect and I would definitely use is to introduce the lesson. I would perhaps pause the video before it reveals what we can do to reduce the Greenhouse Effect in order to give the children the opportunity to come up with their own ideas and suggestions based on the problems caused by it. Alternatively, this could also be done as a follow up lesson.
I would definitely spend time introducing the Teal tool to the children and demonstrate how to investigate the various data sources available. The children would then work in small groups investigating the effect of climate change on various countries around the world. The groups would then report their findings to the class during which we could compare the countries most/least affected.
This activity has many opportunities for integration across the subject areas and I would definitely use it as a stimulus for report writing in Literacy, data in Maths, a country study in Geography and changing trends in History.Having completed Science as my specialism subject in college, the paper ‘Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Liston 2018) provided a welcomed reminder of what STEM education should look like in the classroom. The paper emphasises how STEM education provides a cross-curricular approach to real world issues and concepts. When implementing STEM education in my classroom I try to ensure that lessons promote critical thinking among the students, are student led and inquiry based, and that all learners in the room are able to engage to the best of their ability.
Activity 1: I thought this was a great activity in establishing the difference between weather and climate. Using the children’s birthdays to differentiate between weather and climate is something I am definitely looking forward to trying in my classroom. I also like the idea of getting the children to come up with their own definition for each term based on their findings as a means of promoting child-led, inquiry based learning.
Activity 2: I love the idea of setting up a weather station within the school grounds and think it is a great way of giving the children ownership of their learning. Our instruments for measuring the weather are stored away until the topic is taught so I think having a school weather station and using the instruments regularly, will effectively facilitate real world learning opportunities. It will also promote the development of skills such as critical thinking, questioning, and creativity.