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I love this idea Nessa! I remember there being a trend there a few years ago on instagram; #2MinuteBeachClean. It’s certainly something to encourage kids with, especially in a seaside town!
My research question: How could coastal erosion be slowed in Wicklow Town?
I would begin by asking students about how climate change affects their local area. I would imagine that coastal erosion would eventually come up as it’s talked about quite a lot in the local area. Research photos of the coast from the past, researching the photographic records that the local library has. Look into satellite photos of the area. We would take a trip to the area, taking photos and looking at damage from a distance. We can get in touch with the local council and councillors in the area to discuss history, and what had already been tried. We can look at coastal erosion solutions in other parts of Ireland and in other countries. Students can create miniature replicas of coastal erosion solutions and present them to local councillors with estimated cost, a rating of effectiveness and how long it would take to put in place.These satellites seem so interesting! I’m amazed at how much activity is going on up there without us realising! I’m sure a senior class could have so much fun looking into each satellite and what it’s purpose is.
I used the website https://satellitemap.space/ to track satellites travelling over Ireland. I found this website on when researching satellites on google. I found the n2yo website good for tracking the ISS, but found it hard to navigate other than that. I saw 5 different Starlink satellites pass over Ireland at the same time; Starlink 11277, Starlink 5825, Starlink 5826, Stalink 32808, Starlink 3781. Interestingly they passed within a minute, so it seems they are travelling at very high speeds. I then saw them over Europe a minute after I saw them. Some were travelling in polar orbit. When researching Starlight satellites, I learned that they are operated by SpaceX, and form the largest satellite constellation in history. Starlink satellites provide high speed broadband, and fly in low orbit (close to the earth). When watching satellites pass over Ireland, I saw hundreds of Starlight satellites. I did not see any other types of satellites.
I think it’s so important to balance the climate change discussions in classrooms to encourage action, rather than create fear. It can be a tough thing to do, but I think highlighting the positive change that is already out there is important.
Video clips are a very important way to teach about climate change in the classroom. It can be difficult to broach the subject in the classroom without creating panic, but there are some ways to do it that incorporate enquiry based learning. I think the visuals are certainly very effective for getting the point of climate change across, and to inspire students into action, particularly the Climate Aid 2020 video. In my classroom, I would begin to talk about climate change, by speaking and reading about Greta Thumberg. I think Greta sets a wonderful example for young people. Once we had discussed what we already knew about climate change, we would then look into what it is, and why Greta was protesting it. I would show a small section of the documentary HOME, and discuss it. I would also show Greta’s Speech at UNCOP25. I feel that Greta is a good way to get students interested and listening about climate change as it is coming from someone who is a similar age to them.
I love the idea of adding then and now visuals Eimear. It’s a great way of making it more accessible to all students. Perhaps an activity of creating or choosing then and now photos could be added for more senior classes.
I can absolutely see myself using these resources in my classroom. I would start by showing my class the Paxi video. We can then have a conversation about it, before moving on to the digital resource TEAL. I would have my class use this resource on iPads or Chromebooks. Students would be given time to explore the TEAL resource. Thye can look at trends over the years from 1950 onwards. They can look at predicting trends in the coming years. They can also look for the weather on particular days, such as their birthday. For example, I am often told how when I was born, my mum’s ambulance got stuck in the mud outside my aunt’s house. I can see from this resource that it had been raining heavily in the days coming up to my birthday, causing the mud!
The video is very clear on how little steps can make a big difference! I would use this resource in my classroom to set up routines and jobs around keeping the classroom green. Jobs I would introduce would be students to ensure the recycling bins are being used correctly, students to ensure the electricity is not being over used, and students to ensure the windows are being closed and opened at appropriate times.Hi Mark, I think the idea of a weather log book would be a very nice thing to have over the year. It could be very interesting for students to refer and compare weather today to a month ago for example. Perhaps they could also practice some predicting, possibly even bringing some of the high and low pressure trends into account in more senior classes!
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Our school has a wonderful location for a weather station, on a mound that is located to the back of the school. It is accessible by all classes. Having one weather station would be lovely here, but I think it would be nice to place multiple weather stations around the school, maybe three? We could create a weather trail out of it! Certainly if students are working in groups to create equipment (anemometer, rain gauge) themselves from recycled materials brought from home. In our school, it would be important to ensure that any weather stations are placed away from the school yard, in an area where the class will be with adult supervision only. The worksheets in these resources are very versatile, and can be used in multiple classrooms, but perhaps senior classes could create a weather questionnaire about the weather station, or a weather trail, that younger classes could complete. By having multiple around the school, students can collect data, graph it and analyse it, comparing different areas of the school such as areas in shade compared with sunny areas. This could include some orienteering, to incorporate PE. Art and Science would also be involved with the making of the equipment. These activities would foster SESE skills such as questioning, observing, predicting, investigating/experimenting, estimating/measuring and Analysing. They would also foster skills in the area of Science, such as designing and making, exploring, planning and evaluating, while Geography skills such as ‘a sense of place and space’ and graphical skills are explored. </span>