[Christine O’Leary]

I like the idea of implementing a campaign Laura where pupils can make a whole school effort to reduce their carbon footprint.  By recording plastic in lunchboxes, pupils can learn about alternatives and monitoring results over a month will hopefully lead to positive change.

[Christine O’Leary]

The class is invited to discuss what weather is and and how they experience different types of weather and how this affects them (extra clothing needed, sun protection in summer etc.)
Relate the questions on weather to the school garden and how different weather from day to day affects the garden along with seasonal changes in weather.
There is great potential for interactive learning and to make garden observations and record changes that are seen. A weather chart in the classroom is effective for recording daily weather conditions. They can compare the changes in weather with changes in the garden. Pupils will learn about a local ecosystem by observing birds, animals and insects in the garden and how the weather affects their presence there. Pupils can be shown videos like HOME that show how weather affects plants and animals. Pupils learn how to take responsibility for how they can behave to have a positive impact on the local environment.

 

[Christine O’Leary]

Five satellites that have passed over Ireland recently include, Sentinel-2A, Terra (EOS AM-1), NOAA-20 (JPSS-1), Aqua and Landsat 8. They observe the planet and are used in communication, navigation and scientific research. Sentinel-2A, Terra, Aqua and Landsat 8 are primarily for earth observation and NoAA-20 is used for weather monitoring. Sentinel-2A is part of the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Programme and captures imagery used for land monitoring that provides information on land cover, vegetation, and water bodies. Terra is a NASA satellite and monitors climate and the environment. NOAA-20 provides data for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and environmental observations. Aqua is also a NASA satellite and studies the Earth’s water cycle. Its findings contribute to understanding climate change and in meteorology for predicting weather and climate patterns. Landsat 8 monitors land use and the impact of natural disasters. It provides data that is relevant to agriculture, forestry and water management.

[Christine O’Leary]

I agree Emma that it may be a good idea to show specific parts of the film instead of showing the whole film, especially for younger classes.  I also like your ideas about pupils focusing on the positive things that they are doing, this will help to motivate them to do more.

[Christine O’Leary]

HOME is a very impactful movie for teaching pupils about climate change. It moves between showing the beauty of the planet earth whilst also showing the damage that has been caused by humans over exploiting natural resources. Pupils learn about the importance of protecting the environment from the damage that is highlighted in the film. It shows different ecosystems that exist which help pupils to see that everyone is connected in a shared global environment. I think the most impactful message in the film is that there is an urgency to climate change and the time for action is now and that people of all ages including the pupils themselves have a part to play in effecting change. This can lead to think pair share discussions in a classroom, where pupils can relate the idea of bringing meaningful change in the school environment. This can be linked to the school’s Green Schools plan and activities.

[Christine O’Leary]

The Paxi video is a great resource for starting a classroom conversation on the causes and effects of greenhouse gases. It is a very pupil friendly resource and explains greenhouse gases in a relatable way to younger classes. It allows pupils to see the ways that they can make small but meaningful contributions to reduce the effects of greenhouse gases and maintains a positive outlook for pupils, as given the pressing uncertainty and worry about climate change through the media, it allows children to see that they can play their part and have a meaningful impact, especially when working in a class or school community. The temperature predictor is a great resource to implement, and pupils can examine temperatures in the local area and predict future temperatures. In being enabled to predict future temperatures, a class can see the impact of society on weather but also how they can be empowered to influence and change this.

[Christine O’Leary]

The paper, Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Liston 2018), refers to the design process for STEM lessons and activities, which include research, planning and designing, communicating and testing and evaluating. Inquiry based learning and experimenting is central to these lessons. I like to place an emphasis on inquiry-based learning in my classroom and pupils are encouraged to be innovative and think critically. The paper shows how STEM can be used in multi-curricular areas. I especially like the ESA resource ‘Weather v Climate’. This gives the pupils the opportunity to set up their own classroom weather station. The class can be divided into groups and explore and record their data, this could be integrated in a Maths lesson, and findings. The pupils learn the difference between climate and weather from the lessons and their data. The class can explore the weather and climate findings in other countries.

[Christine O’Leary]

I really like the idea of using a school’s garden/sensory garden to implement the climate and weather lessons.  The pupils would be delighted to engage in hands on outdoor learning that will be applicable when integrating these lessons across the curriculum.

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