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Hi Fiona,
I really like this idea, especially inviting local residents to speak to the class about the effects this issue has had on them. I think this will allow the children to see how fast climate change is impacting us and it brings a sense of community when trying to come up with solutions to tackle this problem.
Research Question:
What are the impacts of sea levels rising on small island countries?I would introduce this lesson by highlighting that we live on a small island and we will be investigating how climate change can impact the country we live in. As a class we will investigate the ways climate change and global warming is leading to sea levels rising. We will look at real life data and videos to back up this evidence. We will complete an experiment demonstrating what happens to sea levels following the ESA- The Ice is Melting guide. We will further investigate satellite images to obtain data on ice melting.Children will analyse and explain why this is happening. Following on from this in groups children will discuss what problems may arise for small island countries as a result of this. We will look at local examples of an increase in flooding as my school is based on the coast where flood patterns are increasing. After this the children will use the Climate from Space web application to explore and compare sea surface temperature and changes to sea level. After discussing our findings the children could create digital projects or videos highlighting their research and include ways of how children can tackle climate change and global warming.
After investigating the EO Browser “Step by Step Guide” and the EO Browser Tutorial I believe that this would be an accessible tool that the children would benefit from using in the classroom. There are so many ways that this could be used in the classroom from observing, investigating and analysing different types of data. Having access to IPads and Chromebooks in my school would allow children to benefit from working as part of a group, in pairs and individually to both enhance digital skills and develop skills in Earth observation. It would be important to demonstrate how to use this tool to the students and show them the tutorial to make sure they feel comfortable using the resource. Whole class discussions could take place around real time satellite images as well as urban growth and natural disasters. I think the children will really benefit from having access to such a fantastic resource that links them to the challenges we face in the real world.
I think your suggestion about assessing the target goals in Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2019 would be a fantastic hands on approach for children to connect with this issues we are facing in the world. It would allow them to come up with goals of their own and you could create a whole school approach to tackle climate change linking with Green Schools.
All the videos shown in this module were captivating and showed beauty of planet earth. The video ‘Home’ does an excellent job of highlighting climate change and its impact on the planet and different ecosystems around the world. I think it would be important to ease into this topic as it could create some anxiety with younger students about the planet so it is very important to teach this using a positive approach. I think using Greta Thunerg’s TED talk is a great way to convey such powerful topic. This video could be linked to other areas of the curriculum such as persuasive writing and this video could be used to identify features of persuasive writing as well as teaching children about the urgency of the matter.
Similar to the first two activities, activity 3 is engaging and practical and it provides children with comprehensive and detailed way to enhance their knowledge on climate change. There is so much cross-curricular linkage in this activity from exploring people at work to developing digital technology skills within the classroom. The use of group work suggested in this activity is an excellent way for children to learn from each other and provides opportunities for peer scaffolding. I found the Paxi video a very nice way to introduce the lesson as it is very child friendly yet includes the key points to be taught in this lesson. I would begin my lesson by showing this to my class and follow up by eliciting any prior knowledge they have on the topic. I would also like to complete the greenhouse gas experiment with plastic bottles explored in this module as it gives children the opportunity to actually visual what is happening around them. I would complete activity 3 with my class and further like to complete a visual arts lesson where children create posters to display around the school about climate change and what we can do to help it. It would also be nice for my class to present their ideas in a school assembly to educate others in the school.There is also plenty of scope for vocabulary development in this lesson which can enhance literacy skills and this new vocabulary could be used in creating projects on the topic either online or hands on.
I have really enjoyed the content of the first module in this course. The module and ESA resources provided are extremely detailed and will be very helpful when teaching sixth class this year. I love how differentiated this topic can be and how this module has provided scope to teach across all levels.
Activity 1:The ‘Nose Up High in the Sky’ resource being organised and broken up into 3 activities will make lessons practical and easy to follow. I read a comment where someone discussed pre teaching this lesson to their sixth class and allowing them to work with younger classes as a way of sharing their learning. I thought this was a fantastic idea and will definitely carry this idea forward. I will discuss and pre-teach the 3 activities to my 6th class and then select a 3rd or 4th class to work with. I also really liked the link about the science behind the proverbs. I think this could be used as a visual arts lesson as well where children could create posters based on the proverbs. Using stations to teach weather would further solidify learning and ensure a wider range of topics could be covered.
I found the ‘Weather Vs Climate’ resources to be very suitable as there can be confusion between the two. Having studied Geography in secondary school it is clear that this is a continuous topic throughout the education system. Having the children being able to differentiate from a young age will enable them to take control of their learning prior to moving into secondary school. The interactive map suggested on Climate.Copernicus.EU was very useful in showing how research and data can be used to tackle the problem of Climate Change. Using digital technology in the school children could complete this project over a number of months and observe the weather in a certain climates different to the one they live in.
Hi Edwina,
I agree with you about the videos and them being a great way to introduce the topic of weather and climate. Teaching in a senior school I think it is very important for children to be able to lead their own learning through hands on investigations to develop skills as you have mentioned above.