Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Joan,
I like that you are using a local person of interest as a stimulus for learning. Sometimes, we (myself included!) forget about the rich history, geography and STEM potential of the local area. Your post inspired me to research my school’s local area and I feel ready to integrate the rich heritage of the area into my yearly planning, teaching and learning.
Dolores,
I recently visited Birr Castle and took some photos and videos of the suspension bridge to use in the next academic year as a beginning stimulus to gain the children’s interest in the bridge.
Previous classes I’ve had really enjoyed the practical hands on engineering tasks/learning opportunities. I’ve gained some lovely ideas from your post and look forward to trying them in September.
Mary,
Thank you for a wonderful idea of keeping a plain ‘doodle’ copy for each child. I particularly like the connection to nature and well-being, providing the child with a concrete, healthy space to explore their emotions and thoughts over time.
I resonate with your approach Joan. Children learning about map making through play will encourage and foster a love for geography and spatial reasoning. This enables children to learn to both read and make maps that show the spatial relationships among people, places, and environments. Using interactive activities like treasure hunts, creating personalised maps of their environment, and using map symbols in games like bingo will introduce children to the wonderful world of maps and navigation.
I agree Lora, Liston’s approach has also encouraged me to open my mind up to STEM and integrate it more in every day teaching and learning.
Using STEM to address real problems implores the children to understand that their work can have a meaningful, positive impact on their community.
Research a famous scientist or engineer associated with your local area and describe how you would use that person as inspiration for classroom science investigations.
It would be a missed opportunity for meaningful teaching and learning if the designer and builder of the great telescope at Birr Castle was not studied. William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse is deeply intertwined in the rich history of Birr. With that in mind, I would use the story of the Earl to begin our investigation in to the person behind the telescope.
The children will be encouraged to begin their research project/investigation by creating a timeline of the Earl’s contributions from the 19th century onwards. A class visit to the castle grounds will help the children collate and collect information for their project. Use of ICT will also be encouraged by suggesting to the groups that they could create a digital/hard copy ‘meet the scientist’ book. The children will be encouraged to document their research and create a detailed biography outlining the career, achievements and contributions of William Parsons. Using Scoil Net will give the children access to primary source documents to ensure the accuracy of their reporting.
Formative cross-curricular approaches to teaching and learning will be used and it is hoped that the project will progress on to further scientific investigation in to the great telescope.
Using the suspension bridge in Birr Castle Demesne or a bridge in your local area as inspiration, describe how you would plan a class or whole school challenge to design and make a bridge. How would you integrate mathematical thinking and incorporate the maths skills appropriate to your class level.
Using the suspension bridge in Birr Castle Demesne as inspiration, we will plan a whole school challenge to design and make a bridge. Each class will be encouraged to engage, investigate, create and reflect at their own level.
The challenge will begin with a whole school or class visit to the Demesne to see the suspension bridge. The children will also be encouraged to explore pictures of bridges from Ireland and around the world as they begin to build their knowledge on bridges.
To build on knowledge, a cross-curricular, integrated approach will be used in the younger classes. Story books and play will be utilised to ensure learners work to their own ability. Lego or construction toys will be readily available for the children to encourage a ‘give it a go’ approach to learning. Integrating ICT programmes will be encouraged in the more senior classes as the children are more au fait with technology.
Researching the history of bridges, exploring the different types and needs for bridges will further enhance the children’s developing knowledge of bridges. Encouraging the children to collaborate in groups during school time and at home to plan, make complete and evaluate their bridges will ensure take the next step in their learning.
Shape and space, measures, weight and data are just a few ways that the children will be working across the curriculum.
Outline how you would use some of the course resources to conduct a seasonal biodiversity project to run throughout the school year. What resources and recording sheets would you need? How often would you bring learning outdoors? How would you integrate other subject areas?
Our whole school seasonal biodiversity project will focus on birds. I think this project will significantly add to teaching and learning while also helping the birds during the winter season when food is scarce.
We will begin by creating our action plan to include the resources required for the project. Using recommended websites like BirdWatch Ireland will be an invaluable tool to enhance teaching and learning. Ensuring classroom libraries and tablets are stocked with the relevant books, keys and apps will further add to the success of this biodiversity project.
Using a cross-curricular integrated approach to learning will ensure that learning objectives and outcomes are measured and met. Starting small, using the outdoors as much as possible and observing/exploring the local school area will ensure the children are active in their own learning across the curriculum for the duration of the project.
Creating/building simple homemade bird feeding stations, small bird baths and/or nest boxes will also ensure that the wildlife is cared for during the harsh winter season.
For younger classes, describe how you would plan and conduct a lesson on map making and explain how you might incorporate some online tools such as Google maps or Geohive
From experience, the ease and accessibility of online mapping platforms (Google maps etc.) is hugely beneficial but I believe it has led to a belief that traditional map reading skills are outdated. It is my hope that lessons on map making will develop spatial thinking, reasoning and spatial awareness, where the children begin to understand the relationships between pictures, symbols and objects.
- We will begin our journey into map making with a read aloud – Martha Maps It Out.
- We will then discuss the world known to the children, starting with our classroom/school.
- I will provide 3D materials for the children (Lego, blocks, Unifix cubes etc.) and challenge them to make a model of their classroom/school in groups. We will discuss our models and compare/contrast each model. I will introduce the relevant map making vocabulary.
- I will add ‘treasure’ to the classroom and encourage the children to add this to their map.
- We will begin to explore legends and how to use them to identify things within our classroom models.
- We will use Google maps to look and see the school and the children will be provided with the opportunity to alter or change their model based on what they now see/know.
Assessment for learning will determine subsequent lesson directions with the inclusion of further technology where required.
After reviewing Liston’s (2018) paper on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths education, it is my hope that my approach to integrating STEM education in the classroom enables all children to develop the necessary skills to become active and informed learners. Liston (2018) emphases the importance of providing opportunities for children to apply new skills and knowledge in a wide range of cross-curricular learning contexts. From experience, I have found this approach to learning engages the children further as it provides an active, hands on approach to learning and more opportunities for group and pair work. Furthermore, integrating STEM projects into teaching and learning enables all children to develop the essential skills of communication, problem-solving, reasoning, resilience and leadership. I have found that the combination of science, technology, engineering and maths challenges the children to work collaboratively to generate solutions to real-life problems and engage fully with exploring the world around them through playful investigation and experimentation.
It would be a missed opportunity for meaningful teaching and learning if the designer and builder of the great telescope at Birr Castle was not studied. William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse is deeply intertwined in the rich history of Birr. With that in mind, I would use the story of the Earl to begin our investigation in to the person behind the telescope.
The children will be encouraged to begin their research project/investigation by creating a timeline of the Earl’s contributions from the 19th century onwards. A class visit to the castle grounds will help the children collate and collect information for their project. Use of ICT will also be encouraged by suggesting to the groups that they could create a digital ‘meet the scientist’ book. The children will be encouraged to document their research and create a detailed biography outlining the career, achievements and contributions of William Parsons. Using Scoil Net will give the children access to primary source documents to ensure the accuracy of their reporting.
Formative cross-curricular approaches to teaching and learning will be used and it is hoped that the project will progress on to further scientific investigation in to the great telescope.
Using the suspension bridge in Birr Castle Demesne as inspiration, we will plan a whole school challenge to design and make a bridge. Each class will be encouraged to engage, investigate, create and reflect at their own level.
The challenge will begin with a whole school or class visit to the Demesne to see the suspension bridge. The children will also be encouraged to explore pictures of bridges from Ireland and around the world as they begin to build their knowledge on bridges.
To build on knowledge, a cross-curricular, integrated approach will be used in the younger classes. Story books and play will be utilised to ensure learners work to their own ability. Lego or construction toys will be readily available for the children to encourage a ‘give it a go’ approach to learning. Integrating ICT programmes will be encouraged in the more senior classes as the children are more au fait with technology.
Researching the history of bridges, exploring the different types and needs for bridges will further enhance the children’s developing knowledge of bridges. Encouraging the children to collaborate in groups during school time and at home to plan, make, complete and evaluate their bridges will ensure they continue to take the next step in their learning.
Shape and space, measures, weight and data are just a few ways that the children will be working across the curriculum.
No Mow May sounds like a fantastic initiative for all schools to try. I am going to encourage our school to give it a go next year. Thanks for the idea!
Outline how you would use some of the course resources to conduct a seasonal biodiversity project to run throughout the school year. What resources and recording sheets would you need? How often would you bring learning outdoors? How would you integrate other subject areas?
Our whole school seasonal biodiversity project will focus on birds. I think this project will significantly add to teaching and learning while also helping the birds during the winter season when food is scarce.
We will begin by creating our action plan to include the resources required for the project. Using recommended websites like BirdWatch Ireland will be an invaluable tool to enhance teaching and learning. Ensuring classroom libraries and tablets are stocked with the relevant books, keys and apps will further add to the success of this biodiversity project.
Using a cross-curricular integrated approach to learning will ensure that learning objectives and outcomes are measured and met. Starting small, using the outdoors as much as possible and observing/exploring the local school area will ensure the children are active in their own learning across the curriculum for the duration of the project.
Creating/building simple homemade bird feeding stations, small bird baths and/or nest boxes will also ensure that the wildlife is cared for during the harsh winter season.
