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I think this is a great idea to research as it is local so the children will be familiar with this. It is also good as it is encouraging the children to identify what they can do to reduce this. There is so much you can do within this question which you have laid out clearly. This will make for an excellent research project.
My research question is “how climate change is effecting our local temperature over a specific period”.
As I am teaching Junior Infants I was trying to think of a question that is applicable to my class and that they will be able to engage with. During this course we learned about how thermometers work and I think this is something that the children will be able to engage with. The numbers might be too high for the children but if we are looking at comparisons they will be able to count the difference between the numbers using dots or concrete materials. The children can also recall climate change and identify the local factors that are contributing to this. By identifying these factors, they can then work in small groups to decide which of these they think have an effect on the temperature. They can combine their findings and this should help the children to identify how the climate change is effecting temperatures locally and what they can do to try and help combat this.
I really enjoyed this resource too Aine. This would be a beneficial as well as a fun resource to explore with the children in the classroom. The use of their senses is important and another cross curricular link that can be seen within this module.
Assignment 3 – ‘Nose High Up in The Sky’.
I decided to download the teacher guide and pupil activities for the ESA Resource ‘Nose High Up in The Sky’. I carried out the three pupil activities. I found the first activity to be very interesting and I think the pupils will enjoy this one as they can learn about how the Earth is seen from space. The comparison to a football field will already grab the attention of so many of the children. The children have the opportunity to discuss how they think it will look which they enjoy using their imaginations. The second activity allows the children opportunity to compare and contrast a picture taken from earth and a picture taken from space of the same thing and this will create conversation among the children as they complete it. Similarly, activity three contains images taken from earth and from space, once more engaging the children as they examine these.
I completely agree with you. The points made by Greta really makes me think about how we are treating the earth and I would hope that showing the children this video may impact them in the same way.
This film was fantastic and really showed the effects that climate change has on the earth. The aerial shots are beautifully taken and the film has been put together so well. I think that this video would be excellent to show to an older class as they would really appreciate the elements of this film and it would be a great starting point for the discussion. The children can work collaboratively following on from watching the film to discuss their thoughts and opinions. The children can discuss if they are happy with this and come up with suggestions of what they can do to reduce the impact that we are having on the climate.
In this module, I enjoyed taking the questionnaire to check my carbon footprint and I was amazed by the results. This is something that the children could do in the classroom and could implement technology into the lesson.I agree that it can definitely be linked with the new maths curriculum as the children use problem solving skills. Hands on components are a great idea to engage the children and I will definitely be incorporating this hands on approach within my classroom too.
Activity 3 is a very useful practical lesson that I could use in my classroom. As I will be teaching such a young class level, the majority of this activity would be completely orally and collaboratively. I would elicit prior knowledge from the children around the topic of climate change and explain that they are going to be climate reporters. This would link well with Aistear and the children could report on the climate through role play. I would also recall temperature with the children and remind them of how to use the thermometer and look at the influence that this has on climate. As the children can’t yet write a report (Junior Infants), they can instead draw their answers and discuss these within their small group settings and then report their answers back to the teacher. Although it would need to be altered a lot to suit my class, I do think this is a good activity to elicit information from the children and check for understanding.
Hi Tom, I agree with you and this that STEM definitely involves a hands on and critical thinking approach, as well as allowing the children the opportunity to work collaboratively. I like how you focus on real lfe challenges within your classroom and this is something that I endeavour to do going forward. An active garden sounds good and an ideal place to set up your weather station.
From looking at these I can now see how new of a concept STEM is and yet how it is being already implemented in our settings. The term may be new but the practices that go with it have been in practice for years and we will continue to build on these in our classrooms. Having reviewed the weather vs. Climate teacher guide, I found it to be quite interesting and could really see how I could implement these activities within my class setting in the coming year and hopefully also in the whole school setting too.
I like how the activities are all set out and how worksheets are included. As I will be teaching Junior Infants this year, some of these worksheets and activities are currently too difficult but I can see how I can adapt these to suit the ability and age level of the children in my class.