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I agree Cian with how you would use the resources. Whole class discussion with weather folklore would draw in the interest of the class. There is a nice chance also for home connections by asking the children to gather weather expressions from their family and friends.
Activity one in Nose to the sky is a nice opportunity for the children to work in pairs or groups and to justify their answers using critical thinking skills.
You mentioned English as a linking subject and with the potential the oral and written expression,I would agree. Also there are numerous opportunities to explore Data, Chance, Capacity, Length, Time and Patterns in the Maths curriculum.
I really like the introduction here Robbie. The children’s curiosity will be sparked and I think they will be motivated to find out the answer to your question.
Getting outside and counting the number of pollinators in a 5 minute period will help the children understand how often pollination is happening in nature and how important each pollinator is. It could be the basis for looking into expanding pollinator areas on the school grounds.
Borrowing from another post here it could be nice to divide the roles up giving children responsibility for timing, counting, checking, recording and displaying information.
Bull island is a nearby nature reserve. I would start by exploring the flora and fauna of the island by field trips using school binoculars and I pads research of the various birds and mammals. We would next watch a section from Home where it focuses on nature being in balance and symbiotic relationships between living things. I would then pose the question if the children would have any worries for the future of the Bull Island. I would then shape the question (using the guide) with the class. Depending on how the children want to guide it we could look at increasing litter and it’s effects (using ground evidence) or rising tides and their effects. We could use the EO system to compare water levels over time and what dangers are posed for food chains by rising sides eg. The loss of one species having a knock on effect to numbers of others. Rising temperatures is another option with species life cycles being effected (eg. Late or early hatching) which in turn effects feeding opportunities for other species.
Whichever route is taken the template provided would be revisited along the way to make sure our investigation is staying focused on the issues intended. Sources of information such as environmental local authorities and action groups could be contacted to guide the exploration. The results displayed in the school and school website would help spread information and what positive actions can be taken.
This is great information, thank you. I would like to explore further how Space X/ Starlink satellites are like a train of them..didn’t realise this.
Also good to know which satellite met Eireann uses and the distances involved. This would be nice for the children to know too.
Lastly after reading what you said I imagine that the European satellites that monitor land use (eg. agriculture and forestry) are used to help countries on their way to their climate commitments and also to help hold them accountable.
I’ll take note of some of these satellite names in case I invest in a telescope!
Informing a colleague about the EO Browser I would highlight the following points:
Information gathered from satellites is available for free on this platform. First go into education mode. It allows you to select a location, cloud cover (less the better) and dates. This way you could explore weather and climate. For example, comparing the average temperature for a period in your area to some years ago to now and so investigate climate change.
You could look at many aspects of weather not just temperature. You could compare data from different parts of the same county to explore micro climates or to a different part of Ireland. This could be the stimulus to explore why such differences exist.
You can download maps making it easier to show to the class. With older classes after a few teacher led examples they could put in their own filters to explore areas of interest reporting back to the class what they learned.
It could also be used as a stimulus to learn more about the satellites flying over Ireland, the information they collect and how this information can be used for our benefit.
I agree Mark that the Home video would be best broken into a few showings in order to use it’s full potential for discussions. I forgot to mention important preparation you did-pre teaching of important vocabulary.
I also overlooked how this could be a valuable learning tool for Greenschools and be used as a stimulus for action plans.
As you said the aerial photos really show how interconnected we are. The song ‘From a Distance’ comes to mind. There is also opportunities for integration of Art and studies of how satellites work and their many benefits.
The Home video is very powerful and would be suitable for older classes. There are striking images that could be paused for discussion. An example would be how elephants walking through a swamp creates swimming channels for fish. This could lead to a wider discussion of how various animals rely on one another and how humans do too.
The statistics are also striking and there is great opportunities to link this to Maths-numeracy and data. There are also opportunities for discussion on topics like climate justice and how this makes the children feel. With regard to this I feel some lessons would have to be done for children to manage the anxiety the video could bring up as like Greta said it’s difficult to reflect on such things and not become upset.
The aid video is alarming but could be effective to get the urgency across..even to staff members.
A mind map could be done in conjunction with the Home video. It would be very comprehensive and could bring a deep understanding bringing the many facets of climate change together.
I really like your last two suggestions here. A case study guide would be a great tool. Home is a natural starting point and regional data would be great to analyse. Worksheets to guide would be a great resource.
Also a differentiating tool would be valuable as some of the data would be challenging for some pupils. The teacher could also pair pupils accordingly so that they can learn from their peers.
It is a great tool and there is huge potential for graphing and creative presentation of data.
I really like the Pax video. I’ve tried to source videos to explain the Greenhouse effect and would use this one from now on. I think a little visual at the end showing some of the suns rays getting trapped by the co2 ‘Greenhouse ‘ would help to bring all the information together.
The Teal tool is very impressive. It’s ease of interaction means that after a demonstration to the class they would be able to explore a wealth of information independently in groups on their i pads. Guiding the pupils to draw conclusions about the rate of warming in various regions could provide great opportunities for analysis and critical thinking. Allowing the children to chose their country and share their information, justifying their predictions builds interst and confidence.
I agree Cian with how you would use the resources. Whole class discussion with weather folklore would draw in the interest of the class. There is a nice chance also for home connections by asking the children to gather weather expressions from their family and friends.
Activity one in Nose to the sky is a nice opportunity for the children to work in pairs or groups and to justify their answers using critical thinking skills.
You mentioned English as a linking subject and with the potential the oral and written expression,I would agree. Also there are numerous opportunities to explore Data, Chance, Capacity, Length, Time and Patterns in the Maths curriculum.
The main points I will take from Liston’s (2018) Unravelling STEM: Beyond the Acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths is how integrated all 4 areas are and that skills transfer across each area and provide a problem solving approach that can be applied in new contexts in life.
I like the progression in Nose to Sky as it starts with chatting about the weather which the children are accustomed to towards more technical learning and recording. Using their senses is a natural middle step here.
For weather versus climate I think the children would be more invested and really enjoy making the weather stations. We have made a wind turbine before but they didn’t survive long with poor positioning and flimsy materials. I agree careful consideration has to go into this. Also the discipline of checking it every day..in this regard it’s good to pass that responsibility on to the children. I like the activities, especially categorising the weather&climate statements. I was a bit disappointed that a lot of the graphs and information only went as far as 2018. With data centers etc and to make it more relevant to their lives it would be great to have more up to date data.