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Really like this idea. Very easy to do and easily measureable for any age child. Also really like implementing changes and then redoing the investigation to see whether your work has made a difference.
Question: Is there food going to waste in our school?
Our school receives school lunches each day. Depending on the class, there can be a great many lunches not eaten as the children don’t like them/bring in their own lunches.
To begin the investigation we would first need to look at the link between climate and food and how food production can lead to an increase in greenhouse gases and as such wasted food is not good for climate change.
I would then encourage the children to think for themselves whether all the food in our school is needed. The children could investigate and record other classrooms to see how many lunches go uneaten in school and track this over the course of the month.
Once this has been found, I would encourage the children to brainstorm ways of alleviating the problem such as school assembly messages, messages sent home to parents etc.
The children could then repeat the project after implementing some of their ideas to see whether there has been a reduction in waste.
These are great ideas for how to use the resource across a wide variety of class levels. Definitely would be interesting in trying this out in the coming year!
5 Satellites that pass over Ireland and their purposes
Starlink satellites – provide internet connections to people on Earth.
Sentinel-1 – uses radar to study the Earth’s surface and can help scientists monitor floods, land movement and oceans.
Sentinel-2 takes detailed images of Ireland’s land, forests, farms, rivers and lakes, helping us see how our landscape changes over time.
Sentinel-5P – studies the atmosphere and measures gases such as methane, ozone and nitrogen dioxide.
Metop satellites – collect information about the atmosphere, oceans and land and provide important data for weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
Another Satellite I found that passes quite close to Ireland is the ISS. I think this is probably one that would be of most interest to children as the idea of astronauts living up in space is really cool and something that is always very popular in my class!
Some great idea for integration here. Also really like the idea of the aerial photographs to introduce the lesson. I also agree that it’s probably too heavy for much of primary school age and choosing appropriate clips is very important to get the most out of the video.
I found Home to be a very powerful, moving film that highlights how interconnected or world is and the impact that we can have on the world.
I don’t think I would show this full film to the children but would instead choose some clips to get them thinking about the overall message of the film. I would begin with some screenshots/shorter clips from the beginning of the film so the children could see the beauty of our world. I would then move on and show some of the activities which are harming the world. I would give the children some focus areas at the start to help them organise their thoughts such as ‘What was something amazing you saw’, ‘Was there anything scary/not so good?’, ‘What would you do to help change this’.
I would also use some of the other videos from this course such as the Paxi video to help the children understand the problem.
To conclude, the children would brainstorm practical, realistic ideas for themselves to use to help them reduce their own waste.
Some nice ideas here for adapting the lesson to a younger class. Like the ideas behind this activity but I think I would struggle to bring it to the classroom as currently written as I think it might be a bit too much for my age group.
Activity 3 seems like a great, hands-on exercise that would be very beneficial for children in the higher end of primary school.
The Paxi video is a great introduction to Green house gases for the kids and uses good vocabulary while being easy to understand.
The prediction tool is a very interesting resource and always the children to look to the future and consider what life might be like in different climate conditions. Getting them to consider how their own lives might change based on climate change in the future is a great activity. Having them reason and discuss in groups would be a great collaborative exercise. It also teaches the children the importance of conservation and environmental awareness as being able to see the change humans might have on future climate would be very powerful for the children.
An extension to this activity could be to have the children present their findings based on different data to the class/other groups around the school. You could also liaise with the Green Schools Commitee and possibly link in with this group in a school assembly.
I like the idea of trying this activity at different times of year and comparing and contrasting with work the children have done earlier on in the year.
Activity 1:
I think this is a lovely activity for younger kids. It gives the children a very easy to see example of weather by discussing their birthdays and comparing it to others in the class. The sorting task is a good way of helping the children to look at their own learning and assessing whether they are able to categorise the different statements. It would be important to question the children as to why they think different statements fit in different categories to ensure that they aare not just copying others or making guesses.
Activity 2:
This task is a good activity which I think is probably a bit more appropriate for older children. The links to maths are great and would provide the children with opportunities to link their learning in different subjects. The practical nature of the activity is great for the children. It could be simplified for younger kids by using a pictogram to track and having less of a focus on averages.
Both these activities lend themselves to Liston’s (2018) ideas on STEM and the interconnectivity that should be present when approaching STEM subjects. I have tried integrating more in my classes but definitely could do with more work in this area.
Topic: Rockets
I would begin the lesson by showing the children a video of a space launch and
asking the children what they already know about rockets and what they think makes a rocket move. I would encourage them to share their ideas and predictions before introducing a hands-on investigation. First, I would demonstrate a Rocket Mouse and encourage them to discuss in groups what makes the rocket move. I would ask them how could we get the mouse to go higher. I would allow the children to try different bottes to see what they notice and make predictions from this.
Next, in small groups, the children would build and test balloon rockets by threading string through a straw and attaching an inflated balloon. They would investigate how the amount of air or the angle of the string influences the rocket’s movement, recording their observations and discussing the results. To conclude, the children would reflect on what they discovered about how the rocket moves and suggest ways to improve their rocket designs based on the evidence they gathered.
This seems like a great way of sparking interest in the topic with the children. Lovely to have a hands on activity as well to get the children involved in the learning.
Lesson- Animals in the cold (2nd class)
I would begin the lesson by showing images of animals such as polar bears and penguins and asking the children to identify how they have adapted to survive in cold environments. Through questioning and discussion, I would encourage them to explain how features such as thick fur, blubber, waterproof feathers and body shape help these animals live in icy conditions. Rather than providing answers, I would guide the children to make predictions and justify their thinking using evidence from the images.
Next, I would ask the children to work in pairs to investigate another habitat and research an animal that lives there. They would identify its physical or adaptations and record their findings using labelled drawings or a simple fact file. To make it more simple, I might try and use an animal which they are already familiar with such as a camel. Depending on the class level, I might also use this as a buddy activity lesson where an older child partners up with a younger child to aid them in learning about the different animals. Throughout the lesson, I would use open-ended questions to encourage enquiry and self-discovery. To conclude, the children would share their findings with the class and reflect on the different ways animals have adapted to survive in a range of environments, recognising that all adaptations help meet the needs of their habitat.