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Hi Deirdre,
Your school seems similar to mine. We have lots of the same initiatives that work well and get the children fully involved. I really like the idea of the bin monitors, as I noticed our younger classes are terrible for placing recycling in the rubbish bin.
Write a reflective piece on how sustainability is practiced in your local area and how you would engage your pupils to explore this further.
My school places a massive emphasis on sustainability and this is done through the Green Schools Flag. Our most recent flag was for the theme of water. Each class was asked to come up with a slogan for ensuring people do not waste water in our school. The winning slogan is very catchy and the whole school says it twice a day at the end of playtime. The Green School also collected data to illustrate how much water we use a day in the school. The children were shocked with the findings and became more aware of leaving taps running. For our other themes we promote walking to school as often as possible or using public transport. We have bought bike/scooter railing to encourage children to cycle/scoot to school too. Each child gets a hot lunch in our school and are encouraged to bring all waste home to dispose of properly. We encourage parents to cancel hot lunches if children are absent to avoid food waste. Children are given titles such as light monitor and door monitor to reduce usage of electricity and heating. Our HSCL also collects old uniforms to give out to children. We often have toy donation days and this is to resource our classrooms with toys that are not being used anymore but are in perfect condition. I think going forward as a whole school we could link in with the local tidy towns to keep our area tidy. The children also have the opportunity to grow various fruits, vegetables and plants in our school garden.
Write a reflective piece on the Nutrition of Seafood and how this knowledge can be applied in the classroom.
I found this module really interesting and think it is such an important aspect of life we need to share with our young learners as childhood obesity is a major concern today. Unfortunately, this problem often lies with the student’s family and is not something they are aware they can change. However, by providing students with this information they can begin to consider the foods they eat at home and whether they are nutritious or not. The slides with labels and certificates are something I actually did not consider myself when shopping. Going forward I will now be mindful of the seafood I am buying. Playing Eye Spy in the shops is a great idea to make children aware of the products their family purchase and maybe they can make their parents more aware of buying sustainable Irish seafood.
I found the BIM Seafood Nutrition handbook very informative and could see it being a good resource to use with the older classes. I have noticed a lot of the older children are starting to eat protein puddings like their parents or older siblings. This book could be used to compare their protein puddings to a type of fish and then a discussion around the other vitamins and minerals.
Hi Sinéad,
You make some really good points in your post. I completely agree when it comes to making young students aware of those sports drinks they bring into school. I would love to see all schools place a bigger emphasis on inviting families in to speak to a dietitian or some professional in regard to healthy eating and the importance it plays in the child’s brain development, bone strength, immune function etc.
Hi Deirdre,
I also think the quiz for their family is a great way of linking school projects to home. You have also listed great ideas for some lessons. Thanks for sharing.
Using the online lessons and resources developed for the ARC at The ARC – Online Lessons & Resources, reflect on how you could apply the concepts and skills covered to your own teaching practices, in alignment with the STEM Education Policy Statement and how STEM education can be addressed as part of the SSE process on a school-wide basis.
The ARC lessons and resources make the topic of aquaculture such an easy topic for educators to teach to their class. The videos capture the students’ attention straightaway and are a simplistic way of introducing aquaculture. I think a lot of the children would be very interested in the sea diving and aquanaut. The videos also provide children with the opportunity to become aware of jobs that aquaculture provides and this may spark an interest for a young learner to go down this path. Before doing this module I have to admit I haven’t taught much on this topic. However, since engaging in the course I can see how important it is to teach to young students. It really allows them to understand the difference they can make as consumers i.e buying organic, sustainable and ethically produced food.
In relation to STEM in schools aquaculture could be a fantastic project for children to research. I am located close to the sea and doing a project like this would allow the children to become aware of aquaculture within our own community. The kids could invite local people working within the area.
As part of our whole school SSE planning I think it would be a great idea to apply for the blue flag in association with the Blue Schools Award.
Hi Katie, I like your idea of mapping an oyster farm as a whole class activity. As you mentioned it is a great way to connect the students with their local communities and begin to understand how important aquaculture is here in Ireland.
Write a reflective piece on the location of aquaculture farms in Ireland and how they can contribute socio-economically to coastal communities.
From the module I can see the major role aquaculture farms play in Ireland and how they contribute to socio-economically to coastal communities. Most of these aquaculture farms are located in the west of Ireland where land is not applicable for agricultural farming. In this area there’s ample bays, inlets, peninsulas, estuaries and islands, fjords, harbours and piers that all provide the perfect conditions for aquaculture.
Socioeconomically, aquaculture farms contribute significantly to coastal communities in many ways i.e. employment opportunities, community development, export and trade, environmental stewardship etc.
It was really interesting to learn about the opportunities BIM provides to young marine biologists. It allows students to train within Ireland and also experience hands-on the aquaculture farms on offer here.
Reflect on the potential classroom use of these tools and how learning about Aquaculture and Social License can impact your school students.
This module gave me a great insight into all things Aquaculture. This is something I haven’t really gone into too much detail with students before, but I have an interest in learning more and providing students in my class with the opportunity to learn about it too. On completion of this module I can see the importance of teaching this topic to young students in order to foster their understanding of sustainable food production, becoming environmentally aware, introducing economic insights etc.
The ARC online lessons and resources are brilliant for a teacher like me that may not feel overly confident teaching this subject. The videos are very engaging and have a quiz for the students to take after each lesson. The Aquaculture Remote Classroom looks very impressive and I am sure it would capture the children’s attention straightaway. Through the use of the Arc this topic can be integrated in many subjects such as history, geography, science, maths and SPHE.
The Taste the Atlantic programme is a great initiative to encourage students to explore how Irish seafood is caught and farmed. It introduces students to learn about aquaculture as a sustainable method of producing seafood, which can help them understand the importance of responsible food production and its impact on global food security.