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Maeve Liston’s paper delves into the complexities of STEM education, emphasising the need for authentic, integrated learning experiences that go beyond simply combining science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.
The article argues for a deeper understamding of STEM literacyand the attributes of an effective STEM classroom. It highlights the Engingeering Design Process as a crucial framework for developing meaningful STEM lessons, encouraging students to think and act like engineers through hands on challenges and projects.
In my classroom, STEM education is approached through project based learning, where students engage in real-world problems and apply interdisciplinary knowledge to find solutions.
Weemphaises the Engineering Design Process encouraging students to brainstorm, design, test, and refine their projects. This method not only builds skills but also folsters creativity, critical thinking and colloboration.
Feedback on ESA weather and climate resource: Activity one
The activity is age appropriate, engaging students with tangiable weather observations.
It helps build foundational knowledge by linking daily weather with broader climate concepts.
I would enhance this activity by setting up an interactive weather station for pupils in the yard to observe and record weather data.
I really enjoyed these too. I thought these would be a fantastic opener/closer to a lesson on climate. In addition to this, it would be great to give pupils the opportunity to make these up themselves.
These is great scope for cross curricular integration with Gaeilge on this topic.
It would be lovely to have these old weather proverbs areound a science board in the hall for the whole school to see. Or maybe pupils could work in groups to design posters for the proverbs
I thought the ESA resource “Nose High up in the Sky” to be really well designed to help students understand the importance of air quality and how it can be measured using various tools and techniques.
I thought it would be a great result to allow pupils from a senior class to complete various activities on this topic.
For example: they could focus on Air quality measurement. Using simple tools like diffusion tubes or digital sensors to measure pollutants such as No2.
Pupils could record air quality data over time and compare results from different locations.
It would be of great benefit to then engage all pupils in discussions about their findings and the implications for their communities.
I think this resource is of great educational value and provides a solid foundation in understanding air pollution and its effects. It alligns well with the science curriculum.
ls
This is a very interesting question. I feel deforestation isn’t fully explored within the Irish SESE curriculum however, when exploring it gives such a clear insight into the cause and effect on our climate. Sometimes I feel when teaching about the ozone layer etc. children can struggle to imagine and grasp the concept where as I feel deforestation, the effect on animals etc. is a very concrete example and one that possibly pupils have seen happen or be able to relate more to.
I think maps showing forests in ireland etc. in different years woudl really clearly demonstrate how land has been cleared of trees for various uses
The research question that I would focus on is about temperatures in urban areas. (topic)
Issue : Urban areas are significantly warmer than their rural surroundings due to human activities, leading to health problems, higher energy consumption and exacerbated climate change.
I would give my class the following questions to focus on :
Main question : How do urban areas affect local climate and human health in our city.
From this I would elicit other questions such as: What are the temperatures between urban and rural areas in our region?
How does vegetation cover influence these temperature differences?
What are the health impacts of higher urban temperatures on the local population.
I would have children use a chard to record the temperature differences. We would then further create posters to create awareness about this t odisplay around the school.
Frances, thank you so much for sharing the above Aistear pictures, Sometimes I feel in schools topics like space etc. are assumed to the senior classes however integrating space in the junior classes is exremly effective. Our senior infant teacher had space as a theme this year for aistear and she mentioned that it was one of the most engaging themes of the year. She found the pupils enjoyed using the vocab to do with space, planets etc. Our school uses the Big Box Adventures and one of the books The Spaceship ties in perfectly with this theme
Stellarium is such a fantastic resource to bring virtual star gazing into the classroom. I find that I often forget about these wonderful resources but have a list made for furture Science planning!!
I love the integration of this lesson with the book Aliens in Underpants save the World. Pupils love these series so it would be a fantastic resource to link in with your lessons.
I have never used comic strips in lessons but will think about doing so in the future!!
For space week, my aim is that pupils would celebrate space week in a cross-curricular way. I would give an area in the classroom to display all of our space week vocabulary, story books, art work etc. I would use all opportunities throughout the day to refer to the display, vocabulary etc. For example when children are lining up, I would mimic a spaceship launch countdown as my timer for children to get into their spots.
To begin the week, I would use song to recap the names of the planets. When children are then familiar with the planet names and features, I would facilitate a whole class art project. Children will be put into groups and will work together to make some paper mâché planets. This will be worked on over the week. When it is finished it will be painted and put on display in the main school hall for all classes to see.
I would host a bingo session for Junior and Senior Infants with some fun space related spot prizes. At the end of the bingo session, I would get all pupils to spread out in the hall and to do the eight planets – dance along space song.Module 4
For this activity, I would begin this topic by discussing the weather today. I would then elaborate this by discussing seasons, the environment and how we dress for the weather/seasons. As a prompt I would use a doll and dress the doll for the season that we are discussing and to reinforce vocabulary.
We will then discuss how weather affects us and what we do at home. Children will be encouraged to match activities to seasons, e.g. building a snowman, playing in the paddling pool, playing conkers, lighting the fire etc.
I would then have children complete the esero.ie worksheet “Where do you live? Children will be encouraged to draw and colour any weather-related activities in addition to colouring their house e.g. building a snowman in winter. Once pupils have these completed, the houses will be cut out and grouped by season. These will then be displayed in school as a seasonal collage. I will ensure to label with appropriate vocabulary.<p class=”MsoNormal”>Activity Set – The Planets</p>
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<p class=”MsoNormal”>The planets has so many opportunities for cross curricular integration. I really liked the idea of when opening a discussion/ recapping on points learned, having the children sitting in a circle and rolling a “sun” to the child, having them respond and rolling it back.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would teach the children the planet names through song, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6nLM2QlWw . To allow children understand that different planets are closer/further away from earth I would use the entire yard and mark out the planets. I would then call out the different planets allowing children to run from planet to planet. This will help consolidate planet names, allow them to recognise that some planets are tiny e.g mercury, some have different shapes, e.g. Saturn.</p>
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<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would also do a group art activity whereby children would paint and decorate the different planets in their groups. This would be displayed in the classroom. I feel such a piece of work would be very eye catching and would give a great sense of pride to the children in the class.</p>Activity: Stars
English:
Aiming this lesson towards infants, I would begin by teaching the classic nursery rhyme “Twinkle Twinkle”. I would ensure to have the word star printed in the classroom and refer to the word phonetically or children can look up at the word for letter formation. It would also be a great word for blending s-t-a-r = star. We will also use the word star to practise rhyming. Children will be invited to give words that rhyme with the word starMaths – Star shape, counting how many points to a typical maths star shape, what shape makes the points, ie. Triangles etc. I would reinforce this by simple activities such as tracing and cutting to consolidate learning
Art – I would introduce a star related story such as “How to catch a star”. I would then move on to do the lots and lots of stars activity from module 3.
SESE : Focus in on learning about stars in our solar system. I would begin by doing a think pair share to understand what the children know to date. I would then play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07sMjGQasJM to help children learn about stars in our solar system. After, I would do a discussion in a circle. I would have a star (cut out of cardboard and decorated). Children would be invited to share what they have learned. As they share with others, they will hold the star.
Music: Tempo – Discussion about fast and slow. I will play Star Light, Star Bright and children listen and decide if the music is fast or slow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w79AosCp0I8
<p class=”MsoNormal”>The planets has so many opportunities for cross curricular integration. I really liked the idea of when opening a discussion/ recapping on points learned, having the children sitting in a circle and rolling a “sun” to the child, having them respond and rolling it back.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would teach the children the planet names through song, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6nLM2QlWw . To allow children understand that different planets are closer/further away from earth I would use the entire yard and mark out the planets. I would then call out the different planets allowing children to run from planet to planet. This will help consolidate planet names, allow them to recognise that some planets are tiny e.g mercury, some have different shapes, e.g. Saturn.</p>
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<p class=”MsoNormal”>I would also do a group art activity whereby children would paint and decorate the different planets in their groups. This would be displayed in the classroom. I feel such a piece of work would be very eye catching and would give a great sense of pride to the children in the class.</p>This sounds like a fantastic idea Laura. I have never really explored shadows with a class but your idea is a great example of how to do so with a class
<p class=”MsoNormal”>Hi, my name is Eleanor. I am working in a DEIS 1 school and will be working with Infants in September. I am really looking forward to getting stuck into this course and learning about some fun ways to teach space in infants. I feel that space is often brushed over in the Junior end of the school based and in my own experience only done thoroughly at the senior end of primary school.</p>
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<p class=”MsoNormal”>My favourite space fact is that the core of a star reaches 16 million degrees celsius!</p>
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<p class=”MsoNormal”>Inquiry based activity: I would do a lesson with infants to figure out what materials are waterproof. I would give this a fun context e.g. help the teddy bear to find a coat that would be suitable for the rain! I would put children into pairs and give them packs. In the packs I would have droppers, squares of material e.g. plastic, tinfoil, tissue, paper. Children will test the materials to figure out which materials are waterproof and which are not. We will discuss afterwards, which material would suit best plastic v tinfoil as both are waterproof.</p>
