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The ARC resources would all be useful in the primary classroom. Having taught 6th class for the past several years I think videos are always a good introduction, miidle or ending to a lesson. I think students would like the ARC video showing the different jobs people in aquaculture can have. I think the resources encourage pupils to think about sustainability, biodiversity, infrastructure across Ireland and people living in different places. Projects or study could be aligned for a schools green school committee to research and undertake.
Children could use investigative, scientific, collaborative, problem solving and research skills in exploring the resources and potentially working on projects about mussel/ salmon/ oyster farming.
If we were looking at STEM for our School Self-Evaluation, we could look at development through a whole-school approach by identifying current strengths, areas for improvement, and opportunities for collaboration among teachers. We could gather evidence such as pupil work, parents ideas, digital records, STEM projects, and student feedback. We would need to evaluate progress. Sharing resources and planning together as a staff would support and ensure STEM becomes an integral part of teaching and learning across the school.Hi Molly, I agree that this module has opened my eyes to how aquaculture can be a real-life context for teaching STEM. I think also that the resources encourage pupils to investigate local industries, sustainability, biodiversity and careers while developing problem-solving, collaboration and critical thinking skills.
Being from rural west of Ireland I learned a lot in this module relevant to where I live. Topics of community, local enterprises and infrastructure sprung to mind. The location of aquaculture farms in Ireland along the Atlantic way, mainly the north-west, south-west and west coast contribute to the livelihood of so many individuals and communities.
Having moved to Dublin myself along with so many others to go to college it is very apparent how important aquaculture is to small rural western communities as a means of income and sustainability.
How aquacutlure can contribute socio-economically to coastal communities is huge! If looking towards the future it means that local people can stay in rural west Ireland wouldnt it be lovely! I liked the videos of the chefs experiencing food along the wild Atlantic way. There is probably such a vast amount of people in Ireland who have no idea the aquaculture on our doorstep and how lucky we are to have good quality and local seafood available.
I liked the geography behind our ‘goldilocks’ climate. This would be very interesting for senior class students to learn about.Hi Jessica, I too found this module relevant living near the coastline. I learned tides and water depths affects how oysters and mussels grow.
Geography, climate and coastline were interesting how they interlinked.
I thoroughly enjoyed module one learning about aquaculture. I liked the videos of oyster, salmon and mussel farming. I had never heard of ARC previously and I think it would be something very beneficial for any school community to engage with. Looking locally I did some research and found that we have the world’s oldest hatchery on the Owenriff river in Oughterard, Co. Galway. I remember getting a tour as a young child and it’s funny how memorable that was for me. You do gather some pride in where you are from when you experience local amenities and local people passionate about what they do. It is special to see food science/ science/ geography in action. I got some nice ideas for research projects for students. It is important to encourage children to explore local food sources and real-world environmental issues. We all live with such close proximity to the sea I believe we should all be looking at farming at sea a lot closer than we do already. I have found that children generally love learning about marine life and this module offered lots of resources to explore with students to spark their curiosity and engagement.
I thoroughly enjoyed module one learning about aquaculture. I liked the videos of oyster, salmon and mussel farming. I had never heard of ARC previously and I think it would be something very beneficial for any school community to engage with. Looking locally I did some research and found that we have the world’s oldest hatchery on the Owenriff river in Oughterard, Co. Galway. I remember getting a tour as a young child and it’s funny how memorable that was for me. You do gather some pride in where you are from when you experience local amenities and local people passionate about what they do. It is special to see food science/ science/ geography in action. I got some nice ideas for research projects for students. It is important to encourage children to explore local food sources and real-world environmental issues.
I love the idea of bringing in local people who work in the aquaculture industry . We often don’t utilise what’s right on our doorstep. I think us teachers as well as our students could benefit from exploring local fish farms or sea/ fresh water aquaculture.
For teaching junior infants “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is a lovely song to encourage wonder about stars. For older classes “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay could be appropriate for background music when working on written or oral work in relation to the night sky. “Clair de Lune” – Claude Debussy is a nice instrumental song. “Space Oddity” is another famous one by David Bowie.
Poems:
“The Star” by Jane Taylor
The original version of “Twinkle, Twinkle” — a lovely way to connect poetry and astronomy.
“Silver” by Walter de la Mare
A beautiful poem about moonlight’s effect on the world at night.
“Stars” by Sara Teasdale
Expresses the quiet awe of stargazing.
Haiku Example
Night sky above me
Stars twinkle without a sound
Darkness feels like homeArtworks & Visual Inspiration
Vincent van Gogh – The Starry Night
A swirling, expressive depiction of the night sky—great for art and science crossovers.
Georgia O’Keeffe – Starlight Night
A more abstract view of stars, useful for discussion about personal interpretation.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
Stunning daily images of real night skies, planets, and galaxies—great digital art resource.
Indigenous Star Maps (e.g., Aboriginal Australian, Māori Matariki art)
Introduces cultural astronomy and sky stories from around the world.That sounds like a great plan for covering the topic of light pollution and dark skies. I think many people don’t realise the effect lighting has on local people and local habitats for animals and other species.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
Light pollution is impacting my local area in a huge number of ways. From looking at the map of what light pollution there was in 1997 compared to now it is easy to see the change over time in the increase of lighting. Aside from the cost of using all of this light energy, there are also plenty of other effects on humans, species and our earth.
Some topics which could be explored with 5th/6th class are:
Sleep & mental health
Nocturnal animals and confusion of time of day or night.
I would encourage students to engage with this topic by first sparking their interest by a fun or factual video. I would get them to construct debates as part of their written work on why people should use less lighting or change how they use lighting. Students could design poems on encouraging people to think about their use of light at home and at school.
We used to nominate students from the Green Schools Committee to be light switch managers. Just before lunch they would walk by all classrooms to ensure all switches and screens were off. We found this to be a good way of promoting awareness particularly when there was a prize for the most energy efficient class.
2. Create a short teaching resource using Stellarium/ WorldWide Telescope
Discover the Night Sky with Stellarium
W.A.L.T.:
Use Stellarium to explore stars, planets, and constellations—just like a real astronomer!
Activity Instructions:
1. Open Stellarium and set your location to where you live.
2. Change the time and date to see how the sky changes.
3. Look for:
o Three constellations you can see tonight.
o Any planets that are bright in the sky.
o Any rings around planets which may be visible.
o The Moon—what shape is it today?
Fun Challenge:
Travel back in time to July 20, 1969—the night of the first Moon landing. What did the sky look like then? What planets or stars were visible?
Show What You Learned:
Make a simple poster or short slideshow showing your favourite discoveries. Include drawings or screenshots from Stellarium and a few fun facts!
Want More Adventure?
Try WorldWide Telescope to fly through space and visit planets, galaxies, or even zoom in on the Moon!
Skills:
Observing, asking questions, using technology, and learning about the amazing universe above us!I think my students would love using Skyview and Stellarium. Children love learning about space and the planets and this activity you’ve described would be a nice homework activity, particularly in the dark winter months.
Hi Eleanor, I agree that this is a lovely hands on activity and touches many different subject strands beyond STEAM such as construction in art, etc. I like your tie to Ancient Egypt too. Great idea!
3. Plan how your students could “observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting and at different times of the day”
I teach eleven-year-old students in Dublin. They could observe and record the Sun’s position by choosing an open space in the school yard—ideally where tall buildings or trees don’t block the view of the east and west (which is more difficult than you’d think). They can use google maps or a compass to note east, north, south and west directions. Each morning, students can photograph the rising sun when it meets the horizon and mark the position of the rising and setting Sun using chalk on the ground, or note landmarks (e.g. “Sun rose to the left of the old laundrette chimney”). During the day, they can record the Sun’s height and direction at regular intervals, like 8.30am, 11am, and 2pm, using shadow sticks and measuring/ perhaps sketching with chalk shadow lengths/ shapes. Keeping a daily log over a few weeks will show the changes in the position of the Sun. If trees block views, students can rotate observation spots or collaborate with another class in a nearby school with better visibility to compare findings. The use of I.T. could also be helpful and we could tune into live cameras on our eastern coast, for example Seapoint to see the position of the sun in the morning. This activity would be nice to do in winter as the children may be at school at sunrise. Alternatively the students could do this as a home project and could take photos to show the varying locations of the sun’s position. Within the classroom we could also mark the shadows angles during the day.
