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Describe how you would involve your pupils in an art, music drama or creative writing project based around your local natural or scientific heritage
Natural inspiration- Lough Boora Bog and Parklands, Blueball, County Offaly
Inquiry- I would bring the children on a nature walk in the area and encourage them to take notes, drawings on the flora and fauna they observe on their walk. The children can use map resources to map out their journey and any features they can identify on the map can they identify them in person e.g. bends in the road, rivers etc
Art- Develop projects like textured bog landscapes, watercolor paintings of river creatures, abstract prints created from tree bark rubbings, and detailed dioramas based on students’ observations and notes. Children can collaborate in pairs or small groups to complete their creations.
Creative writing- The children could explore the history of the local area and create a piece based on their findings. Alternatively, some might choose to draw inspiration from their nature walk and create artwork reflecting this experience. The completed projects could be displayed in the school, and the children could present their work, explaining the sources of their inspiration to the school community.Hi Vera, I love this idea for a project in school. I also live near wind turbines so I would love to use this lesson in the future.
Research engineering in your local area and describe how you would use a local building, structure or other engineering feature as inspiration for a classroom or outdoor design and make project
The Boora Pyramid in Lough Boora Bog and Parklands near Tullamore, County Offaly would be a great structure to use as inspiration for a classroom or outdoor design and make project. I would first discuss the Boora Pyramid’s construction, materials, stability, sustainability, and site-specific nature. The students would then draw their own stepped pyramid design, using modular blocks or reclaimed local stone/brick. Discuss load distribution and geometry. The children could use recycled or locally sourced material or integrate landscape context—such as bog grasses or low wildflowers. We could link this topic to history as we discuss other pyramids from other cultures and countries. We could also link it to maths by discussing 2-D and 3-D shapes. The children could use iPads to record their progress and plan their designs. They could showcase their designs and discuss why they chose particular materials. I would provide the children with autonomy on what materials they would like to use by providing them with some choice.
Hi Ellen, I really enjoyed this plan for monitoring biodiversity in the environment. I love the idea of using the Birdwatch Ireland Garden Bird Survey to track the birds they see in their local environment and participate in the annual bird count.
To conduct a seasonal biodiversity project across the school year, I would use resources such as the Exploring Biodiversity toolkit and SESE Primary Science Curriculum supports, along with nature guides and digital tools like the Biodiversity Ireland app as well as all the fantastic resources referred to in this module. The project would involve students observing and recording seasonal changes in plants, insects, and animals in our school grounds or a local green space. We have a small garden in our school that we will be renovating next year and trying to maintain better as it has gotten quite overgrown. We would go outdoors at least once a month to observe changes, using recording sheets tailored for each season. These would include tick-boxes for common species, space for sketches, and weather notes. Students would use magnifying glasses, bug viewers, and tablets to take photos or make notes. I would also introduce a classroom nature table to bring the outdoors in. This project encourages curiosity, observation, and a deep connection to the local environment, while linking meaningfully to a wide range of curriculum areas.
Hi Robert, this seems like a great idea and a great way to introduce maps to a younger class. It’s a great way of building up confidence.
For younger classes, describe how you would plan and conduct a lesson on map making and explain how you might incorporate some online tools such as Google maps or Geohive:
I chose this question as I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. I was lucky to have this class last year and will be carrying them on and am looking forward to doing more hands on activities with them. I would open the lesson by asking the children: ‘What is a map?’ They will discuss what they know in pairs and then share what they know with the rest of the class. I will ask them if they have ever seen a map and where have they seen maps. I remember doing a similar lesson with my class last year and some of their answers included, at the bus stop, at the luas stop, in the car or on Dora. I would bring the class outside with clipboards so they could get an idea of the school grounds and draw important parts of the school. Children would then return to the classroom to label and colour their maps, while also being introduced to the concept of a key. Using Geohive, children on Ipads in pairs could look at aerial photographs of the map of the school and compare their maps.
Hi Maria, this seems like a fun, engaging lesson that will effectively teach the children about light. I would love to use this with my class next year!
I use STEM teaching in my classroom by trying to integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Next year, with my senior infants class I want to try and teach topics in a cross-curricular manner to encourage children to apply concepts across all disciplines to real-life. For example, students could design and build a bridge using lollipop sticks and glue to learn about about force and measurement while also developing teamwork skills. In my teaching, I try to make lessons as student-centered as possible, encouraging kids to ask lots of questions. I use technology tools like ipads to enhance learning and engagement. I have also used the Curious Minds website in the past and hope to make even more use of it next year, I think it’s a brilliant resource to could promote the STEM Education policy in the school. All of this STEM education helps students to develop critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills.