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I really like your lesson plan Catherine especially the idea of using your local environment of Killarney National Park to extend the children’s learning experience and create life long memories
My research question is “How climate change has impacted local farmers crops ?A lot of the children in my school would have a farming background, I think the children would enjoy interviewing and gathering data from the local farmers who would also be related to them. The children could begin by researching the crops that the farmers grow, finding out how, much is produced every year and has it been affected by the weather? They could analyse the data from different farmers and compare their land if they use fertilizers or not etc . I’m sure that the children would come up with much more exciting research questions but to start it off and to keep it simple maybe we could collect data such as the amount of rainfall in each farmers field and comparison with the yield of crop they have that yearThis would be a wide and varied research piece allowing all classes to become involved and would lead to some critical thinking into how we do things currently. This inquiry-based learning and investigation would be hugely beneficial to all.
Wow an amazing research project from Castleisland Community School , something that everyone can relate to by knowing someone that suffers from asthma or having it themselves .
Thank you for the link, very interesting to read about the space junk which can add another dimension to the childrens learning.
Earth Observation – Module 4 I found this a really fun , engaging activity that I know the children in the senior end of the school will love. I downloaded the satellite tracker app from Star Walk with a weeks free trail, lots of different and exciting features on it showing satellites view, people on board,
The satellites that passed over when I was tracking were
1. Cosmos 1844 – It is capable of determining the exact location of radio-emitting objects and also their type, modes of operation, and how active they are
2. Cosmos 2242- Cosmos 2242 was a Russian ELINT (Electronic and Signals Intelligence) satellite launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.
3. SL -12 R/B 2 – launched in 1967 and is decay Ed a type of space junk
4. Ariane 40 r/b – more space debris
5. Cosmos 2219 – was a Russian ELINT (Electronic and Signals Intelligence) satellite launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome aboard a Zenit 2 rocket.
I didn’t realise how much space junk is actually up there! By doing more research I would pin point the active satellites to track and the ISS.The film “Home” by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is an amazing production that I had never seen before. There is so much learning to be taking from this video, it could take up a whole themed approach for a half term of work, the presentation of the beautiful earth and the tragic impact humans have had on it. In the senior classes I would break up the film into 15-20mins sessions to watch and study, and summarise with main facts. The Greta Thunberg’s TED talk is also very emotive , the children can create connections with her story and her misson and be inspired by her being so young when she started to speak out . After introducing these climate change facts to the class I would brainstorm way to spread the message, creating school posters with important facts, making a space on the school website to promote ways to help the planet, create a whole school competition to ignite excitement in the school.
I love the idea of integrating drama into these lessons with the suggestion of using conscience alley or with debating scenerios , activities like these are moments in school that children remember for forever.
Great point Triona about providing relevant and age appropriate information so as not to increase stress levels.The resources and activities here are all very positive and give positive solutions to the roblems that will hopefully equip the children with knowledge and skills to help them to discover lasting and more complex solutions in the future.
The past few years I have been in between the classroom and the learning support room. This activity has prompted me to remember a lot of the preteaching I would do with certain children before a topic would be taught in the classroom. I think the Paxi video is a great video that is child friendly with great visuals to help children understand the greenhouse gases process, I think it can be used for all ages and I would definitely use it as a pre teaching tool for children in the LS room to gather prior knowledge before it is taught as whole class. I had never seen or heard of the TEAL tool before this and I know the senior class children would navigate it quickly. To extend the learning I would get the children in groups to create kahoot quiz to share and play with the other groups and the other classes in the school.
In my classroom, I try to use a wide approach to STEM projects and use real-world examples by connecting lessons to current events or practical scenarios. such as when we discuss climate change and its impact on different ecosystems when studying environmental science. In Liston’s paper a reference is made to , “STEM education isn’t just one thing—it’s a range of strategies that help students to build understanding apply concepts and skills from different disciplines in contexts that make connections between school, community and work in order to solve meaningful problems (Gerlach 2012; Vasquez, Comer and Sneider 2013).”
Is it Weather or Climate clearly differentiates between the concepts of weather and climate. It encourages students to think about the characteristics of each, I enjoyed the Nose up High in the sky and the weather watchers. I my classroom I would try and integrate even more multimedia resources, such as videos or interactive maps, could make the activity even more engaging.
Weather Detectives- This is something all classes would get great benefit from taking place in a school, as mentioned before I like the idea of building a weather station in out sensory area and outdoor classroom and linking the recording and anaslying of data with the new Primary Maths Curriulum too in terms of Maths Eyes and Problem Solving.