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Hi Edwina! I think your research question is great because it focuses on something that the children do every day, which would make it easy for them to make connections with the topic. I liked how your activity integrates many learning areas also. The idea of conducting a whole school survey and then repeating it later gives the children a real world purpose to their learning.
Option 1 (Satellite Tracking)
I used the app ‘Satellite Tracker’. I looked up information about the satellites. It was so interesting!
Sentinel-2A. It is part of Europe’s Copernicus programme. It’s job is to monitor forests and crops, measure droughts and floods, track wildfires and to produce detailed colour images of Earth’s surface.
Sentinel-1A. This uses radar. It can see through clouds, work day or night, detect flooding, measure small ground movements caused by natural disasters, monitor sea ice and ships.
NOAA-21. This is one of the newest weather satellites. It measures cloud temperatures, observes hurricanes and Atlantic storms, map sea surface temperatures, helps improve weather forecasts, monitors smoke, volcanic ash and also pollution.
Terra. This monitors the Earth’s movement. It has been operating since 1999 and carries instruments that study climate change, forest health, wildfires, air pollution, snow and ice cover and also ocean temperatures.
Aqua. It’s purpose is to study the Earth’s water. Aqua focuses on water vapour in the atmosphere, rainfall, clouds, ocean temperatures, sea ice and the global water cycle.
Same Irene! I loved this activity! I showed my 7 year old and she was fascinated by it. I would say the kids in school would be exactly the same. What a fun lesson this would be!
I completely agree with your points about the HOME documentary. I also found it to be fascinating and quite emotional to watch. The aerial footage really showed both the beauty of our planet and also the damage that humans have caused to it. Like you, I think it is important that children learn about climate change, but it needs to be introduced in a way that is suitable for their age and doesn’t leave them feeling anxious or overwhelmed.
The video Home and also Greta Thunbergs speech really made me think about how important it is to teach our children about climate change from a young age. Home uses some amazing aerial images to show how beautiful our planet is but also the horrors that humans have caused such as pollution, deforestation and our overuse of natural resources. The climate change video explains climate change in a clear and simple way. The facts are easy to understand.
If I was introducing climate change to my 4th, 5th and 6th class I would start by finding out what they already know and then building on that. I would explain the difference between weather and climate using simple examples they can relate to. I think using short videos, pictures from HOME, and class discussion would help make the topic more interesting. It could also be an option to ask them to watch HOME as part of their homework with their parents.Activity 3 ‘Climate Reporters’ enables pupils to learn about climate projections and acquire some understanding of how a future increase in temperatures may affect their lives. There is minimal resources needed for this, children only need access to the internet and the pupil activity sheet. The Paxi video explains the greenhouse effect in a very clear and concise way and makes it interesting for children. Although it is probably aimed at younger pupils, I think the older classes would enjoy it too. We are a green school and I think this would tie in nicely with that initiative.
I would do some work firstly on asking the children their understanding of what the greenhouse effect it. Some pupils may never have heard of it. I would ask them to predict what they think the future will look like if we do not work together with other countries to help solve the problem.
The lesson would also be good for cross-curricular activites in Geography, Maths, developing literacy in English and also some Gaeilge words could be used.Hi Irene,
I agree with the points you have made. Your point about the Paxi video being colourful and engaging is important, as the younger classes would benefit from the information being presented in a simple way. I also agree that combining the video with the interactive tool caters for different learning styles.
I completely agree with your point about the value of hands-on learning. I find that weather is often taught as a topic with discussion and worksheet, but these resources would really encourage children to investigate and learn through experience.
I found the content from these activities to be very engaging. The activities will allow for critical thinking and for the children to use the information to form their own opinions on the subject. After reading Unravelling STEM, I liked how the activities encouraged the children to ask questions and not just accept information as fact.
The ‘Is it weather or climate’ activity was a great way to address common misconceptions, and I think my 4th-6th class pupils would really enjoy discussing real life examples before deciding whether it is climate or weather. The ‘weather detectives’ was great as it would give the children the opportunity to investigate, observe patterns and to work together.
I would extend these activities by having the class collect weather data over a number of weeks and compare it. I would also ask them to use their findings to create graphs, posters or even PowerPoint presentations to incorporate cross-curricular work.Hi Sharon! Like you, I also hadn’t fully appreciated the impact that light pollution has on biodiversity before completing this course. I think your idea of linking the topic to a cross-curricular biodiversity unit is an excellent way to make the learning relevant for the children.
I also think the homework activity involving families is a great one.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky? For example: Look up President Michael D Higgins’ “Stardust”
The night sky appears in music, poetry and art. I think it is something that we all connect with, whether we are young or old. There was great excitement in my own home a few months ago when we got to see the Northern Lights from our own back garden. I looked at the Stardust poem as suggested. It reminds us that we are all part of something bigger in this universe and this would be a lovely poem to share with the class.
Teaching 4th, 5th and 6th in a small country school means that most of the children live in an area with very little light pollution so they have a great chance to spot stars and the moon in the sky.
There are lots of songs such as:
Catch a falling star
Twinkle twinkle little star
A sky full of stars
Counting stars
Rewrite the stars.And also poems like:
The song of the wandering aengus by WB Yeats
The moon by Robert Louis Stevenson
Stardust by Michael D Higgins.For Art ‘The Starry Night’ by Van Gogh. A painting that many chilren are already familiar with.
There are also some native Australian art that shows the night sky which could be great for cross curricular activities.How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans
I teach in a small rural school in Meath and we are lucky to be surrounded by nature in the Boyne Valley. I would encourage the children to conduct a light pollution survey around the school, asking them to look for things such as motion sensors, downward facing lights and any other general lighting in the space. We could create wild life friendly spaces by planting native hedgerows, leaving areas with long grass, planting wildflowers and maybe installing bat or owl boxes.
The school could get involves in a Dark Skies Week, record wildlife sightings with their families or invite a local wildlife expert in to speak to the children. We have had the local fisheries in before for ‘Something Fishy’ and it was a great success.Hi Emer,
I teach in a rural school in Meath and we also have a school garden and a sensory garden. We mainly plant fruit and veg in the garden but I love your idea to plant flowers that would attract nocturnal species such as jasmine and honeysuckle. I think so many children are interested in nature and they would really love the idea of getting stuck into this project. We create a rota during the summer for families to come in to water the plants and veg and I think its a great way of getting the community involved in taking care of the school
Hi Gary, I had a look at the link that you uploaded and there are some great ideas on that website to help classes engage in activities about light pollution.
I also like the way these activities can be linked into other subject areas like Geography, Maths and English.
I will be teaching 4th, 5th and 6th in September and these types of activities would be great for group work.
I also thought your idea of using the Inquiry Framework was great. It gives a clear structure for students to investigate the issue while encouraging them to ask questions and search for answers.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
My school is in a rural area and there are no street lights around the school. There is a local village close by and I would base my learning on the light pollution that would be in the village.
I liked the module idea to set up a model streetscape using torches of various colours and power. The slide explained that the class would need to decide where light is needed and where its not. And also how to change the direction of light using shields. Google maps would also be very handy for this activity as it would help us have a clear picture of the layout of the streetlights in the village. Photographs of the village could also be used.
I would also use the ‘surveys on light pollution’ resource that was show in module 3.
