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Hi Liadhan,
I think the module resources are great and really supportive of classwork. The template is very useful, it is well laid out and wonderfully structured, from the pre-lesson work, to designing the content, addressing the learning objectives, to the focus of the work and the reflection of the teaching and learning. I thought the online digital resources were excellent, I particularly enjoyed the BBC You tube resources and I can see myself using these. I really like having resources other than text books and I think your Golden time is a great idea.
When reading her paper I was drawn to the emphasis on engineering with the engineering design process and I thought this was very reflective of the fun and active part of our curricular work, with the emphasis on the new mathematics curriculum on playfulness. STEM work within our classroom looks busy, and can encourage a great deal of conversation, where pupils discuss and make decisions and then change their mind and look at another approach. It can involve trial and error. It usually begins with a question, a discussion, looking at something new, using an image, or a digital video to encourage pupils to consider the question, for example what sources of light do we have in our world or why do we not float in our classroom ?
Pupils are often introduced to materials/equipment and perhaps we will consider vocabulary around the equipment, what we know about the equipment, its uses and importantly how we handle equipment with care. We also consider how we work together safely and what active learning looks like. What it looks like usually is pupils out of their seats, working in pairs or groups, with lots of fun and investigative practice. If we are building/engineering an object there are questions and pupils wonderfully creating different approaches, trying different material and for the most part I try to guide from the side and listen to the children as they consider different ideas, create and work to their conclusions. We then look at what we have been working on, what we were building, what we were trying to achieve and ask how did we do, what went well and what might we do differently next time.Hi Rachel,
I really liked the map, it was bright, creative and wonderful for our visual learners. It was amazing to see the amount of producers working in the industry and how they integrate with the communities and the food industry. They are such a fabric of our coastline and a wonderful representation of what is great about Irish food and natural resources.
Hi Grainne,
We were fortunate to have had the experience of the ARC remote classroom visit to our school. The children were so excited and enjoyed every minute of the experience. Indeed the teachers were really impressed too. I hope your application is successful.
Hi Sinead,
Your post is very inspiring and it sounds like you live in a wonderful place of the world, on our island. Field trips and visitors really bring a sense of reality to the classroom, bringing the learning to life. I think your pupils would be greatly inspired and motivated in their work and indeed in possible future careers, in this industry. Writing recipes ideas is super, one I will make use of in my own classroom.
Our first task would be to ensure the understanding of Sustainability by each pupil. Pupils would work together in small groups to complete a mind map of ways they see Sustainability practiced within their own locality, from home to businesses, from what they use, consume, their understanding of food labels, and how they support Sustainability in school and at home. We would invite our Green School Committee representatives to discuss and share their ideas on Sustainability. Our school has implemented many ways to support this work and this would be a very good time to reflect and revise what we engage in within our school, from Bin Busters to Zero Power Hour.
Engaging the pupils in this learning would be supported by many of the ideas shared within the module, with new knowledge on food labelling, Global Goal lessons and Origin Green. The digital videos to support this work are wonderfully engaging and would motivate the pupils in their investigations, considerations and idea generations. Pupils would be posed with the question as to what they can do within their own daily lives to support Sustainability, how they use power, what food choices and purchases they make, their activities, their carbon footprint, the clothes they purchase, their consideration for the place we call home. Again this work could be shared with other classes and through school assembly time, to bring this knowledge to others.Hi Catherine,
I think the connection with home is a great idea. Bringing information home would provide a wonderful link with home and a great way for pupils to reflect on their learning. Considering looking at data, within mathematical work, would bring a great sense of realness to their learning, this could be presented with graph work and through digital technology. This could be shared with other classes too.
Pupils can consider the Food Pyramid and where seafood is situated in it. They can consider the other food groups, learning about macro and micronutrients, vitamins and minerals. We would consider Human Biology, The Digestive System and how what we eat supports all the systems within our body. We would consider the diet of young, teenagers and adults, what their particular needs may be, regarding their diet and stage of life. We would look at the diet requirements of our sports people, creating a daily diet as part of a fact file for their chosen sportsperson.
The Food pyramid is part of fifth class work, with Gaeilge and Bia and the nutrition of seafood would integrate very well with this learning. The story of The Salmon of Knowledge, links History to this learning, along with the Story of Water, Geography and the Lifecycle of the Salmon, in fifth class Science work. We could also compare and contrast countries, in their fish consumption and different species eaten in different parts of the world.
Pupils could also use their mathematical work, relating to percentages, to look at the labelling of seafood items, linking their knowledge of nutrients and the benefits of these, in the human body.
Lastly pupils could use creative writing and digital technology to create an advertisement for the benefits and nutritional value of eating seafood.Hi Niall,
I think the presentation on the story of The Salmon of Knowledge was wonderful and as you say would greatly engage the pupils. There are so many opportunities for integration with the ARC lessons, from Literacy to Gaeilge. The lessons are very creative and make great use of digital video and are very child friendly. I have been fortunate to have had a visit from the ARC remote classroom and it was wonderful, a highlight of the year for the pupils, and I would highly recommend registering for a visit.
Lesson 1 What is Aquaculture?
Lesson 2 The Nutrition of Seafood
Lesson 3 Aquaculture and the Community
Lesson 4 Sustainable Irish Seafood
The lessons are not just confined to STEM areas, there are excellent opportunities for integration with History, with the Story of the Salmon of Knowledge, music and visual artwork. The work would benefit Irish language work with Bia and Nutrition within Science learning.
The pupils are working collaboratively, creatively and problem solving. The pupils are engaging in a range of activities to question, explore, and working actively. Pupils are engaged in inquiry and analysis, which supports and develops the learner’s STEM skills. The pupils can make excellent use of digital technology to learn, present their learning and to assess their work.
The work integrates with the work of the Green School Committee and considers the local implications of Aquaculture within our local community. The school provides opportunities to consider jobs within the Aquaculture Industry, this integrates with Geography.
This work could reflect the work within our school’s self-evaluation by identifying scientific skills that the pupils are developing, identified by the teachers, within our school plan, perhaps highlighting what can be done going forward and what is working well.Living on the Wild Atlantic Way, I can see how Aquaculture and fish farming is of great importance, providing jobs locally contributing to the survival of our local communities and providing jobs to allow people to live and thrive in their locality. These aquaculture farms provide immediate income to those they employ, both full-time and part-time, however they provide support to the local food businesses, from shops to restaurants. They also support a variety of other businesses and social groups, from transportation to the local GAA club. Their contributions ensure we can have a wider choice in the food we consume, supporting the nutritional diet of those living locally and further. There is also great scope for exporting their produce, which supports the wider economy, which hopefully feeds back financial support locally. They are also a fundamental part of the Wild Atlantic Food experience, which supports local tourism, from hotels, to bus transportation to tourist trips.
The module gave me a much better understanding of Aquaculture, considering the history of Aquaculture and the industry, as it is today in Ireland. The resources shared within the module are very classroom friendly and will greatly assist the teaching and learning.
The videos were very informative and the social license projects would greatly motivate the pupils in their learning and understanding of aquaculture, from the nutrition of seafood, the benefits to the local community from aquaculture and the importance of ensuring sustainable seafood, in Ireland. I enjoyed following the story of the young chefs as they visited producers and were able to see the origins of the food, that they will bring to plate.
Taste the Atlantic, A Seafood Journey allows the children to connect with the Wild Atlantic, developing a sense of place, making connections with the sea, food and place.
I have been fortunate to have seen the ARC classroom in live action and can truly say that it is most definitely one of the best experiences a pupil will have. It is wonderfully creative, immersive and greatly engages the pupils in every possible way in their learning.Hi Catriona,
I think this would be a great theme of work for the children. They would be active in their learning and would find this work engaging and fun. Their environment would provide so many exciting triggers for learning and extension of this work. The Green School Work would integrate wonderfully with this too.
How does the use of Solar Energy Benefit Planet Earth, in addressing Climate Change, looking at our own school?
The children would complete a mind map regarding sources of energy, what we use to heat our homes, how we power our school, our towns, cities, places of work. Where do we find energy sources? Considering the benefits or harm that these different sources of energy have with regard to Planet Earth and Climate Change.
We would make use of digital videos to support our learning, resources from SFI, National Geographic, Scoilnet Weather Satellites and our local county council environmental office, with visitors from relevant agencies.
Our school has recently installed solar panels. We could gather, collate and present data from the panels and consider our research question, regarding savings, or not, to our current school year, comparing this to costs of prior academic years. These findings could help support how Solar Energy benefits our school financially, along with the environmental gains, that the pupils would consider.
Pupils would be encouraged through their research to look at the benefits of using solar energy for our planet, whilst considering the environmental impact of other forms of energy, on both our planet, our climate, animals and humans.
Pupils can make use of digital technology to research and to present their research work, sharing this with each other and with the school community.
