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We have been working on a creative clusters project in our school it is a local history and art project. A huge part of local history where I work is coal mining. So the question I would pose is
Did the closure of the local mines have an effect on the local environment ? Positive or negative.
I would open this to discussion with the children.
In what ways did the closure of the mines effect the local environment.
I would ask them to consider things like air quality, traffic, local farming businesses, land use, plant life, birds and animals found locally.Is there a way we could find out and measure these things. I would get the children to use the earth observer tool too look at the locality over a period of the last 50 years. Has the landscape of our locality changed as a result of the mine closure.
I would get them to research , collect any data they can.If the closure has had a positive impact on the local environment how long has it taken for the the recovery? Is it fully recovered? Can we predict if it will fully recover? How long will it take. I really feel this would make for a very interesting and engaging project for the children
This is a really interesting and engaging project idea. It is also very relevant to the children and I noticed that you had a section on how it effects the local community. This is very important with many peoples attitude to climate change being if it doesn’t effect me then its not my problem. This will help them realise that climate change is effecting all of us.
Option 2
I think the EO browser is a great tool. I would like to use some time at a staff meeting to share it with the rest of the staff. I would use the EO tutorial to help them use it in their own classes. I would explain to them that it is a resource which can be used in history science geography, SESE and can also be tied into english. I would demonstrate for them how to use the browser. How changes to the earth can be seen from the EO browser changing over time. I would show them how the children could use it in groups or individually on I pads. Through the demonstration they would see how easy the browseris to use and also how engaging it would be for the children. I would demonstrate how it can be used in a variety of ways and tied into subjects mentioned above. It would make any of these subjects more fun and engaging for the children. Also it is very important to note that we need to prepare our children for a digital world as per our school digital plan and using EO Browser is part of that.I also agree that the EO Browser is a great resource and with how tech savy the pupils are nowadays I really don’t feel they would have any trouble using it. I think it is great to track glaciers, land sea-levels etc and how they are changing over time. Another great resource to get the concepts of climate change across in a visual and engaging way. Could be used as part of green school presentations etc
Completely agree home is stunning and really shows the beauty and fragility of our planet. I also agree that completing the carbon footprint questionnaire is a great exercise for anyone to fully appreciate our individual impact on the planet. Completing it can help us understand the changes we could make for the better.
I think the documentary home is an excellent resource. It is visually engaging and thought provoking. I feel it will really impress on students the impact we as humans are having on our planet. I would use it along with other video clips on this course to have a whole schoool discussion on climate change, the Green house effect etc. I would break this documentary down in to chunks because it is too long for the attention span of younger children and also because I feel this topic is so important that it is one that needs to be addressed regularly( not just a one off lesson ) deeply and thoroughly. I feel that it needs to be part of assembly ( possible student preentations ), it needs to be integrated into science, maths,english, drama indeed any subject possible to consolidate the learning and the importance of this topic
Hi Triona I absolutely agree that the documentary home was very powerful. Like you, it really got me thinking about the devastating impact we are having on the planet, as humans. I agree with Michelle’s comments above that showing the documentary in smaller chunks would make it more accessible for younger learners and also allow for discussion. I think that really we need our young people to understand fully the gravity of the situation we are in in terms of climate change. We also need every young person to understand that they can make small changes, they can have an impact, I think using the carbon footprint questionnaire is also a great idea.
I really liked the paxi video. I felt it was childfriendly and engaging. I would use it in my school as a whole school as the older children could help the younger children. We are a green school so I would tie it in with that too. We are currently working on a creative cluster project which would involve knowledge about coal mining (we are in an old mining area) so i would link it with that project too. I feel this integration is important for consolidating learning and also with 4 class groupings in terms of getting the curriculum covered. I feel the teal tool could also be used in small groups on the ipads.I know these are activities and resources i will use to teach this really important topic.
I agree Laura important to assess children’s prior knowledge on green House effect climate change etc before this activity. In my small school I could imagine doing these activities as a whole school and dividing into small groups to complete worksheets or maybe do art based on what we are doing now that is effecting our climate and what we could do differently. I would keep it visual especially for the younger learners. I would you the teal tool also to help them understand the effects of climate change over time. This again could be done in small groups on the ipads after the teacher demonstrates on the whiteboard
I agree that getting the children to understand the difference between weather and climate is very important. It is not an easy concept but with the resources suggested here I think it will make it easier for children to understand.
As a school we would have plenty of space for a weather station. I know the children would really engage in reading thermometer, measuring rainfall etc. So this is definitely something I could envisage us doing. I really like the idea of a weather bulletin board. Again this would be great for getting children to engage. I found the video clips, songs etc in this module very child friendly and will definitely use some of these when I am engaging in this topic with the children.
Unraveling STEM really got me thinking and I realise that I have not placed as much emphasis on the engineering aspect of STEM. This is something I will be extra mindful of going forward. I found the resources from both ESA and SEAI very good. I felt they were practical and engaging. They are very in keeping with the new curriculum goals and content. I teach in a very small school so I feel I would need to use them in mixed ability groups with older children in 5th and 6th class helping the younger infants. I do feel that this approach would be best and would facilitate thematic and integrated learning approaches. I feel this would facilitate most learning overall.