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I really enjoyed the Paxi video and found it to be an engaging and accessible resource for teaching climate change. As I teach 6th class, I would explicitly pre-teach key vocabulary, as much of the scientific terminology would be unfamiliar to many pupils. As a Green School working towards our Biodiversity Flag, this lesson would link well with existing initiatives such as our bug hotel and polytunnel. Pupils could investigate the conditions plants need to grow and use critical thinking to debate whether plants would thrive better in a polytunnel or an outdoor planter, justifying their opinions with evidence.
The TEAL tool is another excellent resource, providing a clear visual representation of greenhouse gases and their impact on our planet. The temperature prediction activity encourages pupils to interpret patterns, analyse evidence, and make informed predictions, making it an effective introduction to climate change.
After watching the Paxi video, I would organise pupils into small groups to discuss the content before using the prediction tool collaboratively. Groups could compare their findings and explain the reasoning behind their predictions, encouraging communication and teamwork. If a greenhouse or polytunnel was unavailable, a simple activity such as sitting under a play parachute could demonstrate how heat becomes trapped, making the greenhouse effect more tangible.
To extend the learning, pupils could design posters promoting ways to reduce climate change at home, with a class reward for the most creative ideas. Finally, I would ensure activities were differentiated to support the diverse learning needs of all pupils. Overall, these resources provide engaging, practical opportunities to develop scientific understanding, critical thinking, collaboration, and environmental awareness.
Hi Laura, I really like this topic as it is very topical at the moment. I will do this with my students too. Thank you for the great idea.
Hi Brendan, I like your inquiry based set up in this post / lesson on Temperature rising in Dublin city. You have set up and allowed the children time to digest your topic and given them time to process this information and this would support them to understand this topic better.
The ESA activities, particularly *Nose Up High in the Sky* and *Weather vs Climate*, provide engaging, practical opportunities for pupils to explore STEM through real-world learning. I found these resources easy to use and highly adaptable for classroom practice.
Reflecting on Liston (2018) reinforced the idea that STEM is most effective when taught as an integrated, hands-on approach rather than as separate subjects. In my classroom, I encourage children to investigate, collaborate, and solve authentic problems through inquiry-based learning.
To extend the ESA activities, I would establish a simple weather station within the school grounds. Younger pupils could record daily temperatures using thermometers, while older classes could collect additional data on rainfall, wind speed, and cloud cover. Pupils would use charts and digital tools to record, analyse, and compare results over time, helping them distinguish between short-term weather patterns and long-term climate trends.
This activity naturally integrates all aspects of STEM. Scientific skills are developed through observation and investigation, mathematical skills through measuring, recording, and interpreting data, technological skills through the use of digital devices, and engineering skills by designing, maintaining, and improving the weather station.
To promote collective practice, I would expand the project into a whole-school inquiry. Classes could collaborate across year groups, share findings through assemblies and digital platforms, and contribute to a central weather display. Pupils could also take responsibility for managing the weather station on a rotating basis, encouraging teamwork and ownership of learning.
Overall, this approach would foster curiosity, strengthen STEM understanding, and develop a shared appreciation of weather, climate, and environmental science across the school community.
Following investigations into light pollution and biodiversity, pupils would work collaboratively to design their own Dark Sky Place. I would begin by discussing what makes an area suitable for stargazing and exploring photographs of Dark Sky Reserves, identifying features such as low levels of artificial lighting, open spaces and rich wildlife habitats. Using maps of the local area, pupils would select a suitable site, such as the school grounds or a nearby park, before designing an outdoor space that balances the needs of people, wildlife and the environment.
Working in groups, pupils would apply their learning across Science, Geography, Mathematics and Visual Arts to produce scaled plans or 3D models. Their designs could include shielded or motion-sensor lighting, walking trails, stargazing areas, native planting, ponds, hedgerows and bat boxes. They would explain how these features reduce light pollution, protect nocturnal species and create safe, enjoyable spaces for the community.
Each group would present their design to the class, justifying their decisions and responding to peer feedback. As an extension, pupils could build models using recycled materials or compare their ideas with existing Irish Dark Sky Reserves. This cross-curricular project would foster creativity, teamwork, critical thinking and environmental stewardship while demonstrating how thoughtful planning can benefit both biodiversity and people’s connection with the night sky.
I love these music choices Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven and Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy, sometimes you forget to expose the children to more classical music time.
I agree with you the Green flag is a great way to get the children and staff motivated and help to maintain momentum during the academic year.
To engage learners in exploring biodiversity in our local area and the impacts of light pollution, I would begin by showing the class the video *How do Animals See in the Dark?* by Anna Stöckl, along with online identification resources from Buglife and MothsIreland. These would act as thought-provoking stimuli, encouraging pupils to discuss their ideas and develop their own theories about how light pollution might affect wildlife.
Next, the children would carry out a biodiversity blitz of the school grounds, working in small groups to identify and record different species, including flowering plants, trees, invertebrates, birds, and mammals. They would then create a map of the school grounds, identifying areas where artificial lighting may impact biodiversity. Pupils who live nearby could photograph the school at night, providing visual evidence for a class discussion on how lighting may affect nocturnal species such as bats and moths.
Using resources such as RTÉ’s *Living the Wildlife – Long-eared Bats*, Learn About Bats, and Bat Conservation Ireland, pupils would investigate local nocturnal wildlife and explore ways to make our school grounds more wildlife-friendly. Working with the school caretaker, they could suggest practical improvements, such as directing lights downward, reducing unnecessary lighting, and planting native hedgerows. Finally, the class would write to local councillors and TDs, advocating for wildlife-friendly lighting, before incorporating these actions into our school biodiversity plan.
I really enjoyed reading your lesson ideas. I like how you have made the topic of light pollution relevant to the children by focusing on familiar places in the local community. Using photographs to compare a city sky with a rural night sky is a very effective way to introduce the concept and encourage discussion.
The **Light Pollution Detectives** activity is particularly engaging. Asking pupils to identify sources of artificial light on a local map encourages them to observe their surroundings more carefully while also developing geography and mapping skills. The homework observation sheet is another excellent idea because it involves families and helps children make real-life connections between what they learn in school and what they notice at home. Recording the number of visible stars, the Moon, nearby lights and signs of wildlife provides meaningful evidence that can be discussed in class.
I also like the cross-curricular links with History, Geography and Art. You could further extend the lesson by comparing observations with a light pollution map of Ireland or by using a stargazing app to identify constellations that are difficult to see in brightly lit areas. This would reinforce the impact of excessive artificial lighting on our ability to observe the night sky while encouraging children to think about practical ways to reduce unnecessary lighting in their own community.
You are so lucky to have a rural night sky and an urban night sky in your area to make direct comparisons. Children love to experience direct comparisons so that they can understand why and how themselves (again this is what the new STEM curriculum is promoting).
We will introduce the Moon’s phases using a printable visual aid from Twinkl and discuss why the Moon is sometimes visible during the day. The best time for morning observations is during the **waning gibbous** and **waning crescent** phases, in the week before each new moon. Planned observation dates are: 6–10 September, 5–9 October, 2–8 November, 2–8 December 2026, and 1–2 February, 2–4 March, 1–3 April, and 1–3 May 2027. Between 9.00 and 11.00 a.m., children will observe the Moon from a fixed point in the school yard, record the date and time, sketch its shape and position, and use a compass to note its location. Back in class, they will compare observations, create clay models representing the Moon’s eight phases, and paint them to show light and shadow. Pupils will also use NASA’s Daily Moon Guide and the Scoilnet Moon Learning Path to compare their observations with scientific resources and keep a Moon diary.
Its always great to get the children working in small groups. Peer learning is very powerful when the pupils are actively experiencing hands on learning. This kind of set up is really supporting the new STEM curriculum, where the main emphasis is on student centred learning.
Hi Nicola, I like the way you got pupils to think of the past – how did they tell time (this is bringing History into the STEAM). I notice in my class the pupils are really struggling with analogue time (as we all have phones now).
Plan how your students could “observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting and at different times of the day”
To help students observe and record the position of the Sun throughout the day, I would begin by using a tall, fixed object such as a bollard, stake or basketball pole in a sunny area of the school yard. In the morning, pupils would trace the object’s shadow with chalk and repeat this activity before home time. This would encourage discussion about why the shadow changes position and length during the day. The following day, pupils would work in pairs to trace each other’s outlines on the yard. They would then predict where their shadows would be at the end of the day by drawing them in a different colour of chalk before returning later to compare their predictions with the actual shadows. To extend this investigation, we could repeat the activity at different times of the year using a permanent sundial structure, allowing pupils to explore how the Earth’s tilt and changing seasons affect the Sun’s apparent path and shadow lengths.
