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Outline how you would use some of the course resources to conduct a seasonal biodiversity project to run throughout the school year. What resources and recording sheets would you need? How often would you bring learning outdoors? How would you integrate other subject areas?
I would use irishwildflowers.ie to help pupils identify native flora, including seasonal changes in plant life. The Seek app would support real-time identification of plants, insects, making fieldwork engaging and interactive and including ICT. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan would guide our actions to support pollinators, such as creating habitats or planting wildflower areas.
We could do outdoor lessons at least twice per month, increasing in spring and summer. Pupils would use observation and recording sheets to note species, habitat, weather, and pollinator activity. Photos and nature journals would support visual documentation.
Cross-curricular links include Geography covering local environment studies and mapping habitats, Maths with graphing species counts and measuring growth, visual art, the children could draw and paint species and in literacy such as writing nature reports, poems, and persuasive texts for biodiversity action.
For younger classes, describe how you would plan and conduct a lesson on map making and explain how you might incorporate some online tools such as Google maps or Geohive.
For this lesson, I would tell the children that we are going to make a map of our daily walk using the natural materials from our yard. I would ask prompt questions of what the are going to see on the walk, the shape of the route, things we will see on the walk etc.
When we return, I would let the children decide if they want to work in pairs, groups or individually and to plan what they are going use for their maps, build their maps and then explain their maps to the rest of the class, answering any questions they may have.
We would the return the class and use google maps to revisit the walk/area and explore it through the different layers available.For younger classes, describe how you would plan and conduct a lesson on map making and explain how you might incorporate some online tools such as Google maps or Geohive.
For this lesson, I would tell the children that we are going to make a map of our daily walk using the natural materials from our yard. I would ask prompt questions of what the are going to see on the walk, the shape of the route, things we will see on the walk etc.
When we return, I would let the children decide if they want to work in pairs, groups or individually and to plan what they are going use for their maps, build their maps and then explain their maps to the rest of the class, answering any questions they may have.
We would the return the class and use google maps to revisit the walk/area and explore it through the different layers available.Hello Emma,
This is a great lesson idea. It includes everything and would really engage the children from the start. It follows the engage, investigate and reflect approach very well.
Describe how you could apply some of the concepts and skills you have learned in this module to your own teaching practice in line with the STEM Education policy statement.
As the STEM policy puts an emphasis on integrated learning I would link it into the theme being covered that month. For example, The theme could be Light
1. Art: the creation of the rainbow wheel links in with art and the colour wheel such as primary and secondary colours.
2. History/ Geography: The telescope in Birr Castle, we could explore County Offaly, features of a castle, when it was built etc.
3. English/ Drama: Building their own telescope, recreating a scene of people using a telescope for the first time.
4. Maths: Measurements/ angles etc.The STEM topic or subject area could actually become my monthly theme and then the months teaching could link in with that for an integrated learning experience.