[Irene Keogh]

Our school has experienced  periods of heavy rainfall, and climate change is expected to increase the frequency of intense rainstorms in Ireland.

The students investigate:

1.Which areas puddle or flood?
2. How do trees and grass help absorb water?
3.Activities to get the children interested and enthusiastic about this information gathering and the importance of learning about the floods locally.

Activities: Plant native flowers or shrubs.
Design posters encouraging people to keep drains free of litter.
Map areas where water collects around the school.
To extend this lesson I would look at flooding in Co.Wicklow. I would start by showing the class photos of floods in the main towns in Wicklow Bray, Arklow, Wicklow Town, Baltinglass. In groups the children would find what the photos have in common and then I would allocate one town to each group, so they could investigate the floods and become weather detectives.

[Irene Keogh]

Thousands of satellites pass over all of the time, these are the four I have chosen from the app Satellite tracker.
1. International Space Station: Scientific research and technology demonstrations
2. Sentinel-2A European Union / ESA:Land imaging and environmental monitoring
3. Sentinel-3A European Union / ESA Ocean: land and atmospheric monitoring
4. NOAA-2 NOAA / NASA:Weather forecasting and environmental monitoring
5. Starlink satellite SpaceX :Global satellite internet service

[Irene Keogh]

Working from history and working forward to now, would be a great start for students. Next step would be to look at the world currently and then make predictions, this would link the past, present and future.

[Irene Keogh]

Overall, this is an engaging and effective activity that combines digital technology with scientific learning. The activity develops pupils’ digital literacy while encouraging critical thinking about environmental issues. With additional teacher support and opportunities for discussion and reflection, pupils will understand both the causes and impacts of climate change. The Paxi video is colourful, engaging, and age-appropriate for pupils 6th. Class. It explains greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect in a simple way that is easy for children to understand. The combination of a video and a hands-on digital tool caters to different learning styles, including visual and inquiry-based learners. The prediction tool could be challenging for some pupils without step-by-step guidance or a worksheet to help them interpret the results. The lesson overall could be made more relevant to the children by including examples of how climate change affects Ireland, helping pupils connect global issues to their own lives.

[Irene Keogh]

As I have 6th class I think the class would be well able for the three activities consecutively, I would definitely incorporate the videos explaining the zones throughout the world. The videos on explaining the weather terminology would explain the difference between weather and climate. I would place the class into groups and let them research images of different places on earth with different climates. The resources from ESA could be set up on google classroom for the students to research also. Activity 2 could easily be incorporated into Mathematics and this would really bring mathematics alive in the classroom as these recordings could not only be recorded in school but at home as part of their homework. Activity 3 would really suit 6th. Class and I would place the class into pairs to record their predictions.

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