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Lovely question, and being near Killarney makes it even better because they have something to compare against. The Kerry dark sky reserve is not far off either.
I like the photos as a way in. Show them what the sky should look like and they will be raging that they cannot see it.
Globe at Night is a good shout because the data goes somewhere real. Giving each group a job is the same thing I was thinking, it keeps everyone busy and nobody sitting back.
The wildlife side is the bit I would not have thought of. Bats and moths would be a nice angle for them.How can we reduce the amount of waste generated by the daily hot school meals scheme?
I picked this because it is right under their noses. Every day the bags come in and every day a load of it goes in the bin, food and packaging both. They see it happening.
To get them into it I would start with the bins themselves. Do a waste audit at lunchtime for a week. Weigh what is left over, count the containers, and sort it into food waste and packaging. Nothing gets them going like being let loose with a weighing scales and a clipboard. Then they have their own data, which is the whole point of Climate Detectives. They can graph it, work out the average per day, and see if certain days are worse than others. My guess is the Monday and the days with the meals nobody likes.
After that they can start asking why. Are the portions too big? Are children ordering things they do not eat? Is there too much packaging for what is inside it? I would give them jobs so everybody has a part. Weighers, counters, recorders, someone doing the graphs, someone taking photos.
The best bit is the action at the end. They could survey the whole school on the meals, write to the supplier or the principal with what they found, and put up a display in the hall. Real letters with real numbers in them. That is where they see that what they did actually mattered.
<p dir=”ltr”>The Creative Clusters bit is brilliant. Porridge scoops for an anemometer and a child bringing in a 3D printed base, that would stick with them for years. Letting the groups pick their own materials is much better than everyone making the same thing off the sheet, and it is closer to what Liston was on about with the design side of it.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>The Gaeilge idea is a good one too, I hadn’t thought of that. Easy enough to slot in with the weather words.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>I liked that the resource leaves it open for them to work out how to measure the wind speed themselves.</p>3. I really liked this one. It is the kind of thing you could do with bits from the press.
Activity 1 is the proverbs. I would not have thought of starting there but it works. Red sky at night, and the seagulls coming in to land meaning bad weather. The children would have heard these off their grannies and there is a proper reason behind them. That is a lovely way in.
Activity 2 is just going outside and describing the weather with your senses. Sounds simple but it makes them look properly instead of guessing.
Activity 3 is the building. Five plastic cups, straws and sticks for the anemometer, and a cut up bottle with a scale drawn on for the rain gauge. I had a go at the rain gauge myself and it took no time. The anemometer was fiddlier and I would definitely have the holes pierced before the lesson.The best bit is that it does not tell them how to work out the wind speed. They have to figure that out themselves, counting the spins in a set time. That is real thinking.
Yes I would use it. I would do the diary for a full week and get the groups comparing why their readings came out different.
Agreed, the imagery is the strong part. Picking just one or two issues for 5th and 6th is a good call, I was thinking the same. Trying to cover the whole film could overwhelm them
Deforestation and climate change are a nice pair because you can show how one feeds the other. The group work to record the impacts sounds good too, they would get more out of talking it through than listening to me.Each group could then feed back to the class and you would end up with a fair bit on the board between them.I thought HOME was gorgeous. The pictures from the air are unreal and I would happily sit and watch it myself.The bits I would use with the children are the facts that surprise you. That most of the oxygen we breathe comes from tiny algae in the sea, not from trees like they would all guess. That Shenzhen in China was a small fishing village only 40 years ago and now it has hundreds of skyscrapers. And the one about a litre of oil doing the same work as 100 pairs of hands in a day. That one really stopped me.I would not show the whole film. It is very long and it gets heavy going, and some of it would go over their heads or upset them. So short clips only, two or three minutes, and a chat after each one. I would start with the lovely part, the water and the volcanoes and the trees, and get them to just say what they can see. Then the fishing village one, because that is a change they can actually picture.
The other clips in the module are handier for the classroom because they are short and get to the point.
I would always finish on what we can do here ourselves. Otherwise they are just left feeling bad about it.
<p dir=”ltr”>I love the climate reporters idea, especially getting them to present it at the end. That would make them feel like they are really doing a job. Doing the tool in pairs is a good shout too, I found it a bit fiddly on my own so two heads would be better.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>Agreed about the experiments as well. I was thinking two jars with thermometers, one covered and one open, left in the sun. Small thing but they see it for themselves The quiz at the end is a lovely way to finish it off!</p>I really enjoyed this one. The Paxi video is great, very short and the children would love it. It explains the greenhouse gases in a way that is easy to follow. I would still like to do something hands on with it too. Two jars with thermometers, one covered over and one left open, sitting on the window in the sun. Then they can see it happening themselves instead of just watching a screen.
The tool was harder than I expected. There are a lot of buttons and it seems more like something for secondary school. I was clicking around for ages before I got a number. Filling in the whole table for twelve months would take the full lesson and the children would just be copying numbers down. So what I would do is get the numbers myself the night before and print them out. Maybe do three months instead of twelve, or give each group a different month and then share.
The best bit is writing the report for 2050. Saying it out loud, that it will be warmer by so many degrees, really brings it home. I would finish by asking them what we could do about it ourselves.<p dir=”ltr”>The symbols and visual codes idea is the bit I’d take from this. Recording data with pictures gets around the writing barrier with infants, and I hadn’t thought of it. Agreed that climate is a stretch at that age, so daily weather and seasons is plenty.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>The whole-school version is a good shout too. Older classes measuring and graphing, Infants recording with pictures, all feeding the one chart.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>Where would you put the thermometer with Junior Infants? Somewhere they can read it themselves, or would you take the reading?</p>I found the article rang true for me. Her point about engineering being the glue, and the E being the letter nobody uses, made me question if my lessons have really had STEM at the heart of them. Good inquiry, some tech, but the design bit is often the bit that gets a bit diluted.
I’m on a supply panel, so I need things I can pick up cold. Activity 1 does that. The birthday hook is the strongest part. asking what the weather was on their last birthday, then the year before, gets them to the short-term/long-term idea without me telling them. The statement sort works, though the day-to-day observations one is far more abstract than the rest, and I’d expect a few children to read the Canary Islands line maybe as someon’es holiday.
Activity 2 was the better of the two. The discussion before any measuring about the saame spot, same time, shaded, ventilated, five minutes to settle is real science. The maths is real too: plot, average, draw the line, spot the outliers. Best question in the resource is the last one, comparing your own average to a figure found online and explaining the gap.What I’d add: an engineering brief before the measuring, building a shelter for the thermometer with set materials and a size limit. The could have two designs tested against each other. Met Éireann data instead of a general search. And I’d make cure to tell them that a week of readings can’t show climate. This might help them learn weather vs climate.
I think it is great that your school has such a strong link with pearse and the history of 1916. Visiting the Pearse Museum and then letting each child create their own piece of work sounds like a brilliant way to make the past real and personal. The week of music and poetry must have been a special way to involve the whole school community. I also like the way you have carried the outdoor tradition forward with forest school. That mix of history, creativity and hands on learning gives the children both a sense heritage and useful skills.
I would plan a classroom project celebrating local scientific heritage, using Birr Castle’s history and local figures as inspiration. I would start by choosing someone like Mary Parsons, Countess of Rosse, or Mary Ward, both women connected to astronomy and microscopy, and share their stories with the class. This could lead into science based investigations such as using simple microscopes to examine leaves or sketching the night sky. We could also bring in art and drama where children might write short poems, draw, or act out scenes imagining themselves as early scientists. A citizen science element could be added by mapping local features using aerial photos or satellite images and doing seasonal biodiversity surveys. The project could run over a term, linking into history, art, science and language. Overall it would give students a real sense of connection to their community, both past and present, while keeping learning hands on.
I like how you are linking the story with the bridge activity. Starting with a tale like The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a clever way to make the idea of a bridge real for younger children. Visiting local bridges will give them something concrete to picture when they build their own. I also like how you have thought about scale, as that can be tricky but important. Getting the children to present their bridges to the class adds language development too. Adding the song makes the lesson fun and ties in another subject. It sounds like a well-rounded plan.
For this module I would use the Boyne cable bridge in Drogheda as the starting point. Most of the children will have seen it, and that makes it a good hook. I would show them some pictures and ask what they notice about the shape and the way it is held up. From there I would set a design challenge in class. The task would be to build a bridge that can cross a set gap and hold a small object. They could use straws, string or lollipop sticks and work in teams to plan, build and test. We could measure the spans and compare which design worked best and why. This would bring in maths, science and problem solving, while also encouraging teamwork. I think using a real bridge from the local area would make the activity more engaging and show that engineering is part of everyday life.
That sounds like a brilliant start both at home and in school. Turning a concrete garden into a pollinator space will be a big change and a good example for the students too. It is great that your school already has a pond, trees and bug hotels, as many schools are starting from scratch. Planting wildflowers and hedgerows will add even more variety and should bring in plenty of insects and birds. I like your idea of a biodiversity week because it makes the learning visible and gives students and teachers a clear focus that can carry through the year.
