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Hi Alison, I really like this idea, especially the school uniform swap. It’s something that could have a very practical benefit for families as well as linking into climate and sustainability. I think parents could actually be a great source of information for the investigation too. It would be interesting to ask families what they currently do with uniforms that have been outgrown and what might stop them from donating or swapping them. You might find that there are plenty of uniforms sitting in wardrobes simply because families aren’t sure where to pass them on. I also like that the children could see a real outcome from their research if a uniform swap was set up afterwards. It could become something that continues in the school long after the Climate Detectives project has finished.
My Research Question: How do families in our school travel to school, and could we make some of those journeys more climate friendly? Using the Climate Detectives research question planner, I chose this question because it focuses on one issue that is relevant to climate change but is also something the children can investigate themselves. The journey to school is part of everyday life for every child and family, so I think it would be a good way of making a much bigger issue like climate change feel more local and understandable.I would begin by asking the children to predict how they think most pupils travel to school. We could then carry out a whole-school travel survey over a week. Younger classes could use pictures or stickers to record their journeys, while older pupils could tally the results, enter the data and create graphs. We could then compare our predictions with what we actually found and discuss the connection between different types of transport, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. I think involving parents would be an important part of the investigation too. Rather than simply telling families they should walk or cycle, I would like the children to find out what influences how families travel to school. A short parent survey could look at things like distance, safety, work and family commitments or weather. This could bring up barriers and ideas that we might not have considered ourselves. As we are already involved in Green-Schools, the children could bring their findings to the Green-Schools committee and decide on one realistic action to try. This might be a park-and-stride day, walking groups, car pooling or an idea suggested by the children and families themselves and this would reinforce our green travel flag. We could then repeat the survey afterwards and compare the results to see if our action had actually made a difference. There is plenty of STEM learning within the investigation too, with children making predictions, collecting and analysing data, creating graphs and using their findings to come up with and test a possible solution. For me, this is what would make the Climate Detectives project worthwhile. Children would be investigating a real issue in their own school community and using evidence to see if they could make a small but achievable change.
Hi Kelly, I really like your idea of starting with the local area. I think with younger children, beginning with somewhere they already know would make the satellite images much easier for them to understand. I can just imagine the excitement when someone recognises a road, a park or somewhere they go with their family! Your “I can see” and “I wonder” idea really stood out to me too. I think you could get some brilliant conversations from that, particularly as children often notice things in images that we would completely overlook ourselves. It could even be extended by asking the children to bring the conversation home and find out about a place in the local area that is important to their family. I think that would be a lovely way of connecting the technology with their own lives and community.
If I was giving a quick elevator pitch to a colleague at the junior end of the school, I’d probably say, “The EO Browser sounds much more complicated than it actually is!” It is a free online tool that allows you to look at real satellite images from around the world. There are lots of advanced features, but for younger children I think the real appeal is simply seeing somewhere they know from a completely different viewpoint. I would use it on the whiteboard and start very locally. We could find our school and then let the children suggest places nearby that are important to them. I think the conversation around the images would be as valuable as using the tool itself, where do we play? where do we walk? what places do we recognise? and what is missing from the satellite view? With my move into HSCL, I could also see this becoming a nice home-school activity. Parents and children could choose a place that means something to their family and find it together on EO Browser. It could be where a grandparent lives, a local park, a sports club or somewhere connected to a family story. We could bring these together to create a map of places that matter to our school community. I would definitely keep the technology teacher-led with younger children and focus on one simple task at a time. As they get older, there would be much more scope to explore different dates and investigate how places have changed.
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Hi Ciara, I really like your idea of making the learning relevant to the children by looking at the coastline, bogs and wildlife in their own area. I think the local community could be a great resource here too. Parents or grandparents might have noticed changes in the local environment over the years that the children wouldn’t be aware of. It would be interesting for the children to ask them about changes they have seen in weather, wildlife, farming or the coastline and bring those stories back into school. I think this would make the topic feel much more real for the children and would also be a lovely way of involving families and using local knowledge as part of their learning.</span>
I found HOME very interesting but also quite a lot to take in. What stood out to me most was the idea that everything is connected and that decisions made in one part of the world can have an impact somewhere else. Greta Thunberg’s speech made me think about this in a slightly different way too. I found her point that responsibility for climate change isn’t shared equally particularly interesting. It reminded me that while we want children to understand that their choices matter, we also don’t want them thinking that solving climate change is their responsibility alone. Having taught Junior Infants for the last five years, I would approach these facts in a much simpler way. Rather than starting with carbon emissions and statistics, I would probably start with the idea of our shared home. We could look at where our food comes from, how we travel to school, what happens to something after we throw it away, or even where the water from our taps comes from. These are things young children can actually relate to and they could lead naturally into conversations about how our everyday lives are connected to the wider world. Moving into HSCL in September has also made me think about how this learning could move between school and home. I would love to involve parents and grandparents in sharing how things have changed since they were children and how they travelled to school, what they bought, what was reused rather than thrown away and even changes they have noticed in their local environment. Children could bring these stories back into school and compare them with life today. For me, this would make climate change less of an abstract topic and more of a conversation between children, their families and the school. It could also be a nice way of recognising that families already have lots of knowledge and environmentally friendly habits that we can learn from.
Having taught Junior Infants for the last five years, I was looking at Activity 3 slightly differently and thinking about how I could adapt it for younger children. I liked the Paxi video as a starting point, but I would definitely break it up and pause regularly for discussion as some of the language and ideas around greenhouse gases would be quite difficult for this age group. The prediction tool would also need a lot of teacher support with younger children. Rather than expecting them to interpret the data themselves, I would use it on the interactive whiteboard and focus on the visual changes. I would ask the children what they notice and what they think might happen next. I like the Climate Reporters idea and would simplify this by letting the children draw a picture of what they think Ireland might look like in the future and explain their ideas to the class. As I am moving into a new role as HSCL in September, I can also see potential for extending this beyond the classroom and involving parents. A simple family climate or weather project could be a nice way of bringing parents into the school. Parents and children could work together at different stations, looking at weather, sorting everyday actions, planting something in the school grounds or creating a simple ‘future Ireland’ picture together. Families could also contribute ideas about small changes they already make at home. One thing I would add to the activity is more material specifically aimed at younger children and families, as the graphs and climate projections could be difficult to understand. I think making it practical and giving parents and children something to explore together could make the topic much more accessible.
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Hi Triona, I like your idea of discussing how the different climate scenarios might actually affect the children’s own lives. I think this could lead to a really interesting conversation, as 2050 can seem very far away to children until they realise that they themselves will be adults then. I would probably ask them to imagine what age they will be in 2050 and what changes they think they might notice in Ireland if temperatures continue to rise. It could make the information from the TEAL tool feel a bit more real and relevant to them rather than just looking at figures on a screen. I think it would also lead naturally into your discussion about what we can do to reduce the impact of climate change.</span>
After reading Liston (2018), one thing that stood out to me was the idea that we can sometimes label an activity as STEM when really it might just be a science or technology activity. It made me think about my own classroom and whether I am actually linking the different areas of STEM or just assuming I am because an activity is practical or involves problem solving. I liked Activity 1 as it is simple and doesn’t need a lot of resources. I think the weather or climate statements would lead to good discussion, especially as children would have to explain why they chose their answer rather than just guess. I would probably change some of the examples depending on the age group and use places or weather events that the children are familiar with.I enjoyed Activity 2 more as I think children generally respond well when they are actually outside measuring and investigating something themselves. I would give small groups responsibility for taking the temperature at the same place and time and then compare the results. I think it could lead to interesting questions too, for example, why the thermometer shouldn’t be left in direct sunlight or why two groups might get slightly different readings. One thing I would add is more opportunity for the children to decide how to carry out the investigation themselves before giving them all the instructions. They could discuss where the best place to take measurements would be, what might affect their results and how they could make the investigation fair. For me, this would bring more of the problem solving side of STEM into the activity and give the children more ownership of it.
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Hi John, I really like your idea of extending the Weather Detectives activity over a few weeks. I was thinking it could work really well as a whole-school activity too, with different classes taking turns recording the temperature, rainfall, wind and cloud cover.It would be a nice way of bringing the different areas of STEM together without making them feel like separate subjects. The children would be observing and measuring, recording their results, making graphs and calculating averages. They could even have a say in where the weather equipment should be placed and why. I also like the idea of sharing the results with the rest of the school, maybe through a weather board in the corridor or at a monthly assembly. I think giving the children responsibility for collecting and presenting the information would make it more meaningful for them and will also help them understand the difference between weather and climate.</span>
Hey Joan, I really connected with your post, especially your mention of how climate change is impacting pollinators like bees. My dad is a beekeeper, so I’ve seen firsthand how unpredictable weather patterns can affect hive activity and local biodiversity. I think your idea of using nature walks and local interviews to make climate issues real for children is brilliant. Using iPads to compare images over time is a great way to show visible change too. I might try that with my own class come September. Your three goals are so practical and achievable, and I especially love the focus on planting for pollinators such a great way to link local action with global impact.
Teaching in Kilmore West near the Northside Shopping Centre, I’ve noticed more frequent downpours and surface flooding in our local area, particularly around the housing estates where many of our pupils live. These downpours have also limited the time children can spend outside during the winter months, with our school yard regularly flooding, something that’s become noticeably more frequent in recent years. These changes clearly reflect the wider impacts of climate change, which we explored in Module 5, such as extreme rainfall events and their effect on both people and the environment. To engage my class in learning about this local impact, I’d plan a lesson based around a visit to Stardust Memorial Park, just minutes from the school. While there, pupils could observe wildlife, document weather conditions, and reflect on how rising temperatures and flooding might affect their community. Linking the experience to SESE and SPHE, we could focus on wellbeing, nature appreciation, and personal responsibility. Pupils could become ‘green ambassadors’, take part in local litter clean-ups, and write letters to local councillors about protecting green spaces. We could also incorporate the newly opened playground beside the school into our learning, encouraging students to take ownership and responsibility for its upkeep as part of caring for their environment. This hands-on, local approach would make the concept of climate change more relevant and real to them. In doing so, I hope to help them see that while climate change is a global issue, they have a role to play here in their own community, starting with the spaces they know and use every day.
Thanks for sharing Aoife, it sounds like the Tralee International Resource Centre is doing really valuable work. I agree that keeping a connection between the school and organisations like this is so important, not only for accessing support, but for helping us understand what the children and families might have gone through before arriving. You’re right too about smaller towns having fewer visible resources online. I’m based in Dublin where we have a lot of support near us, so it’s great to see how important the role of local Family Resource Centres are in towns like Tralee and maybe it’s something to highlight to them that those supports are not just needed in the bigger towns but across the locaility. Your post highlights how vital it is to build those community links and keep the lines of communication open for the benefit of the children.
My school is based in Dublin 5, and over the years we’ve welcomed a great number of children from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Many of these families have only been with us for a short time before moving on to other parts of the country. One local organisation doing important work in this area is Crosscare who offer support for refugees and migrants across North Dublin. Crosscare helps with things like residence permits, housing, health and social welfare. They also run a women’s group and hold monthly citizenship clinics. These kinds of supports can make a real difference for families trying to settle and feel safe in a new place. As a school we could look at connecting with Crosscare more directly. This might be through organising workshops for staff, linking families with relevant services, or even running small projects with the children to raise awareness and promote empathy. It’s a way to ensure we are as inclusive as possible and that new families feel welcome and supported during what can be a very difficult time.
Hi Ciara, I think you’ve captured the local and global impact of climate change so clearly. I love how you’ve connected it with hands-on learning through the Green Schools programme and community projects. The idea of students writing to TDs or working with local groups like Tidy Towns is such a great way to show children that their voices matter.
