Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
The introduction of many cleaner vehicles on our roads too in the waste management sector is another welcomed addition in our challenge to create a sustainable Ireland. It’s great to see sustainable expects being asked in to discuss the importance of sustainability but it’s more important to see their suggestions be really put into place. This all helps us to get closer to that carbon neutral goal.
Sustainability is a massive challenge in our world but one that we must attach, embrace and become dominated by. I loved the quote by Saoirse Ronan in the Origin Green video in this module ‘Our world is not one that we inherit from our parents but one that we borrow from our children in the hope that one day we can return it to them in every bit as lush as the way we received it. That is sustainablity’. This quote perfectly explains and emphasises the importance of sustainability. The massive numbers of 8 billion people and it’s projected growth to over 9,5 billion means that we will need a 70% increase in food production that needs to be done through sustainable and carbon aware means.
I live in Wexford there are many areas that we are trying to environmentally aware and sustainable. One way in which people in Wexford are being sustainable is by being aware of our natural environment and its native animals. The Red Squirrel is very prevalent in our area. Many areas of Ireland have seen a dramatic decrease in the Red squirrel population due to the introduction of its bigger cousin the Grey squirrel, a non native species. However, scientists and environmentalists have discovered that another native Irish species the stout is slowly staring to re balance the scale. The reintroduction and the conservation of the Irish stout in our natural landscape has seen the increase of the Red Squirrel population dramatically over the recent past.
Monoculture in farming is another area that has been attacked and reduced to a great degree in Ireland. My father’s generation would have seen the almost extinction of the small farmer due to their large scale monocultural competitors. However, farmers are now encouraged to go back to older methods of crop rotation, using farm yard manure for soil nutrients rather than fertiliser and even newer farming methods and practises such as the growing of more than one crop in a field at any one time that will work together to complement the soil and the nutrients needed for it. Although it may require extra work in the harvesting and separating process it long term means healthier soils (less fertiliser costs) and a massively decreased carbon footprint which equally doesn’t cost the farmer and works towards our countries carbon neutral goals.
I must admit that I found this module particularly interesting as it emphasised the many health benefits of adding fish into our diet. I found it both interesting and very positive to see that Irish people have increased their fish intake to 25kg per person per year but was still shocked to see how far we are still behind some of the countries in mainland Europe such as Portugal with its 55kg per person per year average.
Ireland is surrounded by water and is in the perfect place to benefit from the many nutrients that fish and seafood provide. The omega oils, proteins and non saturated fats contained in our fish and seafood have massive health benefits in the areas of muscle development and repair. Informing children of these many health benefits may help to provide our children with the information needed to make more informed and healthier choices with their foods.
Vitamin D, or what is more commonly known as the sunshine vitamin, is one that Irish people can easily lack due to our sometimes damp and dull climate. Eating fish provides us with this vitamin in a different way and gives us many health benefits such as increased energy levels and healthier skin and nails.
Focusing on the food pyramid and the health benefits of fish through our SPHE curriculum is an easy link with the current school curriculum and the many health benefits of eating out locally sourced fish.
Hi Rachel,
I agree with your assessment about the importance of eating fish as part of a healthy diet and how educating children about it is a very important topic for modern children. Next year, like you, I plan to make a more conscious effort to emphasise to the children in my class the importance of eating fish and it’s many health benefits.
I really enjoyed all of the lessons from the videos on the BIM website. I especially liked the third lesson about the people who are involved in all of the processes that take fish from water to plate.
One of the most impressive lessons that I learned from the last module was the number 208 Million euro that is being made here in Ireland through the aquaculture industry. The third lesson on the BIM website highlights the numbers of people within our community that are working in the aquaculture industry. This is a topic that easily lends itself to the Geography curriculum and the SPHE in the strand and strand units ‘People living and working in the local area and People living and working in a contrasting part of Ireland’ and ‘Developing Citizenship’.
Obviously so much of Aquaculture lends itself to the area of STEM. Science recognises the study of aqua cultural animals and environments, technology and engineering through the modern methods and tools used to work in the industry and finally maths; working on the numbers of people in the industry, the money generated to the government and the local people, the affect that topography and temperature have on the profession and many many others.
I especially enjoyed that lesson too. It is such a simple link as so many children know the salmon of knowledge and linking it with nutrition in fish is such a simple side lesson. Great lesson and well argued.
Aquaculture style farming is mainly located along the western side of Ireland. I believe that this originated out of necessity rather than design. Some of Ireland’s poorest families throughout history were banished to our western shores and like through Irish spun the straws or their fortune into gold. They turned what was one stage a necessity into a growing and essential industry for Ireland and mainland Europe.
As to answer the question of ‘where do we farm’ the obvious answer is on the rugged and unyielding coasts of the West of Ireland but the reality is that the beginnings of the Irish aquaculture landscape started as places of necessity rather than design.I think it’s both interesting and fascinating where the most prevalent aquaculture businesses have been set up. To me it screams a culture that started out once as a necessity over in the West of Ireland where the topography and the geology of the landscape proved as a challenge to the local people and how they adapted to use their environment to the best of their ability. Now, through persistence and expertise they’ve grown their once primitive business into a profitable, far reaching and successful venture.
Ireland is one of the main producers of high quality seafood to mainland Europe where fish and seafood is a much more common dietary choice. It’s so interesting how our ‘Goldilocks climate’ and how so many of natures wonders, such as the Gulf Stream contribute to the Irish Aquaculture landscape and even to the agricultural landscape through Ireland’s temperate or oceanic climate.
This of course all impacts directly on the socio-economic landscape through growing and developing industry in and even more ‘around’ our island. It’s so interesting to hear our out untapped resources in our countries waters will likely be the resources that Irish people will depend on long into the future. So, the question maybe not how this has directly affected our socio and economic culture up to now but more how it will massively affect our socio-economic culture long into the future.Hi everyone,
I must admit that I really enjoyed the introductory module to Aquaculture and its relevance in Ireland and ultimately in our classroom.
I am a teacher in a primary school in Wexford Town that has many historic links with the sea, the fishing industry and of course aquaculture. The reason I chose to do this course this year was to educate myself on the importance and relevance of aquaculture in our society and how is can have massive historical significance to people all over Ireland. So, it is not that I am trying to make aquaculture relevant in my classroom as it already is, but that I learn to help and teach the next generation about it’s relevance so that they can share the pride of their forefathers in the fishing and aquaculture industry.
I never realised the important place that aquaculture is held in our society until listening to this presentation. The pride, expertise and attention to sustainability were all very relevant and important topics for our aquaculture industry. These three topics are so important in modern society and also so relevant in our classroom. Teaching children about the love of their job, to have pride in their work and to be sustainably conscientious are all very important in our world. I also never realised how many job opportunities there exist as a result of the aquaculture industry. So why not teach it in the classroom.
Hi everyone,
I must admit that I really enjoyed the introductory module to Aquaculture and its relevance in Ireland and ultimately in our classroom.
I am a teacher in a primary school in Wexford that has many historic links with the sea, the fishing industry and of course aquaculture. The reason I chose to do this course this year was to educate myself on the importance and relevance of aquaculture in our society and how is can have massive historical significance to people all over Ireland. So, it is not that I am trying to make aquaculture relevant in my classroom as it already is, but that I learn to help and teach the next generation about it’s relevance so that they can share the pride of their forefathers in the fishing and aquaculture industry.
I never realised the important place that aquaculture is held in our society until listening to this presentation. The pride, expertise and attention to sustainability were all very relevant and important topics for our aquaculture industry. These three topics are so important in modern society and also so relevant in our classroom. Teaching children about the love of their job, to have pride in their work and to be sustainably conscientious are all very important in our world. I also never realised how many job opportunities there exist as a result of the aquaculture industry. So why not teach it in the classroom.