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Very interesting topic for the children to research, great idea to interview members of the community such as farmers to get local knowledge and data etc.
Question: How is peatland restoration in Co. Longford helping to reduce carbon emissions and improve local biodiversity?
To encourage pupils to participate, I would connect the project to Longford’s well-known boglands, such as Corlea Bog and Lough Ree’s surrounding wetlands. Many pupils will already be familiar with the sight of turf cutting or restored bogs, so this is a relatable starting point. We could arrange a visit to an active peatland restoration site, where students could speak with local conservationists or Bord na Móna staff about rewetting projects and their impact on climate change. Pupils could collect simple field data, such as water levels, plant species presence, and photographic records, and compare these to older images or reports. In the classroom, we’d explore how peatlands store carbon and why their restoration matters globally. To give pupils ownership, they could design awareness campaigns, create 3D models of healthy vs. degraded bogs, or host a “Peatland Protection” day at school. By tying climate science to Longford’s cultural and natural heritage, students would see that they are researching—and protecting—something uniquely theirs.
1. METEOSAT-11 geostationary satellite. This satellite scans the Earth, including Ireland, every 15 minutes, providing infrared and rainfall radar images.
2. Sentinel-2 L2A satellite also provides imagery of Ireland, according to EOS Data Analytics.
3.Astra 1P (SES-24) It provides direct-to-home TV broadcast services across Europe—covering German, French, Spanish, and other markets
4.Starlink. These are Starlink satellites entering and deploying into their orbits to expand internet coverage globally.
5.NOAA-15, NOAA-18, and NOAA-19 (Weather Satellites) These are Earth-observing weather satellites operated by NOAA.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>I agree that all these activities are very interesting especially Activity 2, where it would be interesting to what the children think, come up with and what they notice.</p>
The film Home is a powerful and shocking documentary that shows us the story of Earth through aerial footage and narration, it shows the link clearly the damage that is being done by humans but also emphasises that it’s not too late to change and reverse the global environmental damage. I do think this video is very long at an hour and half, therefore would be best shown over a period of time or picking some clips etc. I also believe that this is for the senior end of the school, even 5th/6th class as it can be “blunt” at times. Having said that it would definitely open up a great conversation, and get the children thinking critically, reflecting on what can we do to be proactive at school and home and also discuss the good think we are doing to be green. It also would be great to encourage the children to be life long learners as being environmentally aware is a life skill that’s so important.
That’s a very good idea about the listen and draw. It would be lovely and very interesting to see what the children come up with, very creative.
Activity 3 is a good stimulus to get children thinking about the future and how we can act now for a better future.
The Paxi video is engaging with the animation etc, age-appropriate, and simplifies a very complex idea in a way that can be easily understood. It’s a great visual aid that supports learning. I think the children would enjoy watching it and it’s a good introduction to the topic at hand.
The TEAL tool is a good resource to help support children’s understanding of how our climate is changing drastically. It shows how our present actions will influence climate change in the future and I suppose how it is changing already. Using this tool in class will help raise awareness of the impact we each have on the environmen. I think it will help encourage pupils to think about the positive changes that we can all do daily to help and spark a good conversation, using critial thinking aswell.
I think that there is alot of useful information in this resource that can be used in alot of classes.
Activity 1: Is it weather or climate?
This resource is very easy to use. The worksheet is clear and consise which helps students understand the affects of weather and patterns.I would begin this lesson with a quick discussion with the children about the weather we are currently having, what we usually have etc and then build on from that.Activity 2: Weather Detectives
It is a great way to get kids learning through investigation, inquiry based learning which we know is so important. The kids will observe and record the weather daily, and to get them to understand some different tools/instruments to do so instead od us just using out visual skills. It’s a good way to build STEM skills, which is key like collecting and analysing the data etc.The weather station is a great idea, the kids will really enjoy that along with the Climate Committee.
The lesson that grabbed my attention from this module is the Bear Shadows, My Sky Tonight. Children are fascinated by shadows and they can be great fun! I would firstly have a discussion with the children about light and shadows, what have they noticed before, do they know how shadows occur and then I would read the book ‘Moonbear’s Shadow’ by Frank Asch. I really like the idea of using the small bears and torches for the children to experiment, they would learn so much about shadows from this simple activity, how shadows are made and how to make different size shadows. I would also bring them outside (on a sunny day) to experiment with their own shadows, this would work well in pairs. It would also be an idea to bring them out on a dull day and figure out why we can’t see our shadows.
I thought the idea of the globe and the flash light is a great idea to explain daytime and night time, I really think the bear is a super addition and the children would love this. Great way for them to understand the concept and great fun.
I find floating and sinking a great inquiry based activity to use with the junior classes esepcailly with infants. We would discuss together what the words float and sink actually mean and use our previous knowledge to what things might float and sink thinking about bath time, water play, being at the seaside etc. I would then show the chidldren different objects which they would have to predict whether or not they will float or sink, we would discuss different materials and why it might be float or sink. We would test the objects as we go along and check their predications using a worksheet with photos of the objects on it. Finally we would make our own baot about of the materials that floated.