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The resource I decided to download was the ESA “Nose High up in the Sky” app. I felt it really well designed to help students understand the importance of air quality and how it can be measured using various tools and techniques.
I felt from exploring the app it is mainly pitched at older classes; however I do think that the lessons can be modified to suit younger classes. I have Junior Infants in September and I still feel there are many aspects of he app I could use for my class.
I think I would focus mainly on weather proverbs. I would get my students to discuss this with their families and home and encourage them to ask older generations of their families. We could then discuss this as a class. We could also track our results using scientific resources to see were our proverbs accurate.
I think this resource is of great educational value and provides a solid foundation in understanding weather and climate change.I found the video Home very interesting and insightful into the affect we are having on our planet as a result of climate change. I agree with others and feel it would not be suitable for young children and that we also as teachers have to be mindful of striking a balance between raising awareness of climate change and not fostering fear in the children.
Most of the children would already be aware of Great Thunberg and I feel that they can relate to a person of their own age much better that an older person. I also feel that she can inspire young children as she wasn’t much older than them she she started highlighting the issues of climate change.
As you said yourself watching the Climate Action video 2020 was tough going as it highlight the impact we are having on our planet. The image of the dolphin eating the plastic bag sticks in my mind and I feel would really highlight to the children the impact that they have on the planet and how small changes by lots of people can have a big impact. It would also encourage then to reduce their use of single use plastics.
I think using KWL chart is a great way to start teaching children the topic of Greenhouse gages. We can have a whole class discussion about ant prior knowledge and this opens up conversation and discussion around the topic. We could also start the lesson by engaging the children with the Paxi video. This engages children’s interests and get them talking.
Other resources can be used such as as showing children different instruments that meteorologists and scientist use. For example the Teal instrument- this is interesting and shows the children how temperature changes over time.
There is lots of opportunity for cross curricular integration.. This topic could be covered across Geography, Sciene, Maths. Also it would be a great idea to shoe children the Paxi video if the school is participating in the Green flag as it will show children how they can impact on climate change.esson 1: Weather or Climate?
I really like this resource and will definitely use it for teaching the topic of weather. I think its suitable for all age ranges aqnd can be adapted accordingly to suit whatever class I’m teaching. enabling the children to explore and DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEATHER AND CLIMATE IS VERY IMPORTANT WHEN TRYING TO TEACH THEM ABOUT OUR PLANET AND CONSERING THE EARTH. Many children, and indeed adults, may not fully grasp the idea of Climate meaning a period of 30 years or more, anf the importance of looking at what we can do longterm to help climate over the next 3o years or so. I like both sorting activities, firstly sorting the phrases into weather or Climate, and also placing the countries in their different climate zones. There is so much scope for oral language here and lots of opportunity for thought and discussion.
Activity 2: Weather Detectives
Children love hands on experiments and discovering things for themselves. I really like the idea of the weather diary to record the temperature over a week or fortnight. It’s exciting for the kids to be so involved and to find the temperature pattern. Their skills for reading a thermometer correctly and fairly are also being honed, and they will be thoughtful about where a thermometer should be placed in order to give accurate results and how to carry out a fair reading at the same time each day. I also like the cross-over with Maths for recording their findings on a graph and seeing the trend/pattern in such an effective visual representation.