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How exciting to be able to explore Ireland’s possible first astronauts. She is an inspiration to many. Her book “Shooting for the Stars” is supposed to be brilliant and I’m sure the children would enjoy it.
Describe how you would involve your pupils in an art, music drama or creative writing project based around your local natural or scientific heritage
My school is located very close to Montpelier Hill, which is topped by the Hell Fire Club. Pupils often visit this location at weekends with their families, so they are extremely familiar with it. There is plenty of scope for a creative writing project based on the Hell Fire Club and its history, particularly around Halloween time. I would use a photo of the Hell Fire Club as a prompt for writing. I would extend the activity to include Drama, Music and Art. Children could create an improvised scene in Drama based around this location. There are magnificent views of Dublin City from Montpelier Hill, so I would use this as inspiration for Art. I would use Google Earth to show the view of Dublin City from this location, and children would create an art piece based on this. As part of Music, I would get to create a sound story based on the sounds of Montpelier Hill and the Hell Fire Club.
I agree that this project is a great way to show creativity and critical skills, which are important skills to develop. Communication and collaboration would also be involved, as part of working in a group.
Using the suspension bridge in Birr Castle Demesne or a bridge in your local area as inspiration, describe how you would plan a class or whole school challenge to design and make a bridge. How would you integrate mathematical thinking and incorporate the maths skills appropriate to your class level.
I would show the children a variety of famous bridges from around the world. We would discuss the function of a bridge and the parts of a bridge. I would then show them the video “A farmer builds his own bridge”, we would discuss why he needed to build the bridge. We would look at pictures of the suspension bridge at Birr Castle Demesne. We would discuss why the bridge was built and what was used to build it. I would provide the children with the bridge-building kits from our school. They work in groups to build different types of bridges such as suspension bridge, truss bridge, arch bridge and cantilever bridge. Following this activity, I would give the children a scenario where they must design a build their own bridge for a specific purpose. Children work in small groups to design their bridge on paper using Mathematics to measure the size, figure out which shapes will be used in their bridge, what weight their bridge can hold etc. Children gather the resources they need for their bridge and then they build their bridges. Bridges are tested to see if they are fit for purpose. Children present their bridges to the rest of the class.
A bee garden and a butterfly garden sound like a wonderful idea. The endangerment of bees is very worrying, so anything that can do to save them is welcome. The children would be fascinated with the butterfly garden after following its life cycle.
Outline how you would use some of the course resources to conduct a seasonal biodiversity project to run throughout the school year. What resources and recording sheets would you need? How often would you bring learning outdoors? How would you integrate other subject areas?
I would conduct a project about the changes in plant and animal life over the seasons. At the start of the school year, I would introduce biodiversity and the importance of the seasons for nature. We would also discuss Phenology the the effects of Climate Change on this. During each season, we would do a field trip around the area taking note of changes in leaves, plants and animal behaviours such as hibernation and migration in our SESE journals. We would use the tree identification challenge and the swatches from the National Diversity Data Centre to make note of the different trees in the area. Weather conditions during each season would also be recorded. In winter, I would get the children to design and make bird feeders because food can be scarce for birds at that time of year. We would observe which birds visit and we would do a bird survey. In spring, we would observe the budding of plants and the return of migratory birds as well as the return of animals who have been hibernating. In summer, we would investigate mini beasts and their habitats, making use of the Mini Beast Safari Challenge and the Mini Beast Hunt Challenge. We would also create a biodiversity mural depicting the various seasons.
A 3-D map would be a lovely activity and one which the children would really enjoy. Children are so creative and would come up with wonderful ideas for their map. I hope to try something similar in the year ahead.
Consider the hands-on mapping activity on creating map layers outdoors and describe a lesson plan for using this with your class and integrating it with the use of online tools and resources. What variables might you map and what questions might you ask?
Introduction:
Use Google Earth to look at maps. Change from street view to map view. Ask the children to pick out features of a map that they notice. Show other online maps such as Geohive. Explore the different layers that are available.
Development:
Discuss the local area and what features are important and should be included in the map. Search a map of the area online and choose a base map to use for the activity. Brainstorm what layers could be added to the map and assign groups a specific may layer to create such as rock type, water sources, vegetation, animals, human developments and birds.
Groups create drawing and symbols to represent their layer on a piece of paper. When they are happy with their layer, then can transfer this layer onto a poly pocket using markers.
Each group presents their final piece to the class by placing their poly pocket over the base map. To finish all groups overlay their layers on the base map in the correct order and discuss.
Conclusion:
Using GeoHive, show the map of the area with the layer included and compare this with the own map.
Reflect on the activity by using self assessment and peer assessment on what went well and what could need more work.
The Curious Mind/ESERO Frame of Inquiry is a fantastic resource and it is something that I will definitely make use of in the coming year. I feel that it encourage children to be creative and critical in their thinking and to develop their Scientific skills.
Try out some of the referenced classroom investigations for yourself or look at other resources and describe how you would conduct a lesson on mirrors, lenses and telescopes or looking out at the night sky for your class.
I would conduct a lesson on mirrors, lenses and telescopes. I would begin by showing a simple telescope. I would elicit any prior knowledge that the students have by asking them what they think the telescope is used for and how a telescope works. I would explain that in the lesson, we will learn how mirrors and lenses work and how they are used in telescopes. Pupils would explore mirrors and how they reflect light to form images. Next students would explore convex and concave lenses. They would investigate each of the lenses by using the activities in the SFI and ESERO resource, by holding the lenses in front of some print and then further away. The children would discuss how the lenses are different from each other. I would give the students an explanation of reflection and refraction. Students would watch the BBC Earth video “How do Telescopes work?” The students would discuss how telescopes use lenses or mirrors to magnify distant objects. They would then build a simple telescope using lenses and tubes. These telescopes would be used to look at distant objects in the classroom or outside.
It is a great idea to get the Green Schools’ Committee involved in this project and make it a school wide project. Harvesting rainwater is something that the children would enjoy. This could tie in with a rain gauge and any rainwater collected could be used elsewhere in the school.
The Climate Detectives Project is fantastic and it is something which would really engage the children. It would allow them to work both independently and collaboratively in a very purposeful and productive manner, as mentioned in the LAOS document.
Research Question: How does climate change affect the plants and animals in our local area?
I would brainstorm with the children what kinds of plants would grow in our local area as well as which animals we would expect to find in the area. We would go on our walk around our locality and we would take note of the different plants and animals spotted along the way. Next we would talk about how climate change may have affected the plants and animals over time e.g. daffodils appearing at Christmas rather than spring, the increase in wind and rainfall and how this can harm plants, the loss of habitats of animals due to deforestation, changes in timing of events such as migration. I would introduce EO Browser to the children, so that they could examine plants in the area and any changes that may have taken place over the years. Children could interview a grandparent or parent about changes they have noticed in plants and animals over the years. The children could come up with a plan to try to combat climate change possibly by reducing their carbon footprint. The children could present their findings to the school and raise awareness of taking action to save the plants and animals in our area.
I agree that EO Browser is a wonderful tool, which has lots of possibilities. It’s fantastic that it can give such a close view of locations on Earth. It would be a great idea to incorporate the EO Browser with the PLC by using it as a visual aid.
I found the section on satellites to be very interesting. I didn’t have much information on satellites, apart from the International Space Station, previous to this course. I think children would love the idea of being able to track satellites.
I chose to download the app Satellite Tracker. This is a handy app, which shows the satellites that are close to your location. The satellites that have passed by recently are:
(1) SAOCOM 1-B: This satellite is twinned with another satellite SAOCOM 1-A. This satellite was launched on 30 August 2020.
(2)SL-16 R/B: This satellite was launched on September 16, 1993
(3) CZ-4B R/B: This satellite was launched from Taiyaun Space Centre, China on April 8, 2021
(4) Seasat: One of the objectives of this satellite is to provide data to scientists studying marine phenomena
(5) The International Space Station: This is an international Space Lab where astronauts and cosmonauts live and study.
