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This is a lovely research question and great way to engage children. The children always love visiting the school garden and planting during the year so it would definitely keep their interest!
Research Question: How has climate change impacted the water sources in our local area?
The would be aimed at senior classes. As our school is surrounded by water sources I would pose the question to the children what is the quality in our area like? We are close to the sea, the River Liffey, the Canal and there can be huge problems such as litter in the water. As well as this, changes in weather and rainfall patterns can lead to changes in water quality. Extreme weather conditions like heavy rainfall can disrupt water supply and increase risk of flooding.
The children would make predictions about the water quality. As a class we would travel to various water sources in the area and collect water samples. We would examine these samples by appearance and test the PH of water to see how basic or acidic it is. This would really allow children to get out and see the effects in their own community. It’s important in Ireland to adapt it water management strategies to address these challenges and ensure sustainable water resources for future.
I agree that the EO browser has great opportunities to incorporate literacy skills with the use of images to promotes descriptive language.
The EO browser is an easy to use web application where children can access satellite images. Pupils have the opportunity to explore the tool and focus on specific areas and track changes over time. They can select time range, specific countries, forests, oceans etc and can download images to further discuss and examine. It is a great tool to use with chrome books and would work well with senior classes. It is easy to guide students through the tool, the YouTube video provided in this module is a great explanation of how to use it and easy for children to follow too. I think it it fun and engaging for children and there are so many ways it may be used in a classroom. It promotes discussion on environmental changes over time and this is how I would use it in my classroom. I would have children working in small groups to compare these real evidence images so they can get a better understanding of issues our planet faces.
Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a very interesting and impactful piece of work. It would be a great resource to use to introduce climate change to the class however, I think it could be best shown in parts covering certain topics rather than showing the full film at one time. The imagery certainly shows how beautiful our planet is but there is a focus on the negative impact climate change has had and a lot of information to take in. I have noticed from teaching older classes that a lot of children are very aware of issues and some even anxious when discussing the topic. I think it would be important to allow children to work in groups and do further research and present ways that we could make positive changes to help the situation as the film explores the impact of human activity on the environment. Regarding other videos, I would show the video of Greta Thunberg to allow children to understand that we can all do our part, this is also a younger person fighting for change and could be very positive for children to see.
I agree Eleanor role play is a fantastic way to engage pupils in such an important topic and to get them thinking and the impact.
Activity 3 is an interesting and engaging lesson. I would begin with specific questions to elicit prior knowledge and promote discussion. I think its important to introduce the necessary vocabulary that would be heard throughout this topic and that children could use to answer questions asked by the teacher. This could also be done during a literacy lesson through a reading comprehension or dictionary work. I would ensure to watch the Paxi video as it is a clear explanation. While it may be geared towards younger classes I feel visuals are always a fun way to aid learning, engage pupils and allow them to become excited to discuss an important topic. After discussion, I would then introduce the Teal tool as I like the group work task. I believe it would be necessary to do this on the interactive board first as it can appear complicated. Children could then work in mixed ability pairs where they can explore climate variables and this promotes collaborative learning. I believe the children would enjoy exploring this tool once clearly show how to use it. In order to enhance this activity after using the prediction tool where children can see possible long term effects, I think it would be important to research ways to help combat climate change and present findings to the class. Within this module I found some videos useful and informative and would use to help with this discussion.
A kahoot quiz is a great idea to use at the beginning of this activity elicit prior knowledge or even when finished to showcase learning!
Hi Victoria, I love your idea of inviting someone like a farmer in to show how weather can really impact them. This could work really well with younger classes to when learning themes such as the farm.
Listons article ‘Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics is an interesting read. It highlights the importance of an integrated approach to STEM in order to deepen understanding and how this can help to develop a wide range of skills. In my classroom I always try to create activities where children are actively learning, critical thinking and learning through investigation. I find children are most engaged during project – based learning, both this module and article have provided great ideas for this going forward.
I really enjoyed this module, the videos, resources and worksheets provided are very engaging, age appropriate and integrate literacy and numeracy. I believe a weather station would really enhance these activities, particularly if the children were to make their thermometer, rain gauge etc, this would make it more challenging and hands on. Having several images and vocabulary displayed around the classroom in relation to the topic would be beneficial too.