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Living on the coast in Donegal gives me many opportunities to see sustainability in action. First of all, there is an oyster farm right beside my house that allows local people to farm oysters in a way that supports jobs while also providing food. Secondly, local fishermen are aware of the need to protect wild fish stocks and I know from my local connections that they make a conscious effort to reduce pressure on overfishing all the time. I also see many local clean-ups taking place regularly to keep beaches clean, protecting marine life.
Learning about sustainability in my local area has made me appreciate the importance of caring for natural resources and I would encourage my students to explore this further in different ways. We could do projects in the classroom such as looking at the different types of fish that are farmed locally, discussing how this aquaculture supports local businesses and inviting guest speakers in. Pupils could also be encouraged to take part in beach clean ups and to make posters about this. These simple activities would help students understand the importance of sustainability.Great idea to link maths into it and ask the children to do graphs! So many opportunities for linking this topic across the subjects. Great work!
Great idea to link maths into it and ask the children to do graphs! So many opportunities for linking this topic across the subjects. Great work
Seafood is an important part of a healthy diet because it is rich in nutrients. Seafood goes on the protein layer of the food pyramid and contributes to a healthy balanced diet. Many vitamins, minerals and amino acids are found in seafood. I really enjoyed learning about the nutrition of seafood in this module and there are many ways this can be brought into the classroom.
As a 5th and 6th class teacher, I could apply this knowledge in the classroom by linking it to SPHE and Science. Students could learn about healthy eating using the food pyramid that they are already so familiar with, exploring seafood in more depth and why it is a great healthy food choice. There are many opportunities for practical learning activities such as asking pupils to design healthy menus that include seafood options or looking at different types of seafood available around the coast of Ireland. We could tie this into Geography lessons.
Teaching children about the nutrition of seafood is worthwhile and encourages them to make their own healthy food choices and create good habits.Having studied the online lessons and resources for ARC and reflected on my own teaching practices, I see many worthwhile opportunities to apply the concepts and skills covered to my own teaching, in alignment with the STEM Education Policy Statement. The wonderful resources developed for the ARC promote and encourage many skills such as active learning, collaboration and problem solving, all which are heavily linked to the STEM Education Policy Statement. They show the importance of making STEM learning practical and hands-on as well as connected to real-life. As a senior classes teacher in Donegal on the coast, I think there are particular learning opportunities available through theses resources by giving students more opportunities to actually investigate and problem solve. The STEM Education Policy Statement encourages schools to provide meaningful STEM experiences, and this is something I could do in my context.
As a school leader, I think it would also be important to introduce more hands on learning via the resources on a school-wide basis. There are resources there on the website appropriate for younger classes too, and I think it would be worthwhile to look at our current STEM practices in the school and target areas for improvement and development. This could include more project work, more cross curricular teaching and continued professional development for teachers.It also made me think more about the jobs etc associated with the location of aquafarms. Very interesting!
Aquafarms in Ireland are located mostly on the west coast. They are located in areas of clean water and in areas that provide appropriate conditions for marine life. This module made me reflect a lot on aqua farming and the location of aquafarms and I have learned a lot. I think the location of aquafarms is very important and plays a huge role in the lives of the people that live nearby. Coastal communities often have a lot of fishing history and I actually live in an area like this so I can make some personal connections. Aquafarming provides many people with jobs and income, and provides local people with fresh local seafood, things that we often take for granted.
The socio economic impact of aquafarming is huge: jobs for fishermen and in turn local cafes and businesses, more tourism, more investment in important infrastructure etc.
I agree that real world topics are important to teach the children and like you, aquaculture is not something I am very well educated on at all, yet there are so many wonderful teaching and learning opportunities for this topic.
I think there are many opportunities for potential classroom use of the tools covered in this module. SESE stands out for me as well as literacy. The photos and videos shown in this module were really engaging and could definitely be used in the classroom. I love the idea of the remote classroom too. Learning about aquaculture would be really useful to all students but I feel there is a particular relevance for my students as we live on the coast. The shore is very accessible and it would be great for the students to learn more about aquaculture. Students would be able to make meaningful connections and I think they would be very interested in the topic. I teach 5th and 6th class so social license would definitely be interesting for them too. I look forward to the next module.