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This is a fantastic idea and a wonderful way of bringing William Dargan’s remarkable achievements into a local, meaningful context. I love how it could combine so many areas of learning while giving the students a real engineering challenge to get their teeth into. The connection with Borris and the local viaduct makes it all the more engaging and relevant. It sounds like a really exciting project with huge potential.
Mark Langtry is a Kildare physicist, science communicator and educator. While he might not be worldwide famous, he is famous in our area that young people look up to. He is Head of Science and Sport at Explorium, Ireland’s National Science Centre, and has also presented science programmes for children. Let’s Find Out has been a big hit in my classroom the last few years making him a great person to use as inspiration for classroom science. He makes science practical, enjoyable and connected to everyday life. One area I would explore with children is the science behind sport. For example, we could investigate how the angle at which a football is kicked affects how far it travels. Children could make predictions, carry out repeated tests, measure the distance and record their results. They could then discuss whether their evidence supported their predictions. Another investigation could look at how different surfaces affect the movement of a ball. Children could roll the same ball across carpet, grass, wood and a smooth floor and measure how far it travels. This would introduce ideas such as friction, forces and fair testing. Mark’s work shows that science does not have to be complicated or limited to textbooks. His approach encourages children to be curious, ask questions and learn through hands-on experiences.
I love the idea of using a familiar story like The Three Billy Goats Gruff to spark the children’s interest and imagination. It makes the engineering challenge meaningful and engaging for younger learners. I also like how the activity gives the children plenty of opportunities to work together, experiment, solve problems and learn through trial and error.
Engineering Project: The Wonderful Barn, Leixlip
I would use The Wonderful Barn in Leixlip as inspiration for a First Class Design and Make project. The Wonderful Barn was built in 1743 and was originally used as a grain store. The building project was undertaken by the Conolly family to provide employment in the area after the Famine. Its unusual cone shape, five storeys and spiral staircase make it an interesting local example of engineering and design.
First Class children could explore photographs of the Barn and discuss its shape, materials, height and how they think it stays standing. They could then work in small groups to design and build their own “Wonderful Barn” model using materials of their choice.
The children could experiment with different shapes and structures, testing which designs are strongest and which can stand the tallest. They could draw their design first, build it, test it and then make improvements. To incorporate technology children could use scratch to design their Wonderful Barn or use sketch lab to animate their Wonderful Barn. Children would also be asked to find a modern purpose for their Wonderful Barns. This would incorporate science (materials and forces), maths (shape, height and measurement), engineering, technology, history (Conolly family and their provision of work for local people) art and English, while also helping children appreciate an important piece of local heritage.I really like the idea of using the school grounds as an outdoor classroom. The Garden Butterfly Monitoring resource would be a great addition, as it would allow the children to observe butterflies throughout the seasons and notice changes in the wildlife around them. The BirdWatch Ireland Garden Bird Survey would also fit well with the project, giving the children opportunities to observe and record the different birds they see.
I would run a “Biodiversity Through the Seasons” project with my First Class class. We would go outdoors once a week to observe what is changing in our school grounds. In autumn, we could collect and identify leaves and look for birds and minibeasts. In winter, we could observe trees and birds. In spring and summer, we could look for wildflowers, butterflies and bees. </span>We would use the Wild Connections activities from the course, including wildflower walks, mini-beast hunts and seasonal recording. We could also use Wildflowers of Ireland to help identify plants. As the year progresses, we could use the National Biodiversity Data Centre to record some of our findings as part of citizen science. In spring and summer, we could use the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan resources for schools and complete a simple FIT Count, counting insects visiting flowers for 10 minutes. We would keep a simple class nature diary, drawing pictures and recording dates and observations. We could link the project with Maths by counting and graphing our findings, art through nature drawings, and English through writing and speaking about our discoveries.
I love this idea! It’s a fabulous, practical activity for Green Schools. The children are actively exploring their own environment while developing observation, collaboration, digital mapping and critical-thinking skills. I particularly like how the completed map becomes a useful tool throughout the year, helping the Green Team identify priorities and plan meaningful biodiversity projects. It makes the mapping activity purposeful and gives the children a real sense of ownership of their school environment.
For a First Class lesson, I would introduce map making in a simple, practical and engaging way. I would begin by showing the children different types of maps and asking questions such as, “What is a map?” and “What can we see on a map?” This would encourage curiosity and help children understand that maps can show different information.
We would then take a short walk around the school grounds, identifying familiar natural and human-made features such as trees, grass, paths, gates, the playground and school building. This could be linked to the Curious Minds approach by encouraging children to ask questions, investigate their surroundings and make observations. Back in the classroom, the children would create a simple map of the school, drawing and labelling key features and using symbols that they saw on our walk. We could then explore GeoHive as a way of exploring real maps and information about Ireland. Together, we could locate our school, explore aerial imagery, zoom in and out, and compare the school environment with the children’s own maps. Children could investigate simple questions such as, “What is near our school?” or “How does our area look from above?” The lesson would finish with children explaining their maps and sharing what they observed and discovered.I completely agree that STEM works best as a combined effort rather than teaching each subject separately. I think a theme-based approach is a great way to achieve this, as it allows children to make connections between subjects while exploring real-world topics. It also makes learning more meaningful and engaging.
- Describe how you could apply some of the concepts and skills you have learned in this module to your own teaching practice in line with the STEM Education policy statement
This module has given me a clearer understanding of how STEM can be integrated into everyday teaching rather than being taught as separate subjects. I would like to use a more hands-on, inquiry-based approach where children have opportunities to ask questions, investigate ideas, solve problems and reflect on what they have learned. This fits well with the STEM Education Policy Statement, which encourages real-world learning, creativity, problem-solving and connections between different areas of the curriculum.
For example, I could use the topic of telescopes to explore light, reflection, refraction and lenses. Children could investigate how mirrors and lenses work before designing and making their own simple telescope. They could predict what might happen, test different ideas, record their results and evaluate their designs. The curious minds website is amazing and I will be exploring this further when planning learning experiences.
I would also make links with Maths through measuring and recording results, and with English through discussion, new vocabulary and written reflections. This approach would help children develop important skills such as curiosity, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and resilience while making STEM learning meaningful and enjoyable.
Online Tools:
I’m a bit embarrassed to say that most of the online tools shared in this course I have never seen before. They are going to add so much to my teaching and ultimately the learning of the children.
I spent a long time exploring this. It is an amazing online tool. I personally learnt a great deal from it so I know the children will be mesmerised by it. It definitely requires teacher led work, but there is great scope of investigation and exploring and ultimately learning by doing.
https://spark.iop.org/collections/marvin-and-milo
Milo and Marvin I adore this idea. I think the do this at home concept sparks the children’s imagination straight away. I know many of the children I taught last year would have been obsessed with these tasks. They are child friendly with so much scientific skills learning embedded.https://www.esa.int/kids/en/home
https://www.esa.int/Education/Teachers_Corner/Primary_classroom_resourcesThere are an abundance of space related art and crafts lesson ideas on the esa kids page. I will be encouraging my children to partake in the ‘A Ride to Space’ art competition. There is so much content on these websites.
Curious Minds: I cannot wait to spend time exploring this website in detail and planning learning for the next academic year.
UNAWE:
The pdf and education material available to download on this website is enormous. There is so much good content and I will be sharing the universe in a box download with my colleagues.
Space Olympics is such a cool idea and would capture the children’s attention especially as this is an olympics year and most of the children will have watched over the summer. Definitely going to incorporate this into my planning.
I am choosing the rocket mouse activity. As a teacher this activity does not require a lot of resourcing. It can be linked to recycling and caring for the environment.
To start the lesson we will read “The way back home” by Oliver Jeffers. I would pose the question how could we travel from space to home. We will thought shower our ideas on the interactive board.
We will then progress onto discussing rockets and spaceships. We will watch a rocket ship launch to spark curiosity.
The children will then be shown the carton and asked how we could make this into a rocket. In groups allow the children to explore and examine how it could be a rocket. Discuss and share ideas. Then introduce the mouse and let the children again experiment with how to move the mouse without touching their hands off the mouse. Allow children again to experiment, investigate and explore. Talk about fair testing and how we can apply it to our experiment.
When the children have had time to investigate, I would move to the P.E. hall where the children have space to test their predictions and observe what is happening when they apply different types of forces to the carton. What happens the mouse
We will bring a meter stick and observe distance the mouse moves before falling.
Next steps I would ask the children to think about sports that involve similar actions.
I teach a lot of children with English as an additional language so this is a great suggestion that they can view in their native tongue. This would assist adults at home too who have no English.
- Describe how you could apply some of the concepts and skills you have learned in this module to your own teaching practice in line with the STEM Education policy statement
