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My research question is ” why are we seeing less butterflies and bees in our gardens this summer?” Is climate change responsible?
I would start by brainstorming ideas on board.
Dividing children in groups
Children could initially carry out some research in the school garden/yard then at home in their own gardens/playground nearby. They would collect their data.
Students could contact conservation groups responsible for butterfly and bee conservation.
I would organize a field trip to the Botanical Gardens for pupils.
Students could interview butterfly and bee conservationists there.
Finally, children could think of a solution to this problem. Perhaps we could plant some bee and butterfly friendly plants at home or in school.
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I downloaded the Esa resource ” From the ground and from the Sky ” pupil activities. I found this really easy to read and presented in a fun and colorful way for children. The photos are amazing and a really good idea is comparing the photos taken on the ground and photos taken in space by an astronaut. One photo shows the Italian Astronaut taking photos from the cupola in the ISS. This shows pupils what its like for an astronaut in space and some of the work that they do. These activities are fun and realistic.
Pupils see photos of mountains, islands, rivers, Grand Canyon , cities like Rome from Space and from the ground. They can compare and contrast. Pupils can do these activities in groups
Teacher can also show these photos on the whiteboard and Pupils can develop this into a project maybe on how and why Satellites are used in space.
I would definitely use this resource in my teaching
Having watched the Video “Home” I feel it would be more appropriate for secondary school level. Its much too detailed and long for primary aged children.
I think the video Climate Aid with David Attenbouragh is more appropriate and not too long. It’s very effective and touches an all the topics in a coherent manner with catchy music.
In my teaching of SESE, Climate, I always use National Geographic, BBC, David Attenbouragh videos to explain various Climate/science animal topics to my children.
I think Art is a good way for children to express their ideas and they could design posters and projects for example ” Earth Day” or “Climate Change”. Children could display their work, or do PowerPoint presentations. I’ve done this with 4th class.
Also children could watch clips on YouTube from the G7 talks with world leaders. I’ve already shown various clips of this and of Climate activist Greta Thunberg to my children
I really liked this Paxi fun video about the Greenhouse effect. It explains it in a simple clear way for children to understand it. It’s also very positive and won’t cause unnecessary climate anxiety for kids. I also like the way it comes in many different languages. I watched one of the previous videos in Italian because I’m fluent in Italian. I can imagine today it will be very useful for me in my classroom because of the many nationalities in my school. EAL students can watch it in their own language on iPad/chrome book.
I watched/used the Climate/tool temperature predictor. This will be fun to use on the whiteboard for my students and for any projects they do. The can see and map the data across the world on the global map.
The Esa resources are very detailed but I’m looking forward to using some of them in my classroom. I find particularly designing a weather station to be a fun and practical activity for the children. This is very revelant to STEM curriculum. It’s active and inquiry based. In groups children get a hands on approach to finding out about today’s weather. It’s also revelant to climate change. For example, how our weather is affecting the amount of bees, wasps and butterflies in our gardens/ classroom gardens this spring/ summer die to excessive rainfall due to climate change.
Using our senses is also a very practical and fun activity for children. By going out into the school play area/garden children get a realistic idea about the current weather.
I find also using proverbs to be fun for the younger children. They can also carry out some research and ask their parents/ grandparents about what proverbs they have used to describe the weather.
I will be using all these ESA activities in my classroom incorporating the STEM dept of Education guidelines
Laura Groarke