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One interesting way that your school has to be more sustainable is the push on taps. We have turn on/off taps and I find myself regularly having to remind children to turn off the tap. This is definitely something that could be introduced a few classrooms at a time.
As I have mentioned in a previous post, people are more aware nowadays in different areas and how it affects them and the wider community. Sustainability is a word that has become used very regularly by all ages. We teach children from a young age about recycling, how to get rid of our rubbish properly, how we avoid waste and many more. People have become better at researching products we buy and how we can become more sustainable ourselves. Some people might say, one person is not going to make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things but they certainly are. If everyone thought like that, nothing would change. If each person makes one small change, this could be a huge factor in becoming more sustainable. Our local school community has tried to become more sustainable, but this has it’s own challenges. One way which we could do better this coming year is in relation to our school lunches. Encourage the children to take home lunches they haven’t finished and could be eaten later, or cancel the school lunches if the lunch is not suitable as each child has their own preferences. It is nice to see a wide variety of lunches as we learned about in our last module, all the different proteins and fats which are necessary in our diets.
Caoimhe, I really enjoyed the idea of a cooking demonstration. I am moving to the senior classes this year and that is an excellent suggestion.
I think this module was my favourite so far. It had information which was necessary for everyone, literally everyone. I think in more recent times, people have become more aware of their health and how our nutrition pays such an important part in our lives and quality of living. Recently, I have started to become more aware of my fish intake and I have enjoyed trying different types of fish and understanding the value of each type within my diet. This is so important to instil in children from a young age and how all these nutrients are invaluable when it comes to our health. More than likely, each school has a healthy eating policy and this cold be something that can be introduced to children in the hope of educating them further in what they need to live a long and healthy life. We as teachers have the ability to change people’s outlook on different types of foods, we should definitively be making children aware from a young age and even for ourselves, I read a quote recently that said you will be never be as young as you are in this moment, how right it is. Giving children the tool at an early age could help tremendously as they grow.
It is definitely interesting using all the resources given in the course to incorporate the hands on learning like you said Andrew. All the videos, links and resources would help like you said with critical thinking and problem-solving.
There are some excellent resources supplied by The ARC throughout this online summer course so far. I love the way each section in the resources gives an optional quiz to complete. Children love being able to complete a quiz either on their own or in groups. This could be extended for children to come up with their own quiz and test other members in the class where possible.
STEM and the School Self-Evaluation process can be linked, integrated and used in many different ways. It could be used on a thematic basis to create new links for learning and accessible resources across all levels to obtain continuity for children in different class groups and class levels. With the curriculum ever changing and more recent the new maths curriculum, this is a great way to include some new changes and receive feedback on what is currently working and what might need changing as we change with the times we are in today.
The location of aquaculture farms in Ireland is very important. I used to live very close to a bay where salmon fishing was taking place. It was clear this had huge benefits for the local community. The pier was always bustling, local shops and markets sold the fish and many other items which was great for supporting local. It brought a great sense of community especially during the summer when tourists came around and enjoyed being steeped in the local industry. Having said that, throughout my life-time there have been difficult times for people in the industry. Quotas, meant fishers were discarding fish as they were over quota. This was very difficult as the demand was there for the fish. It was also difficult when the laws changed over the availability of fishing waters for Irish boats. I think it is also fair to say, the lifestyle can be less than appealing for younger families and people at home. It can also be a dangerous job where dangerous waters etc. are involved.
From Module one alone, there is a wealth of resources to choose from. Having taught for many years in a school near the sea, I wish I had found these resources sooner. My current school is more inland but I am still excited to share and use all the resources with my class next year. I found the area of the nutrimental value of fish very interesting especially the video from Áine from The Arc. Any school with a healthy eating policy or any food initiative programmes running in the school would benefit from more use of the resources given in this module.
Children can learn about the different types of fish we can potentially find in the waters off of Ireland, it is always nice to have links that the children can relate to. I would also be interested in signing up to the webinar and even getting a visit from The Arc bus if possible. Finally, many children are interested in their food, where it comes from, where it is produced etc. so the Young Chef Ambassador programme could be very useful for a child in 6th class who would be interested in this as a career going forward.
I like the idea of the whole school being able to participate in this activity. We recently decide to create a wild garden space within our school and the children are really enjoying the process. The children have an input as to what should be included and it is a great way for all classes to become involved.
Research Question: If I can’t see immediate and damaging effects of climate change in front of me, is climate change really happening?
I believe one of the most important things about climate change is the amount that has changed in such a small period of time. Some people believe that we will not see the effects of climate change in our life time and that it will take years and years before the effects are more tangible. The problem with this idea is that the way climate change has rapidly increased in a short space of time, meaning yes we are already seeing the effects but more severe effects and consequences are on the way much sooner than we think. In many ways people believe that that small impact they are making towards climate change is so small, it’s irrelevant. However, if each people did something small, the impact and how we slow down the process would be very influential.
The Nose Up to the Sky activity was very interesting. I believe children would find all 3 activities very engaging. I really enjoyed the activity about using the senses when predicting and talking about the weather. Teaching children the different signs of sensing the weather is very important. This is equally as important as teaching the children how to read the weather and listen to the weather forecast. Met Éireann have a series of content when teaching children about the weather which could be useful. I have attached the link to the school content. This includes fun facts about weather and climate and then also includes some lesson plans that could be helpful when teaching about the weather. I also think the weekly weather diary is important when teaching children about the weather. The link with maths and in particular patterns could be logged when monitoring the weather in a certain location or in the country.
It would be very interesting to see the children’s interpretation of climate change prior to showing them the video. Children might be more aware of climate change and the effects than we think. I also like the way you mentioned how children should research other young activists to find more information and take inspiration. Children relate more to other’s of a similar age and could in fact encourage further work in the area.
The video ‘Home’ was extremely eye-opening. The main reason I found the documentary so interesting was because there was a common denominator in all the Earth’s problems, humans. Even further on from that knowing that humans are responsible for the problem’s, it is also possible for humans to be the solution. As Greta Thunberg mentioned in her Ted Talk video, some people believe that the changes they make would not be beneficial if everyone doesn’t get on board. The reality it, small changes people can make add and contribute to all the solutions we as humans can engage with.
I really enjoyed the website where you can find your own carbon footprint. The results, I was very surprised with. There are definitely some further changes I can make to help climate change, even though I am only one person. If everyone made those small changes, results could be seen. In the classroom, I would definitely ask the children to participate in finding their own carbon footprint and how they can reduce it in their own homes.
The Teal Toll resource is a very interesting tool to use. Similarly to how this topic was introduced to us, I would introduce it to the children, using the Paxi video on Greenhouse gases. The video is interactive and engaging for children at all levels. I would then brainstorm the language that might be useful for the activity e.g. average, warmest, coolest, driest, wettest, temperature, precipitation. It could also be an activity of dictionary work to find the meaning of words needed. As a whole class, I would introduce the teal tool and it’s main features. If possible, each child/group of children would receive an internet source to be able to use the tool to complete the activity. One way I might encourage the children is to use different methods to represent the data. This could be based on data representation methods completed at an earlier stage, depending on the class level. Luckily, the ESA resource has many links to resources in the given activity.
I would encourage the children to come up with solutions on a local level and global level to see if any new changes can be made, as the world is ever changing.
I agree with you about the small short videos used in this module Aisling. Children can become even more engaged with a topic even in those 3 short minutes of an interactive video.
Also the idea of children creating the weather station is also important to give children a level of responsibility on their experiments/investigations.
