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This is a great idea Sarah,
I love the fact that you incorporated art, drama and music into your lesson. It sounds like a very creative and interesting activity.
George Halpin was a civil engineer and lighthouse builder that designed many of the features of Dublin Port. He also built the first Bull bridge, erecting it in 1819 in order to allow for the construction of the stone wall.
I would use George Halpin as inspiration for a Science Investigation in class by bringing the children on a walk of Dublin Bay to pick out some of the features built by Halpin. We would compare the materials and features used in the building of the lighthouses and the bridges. The children could take some photos on their iPads which could later be shared on the IWB.
The children would then be allowed to choose between a lighthouse or a bridge and create their own design of one. They will incorporate elements of Science included light and materials as well as areas of Maths including length and weight.
Robert, this is a brilliant activity. I love how you have incorporated Mathematical activities including Money, Weight and Time. This is a great example of STEM in the classroom.
Using the Wooden Bridge in Clontarf as a lesson stimulus, I would bring my class on a coastal walk down to view it, stand on it and cross over it. We would then watch as the cars cross the single-lane bridge. We would look at the materials used to build it and take some photos to share on the IWB in class.
The children would then be given a range of materials including lollipop sticks, books (for the bridge to balance on), sellotape, glue, scissors and card…etc. They would work in pairs to investigate and come up with a way to make a bridge that can balance in a whole-class challenge. The children would then put some coins on the bridge in the hope that it would balance.
To conclude the lesson, the teacher will ask questions about the children’s bridges. The children will be allowed to visit their friend’s bridges and experiment with them,
The Identification Tool that I used was: the ‘Wildflowers of Ireland’ website ( https://www.wildflowersofireland.net/ )
The location was: a park in North County Dublin.
The plants that I identified were: The Creeping Buttercup, Himalayan Honeysuckle, Japanese Rose and Giant-Rhubarb.I would getting my class involved in Citizen Science by integrating a local citizen science project into a STEM by taking a class trip to St Anne’s Park in Dublin and visiting the Rose Gardens there. The children would identify the plants in pairs using an identification app or card. Before we visit the park, I would teach the children how to identify the plants and match them with the image or description on their identification card or website. Upon returning from the trip, we would collect our data as a whole class on the IWB. We would use some higher-order and lower-order questioning about our collected data. The children would display their findings on posters around the classroom.This lesson links to many areas of the curriculum including Science (Plants and Animals), Maths (Representing Data) and P.E. (Outdoor and Adventure Activities). The posters would be displayed on the wall for a number of weeks for the children to observe.
Veronica, I love the idea of brining learning outdoors once a fortnight to observe changes in flora and fauna. The seasonal aspect would also be very effective too in teaching children how the weather and climate effects the flora and fauna in their local environment.
Susan this is a brilliant idea. I love how you plan to link the lesson with Maths by using the data provided by Met Eireann. This would definitely help to keep the children engaged and stimulate their interest in the topic.
For younger classes, describe how you would plan and conduct a lesson on map making and explain how you might incorporate some online tools such as Google maps or Geohive:
I am a teacher in the Junior end of a vertical school and I have often incorporated map work e.g. Google Maps in various lessons. One lesson in particular on map making that I planned and conducted began with me holding up a paper map for the class and asking higher-order and lower-order questions about it in order to gain an insight into their prior knowledge. I then put Google Maps (set to our local community) on the Interactive Whiteboard and asked the children to point out where they think our school is. We examined the various features of the map e.g. Street View, Satellite and Map view and then practiced giving directions from the school to our local church, playground and supermarket.
We then made use of our spatial awareness vocabulary to give directions to our homes from our school.Emma, this is a brilliant lesson plan. It makes great use of digital technology in the learning of STEM, as well as hands-on activities that allow for inquiry based learning.
I will definitely make use of the Curious Minds ESERO Framework for Inquiry in my teaching of STEM in the coming school year. It is a very structured and organised approach and it allows for children to be active in their own learning. It also sparks curiosity in children through hands-on, active activities. The planning guide is quite comprehensive and I just know it would be effective in my teaching of STEM.This framework would definitely make the teaching and learning of STEM subjects more effective and engaging for the children in my class. The Investigate stage would allow for the learners to ask questions, make predictions and conduct investigations which would allow for the students to take a central role in their own learning.
I would use the Online resources and tools in my classroom in order to have enhance my SSE lessons using STEM.
I have Junior Infants for the coming year and I just know how beneficial and engaging Milo and Marvin will be in my classroom. The animated creatures wonder why things happens which would therefore spark curiosity and wonder within the children in my class. The cartoon strip is very bright and vibrant which I feel will get the children very interested and engaged at the beginning of the lesson. This resource is so straight-forward as it provides a list of the equipment that will be needed for experiments and a step-by-step guide of how to carry out the experiments. The children will learn so many new skills from the various experiments provided.
Another online resource I would love to use is The Astronomy picture of the Day. I just know that the children will find it very exciting to see the different images each day. I would love to have the website open every morning as the children come into the classroom so that they can exam it themselves or with their friends before a whole class discussion on it. I feel like they would learn so many new facts and enjoy looking at the Earth or Space from various angles.
I would use the ‘Making a Rocket’ activity in my classroom.
To begin, I would introduce the topic of Rockets and Spaceships. The children would engage in think-pair-share and come up with some ideas as to what kind of features are important in rockets in order to make them suitable for Space.
The children would then work in pairs to create their rockets. They would firstly draw a labelled sketch of what they plan to do with the materials provided in order to create a rocket. They would then begin to design and make their rockets using a variety of recycled materials. The children would make use of their creativity skills in order to design and make their rockets. The could also make use of their mathematical skills to measure the length of the various parts of their rockets. The children could explore different ways to make the rocket stand up freely and then they would present their rockets to their classmates.This sounds like a great lesson idea, Laura. I love the fact that you would use recyclable materials to create the rockets as it also ties in to our planet and the importance of looking after our environment. You are right, it is a great way to develop creativity, fine motor skills and ensure the use of teamwork in a lesson.
I agree with you Aisling. The ESERO lessons are a very good guide for teaching the topics outlined. It is great to have a resource that covers all the different levels of the Junior school curriculum. The lessons are so engaging for the children and comprehensive for the teacher. I also love the idea of the ‘What Clothes to wear’ lessons for children in Junior Infants as it would very engaging and practical for the children to take part in such a hands on activity using real clothing.
I would use the Stars activity set with my class.
To begin, I would introduce the topic of Stars by playing the song ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. The children would join in, sing along and dance along if they wish.I would ask them some lower-order/higher-order questions about their previous knowledge of Stars including ‘Have you ever seen stars?’ ‘What exactly are stars?’ ‘How far away do you think stars are?’ We would then talk about constellations of stars and I would show them some images of them on the IWB.
After this, each child would be given a template to draw their own constellations. They could compare them with each other and the images on the IWB. The children would then work in pairs to create Star Lanterns. They would copy one of their constellations onto their lantern. The children could then present their Star Lanterns to the class.
