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As I work with infants I would be looking at a simple enough research area that we could discuss and look at. For me a good research question would be ‘What are some simple things that we can do to reduce our Carbon Footprint?’. To begin with we would look at what is meant by the term Carbon Footprint and how this can affect the environment. I would put the children into small groups to think of different things we can do to reduce our Carbon Footprint. We would then come back together and discuss the different ideas that the children have come up with. I would further question then and encourage them to consider other ways if needed. The children would then go back into their groups and work together to make posters using a variety of materials provided to put up in the school of ways we could encourage people to be more Climate aware and to reduce our Carbon Footprint as a school. This could include things like switching off appliances, recycling our rubbish, walking or cycling rather than driving and composting our food waste. Following on from this I would tell the children that they are Climate Detectives and they need to ensure that we as a school are working to reduce our carbon footprint so it’s up to them to remind other pupils and teachers around the school of ways to conserve energy and to reduce our carbon footprint. The children would also be encouraged to remind the people at home of the importance of reducing our carbon footprints and looking at what they could do as a family to reduce their carbon footprint.
Irene I am also working with infants this year so feel its important to pitch the research at their level. I really like your idea of basing the research on trees and their importance to us. I love the idea of having the children think of all the different things trees can do for us.
I agree Mona that it is mind boggling how many satellites there actually are, I never realised quite how many there was.
I looked at the ESA Nose Up High resource and think that it could be a great activity to do with the class. Despite having Junior Infants in September I think it would be possible to adapt this lesson to make it useable and engaging for my class. This resource entails looking at different viewpoints from which you can observe different objects and the differences between pictures taken on earth and from satellites, what rivers, lakes, mountains etc look like from space. I would use it with younger children to look at some objects or places/landmarks that they are familiar with from their local area and see how these pictures might look different especially when we look at different satellite images. We would look at pictures of lakes, rivers and mountains that we are used to seeing and then compare the similarities and differences when we see these pictures when they are taken from space.
I found both the Home film and Greta Thunberg’s Cop 25 speech really thought provoking. I think both of these could be used as excellent resources in a senior classroom. Both the videography and the narration of the film I thought were incredible and the film really showed what we as humans are doing to the Earth’s ecosystem. It showed us that it is imperative that we take action now before Global warming becomes completely irreversible. This film could lead to some excellent discussions within the class on what we could do both at home and in school to help reduce the impact that we are having on the environment. Greta Thunberg’s speech was also really motivating and showed us the urgency with which things need to change. Although she speaks about how change needs to come from Governments, its also crucial that we too do our bit as much as possible. Even though these resources are aimed more towards senior classes, there are definitely aspects that could be shared with more Junior classes. It is essential that we teach children from a young age the dangers of global warming at an age appropriate level and also what we can do to help prevent it. I found the WWF Footprint quiz a real eye opener. It showed me what impact I am having personally and showed me that I need to become a lot more mindful when it comes to my everyday life.
I agree Eleanor, I thought the aerial footage was amazing and so effective at really showing the beauty of our planet. I think these are the kinds of images that a lot of our children have never seen before and love the idea of making their own aerial view pictures.
Prior to starting this lesson I think I would first look at assessing the children’s prior knowledge on the topic of both climate, the greenhouse effect and greenhouse gases. The Paxi video on the Greenhouse effect is a super way of introducing this topic to the children and I find videos such as these are a great way of peaking the children’s interest in the topic. We will then discuss the climate and what changes they think might happen in the future. We will look at the different ways in which scientists use different observations to monitor and understand how the climate is changing. The children will then be put into groups and told that they will be acting as scientists looking at different scenarios where they will need to calculate monthly average temperatures. They will be told they need to work together to create a presentation on how future temperatures can affect their lives and also come up with ways to lessen the impacts of climate change within their area. Children in their groups will then need to report back on their findings. For this lesson it is essential that children are grouped by mixed abilities and that the children are offered different ways of giving their feedback to the rest of the class.
I agree that it’s essential that key vocabulary is taught first so that the children have a clear understanding of the topic.
I really liked the activity sets included in this module on both Is it weather or Climate? and also the Weather Detectives activities. I think these explained in a child friendly way the differences between weather being a short term occurrence and climate being something more long term. Although I will be teaching Senior Infants I think we can adapt these lessons to suit the age of the children. I think introducing them to the difference between weather and climate is something that can be done. We could do this in as easy a way as discussing the differences in weather when they go on holidays compared to when they are at home. I think it could also be interesting to look at weather in different countries where different children and their families may be originally from and how the climate can differ in different countries compared to in Ireland. I think by keeping things simple we can give the children a good introduction to the idea of climate and how it differs to just the concept of weather.