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I can definitely see how the ARC’s online lessons and resources could enrich my teaching, aligned with Ireland’s STEM Education Policy Statement and our school’s SSE process. Reflecting on the Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC) online lessons and resources reveals rich opportunities to elevate my teaching through real-world, inquiry-based STEM education. These materials—covering aquaculture fundamentals, Ireland’s coastal geography, socio-economic impact, nutrition, and sustainability—offer powerful, curriculum-aligned content across SESE Science, Geography, SPHE, and Mathematics. In line with the STEM Education Policy Statement, leveraging ARC resources through their highly engaging and interactive online lessons supports:
Nurturing learner engagement through immersive, highly relevant marine ecosystems and food systems topics,
Enhancing teacher capacity to deliver cross-disciplinary, creative STEM learning,
Enabling evidence-informed practice via inquiry tasks and authentic contexts
Regrettably, living and teaching in close proximity to mussel and oyster farms (as I do), doesn’t necessarily mean that children/adults understand or have a full appreciation for the role aquaculture plays in our local area/economy and may be just as much susceptible to misinformation, so using particularly Lesson 2 – The Nutrition of Seafood for clarification will be of enormous benefit.Using the BIM ARC online STEM lessons could help amplify the ARC’s real-world relevance while driving continuous improvement through SSE—ultimately engaging learners and building a sustainable, dynamic STEM-learning culture.
Hi Sylvia,
That is an impressive lesson plan! I could imagine getting much more than 1 hour out of all that lesson content – never mind all the Geography county work and Maths co-ordinate geometry that would need to be covered in advance of the lesson itself.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Aquaculture farms in Ireland are primarily located along sheltered bays, estuaries, and coastal inlets where conditions support the growth of salmon, mussels, oysters, and seaweed. These locations are not only biologically rich but are also deeply connected to Ireland’s cultural and economic identity and the placement of the aquaculture farms is a careful balancing of environmental suitability, access to infrastructure, and community engagement.
Clearly aquaculture offers significant socio-economic benefits for coastal communities that have historically relied on the sea for their livelihoods. In Ireland, aquaculture provides local employment, often in areas where alternative job opportunities are scarce. From hatcheries to harvesting and processing, these farms support both skilled and seasonal work, helping to sustain rural populations. Also, aquaculture encourages economic resilience by diversifying coastal economies beyond tourism and traditional fishing. Clearly balancing environmental protection with economic development is needed in ensuring that aquaculture in Ireland is not just an industry, but a partnership that sustains both the sea and the people who live beside it.
Hi Catherine,
As I read your post it reminded me of when I began teaching in a DEIS school in Ballymun (a long time ago now!) We were covering the theme of seaside and beaches and after a weekend home in Donegal, I filled the boot with all sorts of shells, wrack, seaweed and a few crab shells. The children were fascinated and that seaside pack did the rounds of the school that year and for a few years after. We used them for sorting, matching, tracing, drama etc. I think a combination of the wonderful visuals and interactives offered by ARC with real hands on materials is a wonderful engaging and memorable experience for learners.( I am one of the classes on the ARC long waiting list 🙂 )
In the teaching and learning of Aquaculture and Social License the use of interactive tools as discussed in Module 1 would make the learning process engaging, meaningful and memorable. The use of the simulations would simplify big concepts like ecosystems and sustainability while also increasing engagement and motivation as the learners learn through playful interactions. The collaborative activities would encourage communication and critical thinking through trial, error and reflection. Perhaps most significantly is that all of the resources mentioned in Module 1 would encourage the children see direct links between classroom activities and how food is produced in the real world. This strengthens relevance and helps them understand their role as future consumers and decision-makers.
Learning about Aquaculture and Social License could help my students learn where their seafood comes from and how it affects ecosystems. They could develop early awareness of sustainability, ocean health, and food security. They can connect classroom learning to real-world environmental challenges like overfishing, pollution, and climate change. STEM lessons would be an ideal place for me to teach this as aquaculture links directly to science: biology (fish lifecycles), technology (farming systems), and sustainability (renewable practices).
Science Week Class Plan
In advance, using school communication platform Aladdin, share with parents and guardians the aim of Science Week and give some ideas for home-school links in relation to Science and offer them the chance to share their ideas/creations .
Monday: Design a Martian. Examine images of Mars. Design in a 3D
form using dough or clay. Early finishers: Design the landscape they would live on.
Tuesday: Shadows: Shadow tag and free play with shadows at 10 am, 12 noon and
2pm. Note the shape and size differences in the shadows (mark using chalks on the school yard in differing colours)
Wednesday: Stargazing. The learners investigate stars and
try to guess how many stars are in the universe. They create pictures
of a starry night using paint and toothbrushes to create copious amounts of
stars. Listen to Myles Smith’s Stargazing as they paint
Thursday: Creating Alien Slime: by
mixing fragranced shampoo or conditioner and cornflour together to create
a consistency that is neither a solid or liquid.
Friday: Rockets: Engage with a picture of a rocket. Listen to Chris Hadfield interview. Explore a variety of materials and plan a design to make a rocket. Use Milo and Marvin Balloon or Penny Rocket video for demonstration .Record activities throughout the week and ask the learners and teachers to provide feedback at next staff meeting.
Hi Dawn,
I agree totally, the Fizzy Launcher experiment goes down a treat with any class. Sometimes the simple ones are the best. The anticipation on the little faces is always fantastic. We extended that to do a comparative study on the impact different brands of liquid/sweets would have on the outcome with the children predicting, observing and recording the outcomes which linked in very well with measure and data analysis in Maths.
Hi Valerie,
I really like the idea of using fairy tales and familiar characters to introduce different types of homes. It would lend itself to a very effective STEM lesson in constructing different homes with a variety of materials and assessing them.
I would like to Focus on activity sets theme-Where we Live??
This topic can be covered from so many many areas of the wider curriculum as well as through Science. It could become the BIG IDEA for a month. Sa Bhaile/Mo Theach/Habitats/ Home & Abroad/ Foodwebs/Materials could all be covered.
I have found SCRATCH coding is a great way to encourage children to research various habitats and present the most interesting information they have found via a SCRATCH project using text, images and sound which can be shared with their classmates.
In our school we celebrated EARTH DAY last April with a series of fun lessons and activities. We used Curious Minds resources and DPSM classroom supports.
I think next school year I will use Milo and Marvin when exploring magnetism and electricity- I love their Forced Comb experiment.
Hi Orla,
I will have an Emma in my class next year so I will definitely be checking with our local library for the book you mentioned. Thanks for that!
Activity Set: Space & Aliens
Stimulus: Book- There’s an alien in your book by Tom Fletcher
This story is an interactive adventure about an adorable alien that has crash-landed in our book! The readers are tasked with helping the alien back up into space, by jiggling, bouncing and turning your book upside down!
I would ask for a student to pretend to be the “invading Alien” and we could do a hotseat activity in which the other learners could question the alien. We could as a class guess the planet the alien originated from and could perhaps create a new name for a planet and draw what we think the planet might look, smell, feel and sound like. We could discuss the feelings associated with being lost/separated from family and the many methods of helping the alien get home.
TOPIC: The Planets
ACTIVITY: Edible Solar System
During our Healthy Eating Week and as part of Food Dude Programme, we used a selection of fruits and vegetables to create Edible Solar Systems. The learners used Kids Britannica on Scoilnet to compare and contrast the sizes of the planets in allowing them choose the most appropriate fruits/veg to use. The adults in the room did any slicing or chopping required. We use the KLT Planet song on Youtube to order the planets correctly. https://youtu.be/awM6BCpxRaE?si=C0RV4wbpTOfHNwoD
It was surprising the limited knowledge of fruit/veg some of the children had and very parents were delighted when the children asked to recreate the edible solar systems at home.
Hi Niamh,
I really enjoy Dr Binocs and his informative videos. The children in my class find those lessons very engaging. I can imagine a shadow hunt could be great fun on a nice sunny day 🙂
Hi,
My name is Lorraine and I teach multigrade juniors in a rural school. My favourite Scientific fact is that your brain is constantly eating itself in a process called phagocytosis!!
My Inquiry Based Activity was a series of lessons on Pollination and the Decline of the Bee. Through games and interactive quizzes and activities the learners could understand several reasons why honey bee populations are declining due to predators or limiting factors, and the possible consequences. I used SciShow kids Youtube video to follow the life of a bee.
https://youtu.be/ta154f5Rp5Y?si=uJvGxAER12QESbzO
The children researched plants/flowers that are known pollinators and we planted a selection of these in our sensory garden ay school.
We invited local beekeeper Mr Damian Nugent into our class for a Q&A which was super exciting and informative.
