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We have a number of potential local scientists to choose from.
The first, Ernest Walton, 1930 to 1995, was the first the split the Atom, this might tap into the children’s interest stemming from Oppenheimer last year. We could explore the topic in relation to sustainable energy debates and on the physics of energy, being transformed from one state to another and never lost.
Looking further back in history, children would study Robert Boyle from Lismore, he was born in Lismore Castle in January 1625.
This could lead to an exploration of the nature of air pressure and volume starting simply from the nature of air pressure around us that we don’t see to observation of air pressure, Boyles law states that if the volume and pressure of a gas are inversely proportional so if volume increased pressure decreased and if volume decreases pressure will increase.
This could be the starting point for classroom based experiments on air pressure using balloons and tables etc.
Youghal has a number of structures that could be interesting to explore from an engineering perspective, firstly the old bridge from Cork to Waterford was replaced by a larger bridge, pictures from each of the times looking at the shape, breath etc of each of the bridge would be a good starting point for our investigation.
Initial questions could be around, what was the problem this bridge tried to solve? (tidal issues, greater flow of traffic, needed to be wider and higher)
what could the engineers have designed to replace the bridge…looking at other structures – suspension bridges in Waterford on the new motorway.
The second lesson could then focus on designing a bridge using spaghetti and marshmallows testing for
1.seeing which design would tolerate the greatest weight.
2. seeing if greater weight could be tolerated at different spacings
3.seeing if the best design could be improved upon with additional reinforcement etc.
Lesson 3 would be the write up and evaluation period of the project with conclusions and recommendations for a repeated experiment.
Our school is located in a coastal town and we have easy access to the beach at all times of the year. We could conduct a biodiversity trail on a specific topic, such as sea weeds/ shells/flora etc either ticking each of the types of each element on a scavenger hunt type of sheet or , as suggested in this lesson, conduct a flora walk where the children could take notes describing the item, how it looks, colour, texture, smell etc and place a small flag beside it and during the course of the trail , the children who identified this element can be brought forward to describe it and to tell the class what they have discovered about it . The google lens application on the tablets could be used as a resource but notes would be written. Later in class, children could draw and describe what they have discovered in their science hardbacks. A stimulus to these texts could be the work of Victorian botanists and botanical art.
· 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
(For 1st /2nd class)
I would being the lesson by using google maps and google world to gradually zoom onto the school on the interactive whiteboard, I would select a couple of the children to try to find their house on google earth- can you recognise Ireland? Where is Cork? Where is East cork etc to guide the exploration, after this I would let the children in small groups look for their homes on google Maps while I circle to check for learning and prompt questions, e.g. Where is your house near, so if I stop on the road by the church which way do I turn to get onto your road….etc, I’ve used this before in a lesson and the children love it , the more senor classes start looking for soccer stadiums ..
After this I would show the children some maps of the town, (we have some lovely ones provided by the local heritage centre that have lovely graphics of historical areas of interest) etc. and encourage some exploration.
The lesson would them progress into map making of our classroom, first on the whiteboard, together and then in their pairs, what would we need to mark out so people could find their bearings, like the church n our earlier example, and them gradually include desk groupings, nature table etc.
You could use a preformed template marking out the ‘road ‘ in the classroom and have the children draw and cut the key physical elements you have chosen which they them stick in place.
And then finally , teacher could select one of the maps to use for a treasure hunt in the classroom.
These could be done over and afternoon or over a series of 3 lessons.
Having reviewed the paper Unravelling STEM: Beyond the Acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (Liston 2018) reflect on what STEM education looks like in your classroom.
The paper- STEM: Beyond the Acronym , gives an excellent description of the intention, execution and intended outcome of STEM education in the classroom.
In terms of the attributes of STEM lessons the focus should be an active, student-centred learning. The tasks chosen should be rich enough to encourage the level of engagement evidenced by spontaneous questioning as well as the execution of thoroughly planned investigations. STEM in the classroom should not be a separation of the Curriculum, rather that the classroom is also the lab. STEM lessons and activity in classes should support a variety of teaching methods and learning styles which integrate real life situations.
STEM in the classroom should aspire to produce students that are inventive, creative, solution seeking and confident in their ability to generate and test theories or solutions and to reflect on their outcomes.
