[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Hi Katie,

My research question was also based on litter. I think it is very important for children to be aware of the impact litter can have on our environment.

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Research question:

What is the impact of plastic waste on the health of our local stream, and how can our school community reduce litter entering the water system.

I would make this a hands on activity and a pupil lead investigation. We have a water stream about a 3 minute walk from our school. We would begin by visiting the stream. Record the types of litter found in the stream and categorise them eg. Plastic, glass, metal. We would return on a few occasions to track if anything increases or decreases litter levels eg. rainfall. We would look at how long it takes these materials found to break down. Finally we would then look at what action we could take to reduce the litter entering the water system eg posters, no litter week, plastic free lunches, bins with educational labels. I would allow the students to decide the best way forward with the investigation.

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Hi Siobhan,

I also downloaded satellite tracker by starwalk and found it very interesting to view all the satellites around the world and that passed over Ireland

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Option 1:

Satellite 1: International Space Station (ISS)
Purpose: A habitable space station conducting scientific research in microgravity across various disciplines, including biology, physics, and astronomy.

Satellite 2: Hubble Space Telescope
Purpose: A space-based observatory capturing high-resolution images of celestial objects, contributing significantly to our understanding of the universe.

Satellite 3: Starlink Satellites (SpaceX)
Purpose: Part of SpaceX’s initiative to provide global broadband internet coverage through a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites.

Satellite 4: Aqua (NASA)
Purpose: An Earth-observing satellite collecting data on the Earth’s water cycle, including evaporation, precipitation, and water vapor.

Satellite 5: NOAA-19 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Purpose: A polar-orbiting satellite providing meteorological data, including temperature, humidity, and cloud cover, aiding in weather forecasting.

 

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Hi Gary,

I agree that the film has some stunning aerial footage to help keep students engaged. I like how you were able to come up with the idea of it leading to debates and think this would be excellent in an older classroom.

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

To introduce the climate change facts from the video ‘Home’ I would begin with an introduction of showing the pupils how beautiful and full of life our earth is which is the key message that we want to get across. I would shoe the students some visuals from the video displaying the forest, oceans and animals.

I would then introduce the key messages from ‘Home’ in a child-friendly way.

Example: Melting ice-caps – The earth is warming up which means big icebergs are melting and polar animals are beginning to lose their homes. We would want the children to understand that people caused some of these problems but we can play a big part in fixing it.

I would then show some clips from the video ‘Home’ and ask the students some simple questions. ‘What do you see?’ ‘How do you think the animals feel when trees ate cut down?’ ‘How can we help the earth to stay healthy?’

I would then ask the children to draw what they think the earth looks like when happy and what the earth looks like when sad.

I would then end the lesson by stating that the earth is our only home and we need to take care of it and keep it happy.

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Hi Aoife,

I love the activity that you have come up with for splitting the class into small groups to design posters and display them on the corridors for the whole school to see.

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Activity 3 is a great way to introduce children to what greenhouse gases are and to deepen their understanding of what they are and how they have a massive influence on our current climate.

 

Paxi’s video is great for a younger audience and shows them how we contribute to the increasing levels of greenhouse gases.

TEAL is a great tool that students can use. I would use it in the younger classroom to explore how TEAL affect weather in different parts of the world.

We would look at the weather where we are today,

I would start with a role play and introduce weather props sunglasses, scarf, umbrella etc.

I would get the students to draw how the feel today’s weather eg. Sun, raindrops, their clothing etc.

Discuss which part of TEAL they felt most today.

Compare weather that is closer/further from the equator/ why is it hotter closer to the equator.

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Hi Katie, I love how you mentioned classes taking turns collecting the data, this isn’t something that I considered when looking at the idea of a weather station but would be a great idea.

[Carolann Mc Mahon]

Having looked at activity 1, it was really interesting to learn that weather and climate are very different things. I think having the children explain this in their own words would be a great way to assess their understanding of it.

Activity 2 is an excellent way to get children involved. It would have to be adapted slightly for the younger classes but I feel it would be very engaging.

Dr Liston’s paper shows us that science is about inquiry and understanding, technology should be used to show us how weather affects our lives, engineering is a lot more than just building things and mathematics should be used to make real world connections.

As an EBD teacher I would use a weather station to collect daily data on temperature, compare it to online weather websites, design a weather station that would allow us to collect a lot more data and graph our temperature trends over time.

I think this could also be done as a whole school activity in getting a weather station set up for the school. It would be great to encourage outdoor classrooms and learning when the weather is suitable.

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