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Hi Martina,
I think this is a great research topic especially with the particularly bad weather we are experiencing. I think the children would become very engaged in this topic. I love the idea of having a guest speaker coming in to talk to the children. Wonderful.
The climate detectives project is aimed at children from 8 -12 years old and my children are younger than this so I have chosen a research topic that I feel I can adapt to reach their needs.
I have chosen to look at the effect of light pollution on the night sky, the consumption of CO2 through the use of electricity, the effect on wildlife and also the safety aspect to having lighting.
Phase 1: I would read the story Owl Babies, the owl who was afraid of the dark and talk about nocturnal animals that the children may be familiar with. We would then look at Vincent Van Gogh ‘Starry night’. The children would paint pictures of starry night skies.We would list some key words and terms for the children to consider.
Look at pictures of street light, houses lit up at night time and discuss why we have so many lights. Discuss how these lights are powered and the effect that has on our environment. Talk about nocturnal animals and how they may be affected by light pollution.
Children send in pictures of night lighting from around their houses to display in class.Question: Does light pollution have an effect on wildlife?
Make up an action plan to look how wildlife may be affected by light pollution and how they will investigate and measure this.Phase 2: Investigate using documentaries, photographs of wildlife in the local area and record animals that can be seen.
Children research and photograph animals in their garden at night using a tally chart. Watch videos on hedgehogs in country gardens and discuss why this is rarely seen in the town.
Phase 3: Share results and discuss if light pollution has an effect on wildlife. How can we reduce light pollution in our houses to promote climate change.Hi Conor,
I also enjoyed the proverbs, especially as only one was known to me. I think the children would really enjoy learning these and I know that I myself use the red sky at night proverb very regularly. The children may use these for the rest of their lives-a very pleasant thought.
I downloaded the teacher guide and pupil activities for the ESA resource ‘Nose up in the sky’ and I really enjoyed carrying out the activities to put myself in the place of the pupils. I will say initially that I was disappointed that the activities were targeted for children age 8-10 because I do feel that the content could be simplified and modified for younger children. I started with the proverbs and could relate to the one; red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning shepherds warning’ I noticed the different with sailors and shepherds and wonder if this is local to where I live. I especially love ‘Seagull, seagull sit on the sand. It’s never good weather when you’re on the land’. I had never heard this before and think it is one I will use again.
Sensing the weather could be completed by children of all ages and I can imagine this fitting in nicely to a literacy lesson also.
Lastly the weather station activities were excellent but I wonder if we could make a class weather station with all children participating.I watched the video ‘Home’ by Yann Arthus – Bertand and I found the visuals and music to be extraordinary. The images at the beginning really drew me in to the idyllic Earth in which we all live. As the movie progresses we see the effect of human survival and the video becomes less pleasant to watch. I enjoyed that at the end of the video hope was offered through encouraging the use of natural resources and using renewable energy. It is time to enter a sustainable relationship with nature.
Although I found the video interesting the children that I teach are very young and I feel, even though the video is beautifully and poetically crafted the children would lose interest and struggle to understand the meaning very quickly. I would also show concern for some of the distressing images and would prefer to tailor my own resources to develop greater understanding.I absolutely agree with you both Jane and Padraic, some of the images would be very unsettling for the younger children in my school. Hope and action is also the way I would approach climate change also.
Hi Mikey, I think this course has proved to be very interesting. Like you, I brought this course up with my family and my mother. They were all so keen to engage and share their thoughts and experiences with agriculture and aquaculture in Ireland.
Hi Sinéad, you are so lucky to teach in a school located near the sea. I would love to have the opportunity to use local beaches for short day trips. I can imagine that this course will guide you with lots of new and exciting activities to use with your children.
Hi Conor,
I agree with you, 4th class is a great level to be working on this topic. I work in an infant school and like you I would start by showing the paxi video to introduce the concept of greenhouse gases. I agree that activity 3 is a valuable resource but with a few added elements it could be more impactful for young learners.
I work with younger learners and I think that the Paxi video on greenhouse gases is an excellent resource to use in the classroom. The visuals are clear and uncomplicated and the voiceover would really appeal to younger learners with its friendly and upbeat tone. The video keeps you watching and wanting to learn. I also enjoyed the recap at the end to summarise the main points in the video.
I enjoyed reading about activity 3 and I can see this being extremely successful in older classes. I loved the introduction when we discuss the greenhouse effect and some points from the video we would have recently watched.
I feel that my children would struggle a little to understand the measurements and reading the thermometers although I think they would enjoy the experiment so I would adapt it to suit their needs and give them a greater understanding of why the greenhouse effect is important.
The caretaker has a greenhouse in the school grounds so a little visit may be very more realistic to the children and they may understand the greenhouse effect a little more easily.Hi Sarah, I really enjoyed reading your post especially with references to the Autism class that you teach. I was just thinking how the weather station would make an excellent inclusive exercise to be enjoyed by all children within a year group.
Having read the Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics by Dr. Maeve Liston I was very appeased to reinforced the benefits of integrating STEM across all curricular subjects inorder to deepen understanding of maths and science concepts, develop critical thinking in children and encourage skills to approach and solve problems. It encourages ethics, collaboration, teamwork, communication and widens career opportunities.
I found it interesting to read and learn about the Engineering Design Process (EDP) and the importance of all characteristic of STEM being included in activities in order to call them STEM activities ‘The foundation of STEM education lies in engineering and of the four letters in the acronym’.
The children that I teach are very young so I was very interested in the weather v climate worksheet to spend more time on focusing on birthday weather and oral language and pictorial prompts. In the worksheet ‘Weather detectives’ I loved the idea that the children collect results over a long period of time to monitor changes that occur. I know the children in my school would love this hands-on activity.I absolutely agree with you Rachael and I look forward to making this suggestion to my staff on my return to school. I feel I could get a whole term worth of work out of this topic and what a wonderful way to sum it all up with a trip to the coast.
Hi Darerca,
I absolutely agree with you that there is little to no mention of the role of Aquaculture in Ireland in school textbooks. This course has given me a whole new angle that I feel the children will find absolutely fascinating. The different jobs in this field are fascinating, and I feel the children would have a great time investigating them.
Great to hear from you Katie!
Yes, salmon is always a favourite when children are asked. I do however feel that nowadays children shy away from eating any type of fish, even fish fingers are something many children refuse to try. I think it is important to teach them about the goodness because giving children knowledge makes them curious and perhaps more open to try new foods, fish included.