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I am very interested in sustainability and finding ways to sustain processes over time and not deplete natural resources. I think children today are more aware of the environment and if they are taught these terms and processes from an early age it will make them more aware when they make food choices and also encourage them to carry the information home to their families.
I would like my children to research the effects of non-sustainability such as global warming and its effect on our environment, animals and human development. I would have the children look at the effect of global warming on wildlife and identify animals that have become extinct due to using non-sustainable processes.
I feel the children would be very interested to learn about salmon, shellfish and seaweed farming and how these methods have a low carbon footprint.
I would be interested to arrange a school tour to the beach in Carlingford and investigate if there are any organised tours locally that brings sustainability to life. I also think a trip to the supermarket investigating the sustainable labels on foods would make an excellent tour and one that may be able to be organised through ‘farm to fork’ initiatives.This module was very interesting and one that integrates very well into my current teaching of nutrition in the classroom. We currently look at the food pyramid, identifying all the different sources of nutrition that we gain from different foods such as fruits and vegetables, carbohydrates, dairy, proteins and fats and talk about the portion sizes we should be eating. We sort foods into the food groups and play games such as ‘guess the food’. It would be very simple to add a fish element into the teaching at this point and identify the nutrients stored in different fish. It would be particularly to discuss salmon using the story ‘The salmon of knowledge’ and discuss why the salmon holds knowledge, what nutrients it is rich in and what part of the body it helps.
I liked the I spy lesson identified in the module and I think we could also have a lesson looking at labelling in food. The children will then have knowledge to share with parents to make sustainable choices in the future.The ARC online lessons and resources are absolutely fabulous and so child-friendly and modern. They are easily accessible and would appeal to children of all ages. I was particularly interested in the second lesson ‘The nutrition of seafood’ and especially in the story of the salmon of knowledge and how, even though the science was not available to prove the richness of salmon on our bodies and brains, the people of the time knew the benefits simply by eating the salmon.
I really enjoyed how the geographical, historical, SPHE and STEM benefits of this story interact seamlessly with literacy. Even though the children I teach are very young, we visit Newgrange farm every year and it is situated on the river Boyne. The story would come to life for our young children.
In our SSE process we have been focusing on non-fiction texts and how this can interlink with other curricular subjects including STEM. Here we can use the story to create artwork, food and nutrition, aquatics and water farming, jobs in aqua farming, geography and historical folk stories in Ireland.Firstly, I must admit I have very little knowledge on the agricultural conditions of Ireland and I loved the map of Ireland highlighting the areas of successful agriculture. The explanation of ‘Goldilocks’ weather was superb as I look out my window at the pouring rain on July 1st and contemplate the best time to put the bedsheets out on the line! This explanation went down well with my husband and children also.
I was fascinated to hear how farming on land will soon become a premium and how only 1-2% of our world’s oceans are used for aquaculture and how this is an area that would lend itself to further sustainable growth. The West coast of Ireland is perfect for aquaculture in Ireland and this interests me greatly as I teach on the East coast and this information and that of Aquaculture is little known, however we are not far from Carlingford and I was delighted to see it highlighted on the map. It is important to support aquaculture and in doing so support local coastal communities both directly and indirectly.I really enjoyed the introduction to this module and I am very unaware of the resources available to the children in my school in this area. I chose the course to bring an interesting dimension when teaching the children science and water related topics.
I was particularly interested in the BIM social license projects and in particular the ARC Aquaculture Remote Classroom. It is absolutely fascinating to observe the lorry arriving with the classroom which would instantly engage the learners and promote a curiosity amongst them. The technology onboard is spectacular and the demand speaks for itself with 150 schools visited and >500 schools on the waiting list. I will most certainly be signing my school up for this initiative although I know the wait will be long!
I also liked the ‘Taste the Alantic’ initiative. It links cross-curricular with so many areas such as Geography, history, maths, art as well as healthy eating which is greatly promoted in my school. I look forward to bringing this knowledge to my school in September.