Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I really like this research question! There are so many school uniforms in great condition that are not donated to the school. Also, having uniforms donated to the school would be a great benefit to parents who may need support with buying them! I also like the idea of old ones that cannot be worn being used for fabric and fibre!
I have chosen the research question: How can our school reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill?
I chose this question as waste was a huge area of concern that came up in our Green Schools Meeting. We brought in 3 different bins for each classroom – compost, recycling and general waste, however there was still a lot of waste in the school.
Bringing the fact that the waste goes to landfill would help the children see the bigger picture as when waste goes to landfill it can create greenhouse gases which would in turn contribute to global warming.
I would encourage the children to participate in this climate detective research question in the following ways:
1. Waste audits- weighing waste and having ‘waste detectives’ in each classroom ensuring children are putting the correct waste in the correct bin.
2. Collect Data – split the class into 3 groups for the 3 bins in the classroom and get them to record the amount of waste for their bin over a period of time. This then could be presented to other classes to raise awareness.
3. Interviews with the cleaners and caretakers as they sort the rubbish into the main bins in the school
4. Recycling projects- in the past, we have collected bottle caps and made murals from these so looking at recycled waste and seeing what is most common and what we could maybe use for projects or art.
5. Campaign – children could create posters to encourage other children to recycle etc. One that has worked well in the past has been a ‘Walk-on-Wednesday’ campaign. Perhaps there could be a ‘Waste- Free Friday’ campaign!
6. Competition – children love a competition in our school! We could have a poster competition or with previous green schools themes like travel we tracked classes Walk – on – Wednesdays and the class that improved the most got a prize. Perhaps we could do this where the class who improves on their waste the most would get a prize!
I think this research question would work really well in our school and would be meaningful for the children as they would be able to physically see the improvements over time.
I agree that the EO browser has great potential for senior classes. I sometimes feel as teachers we can be nervous to try out new digital tools, however, I found this one easy to navigate. I think there could be great potential for exploring change over time and presenting this through snapshots from the EO browser. I also agree that it links very well with the new STEM curriculum in Ireland.
Assignment 3: Download the Teacher Guide & Pupil Activities for the ESA Resource ‘ Nose High Up in The Sky, carry out the pupil activities yourself and post your thoughts on the resource and if you would use it in class. (150 words)
I really enjoyed exploring the ESA resource ‘Nose High up in the Sky’. I love how hands on the resources are, especially the match the pictures. They lend well to collaborative learning and I think the conversations that would happen within the groups about why they think the pictures match would be extremely interesting.
I also think the children would love to explore the images from astronauts on the ISS. I think space is a very popular topic and with the recent Artemis ll trip around the moon the children are eager to learn more about space. Additionally, the exploring of perspectives is great in this lesson. Children are gaining knowledge on what earth looks like from aerial view which could be linked to a visual arts lesson.
I think the worksheets are easy to follow and don’t have too much information on them for children to navigate.
Overall, I think this is an excellent resource. I would love if there were some extension activity ideas or some assessments so you can really see the learning that has taken place.
I like the idea of a class campaign and a class pledge! This shows that each child has a responsibility to reduce the impact on climate change. I also really like the idea of writing a diary entry from the Earth’s perspective. I think this will help the children show empathy towards climate change!
HOME by Yann Arthus Bertrand was an eye opener. I knew about climate change and deforestation before watching the video but seeing it really drove the message home that change is needed. Some of the statistics such as ‘the world spends 12 times more on military expenditures than on aid to developing countries’ is mind blowing! In the video, they still gave some hope and a positive message that we can make changes – ‘what’s important is not what’s gone, but what remains’.
I also really liked the climate Aid 202o music video in this module. I felt it was an emotional watch with the accompanying music.
I definitely would use some of these clips with the class. I would be conscious of not upsetting children but still making them aware of the realities of what is happening in the world. In the past, we have studied Greta Thunberg during International Women’s Day as an inspiring woman. I would definitely continue to do this and have the children create projects about the work she has done. (I work in an all girls school and we have a great emphasis based on days like this!)
I think a nice way to lead on from the videos and the study of Greta Thunberg would be to give the children the opportunity to put themselves in her shoes and discuss ways they could help the environment. I would then encourage them to create posters and linking in with the Green Schools Committee in the school, present these posters to other classes and place them around the school to encourage others to take action! In the past, some classes have even come up with some songs or chants which work well too!
The carbon footprint activity is really interesting and could be sent home for the children to complete with their families! They could bring in the results and we could discuss these as a class.
I think the videos and resources in this module are very eye opening and I think snippets could definitely be used in the classroom.
I really like the idea of the hands on activities! I love the trapped heat activity and the recycling investigation. I think the results of these would be very interesting for the children to see. This is definitely something I would do with my class!
I think the Paxi video is an excellent resource to support the learning of the greenhouse effect in a simple, visually pleasing way. I think this would really help the children to understand this concept.
I also really enjoyed exploring the Teal tool and exploring lesson 3- Climate Detectives. I think looking at future projections would be really interesting for children.
When teaching this lesson in my class, I would do the following:
1. KWL chart
2. Paxi video as a stimulus
3. Teacher modelling the Teal tool
4. Dividing children into groups and giving them a few minutes to freely explore the Teal tool. Some children may like to look at what the weather was like the day they were born (I know I checked this out of interest!!)
5. Give the task of future climate projections for each group.
6. Groups would present their findings to the class.
I would definitely add in some differentiation for children who may find the tool difficult to use and for the worksheet included in the resource pack. I think it would also be a nice idea, when the children are confident with the tool, to buddy up with another class and teach them how to use it. I love giving the children the opportunity to be the ‘teacher’ and it would also show other teachers how to use the tool!
I would also agree that after reading Unravelling STEM by Liston and reflecting on my own practices, I too leave out a lot of the engineering aspect. I feel it is because I feel more confident in the Science, Technology and Maths aspect of STEM. I will definitely be more aware of this going forward and ensure to provide the children with meaningful opportunities to create and problem solve during STEM lessons, ensuring that there is an engineering aspect evident.
Having reviewed both the ‘Nose up High in the Sky’ and the ‘Weather vs Climate’ resources, I believe they will be very easy to implement in the classroom. The resources themselves are easy for the teacher to follow and I quite like the layout at the beginning of each that gives an overview.
I think simple drawings for the recording of weather with younger classes would work well. It could be an idea that each class (depending how many are in the school) take a fortnight or month (perhaps one week in the month) to record the weather. These findings could then be presented at an assembly and displayed as a bar chart or pictogram for younger classes. This would help make a link with maths also! This would tie in well with the second lesson of ‘Climate Detectives’ as the class could be split into 3 recording temperature, wind and rain.
For Activity 3 in the Nose up High in the Sky resource pack and with older classes in mind, I think it is a great idea to split them into groups. I think you could split the class into 4 groups with 2 focusing on rain and 2 focusing on wind. I would then give them a STEM challenge to create a rain gauge or anemometer showing examples of some on the board and giving lots of different materials. I think this would be a cross curricular link with maths for measurement and art for construction.
Overall, I think both resources are great and very easy for the teacher to implement into the classroom!