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Hi Kevin,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on light pollution. It is important for the learners to explore their local area initially and then to compare to images from the Dark Sky Reserve to allow for comparison, critical thinking and to introduce the concept of light pollution. As you have said it would increase learners’ awareness and empower them to take action. You could consider a survey of the school grounds or area around the school regarding the type of lighting etc to further enhance their understanding and support them in identifying strategies to reduce light pollution in the school, at home and even in the wider community.
Hi Paddy
Welcome to the course and thanks for your feedback on the resources in this module. They would support your plan to develop a school based weather station. As you have mentioned learners could record the data using instruments or digital tools. You could also consider asking the learners to make weather instruments to give them ownership of their learning. Have you considered how the concepts of weather and climate could be developed using the weather vs climate resource?
Hi Clodagh.
What a great learning opportunity for your class to research Alice Perry and her legacy. What a trailblazer she was to graduate from university as a civil engineer at that time. I also like how you are planning to establish links with history as you explore the timeline of Alice Perry.
As you are exploring civil engineering, there are lots of activities to explore in the class such as bridges that you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Marguerite.
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback from this module and that you are looking forward to using the resources from this module with your own class.
I am interested to know more about the JDO project and it sounds like it links to practical use of Google maps to allow for development of skills. I must look into the Take a Walk lesson and JDO further.
I also hope to use the GeoHive resource more effectively in my class this year. We are a rural school but it would be interesting to see how the land has changed with housing and also new roads and to also make more use of the biodiversity maps which would also link with Green Schools.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
H Clodagh.
Welcome to the course. I really like how you are planning to use storybooks to explore the concepts of maps. I love picture books and Rosie’s Walk or The Jolly Postman are fabulous picture books that allow for map making and discussion about maps.
I also like how you are planning to walk around the school to encourage the learners to observe and record what they can add to their map. It would be interesting to see what are the important landmarks for each learner. Great ideas to link with digital technology too. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Rachel.
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback on this module and how you will apply this to your teaching.
Having taught infants for a number of years, I agree that the wondering and exploring concepts from the Curious Minds Framework are easily linked to the junior classes. We can focus on teacher led or demonstrations in the infant classes but as teachers we need to focus on the child-led inquiry and even facilitating this in child-led play. For example, having magnets available during play time. I agree that the rainbow spinner is a great opportunity for integration and I like how you plan to identify the colours as Gaeilge freisin.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Paula,
Thanks for your feedback. As teachers we can often look beyond the local area when exploring topics in science and geography. This course reminds us of the beauty of our own local environment and how we need to support and protect the biodiversity and heritage of our local area. And I agree we need to draw the children’s attention to this also so they don’t become oblivious. I had a little giggle at your Hairy Mary comment, where I’m from we called them Hairy Molly! But must keep a look out for them all the same.
Hi James
Welcome to the course. I am delighted to hear of the practicality of the resources in this module. The Curious Minds framework provides a clear structure and as you have mentioned the focus is on answering questions and not just telling the facts. It allows for lots of critical thinking and discussion and child-led investigating too. It is great to hear that the framework will help you in planning for teaching and learning and keeping the class engaged. I hope you enjoy the other modules and enjoy the course.
Hi Linda
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your feedback on using a sundial with the class. I agree that it gives the learners ownership of their learning and allows for rich and memorable teaching moments.
However, you could consider revisiting this post to ensure it addresses the assignment tasks. You are asked to outline how you would engage your students in creating a sundial task.
Hi Andy
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on 3D constellations. I have completed the 3D model of the Plough with classes before and it has been a great opportunity for skills development as they create the 3D model. I agree that Stellarium is a great resource to allow pupils to explore the different constellations prior to the creative activity.
I also like the constellation in a box that is shared in this video and it is something I will make with my own class during Space Week in October. I like how you have given the pupils the choice on which constellation to make and to encourage others to guess the constellation when the activity is completed. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Grainne
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your plans to increase the learners awareness of light pollution. I think it is a good opportunity to get parents/guardians involved in the observations as it will raise awareness of light pollution at home and this could also support the learners as they identify changes they could make to reduce light pollution at home also such as the Light Wise posters you have mentioned.
Comparing photos from the night sky that the teacher or the learners have taken to those from Dark Sky Reserves will also explore the concept of light pollution and increase critical thinking as the learners consider the effect the light pollution may have on nocturnal animals in an age-appropriate way as you have said.
I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Grainne
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your plans to increase the learners awareness of light pollution. I think it is a good opportunity to get parents/guardians involved in the observations as it will raise awareness of light pollution at home and this could also support the learners as they identify changes they could make to reduce light pollution at home also such as the Light Wise posters you have mentioned.
Comparing photos from the night sky that the teacher or the learners have taken to those from Dark Sky Reserves will also explore the concept of light pollution and increase critical thinking as the learners consider the effect the light pollution may have on nocturnal animals in an age-appropriate way as you have said.
I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Michelle.
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your observation plan. As you have mentioned for the older classes it is important to have resources such as the compass. You could consider making children familiar with landmarks in the school and the direction they are in initially as this may help when observing the sun’s position in the sky. This could also allow for child-led inquiry based learning as they predict where the sun will be and then go and observe outside. I like how you plan for a sunset observation with support from parents or guardians at home. Photographs are also a great opportunity for the children to share their observations and learning and also collaborate with their peers as they compare photos.
I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Cliona
Welcome to the course, I agree that the moon is a fantastic opportunity to get learners excited about space and as you have said it could be that it can be seen without additional equipment.
I like how you plan to explore the first quarter phase and to observe shadows along the craters. This will add more observation and meaning and is ideal for an older class to keep them engaged. I also like how you plan to compare the learners’ observations with Stellarium and NASA resources to make connections between their learning and real life science. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Odhrán.
Welcome to the course and it is great to hear your enthusiasm on teaching about the moon. I agree that it can be a brilliant topic for the younger classes. I like how you are planning to let the learners in your class explore the phases of the moon themselves following the video. You could also get them to make a model of particular phases in groups so you can represent all the phases of the moon.
I also really like how you will explore their learning about the moon in other curricular areas such as English writing and Art. I hope you enjoy the other modules of this course.
