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Hi Dolores,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas for lessons with senior infants and first. I think the star wheel and Stellarium to explore stars and the planets would be engaging for the learners. You could think of introducing the topic through picture books for this age group also. This would also support their questioning and wondering and also help to keep them engaged as they look for stars or planets using Stellarium. With this younger age group, you could also consider multiple ways for them to share their learning through drawings, short sentences or using ICT. Lots of opportunities to explore with the class.
I hope you enjoy the other modules.
Hi Joyce,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your own thoughts on light pollution in your areas. It is interesting to hear that while you are in a rural area, neighbours have bright lights which can impact the night sky for you.
Starting with observations is a great idea, you could also consider using images of the night sky in different areas such as where you are living and urban areas of the local town. This would allow for lots of discussion and critical thinking. I like how you are planning to explore spectroscopes also and see if there are different types of light that could be used instead. It is a great idea to encourage the learners to take action such as the posters you have mentioned. While we can encourage changes in school, this could also be transferred to homes and the local community. I hope you have enjoyed the course.
Hi Louise,
Welcome to the course and thanks for your feedback on the resources in this module. The Paxi video is very child friendly and engaging even for the younger classes. I like how you plan to follow on from the video with drawings of how the pupils can take action. Even at a young age it is important to promote their own small actions. I also like linking in with the picture book. Have you heard of the Green Schools Global Goals book club. It has lots of lovely suggestions for picture books across the goals which address different topics.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Lauren
Welcome to the course and thanks for your feedback on the resources for this module. There are many cross curricular resources in the Nose in the Sky lesson and I also like the link to weather proverbs and weather lore. It can also link to local history and the learners finding out about different weather lore specific to their area.
I also like how you are planning to collaborate with the older classes as the older classes can mentor them in gathering and recording data and presenting it using a variety of ways. It would also encourage the older learners to communicate and share their own learning with their younger peers.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi David,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper and the resources in this module. Liston reminds us of the importance of addressing all areas of STEM together rather as stand alone and it sounds like while you have been focusing on skills such as observation, communication and early scientific thinking you have been addressing the areas of STEM in play based approaches.
For the younger classes, as you have suggested, these lessons can be supported with the use of picture books and visual supports. Even opportunities to dress the teddy for the weather as it would make connections between the weather chart and real life. In saying that, while it may be a focus in junior classes to focus on the weather every day. I must remember to focus on weather more with the senior classes to develop prediction and communication skills. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Elaine,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for your feedback on the Paxi video. It does clearly outline the concept of greenhouse gases. You can then choose to pause the video at different moments to allow for class discussion and even get the learners to create a mind map while watching the video to record and share their learning.
The Teal tool would allow for lots of learning opportunities, from getting information on temperatures in the past, present and future. Learners could also gather real life data to create their own trend graphs or bar charts. For other younger learners, a worksheet, as you have suggested, would guide their learning and use of the tool. It is always important for the learners to reflect on action they can take in school, at home and in their wider community to ensure meaningful connections.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Mark,
Welcome to the course. It is great to see you have downloaded the satellite tracker. I hadn’t realised that there was a link between the robot lawn movers and satellites overhead but you can see how the broadband satellites would link in with this also. But as you have mentioned, a learning opportunity all the same.
I have tracked the ISS with my class and watched their live feed but I hope to explore satellites a bit more during space week where some learners will check and record the satellites at the same time each day for sharing with the class.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Lauren,
Welcome to the course and thanks for your feedback on the documentary Home. The documentary is engaging with lots of imagery and clips that could be used in the classroom. I agree that shorter clips would work well for the learners and it also allows for the teacher to choose topics relevant to the class at their level and with their interests in mind.
I really like your idea to run mini investigations and research about different parts of the world from the video. It will give the learners agency and allow them to be autonomous over their learning. It does allow for a variety of skills as you have mentioned also.
I hope you are enjoying the course.
Hi Denis
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper and the resources in this module. I also really like your approach of no questions allowed time in the lesson to encourage the learners to problem solve with their peers and think critically about their activity. I think I will also give this a try next year with my class.
It is important to teach vocabulary first prior to these lessons, this could be within the oral language lesson in English. Once the learners have acquired and understand the different terms, it helps them to engage more with videos or more technical investigative parts of the lesson.
I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Barbara
Welcome to the course and it is great to hear your feedback on the resources for this module. I think the Weather or Climate is a great lesson, even for senior classes, to address the concept of weather and climate.
Creating a weather station with the senior classes allows them to take total ownership of their learning, from creating the weather instruments to recording the data and share with the wider school. As they get familiar with everything they can share their own predictions also. It is definitely something I must look into with my own class next year. While we have recorded data over shorter intervals, maybe we could look at data over a longer term.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Niamh,
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback on the resource in this module. Having used it with my own class, they really enjoyed working with the satellite images and comparing the different images. It allowed for lots of discussion and critical thinking. As you have outlined, this approach allows for active and playful learning opportunities which is part of the new STEM and SEE curriculum. Thanks for sharing your feedback and thoughts on school self evaluation.
Hi Richard,
Welcome to the course, there are so many satellites that pass over Ireland and I too have focused on the ISS with my own senior classes and next year I will focus on the other satellites that pass over on a daily basis. It is also fascinating to see the different roles each satellite has whether it is for internet, weather forecasting or images of the Earth’s surface. Like you, this is something I will look into with my own class next year, maybe during Space Week in October. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Fionnuala,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the documentary Home. I agree that it is important to present the information in a solution focused manner as there can be a level of anxiety among children about global warming and its effects. I think it is also important to choose different clips from the documentary that you feel are suitable for the learners in your class. As you have suggested you can then focus on action that the learners can take whether it is at home, in school or in the local community.
I hope you have enjoyed the course.
Hi Sandra,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your observation plan with your 4th class. It is important to get the learners to stand in the same spot and as you have suggested, marking it with chalk. You could also consider the poles, trees, houses or other man made items to guide their observations, is it closer to the pole now, has it moved from behind the tree? Just some examples.
I like how you are planning on measuring shadows and comparing the length of shadows across the day, this will also be a great example of real life maths and making connections between maths and science and the skills of using a compass to find the direction also. Great ideas, thanks.
Hi Anne,
Welcome to the course. This module does make us reflect on the night sky around us, our experiences as a child, I also grew up in a rural area, and what the learners in our classes can see in the night sky, or cannot see if they are in an urban area. I agree that the wonder and awe of the night sky can be lost among busy urban areas due to the artificial lighting.
For our learners, it is important to recognise the sources of natural and artificial light and identify what can be done in the local area to improve the use of artificial light – such as down lighters and showing the learners in the class the differences between the different types of lights and how they can help biodiversity at night. This would also help to guide their research on how it impacts their own local area. There are lovely ideas to guide your learners and support them in their research, thanks for sharing.
