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Hi Sinead,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your own insights on STEM in your current educational setting. I can see how exploratory play such as water play will address the concepts of floating and sinking in an appropriate way for the learners in your class.
As you have mentioned when learning is based on the children’s interests, abilities and everyday experiences this allows for meaningful connections and can address all STEM subjects. While this works for your setting, we should all reflect on how we can build on this in our own educational settings too.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Aine,
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on light pollution in your own local area. As areas are developed with housing estates and commercial areas this can have a big impact on light pollution.
I like how you are planning to explore the concept of light pollution and looking at the amount of stars in different areas. You could also consider some images of rural and urban areas to compare the night sky and as you have mentioned getting families involved in their own observations too. This will also allow for engagement with citizen science and Globe at Night and I like how you plan to use the resources from Globe at Night to help with the observations too.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Claire,
Welcome to the course, it is great to hear your thoughts and feedback on the 30 Days and Nights in the World resource. As you have mentioned it has great use of images to explore nocturnal animals and recognise the difference between nocturnal and diurnal animals. The resource also includes practical activities to explore day and night in the world.
For this assignment task, you should also consider how you could use this resource and adapt it for your own class.
Hi Lauren,
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback on Stellarium. As you have mentioned it is a great stimulus for learners to engage them in thinking and wondering about the night sky. It can also be helpful in guiding the learners for their own observations of the night sky at home. When specific planets are visible, I have shown my class how to find it on Stellarium, what direction to look in etc. and this has helped them at home. I also sent the link home for parents to engage with the resource too as some of my learners were very interested and engaged in this topic.
I like how you are planning to allow the learners to explore Stellarium and get familiar with finding different planets etc. and how you plan to extend this and explore the constellations too. This allows for integration with literacy and Art. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Siobhan
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback on the activities in this module.
The weather or climate activity is very good to explore each concept and as you have mentioned to address any misconceptions the learners might have. As you have senior classes there is lots of opportunity for discussion and critical thinking. The weather detectives activity is also great for senior classes to give them responsibility in recording their own observations and gathering data over a period of time and then comparing it as you have mentioned, there are lots of opportunities to integrate with maths and using digital tools to display their findings.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.
Hi Cian,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your feedback on the Paxi video. It is very engaging and addresses the concept in an age appropriate way. I agree that reviewing vocabulary in a previous oral language lesson would help the learners in engaging with the video and the content and ensure understanding of the concept.
I like how you are planning to look at the learners’ local area first and the impact of changing temperatures and climate change relevant to the learners. While they may be enjoying the heat wave at the moment, what is the impact on farmers and biodiversity.
I agree that the Paxi video and the Teal tool compliment each other very well and allows for meaningful connection of knowledge and real life scenarios. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Jacqui,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Paxi video and how to use this in your senior class. I like how you are planning to get the learners to record their learning, they could also construct a mind map as they watch the video to note interesting points and make connections too.
The Teal tool is a fantastic resource, and would need some teacher demonstration initially prior to the learners engaging with the resource independently. I think looking at the Irish context initially is a great idea, looking at the changes in Irish temperatures and then exploring countries familiar to the learners.
I agree that looking at local examples of climate action would be great and encourage the learners to reflect on action they too can take part in. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Noelin
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper and how you have planned for STEM based activities in your own class. Bird Feeders were a great STEM project this year and it allowed for meaningful connections with real life problems. During the heavy snow in Cork in Jan 2025, I myself went looking for options on how to feed the birds around my house. And as you have mentioned there was lots of trial and error and decision making during the process.
It is important to teach the concepts of weather and climate and as you have mentioned to explore the definition of both prior to looking at climate zones around the world. I like how you are planning to measure the temperature across different seasons to allow for comparison of both.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Hazel,
Welcome to the course. Activity 1 offers an age appropriate explanation and lesson to discuss the difference between the concepts of weather and climate. While I think it is a great idea to explore the different climate zones around the world as you have outlined, I think the learners should have the knowledge of the different concepts prior to this and be able to make connections with their learning when exploring the climate zones. I agree that weather can influence daily life depending on the climate and we can see that with the heat wave at the moment and the impact of it.
I think measuring the temperature over 2 different seasons allows for lots of critical thinking and comparisons which would allow for lots of skills development also. I like how you are planning to integrate with maths in the creation of charts and graphs. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this module. I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Aoife.
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Paxi video. As you have mentioned, it is very engaging and informative for the learners. I think exploring the pupils’ prior knowledge is a great start to these lessons, to assess what they know already and address any misconceptions (if there is any). I agree that while the lesson is informative, some vocabulary should be taught prior to the lesson to ensure the learners can engage fully and as you have mentioned, activities and written tasks may have to be modified to suit the learners in your own class. It is great to engage the learners in peer and self assessment also to allow them autonomy over their learning. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Laura,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson idea using the Paxi video. I agree that it is important to review the learner’s prior knowledge as this can also give you the opportunity to address any misconceptions or also to reduce the anxiety around climate change and greenhouse gases.
The video is a great way to engage the learners as you have mentioned and I like how you are planning for project work on calculating average temperatures, the Teal tool would be a great resource for the learners to explore when focusing on future temperature changes also. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Sharon,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the documentary Home. It provides lots of powerful imagery which focus on a wide range of topics as you have outlined. You could consider choosing different clips from the documentary to focus on with your class and then working on the posters and art displays you have mentioned. I like how you are planning to explore ways the learners themselves can take action, beginning with the school and perhaps they can transfer this to home and their local community also.
I like how you are planning to explore it in history also, looking at the changes in cars, electricity and the impact it has had on Earth over time.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Donna,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your insight into Liston’s paper given your educational setting. I agree that learners with dyslexia are ‘think outside the box learners’ and this thematic approach allows them to explore all areas of STEM within project based thematic learning. This would allow for skills development such as collecting data, analysing and communicating results without the need for text based activities. It is great to hear how you will adapt the activities to suit the needs of your learners in a very practical way and you have also demonstrated inclusion through the use of technology which allows learners to share their thinking and knowledge. This is so informative and something we can all reflect on when working with learners with reading difficulties.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Irene
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the activities in this module.
When I had infants, it was the natural start to the day, news and discussing the weather and dressing the weather bear. You could also explore the weather in both Irish and English. As you have mentioned the weather detectives activity is great at helping the learners to discuss the weather every day. While the weather station might be a little difficult for the infants, you could model the different instruments over time and build up the vocabulary on the weather and focus on the weather chart every day. You could also give responsibility for some learners to update the chart after their observations too. I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Carol,
Welcome to the course. What a lovely idea to use the school buddy system and drawing shadows to explore this concept initially. While the junior infants will learn about their shadow moving, the 6th class will get the opportunity to use this knowledge and apply it when they are making their own sundial.
The shadow activity, while very engaging, also allows for lots of discussion and critical thinking and as you have mentioned, the sundial would then be a very engaging project for the school. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
