[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Edwin,

Welcome to the course. You are very fortunate to have the Obelisk near your school. What a great opportunity to use the explore the heritage and science in your local areas. It is a great idea to visit twice and at different times of the day to explore the different sundials. I like how you plan to allow the children to design and make their own sundials using what they have learned about the obelisk and exploring the garden sundial. This allows for lots of creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. There are lots of cross curricular integration opportunities as you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Anna,

That is a great idea to link in with the wind farm in your local area. I like how you are planning to explore windmills in history and how you have considered how this topic could be approached across the different classes also. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Mary,

It is a great opportunity to link local history with STEM investigations. There are some great ideas to explore the different properties of a variety of materials and I am sure the learners could also design their own fair test investigations too which would give them autonomy of their learning and would be so engaging for pupils.

I also like how you plan to develop the thinking of individual fibres to weaving fibres to make them stronger and then compare the woven fibres for different properties also. There are so many exciting learning opportunities here. Great ideas, thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Yvonne

Welcome to the course. I agree that the video has lovely ideas to map out the different aspects of the local area with a focus of the school grounds for younger classes. It is great to use natural materials which allows for curiosity and creativity and the learners can then recreate the map with other construction toys and resources such as Lego to create a different style of map. This would also provide for Universal Design for Learning as the learners can respond in multiple ways which allows for lots of discussion among the learners as you have mentioned.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Anna,

Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your reflection on your current practice in STEM. I think the 1999 curriculum and text books have made stand alone lessons where integration and topic based learning were not highlighted by some. And we can all be conscious of the many misconceptions and doubt our own knowledge in some areas.

But it is great to hear of the successes too and how you have seen the value of integration in the lessons on Arctice and Antarctic animals. Even developing this to include more curricular areas or planning ahead of how to use the resources across this course to plan for future topics. The new SEE and STEM curriculum will allow for integrated learning for topic and project based learning. I hope you get lots of ideas from across this course for the next school year.

 

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Mary,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience of using the Curious Minds resources in your class setting.

I agree that STEM does not need to be all expensive resources and equipment and can be covered using everyday materials. It is great to hear how the activities can be modified for your class setting and how pupils can engage and respond in different formats. What a great example of Universal Design for Learning. The activities on lenses and mirrors and how the learners in your class learn best when exploring for themselves. This is something for us all to reflect on in our own practice. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Hilda, Sometimes when you copy and paste from word into this forum it can include formatting information. Next time when you right click to paste, click on paste as plain text which can avoid this.

Thanks, Michelle

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Rachel

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper along with reflection on STEM in your own classroom. It is important to give the learners the opportunity to think critically and creatively and give them autonomy in their learning too. It is great to hear that you allow for collaborative work in the different areas of STEM and make connections to real life tasks. As you have mentioned this does encourage engagement, communication along with development of many skills for the future.

I hope you enjoy this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Siobhan

Welcome to the course. It is great to hear that your class will enjoy the many ideas and content from this module.

It is great to take the learning outside when observing the sun. You could also consider observing from a specific spot which has a tree or building that they could compare the location of the sun with each time, this can sometimes help to guide the observations and notice the changes in the sun’s location. And as you have mentioned this also allows for meaningful learning in STEM. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the other modules.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Fiona,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson idea on the sundial. I think this allows for lovely integration with history comparing shadow clocks from ancient Egypt with sundials from the Romans.

I als0 like how you are planning to take photographs of the changes in the shadow across the day which allows for more detailed observations as the learners can compare the images and allows for lots of critical thinking. I agree that it could encourage curiosity, observation and teamwork while also covering many areas of the curriculum. Great ideas. I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Siobhan
Welcome to the course. It is a great idea to link with History when learning about sundials and how people told the time before clocks.

I like how you are planning to position the sun dial in the school garden for other classes to access it. There is lots of opportunity for both skills development and collaborative learning as you have mentioned in positioning the sundial and measuring shadows at different intervals. There are also great follow up learning opportunities as pupils compare results and make connections with other learning about the Earth. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Rachel,

Welcome to the course. Using a poem to introduce the concept of shadows is a great idea to engage the younger learners. I also like how you are planning to explore shadows initially before introducing the concept of the sundial. The learners can make observations on how the shadows move and then when creating a sundial they can make connections with their learning on shadows and the sundial. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Catriona

Welcome to the course. You are very fortunate to have a lovely garden within the school grounds. This would allow for so many learning opportunities and supporting biodiversity. It is great to have the variety of habitats such as the willow tunnel, trees and shrubs. You could consider adding plants to support nocturnal insects to further develop the garden.

I like how you are planning to interview the caretaker also. Getting them involved and allowing the class to plan the questions and identify what can be improved around the school grounds and action the class and the caretaker can do to further support biodiversity.

Thanks for sharing this idea. I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Aine,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson idea on light pollution. It is a great idea to compare two different areas – rural and urban and using images where possible can allow for lots of discussion and critical thinking. The learners in your class could also take photos of the night sky when they are observing it at home or after their youth club for comparison with their peers in the class and to look at the level of light pollution in different areas. You have allowed for lots of inquiry based learning too as they explore the lighting around the school and how it could be improved.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Maria,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on addressing light pollution with the class.

Using images from rural and urban areas allows for lots of discussion and critical thinking as they are comparing and discussing why there is such a difference and the introducing the concept of light pollution and the impact it might have. It is also important to empower the learners with how they can take action as you have mentioned such as closing curtains at home and switching off lights when not needed. It is important to encourage these actions both at home and in school.

I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.

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