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Hi Triona,
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on the documentary Home. It does send a very powerful message regarding the action we need to take for this environmental crisis.
For senior classes this documentary would provide for lots of discussion and you could consider showing smaller clips to the class to support this. It would also give the pupils specific areas to consider when working on posters and projects. There are lots of learning opportunities from this documentary.
Hi Jane,
Welcome to the course and I am glad that you liked the resources outlined in this module. Curious Minds is a fantastic bank of resources for the Irish primary classroom.
The Climate Reporter and Paxi video activities are child friendly and explore the concept of climate change in a child friendly way. As you have said the video would be a great introduction to the topic and lots of discussion following the video would show what prior knowledge the children have and also lead to wondering and exploring. I also like how you plan to use the Teal Tool with children in the class from other countries. It would allow more diverse discussion and critical thinking.
Thanks for sharing your ideas on these resources.
Hi Ainoa Angel,
Welcome to the course and I am glad that you enjoyed the activities in this module. Having used Weather Detectives in my own class they are always engaged in recording the temperature and making comparisons with Met Eireann. We also used the data for our own trend graphs which really brought data to life in my class.
I like your idea to reach out to another class in a different area. I have penpals for my class and it might be a lovely idea to use that to explore weather trends in another area. There are lots of lovely cross curricular options as you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Lora,
What an amazing event to explore the history of the school and to hear about life long ago from the past pupils. Oral history is one thing that can bring history to life and it is important to take these opportunities as they arise and the book you have created is a fantastic record of their learning and of local history. I would have loved to visit your school on the day of the visit. I can just imagine the lovely stories they had to tell.
Hi Natasha,
Welcome to the course and I am glad that you will continue to explore GeoHive with your class next year.
Children in the junior end love to explore their school and their own local area and creating their own map using twigs, stones and other materials from nature would be a fantastic learning opportunity for them.
Google Maps is great also. You can show the children the school and zoom in. And as I learned from a visitor to our school last year, if you bring it up on the screen and trace over the school grounds you can create your own scale map of the school for children to use as they explore the school grounds for insects, trees etc.
As you have said for these younger classes it is important to focus on the places they are familiar with.
Hi Veronica,
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on mapping activities. It is a great opportunity to explore the map of Ireland first and then narrow the focus to their own local area of Dublin as you have mentioned.
Google Maps is a great opportunity for the pupils to explore the city and develop their own digital learning skills. Exploring the areas that are familiar to the pupils will engage them and then exploring this area using GeoHive will allow the children to compare and contrast the area over time and develop many skills in both history and geography.
Creating their own maps is a fantastic opportunity for the pupils to demonstrated their learning in a meaningful context.
Hi Karen,
Welcome to the course and I am delighted that you have lots of resources from this module that you can use with your class next year.
Weather or Climate provides practical examples for the pupils to demonstrate the difference between the two concepts. As you have said when they are clear on the difference between them, the pupils can learn more about the individual topics without confusion.
Weather detectives gives the pupils real ownership of their learning as they are the ones to create the weather instruments and collect the data. As you have said it will maintain their interest and keep them engaged for longer. If you had a friend teaching in a contrasting area it would be great idea to explore the differences between their locations over time. Otherwise you could consider collecting this data at different times each school year to compare seasonal changes etc. I hope you enjoy the course
Hi Valerie
Welcome to the course and I am glad that you loved the film Home. With many striking visuals it is great to engage the senior class pupils on the topic of climate change.
I also like how you plan to bring the children back to issues in their own local area and what changes they can make. While it is important to know the global effects of climate change, I think it is more important to show the children the changes they can make at home and in their own community and how to encourage others to make these changes too. This could also reduce the level of anxiety some children can have regarding climate change.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the videos and ideas for use in the classroom.
Hi Christina
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on the film Home. I agree that you would have to ensure that this film is suitable for the class you have. You could also choose specific scenes or clips from the file to further support the topic you are covering in your class or cover it over a number of days as you have suggested.
Greta Thunberg’s Ted Talk is inspiring and filled with passion as you have said. Children in the senior classes may relate to her more and it will inform them and inspire them on how to reduce emissions and climate change. For younger pupils there is a Green Schools Book Club with a picture book called Greta and the Giants which is a lovely option to explore climate change. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the videos in this module.
Hi Nicole,
Welcome to the course. I hope you enjoy the different modules.
I agree that this resource could be used over several lessons across different curricular areas. As you have mentioned the vocabulary within the video and the resource would take time to fully grasp to engage fully with the activities such as Paxi video. I like how you plan to support this with vocabulary cards also. Children will become more confident in sharing their work and projects and will be able to use this new vocab in context as a result.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this task and I hope your students enjoy it next year.
Hi Michelle
Welcome to the course, I hope you enjoy the different modules.
I agree that the weather or climate lesson is very clear but also very effective to explore the children’s thinking regarding the difference between weather and climate. I also like your idea for the children to colour code the statements to show their learning.
A weather station is a fantastic resource in any school, I used to have a thermometer outside my classroom and children checked it daily, they were so engaged on the colder days to compare the temperature both inside and outside of the classroom. As you have mentioned they could then compare with the Met Eireann data to see how accurate they were. They could then use their own data to generate bar charts or trend graphs. It makes the process of creating and representing data more meaningful for the children. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Hi Diarmaid,
Welcome to the course, I hope you are enjoying the different modules.
Light pollution can have a huge impact on biodiversity. As you have mentioned, nocturnal animals’ behaviours are impacted due to the light pollution. I think that your idea of night walks or star gazing events would increase the awareness of the importance of dark skies and the reduction of light both for the beauty of nature in star gazing but also to preserve the habitats and routines of these nocturnal animals.
Children could also get involved in the conservation groups to learn more from these groups but also how they can get involved themselves, even writing letters to local councillors regarding light pollution in their area. They could also look around their own school to see if any changes could reduce the light pollution too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this module.
Hi Rachel,
Welcome to the course I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the observation plan. I like how to are introducing the topic through the use of the picture book. Every class just love a picture book. It is a great way to introduce the topic and also to learn what the children know already. I also think it is a lovely opportunity to get the parents involved too and sending home links to relevant resources will be a great help to them also. I really like how you want to integrate it with Art to create the solar system. It is a great way to connect all their learning on the planets.
Hi Tanya,
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas for observing planets in the evening sky.
I like how you plan to support parents so they can engage in this task at home such as information sheet and star map. I also really like the idea of a sky journal or planet passport to record the children’s observations and learning.
Stellarium is a fantastic resource and you can show children where the planets will be in the evening sky. My own class used it this year and some were fascinated and used the site at home as well. I hope your class like it too.
Hi Rachel,
Welcome to the course. I hope you enjoy it.
Sundials allow for lots of cross curricular learning opportunities as you have mentioned. Exploring the ancient civilisations and how they used sundials would add to their learning and creating their own sundial. I also like how you are giving the children the responsibility of locating the ideal location for the sundial. This will allow for critical thinking and trial and error as they explore the different locations. Thanks for sharing your ideas for creating a sundial.
