[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Rachel

Welcome to the course.

Exploring the moon is a great topic but particularly for our younger pupils and I think they will find it fascinating as they observe the moon in the morning time as they may only associate the moon with the night time. A moon observation log is a great idea to record the pupils’ observations and allow them to share their own thoughts on the changes in the moon to explore the concept of the phases of the moon. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Denis

Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your own experience of light pollution in the area around your school.

Exploring Dark Skies with the pupils initially will engage the pupils and raise awareness of light pollution through comparing their local area with the dark sky reserves. The ESO resources would also support their learning as you have mentioned.

Exploring the local area in the night time and drawing or observing the street lights is also a nice idea to raise awareness among the pupils and encourage them to take action such as writing letters to local politicians as you have mentioned. Pupils can also raise awareness of light pollution at home and encourage others to take action too. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Aisling

Thanks for sharing this comprehensive list. I like how you have included the Aboriginal Star Maps and their sky stories. I remember visiting the Outback in Australia and being fascinated by the lovely stores from the Aboriginals. I even bought calendars at the time with images of their artwork. Something, I will look into again this year with my class.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Orlaigh

Welcome to the course. I like your idea to explore biodiversity in the local area through a light v night mini projects. Engaging the pupils to explore their own local area and make their own observations will give them ownership of their learning. I also like how you plan to explore this across many curricular areas. This will allow for meaningful connections with their learning and how the pupils can be active themselves in reducing light pollution. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Sharon

Welcome to the course, I agree that observing the sun could be explored across the school year to allow for seasonal changes and this would be especially engaging for the senior pupils. Giving the pupils in the class specific jobs to record their observations each week will give the pupils real ownership of their learning and encourage collaboration as the whole class will reflect on the results. I also like how you plan to teach about the seasons to enhance their knowledge and understanding. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Jane

Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your lesson plan for sundials. To fully explore the concept of the sun’s movement and the changes of shadows, it is important to explore this on a sunny day but I like how you have planned for indoor activities. Creating the sundial allows for creative extension as you have mentioned, however, it could also be more central to the lesson to ensure the pupils are making connections with the knowledge and concepts of sundials. I like how you plan to explore connections in History to further develop the pupils’ knowledge.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Linda

Welcome to the course.

I like how you plan to explore the sun dial and how it was used in an open ended manner initially, this will lead the pupils to come to their own conclusions of the link with time as you have mentioned. I think it is important to explore the shadows on the lining paper outdoors if possible to ensure the shadow moves and the pupils can make the link between the movement of the sun and the movement of the shadow. It is also a good opportunity to integrate with Maths as you have mentioned fractions and also exploring the cardinal points. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Damien

Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing the example of building a shelter for a toy animal in your class. As you have mentioned it is important to explore all areas of STEM in a meaningful way to ensure it is engaging for the pupils. Through building this shelter the pupils will be engaged and will have lots of opportunities to build skills such as team work and collaboration but also design and make skills. I also agree that it is important for pupils to explore many options so there is not one right answer.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Niamh,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the activities in the resource Nose High Up in the Sky. In my own class they loved to explore the different images and what they look like from the ISS. I also found a live stream from the ISS during Space Week last year and from watching it the class predicted where the ISS could be and what continent it was passing over. They were fascinated. This is a link to track the ISS on a map as the live stream isn’t working this evening. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/Where_is_the_International_Space_Station

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Niamh,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the activities in the resource Nose High Up in the Sky. In my own class they loved to explore the different images and what they look like from the ISS. I also found a live stream from the ISS during Space Week last year and from watching it the class predicted where the ISS could be and what continent it was passing over. They were fascinated. This is a link to track the ISS on a map as the live stream isn’t working this evening. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/Where_is_the_International_Space_Station

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Isobel

The documentary Home is very visually appealing and it would great to watch aspects of this in your own class. However, as you have mentioned it depends on your own class and I agree that you should introduce the climate change facts gradually and sensitively with a view to showing pupils what they can do and empowering them to make changes in their own local area such as recycling and reducing energy use as you have mentioned.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Rachel,

There has been lots of great ideas both across this module and in the forum for teaching the weather, regardless of what class you are in, pupils love to explore the weather and be a weather reporter whether in Irish or English. I have used A3 maps with symbols in my class for pupils to create their own weather forecast and then present it on the smartboard or using the green screen. They can use lots of topic specific language in their forecasts and also make meaningful connections with the lessons on the weather.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Mary,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this module. I agree that the weather station would be best built after a series of lessons on the weather and climate in order to give the pupils more understanding of these concepts and they can make real-life connections as they create their own weather station. Creating their own weather forecasts using a green screen is always great fun, I have tried this as Gaeilge too to support language and vocab development.

I really like your idea to colour code the weather and it would make it an accessible way to record the weather for all pupils. It is a great idea and would make a beautiful weather chart in any classroom.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Patricia

Thanks for sharing the book recommendation Mae among the Stars. It would be a lovely book to explore during Space Week and to link with History as we could explore the lives of people who travelled to Space and the significance of Mae Jemison as the first African American woman to travel into space.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Aisling

Thanks for sharing about NASA’s Daily Moon Guide. I will check this resource out for my own class during Space Week this year.

 

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