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Hi Catherine,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your plan on using the earth tube activity with your class.
Using the guide and allowing the children to fill the tubes themselves would allow for maths integration and also skills development. This hands on activity would also allow for critical thinking skills as children can compare the different tubes and comparing the weight across different planets. I like how you have also given the children the opportunity to write about the different planets to support literacy.
Hi Aisling,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the earth tube activity.
This activity can be adapted and used across the different class levels as you have mentioned. I like how you would also use this activity to support skills development in the senior classes and also integrate with maths for measurement skills.
I agree that this is a good activity to introduce the concept of mass and weight as it can cause confusion in secondary school. I hope that you enjoy the course and find many resources to use with your class in September.
Hi Sarah,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the lesson to create a sundial.
Exploring the sundial in other curricular areas will provide the children with knowledge to support them in creating their own sundial. It will work as an effective stimulus and ensure there is meaningful connections of the learning across the SESE subjects.I also like how you plan to support learning across all classes by placing the sundial in the school environment. Your own class will benefit from the responsibility of creating a sundial for others and presenting their work also.
Hi Clodagh,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Day and Night in the World resource.
The images used in this resource would be a great stimulus for an infant class and as you have mentioned that would really appeal to children at this class level.
I like how you are going to get children from senior classes to support the younger class with the activity, children really respond to peer learning and it would support learning for both classes.
There are many different resources in this module to support learning about the earth’s rotation of the sun across many different classes. There are many resources across this course that I hope you will use with your own class in September.
Hi Fiona,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your sundial lesson. I like how you have planned for integration with history and maths which would make meaningful connections across the curricular areas.
There are lots of opportunities for critical thinking when making a sundial as you have outlined in the questions that could be asked such as length of shadows and what makes the shadows. These could also be carried out as initial investigations prior to making the sundial to further support critical thinking and problem solving.
Hi Roisin,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your plan to observe the moon. I like how you have introduced the topic with the video, it is a great stimulus and will allow for open discussion. I like how you will teach the topic specific vocabulary prior to observing the moon also. It will give the class an opportunity to use the topic specific vocabulary in a meaningful context. The use of Stellarium would also allow for this.
There are opportunities for integration as you have mentioned as writing, children could engage in different genres of writing with the moon as the main theme. Children could also engage in art activities to show the different phases of the moon.
Hi Padraic,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper.
A sundial would be a great opportunity for STEAM activity as you have mentioned. I like how you would start with observations which would encourage critical thinking skills such as tracing shadows with chalk across the day. The children using site specific materials would also encourage them to become more aware of materials in their own local environment. I’m sure lots would like to try construct them at home also.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.
Hi Sean,
Welcome to the course and thank you for your comments on module one. There are many resources across the course that I hope you will get to use in your class.
Having a weather station that the class have made gives them ownership of their learning and they can record their own data too which you can integrate with maths.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.
Hi Mary,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the resources in this module.
The images in the One Year on Earth module allow for discussion and as you have mentioned allow for thinking outside of the box. Children could also recreate the photos focusing on a tree in their own school yard to note the differences between seasons. This can work well in an infant class.
There are lots of resources in this module that provide for active learning in exploring the seasons and how the earth rotates around the sun.
Hi James,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your idea for the sundial. I like the idea of using the cone to establish and create your sundial. It also allows for discussion and critical thinking of the location and factors such as shadows etc. There are many opportunities for open ended questioning and problem solving for the pupils in this case.
Creating a sundial is also great for integration with History and for children to make their own meaningful connections between the curricular areas. I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.
Hi Ruadhan,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your ideas on observing the moon.
It is important to explore the stages of the moon using visuals like you have mentioned. From exploring the stages using the visuals the children can then make meaningful connections when they observe the moon for themselves. It is also important to address the misconception that the moon comes out at night and this can be covered in the observation session that you have mentioned on your post. Using the journal is also a nice activity for the children to record their own learning and observations.
Hi John,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper. I am trying to image what a car engine at the back of the room would look like in any school but an amazing opportunity for children to explore all the same. In my own classroom I have the most basic of equipment and resources to allow for STEM challenges, straws and pipe cleaners and even index cards and tape. While it’s not a car engine, it allows for hands on tasks and critical thinking along with being a regulation tool for some.
There are many resources across this course that I hope you can bring back to your own classroom and school in September.
Hi Gina,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the module.
Using proverbs and weather lore is a great discussion point for children and links well with local history. I asked my class to get weather proverbs from grandparents and older relations and they really enjoyed it and I even learned some new ones myself.
The activities outlined in this module are fantastic resources to explore the concept of the weather and allow for skills development such as prediction as you have mentioned.
Hi Christina,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this module.
Light pollution is certainly having an impact on every local area, for children in urban areas they may not see the night sky or realise the impact of light pollution on their area. I really like your idea to link in with family members in other areas and even other parts of the world and look at the night sky from their perspective. This would ideally integrate with Geography too.
The children could also look at the design of the street lights and whether they could be changed to further help light pollution in the local area.
Hi Laura,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this module. I really enjoyed the weather lore and proverbs also. I explored other weather lore with my own class this year and they asked older relatives and grandparents for weather lore. They were fascinated. Our favourite one was Rain before seven, fine by eleven. Just in time for our break.
I also agree that children will take ownership of the weather station when they are building and creating their own weather station. I hope you get lots of other ideas among the great resources across this course.
