[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Olivia,

Welcome to the course, how interesting that you noticed the sundial in the local garden today and maybe not have noticed it before. It does allow for an ideal introduction to the sundial if this garden is local to where you are teaching. I like how you will encourage the learners to choose the locations for the sundials initially as this will allow for creativity and critical thinking as they choose which location works best and why, as you have mentioned.

There are lots of opportunities for cross curricular integration as you have mentioned including the measure of time in different ancient civilisations in history. Thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the other modules in the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Sheelagh

Welcome to the course. I like how your school encourages shared learning and you plan to use the sundial and allow your 6th class to share their learning with the younger classes.

I also like your plan to create the sundial outdoors as shown in the module but also giving the learners the opportunity to create their own. As you have said it is important for the learners to have hands on experience in creating and using the sundials to make the concept concrete for them.

There are great ideas here, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Katriona,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your observation plan for the sun. I like how you are planning for discussion and predictions before the observations to engage the learners. I like how you are planning for a number of observations across the day and to repeat the activity over a number of days also. You could consider focusing the learners on where the sun is in relation to landmarks such as trees or other buildings to guide their observations. Photographs may also allow for comparison of their observations back in the classroom. I like how you have considered different options for the learners to present their learning such as drawing or creating a chart of the position of the sun. Lovely ideas, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Owen,

Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback on the climate reporters activity from this module. The video provides as accessible starting point, as you have said, you could consider pre teaching some of the specific vocab prior to watching the video or allowing time to discuss the vocab following the video either. This would allow for more engagement with the concepts outlined in the video.

The Teal tool is a fantastic resource and ideal for the senior classes. You could consider exploring the resource as a demonstration initially before the group work you have suggested. This would ensure all learners can engage with the resource. As with all resources, it is important to modify them to suit your own class and you could modify the worksheets as you have mentioned to ensure all learners can engage with the tasks.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Julie,

Welcome to the course. Explroing biodiversity is a good starting point for the Green Schools Committee and you could consider how their initial exploration could support learning about biodiversity for the whole school.

I like how you are going to create a base map of the biodiversity initially with a plan to improve it with further consideration for nocturnal animals. Within the wildflower area you could also consider plants for night time pollination to further support nocturnal insects. I like how you are also including the learning from the light pollution module in the plan and considering reducing light in the area to support nocturnal animals. While the Green Schools Committee could be involved in the development of the plan, you could consider how this could be shared with other classes to involve more learners in bringing the plan into action and raise more awareness of biodiversity specific to nocturnal animals and insects.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you have enjoyed the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Hilary,

Welcome to the course. I think the Aurora Borealis has raised a lot of awareness on light pollution. While I live in a rural town, I was not lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis whereas my sister who lives in a small rural village had the perfect view. It is a great starting point as there are so many beautiful photos you could use to compare what the learners could see and what others in darker rural areas could see. This allows for real life connection for the learners and lots of critical thinking.

I think it is also a great idea for the learners to take photos of the night sky from their own house for comparison too. Great ideas, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Grace,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on light pollution in your own local area. You are very fortunate to live in a rural area but as you have mentioned, even our rural areas are growing and there is an increase in light pollution in these areas too.

I like how you plan to explore the night sky with 1st class and engage in discussion around what lights need to be on at night. You could also consider showing photos of a night sky in a very rural area and an urban area for comparison. This will allow for critical thinking and consider the impact on the nocturnal animals for more critical thinking.

I think it is a nice idea to link with home with some observations at home and to introduce light pollution at home. This might encourage the learners to take action at home and in school. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Susanne

Thanks for sharing your approach specific to your own class. I think that this approach could work for many other classes too. I like how you are planning to use the photographs, a weather walk and story book for vocabulary development and as you have mentioned to provide for concrete experiences prior to explore the scientific aspects of the weather.

These activities do allow for hands on and playful learning experiences which are, as you have mentioned, central to the new curriculum specifications and allows for cross curricular learning too.

Thanks for sharing your reflection on these tasks and how you would adapt them for your own class.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Elaine

Thanks for sharing a lovely integrated Arts plan which explores Birr Castle Demesne. You have outlined some lovely tasks and have used digital tools to support them in their learning back at school for writing tasks and even the soundscape to match the images. I also like how you have planned for playful learning experiences which would also support language development as you have mentioned. Great ideas.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Emma,

Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts and reflection on the ideas explored in Liston’s paper. It is great to hear your own approach to planning for STEM allowing for collaboration, creativity and also cross curricular learning.

It is great that you are seeing that the learners are more engaged when they can explore tasks or challenge their own ideas and questions. This allows for an integrated approach to STEM as they are using digital tools, investigations and even design skills to explore their own ideas. While we can always be reliant on a specific approach and set of instructions, I have seen that allowing my own class to explore and challenge their own ideas did allow for more meaningful lessons and connections to their own lives too. Sometimes a thematic approach works well for this as they can use their learning from another area such as History or Geography to support their thinking in STEM.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Michelle

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson idea. I like how you are planning to engage the learners with the prism and exploration of the light splitting through the prism to create the rainbow. This allows for lots of discussion and critical thinking as they consider how we detect things we cannot see.

I like how you have planned for a variety of activities to explore sound and light and for the learners to make connections with their learning as they work through the tasks. I like how you are planning for different ways to present their work. You could also consider some research for some learners to challenge them and give them more responsibility for their own learning. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Sharon,

A pond would be a great biodiversity project for the school. I think during Science Week 2024 live show they created a pond for a school and it might be worth watching the live show for further inspiration for your school.

It is great to have your own experience of creating a pond at home and how you want to bring the same sense of wonder to your own school. I like how you plan to support their investigations of the biodiversity in the pond and you are planning for differentiated recording sheets and identification guides to further engage and support the learners. It sounds like a great plan with different aspect of biodiversity to focus on across the different seasons too. Great ideas, thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Niamh,

It is lovely to hear your own experience of the night sky in North Kerry. I also lived in a rural area but now I live close to a small town so even when the Northern Lights were visible, I missed out because of the street lights and lights from the town.

I think it is a great idea to have photos of the night sky from your local area to compare with the night sky in Dublin. This makes for a very visual and engaging activity as the learners compare them. It allows for lots of critical thinking and discussion too. It would explore the concept of light pollution using their own local area as an example. I like how you are planning to use Stellarium to compare the different areas too and identify that while the constellations are in the night sky, it is harder to see them in Dublin because of the light pollution.

Following up with light pollution survey would allow the learners to consider the action they could take at school and at home too. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Emma,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your reflection on STEM in your own classroom. Through reflection we can see what has been working well and identify what to work such as engineering that you have mentioned.

I like how you are planning to use the images of astronauts to engage the learners and allow for discussion and explore the concept of the weight across the different planets before you create the tube. The starter question would allow for guided discussion too. This task allow for collaboration and develops prediction skills too as you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Ellie,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson idea on creating the sundial in the school. I like how you are planning to explore their prior knowledge and even linking with history and how people told the time before clocks were invented.

I like how you are planning to let the learners explore different areas of the school grounds to identify where to put the sundial. This allows them to take ownership of their learning and to use the information from the video. It allows for lots of collaboration and discussion too. You have allowed for lots of mathematical investigations too to support the learners and allow them to justify the location of their sundial. Great ideas, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the course.

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