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Hi Anne
I really like how you plan to support parents by sending links home to Stellarium. I also like how you are planning to support all children through different resources, offering more structure to the observation, or allowing pupils to create their own observation plan. Having multiple ways for the pupils to engage will really support a Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Thanks for sharing.
Hi Patricia.
Welcome to the course, it is great to hear that pupils will enjoy the different tasks and activities in this module.
I agree that activity 1 allows for lots of discussion which pupils do love as they can offer their opinions and as you have mentioned tease out their ideas without the pressure of writing. Through participating in the discussions it does allow for assessment as the teacher can assess whether they have fully grasped the concepts of weather and climate.
I also agree that activity 2 allows for lots of critical thinking, as you have mentioned pupils are asked to think about what resources are needed rather than it being led by the teacher or a set of instructions. I also think that the pupils may find the task on finding averages of the temperature more meaningful as they are using their own data and as you have said this is a practical way to apply a maths concept to an everyday problem.
These activities do lend themselves towards a weather station which will be outlined in another resource from ESERO. I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Patricia.
Welcome to the course.
I really like how you plan to introduce the concept of a sundial through story telling and creating a problem. This would be very engaging for the pupils and allow for critical thinking and lots of discussion. You have also linked it to ancient civilisations from the History curriculum which is great. I really like how you will support skills development with comparing and contrasting how people have been able to tell the time across periods of History.
You could also consider taking photographs of the sundial each hour to compare them and also allow for more discussion on the difference in the length of the shadow at different times in the day and allow for more critical thinking as they can compare photos.
Thanks for sharing your idea and I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Sean
Welcome to the course. I am delighted that you have found the resources helpful and thank you for your feedback on this module.
The Curious Minds Framework is a great starting point which you can use to plan for many child-led and inquiry based learning in Science. From my own class different questions have arisen from different lessons leading to the pupils planning their own investigation. I also like in the framework how it is not centred around just the investigation part and allows for development of ideas and knowledge.
The unit on light gives a very structured approach and you could consider exploring this in October to link with Space Week.
I hope you enjoy the other modules.
Hi Aimee.
Welcome to the course. I agree that eliciting prior knowledge is necessary at the start of lessons on this topic to explore what they know and also address any misconceptions they may have. The Paxi video is a great way to introduce explore the concept in an interesting and engaging way for the pupils. Your use of photos of recent events such as floods or fires would also allow for lots of discussion and pupils applying what they learned in the video in the discussion.
The Teal tool allows the pupils to explore the changes of temperatures and predict how this will change in their local area or in a contrasting area.
Hi Brid.
This would be a very interesting topic to explore as they also explore the history of their school. I think getting some past pupils or past principals back to talk to the pupils would be really engaging as can learn about what the school was like with 30 pupils rather than the 150 you have today.
Unfortunately as the school grows so too does the building area and as you have mentioned the loss of trees, grass areas and hedgerows and the impact that can have on biodiversity in the area along with the carbon footprint. There are lots the pupils can learn and explore about in this project.
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the resource Nose High Up in the Sky. I agree that there are lots of options in these lessons to ensure they are accessible to all levels.
My own class have really enjoyed exploring weather proverbs from older relatives. It is a great opportunity to link with the lives of people in History and look at weather lore specific to the local area.
I agree that this lesson also encourages pupils to take responsibility for their own learning and allows for lots of skills development too.
Hi Liz,
That is a great point to send the information and link home to parents and encourage them to watch the video themselves prior to the lesson in school. I also think that is a good idea that the pupils have covered some lessons prior to watching the video so they have knowledge and it would reaffirm the class discussions as you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Lorraine.
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on Home. It is a powerful documentary.
I agree that it is best to choose different scenes to show the pupils in your class. Every class is different and the response to different scenes could differ. I also agree that this also allows for reflective discussions and critical thinking and also encourage pupils to reflect on action they can take themselves whether at home or in school or in their local community.
I like how you plan to use their learning to create posters to display around the wider school community to raise awareness and inform others about climate change.
Hi Katie.
Welcome to the course. I agree that showing clips from the documentary Home may be more suitable for pupils, it would also allow for discussion following the clip to allow pupils to share their thoughts and also what steps they can take. It is important to focus on the steps they can take individually and as a class to ensure it is positive and about taking action as some pupils can be quite anxious about climate change, from my own experience, as you have said there are different ways they pupils could engage and learn about climate change through project work.
Hi Laura
Welcome to the course. I like how pair a picture book with different activity. I love using picture books with my own class and it does not matter whether they are infants or senior pupils. They can all relate to picture books. I haven’t heard of the book you have mentioned, Climate Action, but I will have to take a look myself. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Green School Book Club where they have different picture books to link with each Global Goal. I particularly like Greta and the Giants from this list.
Thanks for sharing the book recommendations.
Hi Sarah
Welcome to the course
In my own class they have always enjoyed learning about the weather, they have made their own instruments and gathered their own data. I also have weather instruments from school supplies, however I find they like to make their own and take more responsibility when creating their own instruments too.
I also integrate the weather across Gaeilge and we explore weather forecasting using maps and the whiteboard. If you have a greenscreen it is very engaging as pupils can record their own forecast and use images or maps they have made themselves in their video.
I like how you plan to get the pupils to present their work and to use lots of different resources to do so such as videos, maps and photos. I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Keith
Welcome to the course.
Through creating their own weather instruments the pupils will be engaged and take more responsibility for their learning and the data they can collect. There are lots of opportunities for skills development as you have mentioned such as observation, recording and analysing and many opportunities for critical thinking also.
You have mentioned a weather diary over the course of a week and you could consider exploring this over a longer period. You could also consider Term 1 for the first year and alternate the terms in subsequent years to allow the pupils to explore and compare the data from the previous class. I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Michelle
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear that you are providing for lots of active learning and skills development in STEM activities in your classroom.
The weather or climate activity allows for lots of class discussion as you have mentioned, along with critical thinking using the prompt of weather on their birthday. It helps to pupils to understand the differences between the two concepts.
Weather Detectives has always been a hit in my own classroom, giving pupils the responsibility to check the temperature at the same time every day and recording the data that they can then use with their peers to create graphs and recording averages as you have mentioned. It gives meaningful purpose to the maths lesson when they are using data they have collected themselves and it is a great idea to share your findings with the whole school and acknowledge their work. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Amanda,
Welcome to the course, what a great location to have the Phoenix Park near to your school and to explore the wide varieties of habitats in the area. Your pupils are very fortunate to be able to explore biodiversity in a wide area and also compare it to the biodiversity within your own school grounds. I think getting your pupils involved in citizen science projects will be very engaging and as you have said it will show how they can become contributors to real-world science. I have planned to take part in the Garden Bird Survey with my own class this year to give pupils the responsibility to observe and record the data in their own observation journals too. Thanks for sharing.
