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Hi Emily,
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your thoughts on the ESA resources in this module along with your reflection on Liston’s paper. It is great to allow student’s to collaborate and problem solve on STEM projects, but I agree that more often time constraints can impact this. However, with the new time for STEM in the curriculum specifications this might help.
Setting up a weather station would allow the learners in the class to take ownership of their learning and I like how you plan to share their work in assemblies or on a display board for the whole school community. Great idea to give them responsibility over their own learning and the opportunity to share it with others. Great ideas, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the other modules across this course.
Hi Alison,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the documentary Home. I agree that it is important to promote the positive actions that the learners can take in school, at home and in the wider community which will empower them, as you have said, and not create a level of anxiety around climate change.
I think that it is important to use clips from the documentary that you feel are relevant for your class and as you have said allow for discussion to understand the causes and effects of climate change but in an age appropriate and hopeful way.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Brona,
Welcome to the course and it is great to hear that you liked the activities and resources in this module.
There are good opportunities for cross curricular integration across both activities such as data in maths and also persuasive writing in literacy as you have mentioned. This gives the learners the opportunity to make connections with real life situations and problems. I also like how you are planning to use the climate reporters with senior classes and also link in with the Green Schools Committee in the school. There are lots of ideas on how the learners can take action too. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Helen
Welcome to the course. It is lovely to hear about the Grove across from your school. What a lovely amenity to be able to explore with your class and a great piece of local history too.
I like how you plan to explore the Grove with the learners and look at the trees and plants growing there which you can then place on the map back at school. I agree taking photos of the trees and plants or other aspects of the Grove would add to the map making and make it more interesting.
With the younger learners, a birds eye view may be difficult and while you can introduce the vocabulary, some learners may not get the concept as you have mentioned. I like how you plan to use digital tools to further support the learning and allow for comparisons and even critical thinking at this young age.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Megan
Welcome to the course. Thanks for your feedback on the different resources in this module.
I like how you are planning for a whole school approach to teaching the weather and recording the weather over a period of time in different classes. This would allow for multiple ways of recording the weather whether using pictures in the younger classes to symbols or words in the older classes. And as you have mentioned different types of graphs depending on the class level also.
Nose High Up in the Sky allows for the creation of anemometers and rain gauges and as you have said it would integrate well with maths and art in developing and making these weather instruments. I also like the integration with history in this activity as they explore weather proverbs or weather lore. You could also link with art to develop posters for these weather proverbs too.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Ailish,
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear that you enjoyed the different activities in this module.
As you have said these activities support teaching and learning in the classroom. Weather or Climate helps the learners understanding about the difference between these concepts. Weather Detectives builds on this knowledge and asks the learners to record their own observations on the weather and record data such as the temperature. There is excellent links with maths to explore data, graphs and averages with real life data which is very engaging for pupils. My own class have really enjoyed this too.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi David
Welcome to the course and it is great to hear that you found the resources in this module very beneficial.
Activity 1 explores the concepts of weather and climate in an age appropriate way and as you have said the activity booklet helps to consolidate their learning too.
Activity 2 is great for hands on, playful learning experiences with lots of opportunity for cross curricular learning as you have mentioned. The collection of real life data is always great for the senior classes and they can represent this data using different charts and graphs. I like how you are planning for weather monitors and giving students responsibility over gathering the data and as you said put their learning on this topic into practice.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the many resources across the modules in this course.
Hi Mairead,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your ideas on lessons and resources from this module.
I like your idea of the Mystery Box as it would be very engaging for younger learners. It also allows for critical thinking suitable for younger learners as they explore the item and say when it is used. This is a lovely way to introduce the topic.
The Paxi video and Animals in the Night are also great to engage the younger learners and make connections between their own experience of the night time, understand the concept of day and night and also connections with the nature around them. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Michael
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your plan to observe the sun across the day.
I like how you are planning to record the observations in the science journal and use the compass or landmarks around the school to guide them in their observations. You could consider using playground chalk to create a compass on the yard to also guide their observations and to identify patterns as you have mentioned.
This does allow for lots of skills development and scientific inquiry as you have said. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Caitriona
Welcome to the course and it is great to hear that you enjoyed learning about the scientific history of Birr Castle. Sometimes we can underestimate the local area and the history that surrounds it. I live near Doneraile, in Cork, and recently I went on the tour of Doneraile house and was fascinated by it, somewhere that i’ve been for many many years and didn’t know the history of the house itself.
This module encourages curiosity and develop problem solving through STEM. As you have said it starts with the local area, for real life connections and plan for investigations around this such as biodiversity or even looking at light investigations. Lots of opportunity for creativity and collaboration. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Ciara
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson on mapping skills in 5th class. I like how you are planning to explore different maps initially and allow for comparison with digital tools also. It would allow for lots of discussion and critical thinking.
I like how you are planning to explore different areas within the school grounds and consider biodiversity along with seating and play spaces in the grounds. This gives the learners the opportunity to create a physical map and then explore digital mapping features. As you have suggested lots of opportunities for critical thinking and skills development.
Many thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Sharon,
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your lesson on mapping activities.
I like how you are planning to explore the features of maps first such as title, symbols and the key, and explore this in relation to the classroom which the learners would be very familiar with. I like the progression of your lesson to include map of the school, 3D map and then to use Google Maps to compare with the maps they have created. Lots of opportunities for skills development and critical thinking. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Edel
Welcome to the course and thanks for your posts across the other modules.
I think focusing on a specific area within the school grounds would allow for more meaningful observations and allow for a number of investigations across the seasons as you have mentioned. I like how you are planning for seasonal observations charts to guide the learners and also allow for comparison and critical thinking. I also like how you have considered options for the younger learners also. Digital tools could support their learning too as you have mentioned in map work and you could also consider apps to identify leaves etc.
Thanks for sharing I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Laura
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your own experience of light pollution in Killester. Light pollution is becoming a problem as our cities grow outwards as you have said.
For the learners in your class it is great to focus on artificial light in the school community first. The learners would need some prior knowledge of light pollution and the concept of artificial light prior to their own investigations.
You could also consider a photo of the night sky in their local area and compare it to a photo of a night sky in a rural area or from the dark sky reserve. This would allow the learners to engage in critical thinking as they compare the two photos and understand the artificial light and the impact it can have.
I like how you are planning to incorporate an engineering task into this topic where the learners come up with practical solutions to reduce light pollution. This would incorporate some digital tools also. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Laura,
The local area is always the best resource for learning about plants, animals, birds, insects and the biodiversity of the local environment. So i like how you are planning to explore the local area as biodiversity detectives and record their observations in multiple ways. You could consider including images of nocturnal animals on the tally chart which might lead to discussion why they didn’t find them during their investigation. This might lead to discussion on nocturnal animals and insects and light pollution.
I agree that we should ensure a stronger connection between our learners and the local environment and encourage the learners to take small actions to protect it.
