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Hi Rachel,
Thanks for sharing lots of lovely ways to introduce the infant classes to the concept of light pollution. This can be a difficult concept for these younger pupils but it is important to make them aware of the changes they can make at home from a young age also.
Hi Sharon,
I know that I have become quite the star gazer having completed the course myself, the night sky and the solar system are always fascinating to children and it doesn’t matter what class they are in. I love the idea of Star Gazing Journal something I might explore with my own class during Space Week this October. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Aoife
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your lesson on observing the planets. There are many online resources and apps as you have mentioned in your post, but you could also consider Stellarium which can show you the night sky in your own local area and point out the planets to make it easier for the pupils to make their own observations at home. Would you consider the planet logbook more central to your lessons rather than an optional activity in the class?
Hi Aimee,
Lots of lovely ideas here, I like how you plan to link the moon observations with a picture book and Oliver Jeffers has fabulous books to link in with the night sky. Thanks for noting the phase of the moon on the cover in order to discuss with the pupils and also build the specific vocabulary on the phases of the moon.
Hi Michelle
Welcome to the course
I like how you plan to introduce the concept of shadows through a picture book initially, this will be very engaging for the pupils. I love to use picture books for all different subjects, even in the senior classes. Younger children also love exploring with chalk outdoors and allowing the children to trace around their shadows at different times in the day will allow them to discover how their shadow has moved and make connections between the shadow moving and the sun moving themselves. Thanks for sharing I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Niamh
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper. I think that as teachers we can all be a little guilty of covering STEM specific to the curricular area and this paper encourages us to broaden our approaches and to view STEM as a holistic approach to these curricular areas.
I really like how you used the real life scenario of the storm to explore it in more detail. I know you mentioned that it was not part of the weekly plan but sometimes we have to take these learning opportunities to ensure it is meaningful and relatable for the pupils, as you have said you can relate it to what is going on in the world around us to further engage pupils.
Hi Liz,
Welcome to the course and I am glad that the activities in this module were enjoyable and can be adapted to suit many classes. I think it is important to address the differences between climate and weather, as you have mentioned it is not until you sit and think about them that it becomes obvious. So in our own classes I think it is necessary to explicitly teach the difference between weather and climate to ensure pupils are familiar with each concept.
I like how you plan to set up a committee in the class to take responsibilities for recording the temperature and displaying the results in the class for everyone. It ensures pupils take ownership of their learning and assume a level of responsibility in recording the data.
Hi Conor,
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts on the resources in this module. The Weather Detectives allows for many learning opportunities and skills development and as you have mentioned this could be used across the school year. In my own class I explore the weather in Term 1 the first year and Term 2 or Term 3 the second year. This allows my class to compare the data from year to year or month to month. I really like how you plan to share their results/data through social media or on the school website. It is a fantastic opportunity to share learning among the school community.
Hi Marie
Welcome to the course.
I agree that the Paxi video is an effective approach to introducing the concept of climate change and greenhouse gases to our pupils. I also agree that the TEAL tool would be very engaging for pupils, I hope to explore this with my own class this year, and it would be a great tool to support critical thinking among the pupils. Pupils could compare their own local area with another area in the world that they are familiar with to further enhance their critical thinking and the use of the TEAL tool. As you have mentioned the activity would ensure climate change is explored in an accessible way in the classroom.
Hi Nicola
Welcome to the course. I agree that exploring the pupils’ own prior knowledge is important to address any misconceptions and also to establish what the pupils know about the concepts or topic.
The TEAL tool is a fantastic learning resource and I agree it is more suited to a senior class level. Pupils would enjoy exploring the results for their own local area and could also compare it to another area they are familiar with. I also like how you plan to explore this further with the pupils using slides or other presentation methods. You could consider encouraging the pupils to reflect on actions they could take to support the environment and reduce Greenhouse gases.
Hi Denis
Welcome to the course. I agree that exploring relatable scenarios such as remembering the weather on their birthday will further explore the concept of weather and also demonstrate the difference between weather and climate.
Weather Detectives also allows for lots of enquiry based learning and exploration. Allowing the pupils to record the weather using instruments gives them ownership of their learning and as you have mentioned the pupils can record their own data and use this data to enhance maths skills. There are lots of opportunities to explore weather across multiple curricular areas.
Hi Edel.
Welcome to the course. I think the lesson to explore weather on your birthday is a great opportunity for discussion on the different types of weather and as you have mentioned even though pupils’ birthdays are in the same month, it could be very different weather for each day. This will also help to address the difference concepts of weather and climate.
If the pupils can record their own data of the daily temperature it gives them real ownership of their learning. As you have mentioned it will also allow for skills development and the collection of their own data which can then be explored in maths to create trend graphs etc. My own class have loved recording the temperature, then using this data and exploring other weather instruments.
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.
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.
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.
