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Strand: Natural Environments
Strand Unit: The local natural environment / Land, rivers and seas of Ireland
Lesson ObjectivesBy the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:
Identify and locate the major rivers of Ireland (e.g. Shannon, Liffey, Boyne, Nore, Suir, Barrow, Lee, Blackwater, Erne, Foyle) on a map of Ireland.
Describe some key features of rivers in Ireland, such as their source, mouth, and course.
Explain the importance of rivers in Ireland for settlement, transport, agriculture, and recreation.
Compare and contrast two major Irish rivers in terms of their length, location, and use.
Use geographical skills (map reading, using an atlas, and interpreting symbols) to gather and present information about Irish rivers.
Appreciate the role rivers play in shaping the Irish landscape and influencing human activity.
Lesson content and activities:
– Watch the following presentation made using Gamma
https://gamma.app/docs/Major-Rivers-of-Ireland-Discovering-Our-Waterways-363x3utb6zhyigb
– Discuss and play games made on Gamma
https://gamma.app/docs/Test-Your-Knowledge-Major-Rivers-of-Ireland–r9bu5pnedlg1kr7Using ipads and an online map- complete a blank paper map of Ireland and mark in the Rivers.
Assessment- Quiz made using Quizezz.
Reflections
I really enjoyed this module and found it full of great ideas and tips. It is important to keep data regulations and ethical guidelines in mind when planning. I hope to
integrate AI meaningfully into my 5th and 6th class teaching by using it as a support for the new Maths Curriculum and across SESE. For Maths, AI tools can generate differentiated practice homework tailored to pupils’ abilities, ensuring that all learners are both supported and challenged. This allows you to focus more class time on problem-solving and reasoning, while still reinforcing core number and algebra skills at home. In SESE, presentation tools like Gamma can be used to create visually engaging and interactive resources on topics such as rivers, history, or local studies. Pupils can also co-create slides with AI support, helping them to develop research and digital literacy skills. By integrating AI in these ways, you make learning more accessible, creative, and efficient, while preparing pupils with the critical thinking and technology skills they will need in secondary school and beyond.
I liked the reminder to keep the SSE guidelines in mind as well as the Digital Learning framework. I now need to brush up on my own knowledge of coding and using the various AI tools in order to keep up with the class. I will also be keeping tat TED talk in mind when correcting sentences and homework stories to see can i spot which have been generated using chat GPT.
Thank you for a great course.Great ideas Padraig. I also want to try using picture analysing AI tools and have the children explore using different prompts to create their own posters and slogans.
I also liked your above ideas of having the children themselves discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using AI in the classroom. Should we have a set if rules for different subjects for example.
The weekly plan is a great way to focus ideas and to use it to help implement the new Maths curriculum and tie it to everyday activities.
Wow- so much info in this module, I want to try everything!!! I think Khan Academy looks brilliant and so many uses. I would use Khan Academy as a complementary learning tool to support my 5th class pupils, particularly in maths and science. The platform offers high-quality, curriculum-aligned lessons, videos, and interactive exercises that can reinforce classroom teaching. By assigning specific topics, I can tailor activities to individual student needs, allowing for differentiated learning.
Khan Academy’s interactive practice questions provide instant feedback, which helps pupils identify and address misconceptions straight away. This encourages independent learning and builds confidence, while freeing me to give more targeted support to those who need it.
I would also use Khan Academy for homework tasks or extension work, enabling students to progress at their own pace. The built-in tracking tools allow me to monitor progress, spot gaps in understanding, and celebrate achievements.
Overall, I would use Khan Academy because it promotes self-directed learning, supports mastery of key concepts, and offers engaging, visual explanations that can benefit all types of learners in my class.
I had a very similar reaction — I was amazed by just how many AI tools are available and the incredible variety of things they can do! It was a lot to process, but also really energising. One tool that stood out to me was Microsoft Reading Coach. The concept of students receiving immediate, tailored feedback on their reading—without relying solely on the teacher—is such a game-changer. It’s a brilliant way to promote independent learning and cater to different needs in a realistic way, especially in busy classroom settings.
I also really enjoyed the way the teacher used the Co Pilot Image creator to demonstrate the importance of using your words to create a vivid description and then to see their words come to life. I’m looking forward to having my class try this next year and building writing lessons around it.
Magic schools has a wealth of ideas and options… One I will definitely be using is the creation of social stories, we have many different issues arising during the year and no offense to it but Walk Tall is getting outdated at this stage. It will be beneficial to make the stories more engaging and easier to empathize with using the social story creator. In all it was a very beneficial module.
I’m very excited to try Gamma for this… There’s so much fabulous local history around us and so much time can be saved using this tool. Great idea. Thank you
<p style=”text-align: left;”>I too have a wide range of needs in my classroom and having something like Immersive reader would even help read out Maths problems for children who struggle with the reading but are able for the Maths. Also agree with using it for assessment and differentiation, great timesaver.</p>
A very interesting module. The platforms of Squirrel and Carnegie look very interesting, maybe one day they’ll be free for us to try!
I like the idea of using Minecraft education, it’s one the children are already interested in so would be engaging and fun for them.
Immersive reader would be very helpful in helping children read at their level, my classroom is multi grade with a majority of EAL so would allow for more independent work, providing we actually had enough iPads for all!.
My main take away however is how I can use AI in my planning and sourcing resources and material. I found the Maths plan useful in that I always know what I want to teach but AI will help me focus my objectives and give ideas for differentiation. I have also used in in my teaching of features of poetry, using the prompt -write me a poem full of similes/metaphors.
As for the challenges, access to equipment in most Irish schools will hinder really getting to use AI as well as being aware of GDPR guidelines. We need to be more and more aware of safety online.
Regarding the video on the use of AI in China… Terrifying!! I nearly expexted the headband to give a little electric shock if it sensed a child not paying attention. We as teachers need to watch the children ourselves, there’s a lot more to school than academics. We are the ones with the children everyday and we know their faces, their moods, when something is bothering them… Looking at a screen to see who’s working takes all that away. Please God we never see it.
Moira, I live the idea of the pupils using AI during SESE. I would use it to help with differentiation, to summarize the longer chapters the senior room have, to take the main points and let those be the focus for various groupings.
I found this module to be so explanatory, and simple. Taking the fear out of AI. My initial thoughts when starting to hear about it( and I was surprised to see how long it’s actually been around) was that I’d never get the hang of it but once I started to play around with it, I can see the possibilities are endless.
I have tried simple uses with my class such as generating poems to support local sports teams, to make poems focused on the poetic feature I was teaching and to generate images.
Children respond so well to technology and we learn so much through screens and media so they will enjoy it as we explore the possibilities together. I have used Chat GPT to simplify Maths explanations and generate problems based on our topics also.
I was also interested in the other options as well as using chat cpt and creating different accounts. Like I said before, the possibilities are endless.
A great idea to use the example of the poor Olympic swimmers who had to compete in the River Seine. Ye are very lucky to have a river close by and I love the idea of using first hand experience to find evidence of flooding to show the impact it can have even when flood has receeded. It would be interesting to research if the river has always flooded or it it only in more recent times and investigate possible causes. A great way to link History and interviewing older generations.
Research question: The effect of urbanisation on our local parks and how it impacts the wildlife and plants that call them home. Can we also see evidence of climate change of simpley the effect of weather in our parks?
I Would undertake this research after having completed the various activites in the previous modules and having watched videos such as Home and Greta’s speech to raise interest. We would begin by taking field trips to two/ three local parks close to different urban areas- a large county town( compare the town park with a more rural/wilder one) a smaller town and a village park. What makes each one a good/ bad place for these plants/ animals?
I would like to children to see are there any positives/differences for plants/ animals for parks that are maintained regularly or let grow free. We would investigate things such as the traffic close by/ bin availability/ pathways etc. I would encourage the use of the EO browser to see have many trees been cleared to make these parks and how they have changed over the years. How do you think these changes have affected the wildlife? I would also look back on photos we took of the park on last years outing before our trip and see can we see any effects of storms etc in the year- could climate change be affecting these parks too.
We would investigate the plants and animals that call the parks home and I would make it a year long project by comparing the parks in winter/ summer. We would record our findings using photos, video, drawings etc.
Part of our SSE development plan is to improve home school links so I would invite some parents who work in the parks in to speak to the children. I would also encourage the children to take a trip with their parents to these parks as a family day and write about the experience.I also downloaded this activity and love your idea of giving children the opportunity to match images with Irish ones, or even ones from our local town. The EO browser might be able to help with this. Or simply google images maybe??
The EO Browser is a fantastic free resource that allows users to search for high quality satellite images of anywhere on earth. It is easy to use by following a few simple steps( shown in a helful tutorial video). I know my class will definately enjoy exploring it, especially as a lot of them are from different countries so it will provide a wonderful opportunity for them to show the rest of us their home towns.
There is great scope to use this in the classroom from the obvious geographical areas such as searching for effects of deforestation, identifying harvest fields, following a rivers journey and learning about mountains, to the broader links of data collection in Maths and using images as a stimulus for creative writing in English.
I love how you can choose the dates of the images so we can see in real imagery the changing landscapes over time, the growth of towns and infrastructure, the effcsts of natural disasters such as earthquakes or wildfires etc.
I would allow the children plenty of time over a session of lessons to use the tool and explore. I would alos link to our next green flag theme of travel- can we see how roads have changed, monitir pollution overs cities, plan routes for walkways in town etc. Overall it is a brilliant resource, and not forgetting, free.