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Hi Sarah,
I agree with you regarding making maths meaningful. I think when the children see maths as playful and that it is all around us, it makes it more relevant.
Unravelling STEM (Liston) argues that STEM should be seen as an integrated subject rather than four separate subjects. She also argues that engineering is the ‘glue’ that integrates science, maths and technology. After reading this, I realise I am guilty of teaching these subjects in the traditional way and I will need to adapt my methods.
Activity 1 (Is it weather? Is it climate?) is a gentle introduction to learning the difference between weather and climate. The starting point of using the children’s birthdays is a clever one as young children would be engaged immediately. The video links provide a great tool to introduce and explain the terms. I really liked the ESA video, Meet the Experts: Weather v’s Climate.
Activity 2(Weather Detectives) is very interesting and ticks all the relevant boxes for STEM. It’s highly adaptable too for use throughout the school. I particularly enjoyed the idea that the recording devices could be designed and made by the children, using recycled materials.
The question I would choose would be ‘What can we do in our class and school to help prevent climate change?’
We would begin with a brainstorming exercise where we discuss what we understand by ‘climate’ and what does ‘climate change’ mean. I would use some of the videos from earlier modules to aid their understanding and to spark their interest.
The children would work in groups and come up with ideas how to involve the whole school. They would present these ideas at school assembly. Suggestions for the school might include Introduction of WOW (Walk on Wednesday), a litter picking timetable so every class takes their turn, an energy chief appointed in every class to ensure lights and whiteboards are turned off when leaving, a poster competition to promote awareness of climate change, everyone in the school completes the carbon footprint calculator and a climate change suggestion box in every class which the green schools could monitor.
We would run this for a period of time and then review, reflect and evaluate how successful it was and what changes we might make.Hi Laura. I agree this is a great activity. I think the resources on the ESA website are fantastic. I like the way you would adapt it for your class.
I used the website https://satellitetracker3d.com to help me locate satellites.
I was really amazed to see how many satellites are out there! I think the children would enjoy this exercise as much as I did.
Here are 5 satellites that have passed over or close to Ireland recently and a short note on their functions.
1. International Space Station (ISS). One of the most commonly observed satellites. It was designed for scientific research in various fields, including biology, physical science and astronomy.
2. NOAA-20. A polar orbiting satellite that provides global observations used for weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
3. STARLINK – various ones. Operated by Space X. It aims to provide high speed internet access.
4. EIRSAT-1. Designed and built by UCD. Serving educational and scientific purposes.
5. Sentinel 1. It offers radar imagery which is useful for monitoring land and sea. Sentinel 2 offers optical imagery used for mapping and water quality. Both of these are part of the Copernicus programme.There was a wide array of videos in this module. HOME was evocative and powerful. It consists of amazing footage of the beauty of our world and at the same time how fragile it is. I would adapt it for a class, viewing smaller select portions, as some children might find it upsetting. We would follow on with a discussion to ensure they understood the content and message and what changes we can make in our own lives.
Climate Aid 2020 and the accompanying song ‘Mad World’ was yet another powerful video and audio. It also focused on climate change and food shortages.
Greta Thunberg is such a brave young lady, and I really enjoyed her Ted Talk speech. I think children would relate to her passion.
I thought the footprint calculator was a great resource and enjoyed finding my own carbon footprint. It would be an easy tool to use and would help the children to understand that even small steps/ changes make a difference. It would be a useful homework project where the children interview family members and calculate the carbon footprint of each member and then of the whole family together.Activity 3 is very engaging. The Paxi video is a great starting point. It simplifies what is often regarded as a complex topic into a child friendly tool. The use of visuals and clear language explains how the greenhouse gases trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere. I also enjoyed the video by SEAI ‘The Story of Energy’. The activity by ESA called ‘Earth Under a Lid’, the Esero 47 activity ‘The Ice is Melting’, and the SEAI activity ‘Model the Greenhouse Effect’ are very child friendly and would ignite the interest of the children. I would certainly use these.
The Teal tool introduced a digital element and helps the children to predict future temperatures around the world. The instruction video would need to be watched and reviewed in order to engage properly with it. I had to watch it a few times to grasp it.
The video by David Attenborough ‘Save Our Planet’ reinforces the message that we must all play our part. A follow on from this would be a class discussion on how we can adapt our activities to reduce emissions such as walking or scooting to school, turning off lights and appliances when not needed. Artwork could reinforce these messages around the school.Hi Robert. That’s a great idea using Activity 3 for a project on countries of the world. A very unique slant! Well done and thanks for sharing.
Lots of great resources here to aid teaching and explaining weather and climate. The videos, songs and slides outline the differences in a very clear way. Weather v Climate has very useful activities and links. Creating a weather station will provide the children with great opportunities to engage in problem solving in a fun manner and to work collaboratively to achieve their aims. We have a small planting area in our school yard, so this would be the ideal place to set up the weather station. As far as possible we would make our own instruments as outlined in ‘Nose High Up in the Sky’ and the wonderful worksheets attached to it. Children use thermometers to record daily temperature. Rain gauges and anemometers could be made using simple everyday objects and data would be collected from them. I think it would be interesting to link with a teacher in a different county or indeed a different country to compare data collected. This data and findings could be presented or shared at assembly or on notice boards or in a school newsletter. Lots of maths, science, geography, engineering, technology and literacy covered in these wonderful activities.
Task 2.
There are so many songs, poems and pieces of art to fire up our imagination and encourage us to wonder about the universe.Songs.
‘Space Man’ by Sam Ryder. ‘A Spaceman Came Travelling’ by Chris de Burgh.
‘Moon River’ by Andy Williams. ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ by Frank Sinatra.
‘Catch a Falling Star’ by Perry Como. ‘Man on the Moon’ by REM.
‘Life on Mars’, ‘Starman’ and ‘Space Oddity’ all by David Bowie.
‘Rocket Man’ by Elton John. ‘Walking on the Moon’ by The Police.Art.
‘Starry Night’. ‘Café Terrace at Night’ and’ Starry Night over the Rhone’, all by Vincent Van Gogh.
‘Summer Night’. ‘Winter Night in the Mountains’, both by Harald Sohlberg.
‘Starlight Night’ by Georgia O’Keefe
‘Full Moon Over the Earth’ by Joan Miro
‘Hai dou ya Moon’ Canvas Wall Art.
‘Art Blart’ by Charles Bittinger
‘Moonrise over the Sea’ by Caspar David Friedrich.Poetry.
‘The Wound at the Side of the House’ by John O’Donohoe
‘The Cloths of Heaven’ by WB Yeats.
‘Stars’ by Robert Frost
‘The Lonely Moon’ by Rensea Dasners
‘Nature’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson
‘Somebody Has To’ by Shel Silverstein.
‘The Old Astronomer to His Pupil’ by Sara Williams (excerpt from Twilight Hours)
‘Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light.
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night’.Stardust by President Higgins is a tribute to his wife Sabrina and her mother and reflects on our connection to the universe and how we have evolved from stardust.
Hi Olive,
I love the idea of integrating the traditions, story telling and piséogs with grandparents day. That would be a day to remember for old and young!
Task 2. How to engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impact of light pollution on local biodiversity.
Biodiversity is all around us and most children have a natural interest in their physical surroundings.
I would begin by asking the class what they understand by the term ‘biodiversity’. What does it encompass in their minds? We would make a mind map with their responses. We would take the school ipads and working in groups of 2-3, we would explore the school grounds and the nearby park area. The children can record what they find, be it animal, plant, insect, bird noting the various habitats. The children will be reminded not to take any samples back and to leave their habitats as they find them. Back at school we will share our findings and create a visual presentation for other classes.
We would explore the topic of light pollution using the wonderful resources covered in Module 3 and in this module. We would discuss how dangerous light pollution is to insects and moths as they swarm around lightbulbs, often being scorched. We would explore how the eyes of nocturnal animals are impacted by light and how birds and bats are disturbed. We would also explore how light pollution impacts on plants and their fragile relationship with pollinators.
We would then explore what changes we can make to reduce light pollution in our gardens, school and local area.
