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This is a great idea. It is something that has come up in numerous staff meetings aswell about the amount of food waste we have since starting the hot lunch scheme. As Meghan mentioned above, some parents might not be aware that their children are not eating the lunches as nothing is sent home so it is great for home school links also!
Research Question :How does the weather affect the amount of water we use in our school?
I would encourage pupils to participate by connecting the investigation to something they experience every day in school. I would begin by discussing the different ways we use water, such as drinking, washing our hands, cleaning and watering plants. I would then ask pupils to consider whether we use more or less water depending on the weather. This would encourage them to make predictions and share their ideas.
Pupils could work in small groups to investigate water usage over a period of time while also recording the weather conditions each day. They could keep a simple weather diary, recording factors such as temperature, rainfall and whether the day was sunny or cloudy. Pupils could then compare their observations and look for patterns between the weather and water use.
I would encourage pupils to take an active role by allowing them to decide what information they need to collect and how they could record it. They could create charts or graphs to present their findings, providing opportunities to develop their Mathematics skills. The activity could also link with Geography and Science as pupils explore weather, climate and the importance of conserving water.
I think this investigation would encourage pupils to become more aware of how their everyday actions are connected to the environment. It could also lead to discussion about ways the school could reduce water waste and encourage pupils to take responsibility for making positive changes. It also can be revisited at diffferent times of the year during different seasons will allwo pupile to collect and analyse data over a longer period of time to help identify patterns.I like your idea of diplaying the tracker on the interactive whiteboard. I think it would be a great introduction to the topic and would really help students become interested in the topic, rather than just reading about it!
Download the Teacher Guide & Pupil Activities for the ESA Resource ‘ Nose High Up in The Sky, carry out the pupil activities yourself and post your thoughts on the resource and if you would use it in class. (150 words)
Overall, I found Nose High Up in the Sky to be a practical, enjoyable and engaging resource that promotes enquiry-based and collaborative learning. It encourages children to be active participants in their learning while developing their ability to observe, question, investigate and communicate their ideas. I would definitely use this resource with my class, particularly when exploring topics related to space, weather, air and the atmosphere, as it provides meaningful opportunities for scientific learning while naturally supporting integration across the curriculum, for example, by asking pupils to design and create their own rockets.
I feel that the resource could be further enhanced by including additional differentiated tasks to support pupils with a range of learning needs, as well as extension activities for pupils who require additional challenge. For example, younger pupils could focus on identifying and describing what they observe, while older or more able pupils could investigate the reasons behind their observations and conduct further research. As with all these, it is a great opportunity to develops students ICT and critical thinking skills aswell.I agree that some of it can be overwhelming for children and we definitely don’t want to scare them. So it is important to pick and choose the parts of the videos that are relevant to your class. The pledge is a great idea aswell as monst schools have a green schools committee so this could be something for them to do. And the younger classes could even get involved by participating in an art competition.
The HOME video is very effective on showing the effects of climate change. Especially if the students have watched the PAXI video, this expands on it. I think in a senior classroom, you could use it for groupwork. Give different groups different short sections to watch and stimulate their research, and then present back to the class. For example,
Group 1 watch the section on animals to discuss the need for different animals and how they survive in different habitats and how we have a need for all species.
Group 2 watch the section on Borneo to discuss the cause and effects of deforestation.
Group 3 watch the section on Nigeria Lagos to discuss the cause and effects wealth distribution.Combine this with the Paris Agreement video will show the children how countries as part of the UN are trying to limit the effects of global warming. I thnk the carbon footprint calculator may be a little advanced for some classes but maybe it could be sent home to encourage home school connections and build community relations within the school area.
I also work in a DEIS school and I agree that it can be overwhelming for some of these children. It can lead to eco-anxiety for fear about the state of the climate where they anticipate future devastation and a feeling of helplessness. So the concrete, achievable action helps them combat this.
Activity 3 is a great way to introduce the long term effects. The video is engaging and fun and has clear visuals and explanations. While it may be too abstract for younger classes, it is still important to introduce young children to the long term effects and I think this video is the right way to do it, rather than just reading about it. It also can be used for cross curricular links for development of English vocabulary and maths for station teaching.
To use the tool, I think it can be applied to group work. This leads naturally to differentiation for mixed level groups and some children can be assessed by their oral knowledge as opposed to being asked to write down their answers. It also relates the activity to their own lives by making them think about their birthday and what the weather was like. To extend the activity, the students could report what they learned to the green schools commitee or whole school assembly.
I love the idea of repeating the activities every Monday to identify patterns. It provides great ideas for linking this topic to maths and can be done during maths stations.
In an infant class, the language can be confusing for some students. However the resources make the explanations simple. The videos shown in the slides are great aswell and include fun animations and songs.
Activity 2 resources are great especially for children with additional and/or sensory needs. These hands on activities will help them apply the learning to real life situations. Activities like making the rain gauge or the anemometer are practical activities to solidify the learning. It also can be differentiated by the levels of support given. For the weather forecast or weekly weather diary, differentiation can be applied easily as some students can write the words, others can draw pictures, others can just stick on the weather stickers from the ESA resource.