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I love this idea — it’s such a thoughtful way to connect pupils with both the natural beauty and the layered history of the Shannon. The mix of walking, journaling, and creative reinterpretation will make the project immersive and memorable. I especially like how it blends science, history, and the arts, so every pupil can find a way in that suits their strengths. The “voices” approach is brilliant — it gives room for imagination while rooting the work in real places and stories. I can already picture the final showcase buzzing with energy, colour, and sound. A truly inspiring project!
Our school is not far from Navan. This provides the ideal opportunity to discuss and study Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort. He was born in Navan, Co. Meath in 1774. He left school when he was only thirteen years old to start his life at sea. He eventually became a commander in the British Navy and is famous for inventing the Wind Force Scale.
Beaufort always kept a journal of short notes on the weather at sea. In 1805 he was asked to do a survey of the waters around an area of South America. It was during this voyage that he developed the first Wind Force Scale.
The Beaufort Wind Force Scale is a way to measure and describe the wind speed at sea. His scale had thirteen points e.g. calm = (0); storm = (13). In 1838 the British Navy made Beaufort’s Wind Force Scale the standard way to measure wind at sea.
His Wind Force Scale was altered when steam ships became more popular than sailing ships. However, when there are very severe weather conditions, the weathermen today still used the Beaufort Wind Force Scale to measure the wind.In 1829, Beaufort became the head of the Hydrographic Office of the British Admiralty and planned many voyages to charter, or map, areas all around the world. e.g. Robert Fitzroy and Charles Darwin on the ship Beagle.
Many places on the world’s oceans have been named after him e.g. Beaufort Sea (part of Arctic Oceans), Beaufort Island (Antarctic) and Beaufort Inlet ( North Atlantic Ocean ). He died in 1857.
The study of Francis Beaufort would lend itself to integration with Art – wind and blow painting, Science – Making our own weather vanes, Maths – measuring wind speed, English – Research project on Sir Francis Beaufort, History – studying people and places.What a fantastic way to connect local landmarks with hands-on STEM learning! The Living Bridge is such an inspiring focal point — not just for its engineering brilliance, but also for the sensory and natural elements that make it so unique. I love that you bring pupils there to experience it first-hand before starting their own designs. The use of recycled materials is a great way to bring in sustainability and creativity alongside engineering concepts like balance and structure. This project clearly blends science, geography, and art beautifully, while also building teamwork and problem-solving skills in such an authentic, real-world context.
We have many bridges close to our school due to our proximity to the train station and the canal. As they are a constant source of curiosity for the children they are a great starting point and great topic for differentiation and expansion of STEM ideas.
I love to anchor each lesson with a story. There are two wonderful picture books called ‘Rosie Revere Engineer’ and ‘Iggy Peck Architect’. These highlight the real life transferrable skills that the children are learning also. We could extend this and pose the question, ’How did the 3 Billy Goats get across the river?’
We can move on to building a bridge!
We can use toy animals and discuss the type of bridge we need.
We can discuss types of bridges, truss, suspension, wooden bridges and cement bridges ect.
The children should work together to do research on types of bridges before they start their building. Perhaps even lending itself to a research project during ipad time.
We will then discuss how we can make our own bridge which must be strong enough to carry the toy goats over.
There is ample opportunity for discussionabout constructing of these bridges. How much will we need /how many pillars do we need. Around what length/height /width etc.
Estimation and guessing will play a big role here as will be applying and problem solving.
Reasoning and explaining will be how they formulate their plan
Implementing and carrying out their plan will be the final result,They can then present their plan to the class.
I know already they will have so much fun!This sounds like such a rich, hands-on learning experience! I love how you prepared the children with background knowledge before the visit — that really helps them make sense of what they see in the field. Giving them magnifying glasses, pooters, and iPads was a great way to combine traditional exploration with technology, and the follow-up identification work in class makes the learning even more meaningful. Your idea of repeating the visit across seasons is fantastic — it would give them such clear evidence of biodiversity changes. I also think your cross-curricular links with English, Art, and Maths would make the project even more powerful.
I would use ‘Birds in our Garden’ as a seasonal biodiversity project and a starting point.
We would first observe birds in the school garden. Our scholl garden is just being set up at the moment but we are lucky enough be adjacent to an expansive piece of land. We would use the Birds of Ireland website as a stimulus. Create a checklist of birds in the school garden.
After that, the class could brainstorm ideas for the creation of bird feeders and determine the appropriate feed to use depending on size and materials.
I would organise the children into small groups.
Each group would design their respective feeders, decorate and present their feeder to the class. During this stage the children will assess the suitability of their feeders, e.g. using recycled materials, access to the feed for the birds etc.
We would place the feeders in the garden and monitor it throughout the day. Children from each group would be allocated a role within the group, they would check on the feeders daily to access the level of feed taken from the feeders, ensuring that the feeders are remaining intact etc.
This project could continue throughout the school year and could also encourage the children to create a similar feeder at home and monitor the number/ type of birds coming to their feeders.I really like how this lesson builds from the familiar to the wider world — starting with the classroom map is such a smart way to make the idea of mapping concrete for younger children. Bringing in Google Maps and Google Earth will definitely grab their attention, especially when they spot their own school and local landmarks. The village mapping activity sounds like it would be great for teamwork and learning new symbols in a meaningful way. I think the “who has the longest journey to school” challenge will be a real hit — it’s fun, relatable, and sneaks in some maths too!
As a teacher in the junior end of the school, I can see lots of opportunities for development of key skills such as creativity, problem solving and critical thinking in this activity. It provides children with a great opportunity for team work and investigation
I would begin the lesson with a trigger to find out the children’s knowledge about maps. Oliver Jeffers has a wonderful book called ‘Here we are’ and it is also a short movie, this could peak the childrens interest in their own understanding of maps. I would provide the children with different maps, a globe and google maps on the interactive whiteboard that they could explore. We could use google maps to find our school and talk about where our classroom is on the map.
We are very lucky to have a brand new school building, which I think would provide ample opportunity for the children to create their own map.
We will first talk about the school focusing on the language of location and directions. There are so many opportunities for team work and collaboration while doing a walk of the school plotting important features. There are also so many opportunities for differentiation.
In their groups I will get them first to draw a plan of theschool . They will then make a 3D map of the classroom. Each group will be assigned different materials to work with..natural materials from outside, lego and playdough.
When the children create their map, we could introduce the ‘bee bots’. We can program the bee bots to go to particular areas of the school map.
To finish the lesson, the children will look and respond at the other maps and reflect on their own maps and how they could improve on them and what they would do differently next timeThis is such a lovely, engaging lesson plan! I really like how you start with a striking image to grab their attention and connect it to their own experiences — that’s such a powerful way to make learning meaningful. The sorting game is a clever way to get them thinking about similarities and differences, and using the torch and globe makes the science so concrete. I can imagine the “Night Sky Detectives” activity being a real highlight — it’s playful but still packed with learning. The home challenge is a brilliant touch too; it keeps their curiosity going after the lesson.
Do-It-Yourself Solar Eclipse.
You could create and explain a solar eclipse in a few seconds using material found around the home.
Experiment, you will need:
a torch
an orange
a pingpong ball
blu tack
kebab stick.
Experiment
First secure the ping-pong ball to the end of the kebab stick with a large piece of blu tack.
Place the torch on a surface your hand with the torch facing it.
Turn out the lights for this bit and close all the curtains for it to be effective.
Using the other hand, pass the ping-pong ball between the orange, blocking out the light from the torch. Explain to your child that the torch is the Sun, the orange is the Earth and the ping-pong ball is the Moon.
Result
What do they notice when the ball passes in front of the orange? They should notice the shadow of the ping-pong ball falling onto the orange. If a tiny human lived on the orange, it would appear the light source had been blocked out by the ping-pong ball. This is what happens during a solar eclipse.
You could extend this experiment again but swap the orange and ping-pong ball to recreate a lunar eclipse.
Scientific Explanation
This experiment demonstrates how a small, celestial body like the moon can block out light form a much larger one like the Sun. There are two types of eclipses that we can see from Earth – a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse. A solar eclipse is when the Moon blocks the light from the Sun reaching Earth so that it appears to block out the Sun. A lunar eclipse is when the Earth blocks the Sun’s light reaching the Moon so it is in total darkness.Sustainability is becoming a lot more visible in our area, and it’s a brilliant real-life context for teaching students about environmental responsibility. You can see it in projects like new cycle paths and greenways, which encourage eco-friendly travel, cut down on carbon emissions, and promote healthier lifestyles. Plenty of families now hop on their bikes for the school run or weekend trips, so for students, sustainability isn’t just a lesson—it’s something they experience every day.
Our Tidy Towns committee also makes a big difference, keeping public spaces clean, planting pollinator-friendly flowers, and running community clean-up days that build pride and a sense of care for the local environment. They have also teame d up with our school to come in and teach the kids about gardening. They also go on ‘Picker Pal’ walks with the kids in our school. On top of that, we’ve got good recycling facilities—bottle banks, compost bins, and local campaigns that teach households how to reduce waste and dispose of it properly.
In the local area there is sustainability group that has bought lots of reusable party ware. These can be hired out for a small fee by people in the community to use at partiesI think that the Eco Committee and Eco Warriors is such a great initiative. I saw my own child become so socially aware throughout the year this year in her role on the eco committee in her school. She became much more aware of the fruit we we were buying and the food miles involved. She reminded us constantly of turning off lights and recycling. It really is these little moment and habits in childrens lives that create a lasting effect.
I think you make a really good point here. Children are now being presented with food in the classroom but im not sure (our school have not started yet), how varied the menu is or if there is a seafood option available. Do we expect children to not eat fish. I think its a question that needs to be considered for sure. If we give them more knowledge an more opportunity to eat fish and seafood would there be more of an uptake.
Learning about the nutritional value of seafood has really helped me see just how important it is for a healthy, balanced diet. It’s packed with high-quality protein, essential omega-3s, and nutrients, all of which support heart health, brain development, and overall wellbeing. And for growing children, those benefits are especially valuable. It really is about making fish options accessible to children and presenting them in an appealing way.
In the classroom, you can easily link this knowledge into SPHE, Science, or even Geography, so students start to connect the dots between food, health, and sustainable living. It’s also a great springboard for discussions about where our food comes from, how it’s produced, and why making informed choices matters. This could be done from our younest classes.
By using seafood as a learning context, you reinforce healthy eating messages while sparking curiosity about marine life, local food industries, and environmental responsibility. Hands-on activities—like creating a balanced meal plan or following seafood’s journey from sea to plate—make the learning both engaging and memorable.
