Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Donna,
I completely agree that the film shows how everything on earth is connected. I also like your point that some of the information should be diluted for the younger classes.
Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a visually stunning documentary that offers a powerful overview of Earth’s natural beauty and the environmental challenges it faces. Through breathtaking aerial shots, the film highlights the planet’s diverse landscapes while showing the impact of human activity on ecosystems, forests, water sources, and the climate. Its strong message about sustainability and global responsibility is both urgent and hopeful.
For primary school children, Home can be a valuable educational tool. While some content may need simplification, the film’s visuals can spark curiosity and emotional connection to nature. I would use short clips to introduce topics like deforestation, pollution, and renewable energy in an age-appropriate way. Follow-up discussions and creative activities, such as drawing or storytelling, can help children express what they’ve learned and understand their role in protecting the Earth. Home encourages young viewers to care for the planet and think about solutions for a better future.
Research Question: How is the weather changing and what can that tell us about climate change?
To explore the question, I would start by discussing the difference between weather and climate with the children and discuss what climate change is. I would encourage the children to participate in the research through the following activities:
Observing weather- children could keep a daily weather journal for a few weeks and record temperature, sunshine, rain and wind.
Comparing Data- we could look at old photos, the children could ask family members about past weather.
Asking Questions- the children could discuss other questions about the weather e.g. are summers hotter than they used to be?
Sharing Ideas- the children could come up with ideas on how to slow down climate change.
Online Research- the children could research the question using chrome books.
Hi Sarah,
I think your research question is really interesting and would get the children interested. Using visuals and hands on activities would make the activity enjoyable for the children.
Hi Michelle,
I agree with your comments that children would enjoy the nose high up in the4 sky resource and that it’s a useful topic for them to learn about. Getting the children to build their own weather station is a great idea.
I chose assignment 1 and I used a satellite tracker website. Here are 5 satellites that have passed Ireland recently and what they are doing:
1. PNE03- Pléiades Neo is a very high resolution Earth observation satellite constellation developed by Airbus Defence & Space. It utilizes Tesat Spacecom laser communication relay terminals to transfer data via the European Data Relay System (EDRS), enabling near-real time access to images and high volume data transfer.
2. COSMOS 1393- This is used as a simple store-dump repeater which are particularly useful in relaying traffic between the Russian Federation and overseas stations or forces.
3. STARLINK 11259- this satellite’s primary mission is to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet access to users worldwide, especially in remote and underserved areas where traditional internet infrastructure is limited or unavailable.
4. UNICORN 2M- Its primary mission involves Earth observation, specifically providing high-resolution imagery, including at night, to track phenomena such as light pollution, urbanization patterns, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy usage from space.
5. PHISAT 2- This satellite will host a multispectral Imager and six AI applications designed to turn images into maps, detect clouds in the images, classify them and provide insight into cloud distribution, detect and classify vessels, compress images on board and reconstruct them in the ground reducing the download time, spot anomalies in marine ecosystems and do wildfire detection.
Hi Sharon,
I think your approach to teaching climate change to infant classes in a gentle way is excellent. It would ease younger children into the topic at a level they are comfortable while also giving them a chance to explore the topic.
Hi Conor,
I definitely agree that the Paxi video would work well in the classroom as is makes the topic easy to understand for children.
Activity 3: Climate Reporters
The Paxi video would work really well in my classroom as part of this lesson. It is aimed at children, and I think they would find it interesting and enjoyable. This resource would have the children engaged in the lesson as it presents the topic in a way that could be accessible to all children in a class. It could be used as a stimulus to start the lesson as I think it would get the children’s attention.
I think this activity is an excellent way to get interested in STEM and develop their critical thinking skills. This activity also encourages inquiry based learning. It can also be linked to maths as children would be revising data through finding average temperatures. Giving the children the choice to choose the location of where they are basing their data on would make the activity appealing to children.
To extend this activity I would ask the children to design a display for the school to present their findings on.
Hi Sinéad,
I really like your idea about asking the pupils to design a stand to hold the thermometer and not affect its readings. This would definitely encourage inquiry based learning and it would be an interesting activity to keep the children engaged.
Activity 1: Is it weather or climate?
This activity would be very useful for children learning the difference between weather or climate. Having the children categorise their own statement that they have said would make the activity interesting and relevant to them. The use of visual images for children to link to different climate zones would be very helpful in making the lesson accessible to all learners. Children working in groups will also allow them to bounce ideas off each other.
Activity 2: Weather detectives
This resource is straight forward and easy to use. The use of active learning in this activity will keep children engaged and interested in the lesson. This resource would be very useful in developing children’s skills in collecting and analysing data. This could link in with data in maths as the children are finding averages and using graphs.
To extend the activities, I would encourage the children to set up a basic weather station in the school where they could record and display their findings.