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Question: What impact do trees have on our climate and why we need them?
As my class are Junior Infants and too young to carry out the actual project we will start by reading the book the ‘Lorax’ by Dr. Seuss – it teaches children to treat our planet with kindness and to speak up when people are mistreating it. We will then carry out a KWL chart and a mind map to ascertain their prior knowledge of what trees can do for us.
Watch videos ~ ‘Climate heroes – the importance of trees’, ‘What if everyone in the world planted trees’ and more. I feel these are the best methods to engage the children in this project as they are too young to carry out other methods.
Data collection – going on field trips to Marley Park and Bushy Park ~ observing the trees and how many buds they grow in Spring and then return again before the summer holidays to see how many leaves there are. They can also use measuring tapes to measure the trunk of the trees and then measure again to see if they got bigger. The children can also observe trees that have been cut down – they can look at the rings and count them as you can tell a lot about the conditions during the years by looking at them. The children can do leaf and bark rubbings. If we have the space in our new school, the children can choose a suitable location to plant some native trees as a next step while we wait for the new build they could plant some pollinator friendly herbs or flowers in pots and observe their growth everyday.
The children can do earth observations by observing, measuring ~ taking pictures and using a measuring tape. The children can make a collage of their findings by using photographs and also drawing pictures of their findings.
Once the children have carried out their research and concluded their findings we will share their results by holding an assembly with the rest of our stream where my class can present them with their project and tell them about their findings and get the other children involved so they too can help us make a difference.
Teacher Guide & Pupil Activities for the ESA Resource ‘ Nose High Up in The Sky’ (slide 19)
After carrying out all these activities I found all three very interesting, engaging and fun to complete. I would definitely use these resources and activities with my class. The activities are suitable for all ages and abilities but the activity sheets will have to be differentiated to suit individual needs in each class. It makes Space more accessible for children – they will have a better understanding of what it is like to look down on earth from Space.
Activity 1 – The Earth seen from the ISS
This activity will appeal to the children of all ages. They will know the size of the ISS as it is the size of a football pitch which they all know the size of and they will be able to imagine it floating around space. Being able to see the photos from five different astronauts was fun and interesting and the children will love looking at them.
Activity 2 – Match the photos & Activity 3 – Higher up
The children will love carrying out this activity as they will be able to pretend to be astronauts looking out the window and they can match the photos to what they are – mountains, lakes, rivers, etc – this activity is very hands – on and accessible for all.
Hi Sinéad,
I agree that hands on activities for children is very helpful for their learning and understanding of a topic.
The film ‘HOME’ by Yann Arthus-Bertran is a fascinating and powerful video that shows us the impact we, as humans, have had on this planet so far. For children in a junior school it would be too much to show them this video in full – I feel breaking it up into much smaller sections or even just some of the pictures that are related to the topic we are doing that day would be more beneficial and the children will be able to concentrate and understand the topic better.
I believe that we need to focus on the positives for young children, things that they can do themselves that will help – recycling both in school and at home, walking to school or getting the bus instead of taking the car, using LED bulbs at home, turning off their tvs, games and lights once they are finished using them. Every small bit will help.
I enjoyed using the carbon footprint calculator but it was scary to see what impact I am having on the climate. I feel this calculator would be a fantastic resource to use with the senior side of the school as they will be able to use it themselves and they can also understand their impact on the climate.
Hi Tara, I like your idea of using cross curricular links. This would definitely give the children a deeper understanding.
already know. After we have discussed their prior knowledge and what they would like to learn about I will then show them the Paxi video on Greenhouse gases. This is an age appropriate video that the children will be able to follow and understand easily. It will give them a good introduction into greenhouse gases. The worksheet for this lesson will have to be simplified as it is too advanced for my class as I will have Junior Infants this September. I would include simple pictures and a matching activity as well as space for the children to draw their answers.
I would show the children the tool for predicting future temperatures on the board and then I would download it onto iPads, split the class into groups and then give them an iPad, one for each group, so they will be able to use it for themselves.
Hi Triona, I love your idea of dividing your class into ‘news teams’ with a different task to complete.
Robert, I love your idea of incorporating Google maps into the lesson. My children really love when we use it in a lesson.
In my classroom this year (Senior Infants) the children work in small groups with concrete materials so they can carry out their practical tasks by thinking critically and learning through investigation.
Activity 1: Is it weather or climate?
This activity was enjoyable and will be relatable to all children. I feel that relating the weather to the children’s birthdays will help the children understand the difference between weather and climate. I also feel the videos that are provided are age appropriate and particularly useful when explaining the difference between weather and climate for all children.
Activity 2: Weather Detectives
This activity can also be differentiated so that even children as young as Junior Infants will be able to carry it out. The children can help develop a weather station to mount the thermometer so that it will be able to be used by other classes in the school and there will be no fear that the heat from the children’s hands will change the temperature, the results will be constant and reliable. This will help the children become critical thinkers as they will have to decide on the best area for the weather station. They will become hands on learners as they will have to design and make the actual station.
Cross – curricular lessons carried out over a fortnight as well as Space themed Aistear stations. I would first tell the children what our new topic is (Space) and then carry out a KWL chart with them – see what the children know already about Space and what they would like to find out. Throughout the fortnight I would recreate a display board
Literacy: Teach ‘Twinkl, Twinkl little star’.
Read the books ‘The Darkest Night’ by Astronaut Chris Hadfield and ‘Busy people: Astronaut’ by Lucy M. George and also the book ‘How it works: Rocket’ by Amelia Hepworth to give the children a sense of what it is like to be an astronaut in space, how they had to train to get there and how the rocket works. Discuss orally the books – what their favourite part was, what new information they learned from them, if they would like to train to become an astronaut, etc.
Another book that can be used is ‘The Smeds and The Smoos’ by Julia Donaldson. Have a discussion with the children about what an Alien might look like.
Maths: Counting backwards from 10 (or whatever number the children are comfortable with) to blast off.
Patterns ~ Cutting and sticking patterns to a rocket ship.
History: watch videos of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon in 1969.
Geography: Identify and discuss the sun, the moon and stars. Discuss the differences between day and night.
Science: Explore how shadows are formed and bring the children outside so they can draw/trace around shadows with chalk.
Drama: Pretend to be an astronaut in Space with no gravity. How they would walk on the moon, how does it feel; to be wearing their spacesuit, to breath, to talk, to eat, etc.
Art: Colour in an astronaut outline – take a photo of each child, print and glue into the helmet so each child will be an astronaut.
Aistear:
Role-play: Space travel Agent – the children will be able to pretend to buy tickets for going to different planets in space.
Art and crafts: Design and make an Alien on paper and then 3D. The children will be using a variety of resources – playdough, marla, clay, wire, tinfoil, pipe cleaners, goggly eyes, felt, paper, fabric, wool, cardboard and anything else they would like to use.
Make slime and use different colours (paint or food dye) and add googly eyes/beads, etc.
Play dough: Laminated mats to make stars, asteroids, Saturn’s rings, craters on the moon, satellite, flames for a rocket, alien, planets (available from twinkl).
Sand/water: Using miniature space items – aliens, rockets, astronauts, plants, stars, moon, astroids, etc.
Contruction: make a rocket ship using lego or magnetic tiles.
Hands – on classroom activities with the following theme
Where do you live?
Activity set: Weather ~ Animals in the cold
Hands-on classroom themed activities for Junior/Senior Infants based on the theme weather – The Arctic and the animals that live there. Prior to the following activities we will have carried out several lessons on the Arctic region; what animals live there, their habitats and the weather conditions. In the classroom there will be a display board with laminated pictures and information on our topic. The activities will be carried out during Aistear themed play as stations or morning carousel table top activities.
Play dough station – laminated mats for the children to make arctic animals, teeth for a walrus, icebergs, snowballs, snowflakes, a den for the polar bears, polar bear footprints, etc., These mats are available from twinkl.
Small world station – small trays (Dealz/Mr Price/temu) filled with article snow or fake snow made with bicarbonate of soda & hair conditioner with a laminated snow scene along the side. The children will have miniature animals that are found in the Arctic. These animals are available on amazon.
Construction station – wooden blocks for the children to make an Arctic scene ~ dens for the polar bears and other animals, the ocean with icebergs. The children will have small arctic animals.
Role – Play station – the children can pretend to be explorers with staffs and torches and an igloo made from a pop up tent and a white sheet. Set up an area in the classroom to look like the Arctic – white felt for the snow, blue piece of material for the water, tinfoil painted white for snowballs, boxes wrapped in white paper for icebergs, and teddies that are from the Arctic region.
Activity Set – Space and Aliens ~ create an Alien. This activity will be carried out in pairs.
I will start the lesson by discussing orally what they think an Alien looks like – how many arms, legs, eyes, and head do they have, do they have a nose and what does it look like, what colour/s are they, do they have spots, spikes, strips, fur, skin, do they wear clothes, etc. Then I will read the book ‘The Smeds and The Smoos’ by Julia Donaldson to the children to give them some more ideas. I feel carrying out the oral discussion first will give me a better understanding of what the children think aliens look like.
The children will return to their tables and discuss with their partners what they would like their Alien to look like. They will also discuss about how they are going to make their Alien in 3D form as this might help then with their design. They will be using a variety of resources – playdough, marla, clay, wire, tinfoil, pipe cleaners, goggly eyes, felt, paper, fabric, wool, cardboard and anything else they would like to use. They will then sketch and design their aliens on paper.
Once the children are all happy with how their Aliens look on paper they will then start to create their Alien in 3D form.
