[Edel O’ Connor]

I would give the class a homework exercise of asking a grown up at home what climate change they have noticed over time in our community. This may help as some families will have lived in the area for generations. The next day, I would follow up on the homework activity and discuss what changes have happened in the area. We would then take a tally vote on what change to pick as ours for the Climate Detectives project. After choosing the topic, we would then break into think, pair, square and suggest a question to put forward. The class can then discuss which question would be best suited. The adults in the class can vote for this too.
Question: How has climate change effected the birds around the area?
Children would research the native birds to the area. They then would research non-native birds and discuss why these non-native birds have chosen our community to make their new home.
Children could go bird spotting with a partner and tick off the birds they see and how many times.
The children could make a profile on the native birds and on what they like to eat and where they sleep so that the other children around the school would recognise these birds.

[Edel O’ Connor]

Integrating is key. Some children get a greater understanding when integration happens and they can see another perspective.

[Edel O’ Connor]

I think the EO browser is a fantastic tool. My elevator pitch would be as follows :
The step by step guide was easy to follow. I especially like the education tool can be targeted towards a specific area of learning, for examples air pollution or even volcanoes.
The pupils will love finding areas that are near and dear to them. They can find their homes, school, family homes etc. They can choose the “Copernicus” view and see the aerial view of these places. It makes the wider world that bit more accessible to the pupils in your classroom. If they would like to check out a famous landmark or even one of the seven wonders of the world, they can instantly get a view of it. This tool can be used for project work in your class also. A project based on volcanoes for example, the pupils can download a satellite image of the volcano and give coordinates also. It adds that extra bit of information and helps children to provide valuable information for their projects. It is easily accessible on ipads or laptops for the pupils to use in class time.

[Edel O’ Connor]

I think conscience alley is a great idea to get their thinking going.

[Edel O’ Connor]

The HOME video was an interesting watch. It made me fall in love all over again with our wonderful planet, the aerial shots were magnificent. It documents the impact that human activity has on our planet. We have only been on Earth for a small percentage of Earth’s total existence, yet we are having the biggest impact on Earth’s climate change.
The WWF webpage survey was a good tool and child friendly. It gives a personalised insight into the carbon footprint
I would envisage introducing the climate change facts to pupils in my class by giving them the WWF webpage survey as a homework assignment. Their carbon footprint would just have to be written into their homework journal with a parental signature. I think this would be a good way to inspire the topic of carbon footprint to be discussed at home as well as school.
I think using Drama as a tool would help the pupils to connect more. For example, “Hot Seating” an historical figure – e.g. Tutankhamun and what has changed since he was alive in ancient Egypt, is it for the better or the worse?

[Edel O’ Connor]

I think in activity three, using a KWL chart would help and visually display what the pupils know, want to know and what they learned in the process of the activity. It is a good idea that is used in the activity to show the tools and models that scientists use around the world to help predict the climate change for the next century. We could also make it part of the pupils world and discuss what weather tools we could use around our local area.

The TEAL tool is very handy. The children can visually see the changes in temperature over time. They can relay it at home and discuss with older generations in their family about what the temperatures were like in the past. The colour coding and design of the tool is very helpful in showing children the changes.

The Paxi video is a nice child friendly, explanatory video to show the greenhouse effect.

[Edel O’ Connor]

I agree, involving the whole school community is great. The kids would love it and it is true that climate change is a hot topic these days so they be on board.

[Edel O’ Connor]

Setting up a weather station in school would be highly favourable. In my school we have a sensory garden that in nice and safe, this would be the ideal place to set one up. We have ample wall space also upon which an interactive display could be made. This would help with differentiating between weather and climate. On the display, there would be room for changing today’s weather, the season and Ireland’s climate. A display of a selection of the twenty – two proverbs would be nice also, maybe some weather proverbs in Irish too.

With collective practice, I think a good idea would be for each day of the week a cohort of students record the weather. I work in a DEIS school, we have a long corridor for whole school displays, this would fit nicely. For example, junior & senior infants record the weather (sunny, rain, etc), 1st & 2nd record the temperature at the same time daily, 3rd & 4th record the wind speed, 5th & 6th record the isobars on the map.

I think 3rd class that I will be teaching in September would love to join the Climate Detectives mentioned in the ESA resources. I would have a mini weather station in the class and have a group each week as “weather detectives”.

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