[Orla Ennis]

The children in our school love mini beasts so I feel like this topic would draw them in straight away.

[Orla Ennis]

As we are situated near Dublin Airport I think a research question could be based around this. Initially, I thought ‘How has the new run way affected air quality in our town’ but I then decided that a better one might be ‘How has the new run way at Dublin airport affected water quality in our local river’ as my school is also situated beside the river.

I think that this research question would engage the chidlren. The DAA and Fingal County Council have data that the chidlren could look at and analysis. The children could take samples from the river to investigage further. OUr school has strong links with the DAA and I think we would be able to engage with them further.

As our school is only a junior school , we could perhaps team up with a 6th class and ask them to help us further investigate this question. We could use satellite images to further help us.

I do think we are limited by the age of the children in our school but I do feel that there is lots that we can explore.

[Orla Ennis]

I agree, I think the children would love looking at satellite pictures of their own town and how it has changed.

[Orla Ennis]

I downloaded the satelliite tracker app onto my phone and I was surprised how much fun I had using it. I must admit I was shocked ( maybe I was ignorant) by how many satellites there were!

Here are 5 that I found:
Meteosat
It is a 2nd flight unit of the meteosat second generation programme. Its main mission is opperational meteorology and has substantial contribution to climatology.

Beidou 11
The BeiDou nativatigation satellite system is a satellite based radio navigation system owned and operated by the China National Space Administration

WGS f3 (usa 211)
This satellite provides worldwide , flexible high capacity communications for US Government Agencies, Dept of defence , mutiple international partners and the north atlantic treaty organisation

Nss12
This satellite provides telecommunications and direct to home broadcasting.

Eutelsat 21b
This satellite is a French communications satellite. It provides direct to home broadcasting services.

Like I said, I loved looking into all these different satellites and I will certainly be showing the children in my class this app!

[Orla Ennis]

I think project work is a great idea. perhaps the focus could be on what the children can do to help and empower them.

[Orla Ennis]

I enjoyed watching the movie ‘Home’ , it was so informative. I liked how we were shown how fragile Earth is and that more fast paced humans become the less chance nature to heal. Us humans have done so much damage to the planet. Food wasteage, fashion industry destroying clothes rather than selling them cheaper, life in general encouraging us to buy more all the time.
One area I think I would take from the film to work with in my classroom is Food Wastage. Children could be introduced to this topic slowly and carefully. Children could learn to not throw out food but to keep it for later/ tomorrow, or shown simple baking recipes that would allow them to use unwanted ripening products EG Banana bread, apple tarts etc. I feel that while we have a duty to inform children about the damage we humans do , we must also be very careful not to put ‘Fear’ or ‘guilt’ into them too early. Eco anxiety I feel is areal thing. I have seen it with my own son.

I also enjoyed the Greta Thunberg ted talk. I feel that as she is a young person , children in the classroom would respond to her quickly. Children could be shown pictures of her meeting with politicans and having her voice heard. I do thing this would inspire children to take action.

[Orla Ennis]

I think orgainising a call with someone from Met Eireann would be such a valuable thing to do with the children. That is something that they would also remember and hopefully inspire them.

[Orla Ennis]

I loved the video Paxi! I will 100% be showing this to my pupils this year. I loved how the greenhouse effect was explained and how they nearly used the Goldilocks phrase: not too hot and not too cold. I feel like the younger children will love this and help them understand a complex topic. What I liked most is that they gave examples at the end to show children what they themselves can do to help with the problem of too many gases being produced by humans.

I liked using the tool for predicting future temperatures but too be honest I felt that I would not use this in my 2nd class. However, I went and looked at an activity they recommended for younger children called ‘Why do we need the greenhouse effect on Earth’ and I will be using this! The simplicity of using actual jars and recording the temperatures is brilliant! The experiment is simple to do and the results can be see after a few minutes. To be honest, I wish I had see things like this when I was a child as I feel that this topic is very complex and lots of people do not understand it at all. Ido believe that we need to ensure that younger children are being introduced to this area young but that we do so that does not terrify them.

[Orla Ennis]

Hi there,

Yes i think this would make a great homework idea. The children could learn so much from their grandparents. They would gain so much from a homework activity like this.

[Orla Ennis]

Apologies , I thought it was 2 seperate posts.

Activity 1 : Is it weather or climate?

I really enjoyed this activity and I feel that it would be really useful for the 2nd class children that I will be teaching this year. Discussing the statements in pairs as opposed to on an individual basis  I feel will lead to more discussion and questioning.

Activity 2: Weather Detectives

I can also see myself using this activity but maybe ommiting the last questions six and seven. I did love the idea about comparing it to online research about average temperatures. I feel that the children would enjoy comparing and discussing the different/similiar results.

[Orla Ennis]

Having reviewed the article ‘Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science , Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, I fear that I have not being teaching STEM properly at all! In my defence, I have mainly taught Junior Infants ( I am moving up this year) and the STEM lessons that I have used in the past have not encompassed all 4 areas. I am guilty of leaving out engineering in general.

I have tried to put an emphasis on real word problem solving with the Junior Infants as I find that this draws them in and they are so excited. I promote creativity and probelms solving inquisitive thinking but alas I now realise that enginerring is the glue that hold them altogether as highlighted in this article.

This course has taught me alot and I hope to ‘know better, do better’ as a result.

[Author]

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