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I think Stem education in primary schools is very important for educators and their children. For example, in my Junior Infant classroom, stem education looks very much like fostering curiosity amongst the children, observing children’s play and hands-on exploration etc., I always get the children to engage in free play and guided play with Aistear topics/themes. I think allowing the children to explore hand-on-activities by constructing, sorting, experimenting etc., is very important to foster their learning. By questioning and using everyday language with the children e.g. what will happen if we.. why do we think this will happen… etc., will allow children to focus and engage in the topic right at hand. Most importantly, in my classroom we thematic plan curricular areas and children love to see that they already know certain aspects of a theme we have covered in various other subjects e.g. Language & Literacy, Visual Art etc., I love using picture books, videos, outdoors etc., with the children on a daily/weekly basis.
Tidy towns is a great initiative for children to see the importance of practicing sustainability in their local area. It is a great starting point for children in primary school to join in and ask questions about what they are their families can do to take part and help. We also as a school take part in biodiversity projects and workshops in the summer in our local forest with a local biologist and the children love it. It is also another great way getting the children to come up with their own various ways of helping the environment which encourages critical thinking and creativity amongst the children.
Sustainability in my local area is practiced through various different ways. For example, there are designated special areas of conservations which protect local bog habitats, many different community initiatives which offer training in upcycling, supports which help with waste segregation and recycling programmes etc., (a handful of local sustainability demonstrated). I would highly encourage the children in my classroom to practice sustainability. For example, this can be done through classroom discussions with real-life current events on climate change, pollution etc., On a day-to-day basis in the classroom we can practice sustainability by labelling bins in the classroom and taking part in learning to use the correct bins. Children in older classes can take part in ECO-art projects to make items for the classroom e.g. bins, seats etc., Children can take part in growing their own fruit and vegetables in the greenhouse in our school and achieve one of the green flags for the school. Local children can also cycle or walk to school and staff can organise a ‘no-waste lunch’ challenge. These are just some of the ways that we can practice sustainability in schools.
I also agree with Clodagh that I really overlooked seafood nutrition in food education when teaching children about the food pyramid and the importance that seafood has on our overall nutrition. I think when people don’t include a certain type of food in their diet they can sometimes oversee that children who are growing and learning may not have the same regard to it e.g. salmon, avocado etc., We need to expose children to these items in the world for them to make their own judgement but educators need to provide this start as well as parents working collaboratively. Thematic planning is a great way to ensure that each style of learner in the classroom is being looked after. Therefore, going forward I will ensure that I am teaching the children about seafood nutrition.
Nutrition of Seafood is very important for any growing child because it can have an impact on their energy levels, mental clarity, emotional stability, and overall health, which in turn impacts their school life i.e. concentration, attentiveness etc., Teaching children about the importance of including seafood nutrition in their diet can be achieved in many different ways even in the younger classes all the way up through to 6th class. For example, it can be achieved through the subjects of SPHE, SESE, Visual Art, Play, PE etc., As I am a Junior Infant teacher I am basing these examples on a younger age group. Children can sort seafood nutrition into groups of seafood vs non-seafood (Maths), taste various types of seafood – make sure of allergies (SPHE), listen to various stories/watch various videos based on food found at sea (Language & Literacy). Posters/art work can also be displayed around the classroom based on the topic and importance of seafood nutrition. These are just some ways that ‘seafood nutrition’ knowledge can be applied in the classroom.
I also agree with Clodagh that collaboration amongst staff is very important to make this worth while initiative work. I think it is a great way to also involve the local community to work closely with the children i.e. farmers/local speakers etc., to really immerse the children in the real-life experiences that is occurring around the daily. I love how easy it can be to integrate various subjects with one another to really encourage critical thinking and creativity amongst the children whether that is through the SESE or art subjects. Hands on activities are vital in the younger classes.
The Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC) is a fun and exciting way for young children to learn about different types of fish, water, and the ocean through inquiry based learning. In the younger end of the school, this is achieved by using various interactive videos, stories, and hands-on activities. In the older classes, this can also be achieved through coding and various projects as well as collaborating with local aquaculture farmers. It helps develop early STEM skills like critical thinking and creativity through play especially in the younger classes which entails prepares the children for the complex real-world that they will grow up in. Children will explore various life-cycles and eco-systems as well as environmental impacts and solutions based on Aquaculture farming in Ireland. This will be achieved through observation (live fish tanks), questioning, sorting and counting (Maths), through play (build an aquarium) etc., As a result, it helps support oral language development, encourages teamwork and promotes early involvement within STEM.
I also agree with Katriona, these types of lessons for children help to integrate various different subjects which really puts emphasis on the learning for the children based on topics at hand. For example, Aquaculture not only fits perfectly into the SESE subjects but it also integrates SPHE, PE & Visual Art so seamlessly. This allows children to be fully immersed in the lesson at hand which I often carry out with many topics in my own classroom.
As I teach Junior Infants I think it is a wonderful chance for children to showcase their geographical and mathematical skills through map plotting. This would integrate PE also to the lesson. To begin the lesson we would elicit prior knowledge from the children by using simple north, south, east and west movements around the classroom focusing on direction. Next, the children will be shown co-ordinates by pictures they will engage with e.g. school = S4, Tree = T2 etc.,. They will work in groups based on mixed ability to complete this treasure hunt. I will continue to facilitate their learning by asking questions throughout the lesson i.e. which is closer to the school, the tree or the football pitch? To summarise we I assess the children’s learning at the end of the lesson by asking various questions based on the lesson at hand.
There are 14 coastal counties in Ireland that produce various fish. As a result, it provides employment and reduces emigration. It reinforces cultural livelihoods as well as increases housing and farming opportunities for new generations. It also helps the tourism of Ireland and helps global recognition. Moreover, it promotes healthy eating amongst families. Thus, it is important as educators we teach the benefits of aquaculture to children in schools from a young age.
I am also in the same boat as Orla, I work in a rural country school in the midlands where there is no Sea or wild Atlantic way around us but from viewing the first module of the course I can really see the importance of introducing children at a young age to Aquaculture in Ireland and the many benefits it will have on their future. I love the way Orla says to integrate this topic through SESE and SPHE by discussing the importance of healthy eating, interviewing local fisherman/restaurant chef’s etc., I also really enjoy how Orla integrates her own personal experience into showing the importance of sea farming.
Aquaculture and social license can impact children in schools in many different ways e.g. their health, environment, education, and community well-being. For example, it provides jobs for children in the future, real-life experiences for children to learn, integrates local environments into school life i.e. speakers, shows children the importance of eating healthy etc., After reviewing the BIM’S Social licensing project for aquaculture, I really enjoyed the ‘Taste the Atlantic project’ best. I feel it would be a very well worth project for older children who live near the Wild Atlantic Way to go and explore the Sea and speak with local fishermen etc., and visit local restaurants and taste various different fish that can be found in various counties in Ireland. I think as teachers it is very important that we teach children from a young age the benefits of why Aquaculture and social licensing is vital in our lives in Ireland because it plants a seed in children’s head about water farming as I know when I was in school I rarely ever heard educators speak about Aquaculture and the benefits it can have on young children in Ireland.
I think implementing a design of the Dark Sky for children, especially in an infant classroom is a fun way to raise awareness about light pollution. Each year as part of Aistear, we explore the theme of ‘Space’. Children focus on the various planets and stars found in our galaxy and we explore this theme for the month of November (as the winter months are usually darker). This year, I will be including our dark skies into these lessons and allow the children to create and design their own version of the dark sky they observe every morning/night. I will allow children to rotate each week around the classroom exploring various aspects of the dark skies e.g. tuff tray to explore the planets, a reading corner to explore various books based on the night sky, a black tent in our calm corner of the room to explore the stars (glow in the dark stars and red amber led lights) etc., These are just some of the ways that I will incorporate the dark night skies into our lessons going forward this year.
I think the art subjects are a great way to showcase the SESE subjects and how they can interlink. I am a Junior Infant teacher and I always try to incorporate the art subjects through SESE to engage the children into the lesson. I really like how you used popular songs to connect children to the lesson on ‘stars’ and ‘space’ and twinkle, twinkle little star is a perfect song for infants.
I am currently a Junior Infant teacher and I think this topic on local biodiversity and light pollution is a great way to introduce the younger children into caring for their local environment. I work in a rural school and there are many mountains and local woodland areas to explore with the children daily. I also think it is a great way of teaching children by immersing them fully into the topic at hand and to make connections. As these children are quite young, I will directly teach them what ‘biodiversity’ is. I will then use an image of our local area to engage all children in the lesson before we begin on our nature walk in pairs to our heritage centre to observe what we can see i.e. the different plants/animals that live there. This will incorporate the subject of P.E. also as we will create a scavenger hunt based on plants/animals that we know can be found here. At the end of the day we will discuss as a class what were our findings. In the next lesson, I will take the children on another nature walk to the same place to observe what light pollution might be disrupting these local habitats that we spoke about in our previous lesson. Children may need to be prompted during this lesson to help them begin depending on their ability. Some of the answers the children may come up with may be street lighting etc., To end the lesson, we will come up with ways that we can protect our local area to ensure these plants and animals are not being disturbed.
As I am also a Junior Infant teacher I was very drawn to your response. I think it is really important to allow the children to make connections with their own local environment in order to engage them fully in the lesson. I also think it was a great idea giving the children a visual checklist to observe what plants and animals they saw in their area and how light can impact them.
