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Our project would be based around a local bog. Ideally, it would be an ongoing project to be done throughout the year, so we could visit the bog during the different seasons to observe seasonal change. We could examine the woodland habitat as well as the bogland habitat. There is so much scope here that I think initially a focus on plant life would be best, as the trees, bog cotton, wildflowers and heathers emerge in a different way throughout the seasons.
There is a lot of potential for cross-curricular activities with this project, along with STEM and Geography. The children could draw, paint, do rubbings, charcoal sketches etc of the habitats and plant life. There would be plenty of scope for creative writing, including poetry around the theme of ‘The Beauty of the Bog’. Other writing genres could include report writing. It would be an ideal project for mindfulness and well-being also.
This sounds like a lovely project, and it integrates so many curricular areas really well! I think the children would love it.
I would try out a Design and Make a Bridge challenge with my class, using the suspension bridge in Birr Castle Demesne as our inspiration. Initially I didn’t think this activity would suit younger classes, but having gone through the module I can see lots of ways to adapt the activity to suit different class levels.
I would use the Curious Minds Framework as a guide, taking into the account the changes to adapt for Design and Make projects. I would start the wondering stage by showing the children various pictures of bridges, including the one in Birr Castle, the Ha’penny Bridge, a local bridge over a stream, another local bridge over the Tallaght bypass and some international bridges like the Golden Gate Bridge. I would ask leading questions as shown on the slide in the module. We would use maths skills like identifying shapes in the different bridges, and i would introduce certain scientific terms such as arch, beam and force at this point.
Next, we would look at the video ‘What’s an Engineer?’ to help explain what an engineer does, and how we are going to be civil engineers and create our own bridge, as the one that crosses over the river where the troll lives has been washed away!
In small groups or pairs, the children would get the opportunity to plan and make a bridge using the Curious Minds Build a Bridge resource, using A4 paper and books/bricks/lego etc, and we will agree on our criteria for testing the strength of the bridge. This would be followed by an evaluation, as per the ideas on the slide.
Eibhlin, I haven’t heard the phrase ‘live textbook’ before and I love it! It’s a great phrase to describe the hands on, real life way that we engage in STEM activities.
I really like the idea of doing a seasonal biodiversity project with my class. While it might seem like a big commitment, there is plenty of opportunities for cross-curricular development and it would be really meaningful and engaging for the children. They will be active agents in their own learning, and it will encourage and develop many of the key competencies in the new Curriculum Framework…in fact, it could include them all!
We would go outside once a month to observe changes in trees and local flora around the school. To start with, I like the idea of using the Wildflower Walk and Tree Identifier from the Tree Council of Ireland website. I would also adapt The Curious Minds/ESERO Framework activity ‘Biodiversity Through the Seasons’ for my younger class. I think it is a great idea to have children become detectives/experts during this ‘Scavenger Hunt’ as they locate and identify their flower and/or tree outdoors and then tell the class about it, all contributing to their Oral Language development and Wellbeing. The children will be encouraged to look closely at the different plants, using the naked eye and magnifying glasses, touch the plants carefully (which is important for active citizenship) etc. We will take photos on iPads and record sketches which ties in with Art and Digital Learning. As the class return to the same locations regularly throughout the year, they will have the chance to look back on previous drawings and photos and discuss any changes observed in the local habitat. As mentioned in the slide, there are many benefits to outdoor learning, including that it’s hands on and active learning, it encourages physical movement, it is pleasurable and mindful as it engages the five senses, and it has the desired knock on effect of an increased attention span.
That’s great to know you can get a representative from An Taisce out to the school to support teachers and children in helping local wildlife and the local natural habitat. Thanks for sharing!
This is how I would plan and teach a lesson on map making for younger classes. I chose this activity because it encourages creativity and collaboration. It also links in nicely with the Wellbeing specification as the children will need to be observant and mindful while going on a walk.
First of all, I would use the Curious Minds/ESERO framework. I will engage the children by telling them we are going to go for a nature walk and when we come back we are going to show a story of our walk by creating maps. I will use some of the ‘Wondering’ questions to further focus them on their task. I will also give them some ideas of what we will be looking out for e.g. different buildings, hedges, trees, grass areas, tarmac areas as well as noticing both man made and natural materials. When the walk is completed, we will gather materials to create the 3D map in groups, pairs or solo. The children will be invited to present their maps and we will evaluate the activity through questioning, noting any complications that arose and taking a step back to see if they have accurately recorded the walk.
Next steps would include looking at Úna’s video of her walk and noticing what was similar and what was different to ours. I will suggest making a map using Lego if some of the children would like to try that. Other further steps will include looking at our school area on Google Maps, using both terrain and satellite view. We will note features that we saw on our walk as well as things we might have missed. We will chat about which view is more helpful, or does it depend on what you’re looking for? As mentioned in the slides, this could be a starting point for further research on the local area.
I also think the Curious Minds framework for Inquiry is an excellent resource for planning and teaching STEM lessons. I plan to use it going forward.
I feel that this module has equipped me with many ways of applying some of the concepts and skills covered throughout the module to teaching STEM in line with the STEM Education policy statement. As mentioned in some of the slides, the children we teach are naturally curious and creative beings. The children are given agency to explore, make discoveries and make predictions in meaningful and hands on way. Many of the activities encourage collaboration and peer learning, and there is scope for much cross-curricular linkage outside of STEM, in particular Art and English. The Mirror Writing Activity is best done in pairs, and while initially it might appear simple, the children will potentially be quite surprised at the result…I wonder will the results be ‘reflected’ in their earlier predictions?! The Magic of Light and Rainbow Spinner activities should also prove to be a revelation to younger children. The Magic of Light activity in particular has some great starter questions which will help the teacher to see the current level of understanding and if there are any scientific misconceptions currently in play. All these activities move past the idea of ‘knowledge recall to skills and understanding’.
I agree, teaching STEM when you are not scientifically or mathematically minded can be daunting, even at the junior end of a school. I feel that the resources and activity packs from Curious Minds, ESA etc will be invaluable planning and teaching STEM specification.
There were some fabulous ideas and activities in this module that I think the children would love to do! I think I will try the Rocket Mouse activity, as watching the accompanying video has given me confidence to teach this lesson. To engage the class, I would read the book ‘The Way Back Home’ by Oliver Jeffers. Having read and discussed the story, I would ask ‘Are there any other ways of travelling into space?’ Assuming that rockets/spaceships will come out of the chat, we would examine images of rockets, noting their design features and why the design helps the rocket to function well. Next, we would make ‘rocket mice’ as per the instructions. I will ask questions like, ‘How will we launch the mouse off the rocket/cause the mouse to blast off?’ ‘What caused the mouse to fall back down?’ (to tie in with previous lessons on gravity). Some of the questions from the module were excellent, including the starter question; ‘How does changing the force on the rocket effect how far it goes?’ We will make predictions, conduct our investigation and see if it was a fair test. I will see if they can make links to using science in their own lives: ‘Do you ever use a similar force at home or in school?’, hopefully making the connection to squeezing a ketchup bottle, shampoo bottle, tube of cream etc where air pressure also causes a reaction.
Hi Elaine, this sounds like such a fun and engaging activity, I was hooked myself at the words ‘bubbling alien potions’! I like how inquiry based the lesson is, and how it integrates with many curricular areas. Thanks for sharing!
Having previously planned a lesson for Module Two on the sun and UV light, I think I would pick the ESERO activity ‘Hot and Cold’ to build on previous learning. I like the sample yes/no questions provided on the activity sheet as it would help me to gauge the children’s current understanding of the sun and what we have learned about the sun to date. We will discuss why we are encouraged to move to the shade in hot weather. Have they done this before? Has it worked? We will go outside so the children can take turns moving between sunny and shaded areas…can they feel the difference in temperature? However, as this can be quite subjective, I like the idea of using fair testing to check this out further. We will have an ice cube in two separate bowls, one to be left in the sun and the other in shade. Will one ice cube melt faster than the other? Which one? Afterwards we will discuss why the ice cube left in the sunny area melted quicker.
Hi Sarah, I love the idea of the children becoming ‘architects’ and designing their dream home. It is such a fun idea to allow them to create their home underwater or in space, and even to have a slide instead of stairs! So much room for imagination and creativity!
I hadn’t heard of this book so I looked it up – it sounds like a wonderful story to use for a lesson on Stars, as it also could reinforce previous learning on the Planets. I also loved how a city/urban dweller could also get to see a starry sky…I did wonder how that would happen! Thanks for sharing!