[Robyn Doran]

The question I have come up with for this module is: How can we lower our environmental impact by rethinking the daily commute to school?
Because my school is based in the city centre, our pupils travel in from all over using a huge mix of transport—from walking and cycling to buses, the luas, bikes, and cars. This variety makes for a fantastic starting point for a hands-on inquiry.
To launch the project, I’d have the class map out all the different ways people get to our school each morning. I could ask the green schools committee too help with collecting this data. We’d look at the pros and cons of each method, discussing why certain options are far better for the planet than others.
Next, the children can dive into investigating the carbon emissions tied to each mode of transport—comparing a busy city bus or train ride against a car journey or a bike ride. They’d present their findings using data displays like bar charts, integrating maths, science, and digital skills while learning to handle real data.
The class could design and run a school-wide travel survey to see how everyone actually gets here every day. Working with those numbers, pupils can estimate our school’s total commute footprint and share their findings in an assembly. From there, they could lead a poster competition or a walkathon encouraging sustainable choices—like taking public transit, walking, or setting up carpool groups.

[Robyn Doran]

Hi Noelin,

I thought your research question very relatable for students in your school. A great idea to get them fully engaged and involved. The whole school could be part of this research question and they would enjoy finding ways to reduce flooding to allow for more play time and less disruptions.

[Robyn Doran]

I found the satellite tracker app so interesting and educational. I will certainly share it with my colleagues and students alike. I also found the names of the satellites interesting and think this could be a great link to literacy with the students. getting them to think of where the name came from, the etymology and morphology.
The 5 satellites I tracked were:
1. GLOBALSTAR M053 is a communications satellite which provides the Emergency SOS on iphones currently.
2. International Space Station: Scientific research and technology demonstrations.
3. CentiSpace-1 S6 tests technologies to enhance global navigation satellite systems.
4. Gosat (IBUKI) – interestingly the world’s first satellite dedicated to monitoring greenhouse gases from space. It would be a great link to teaching carried out on greenhouse gases.
5. NOAA-19 – This weather satellite collects information about clouds, storms, temperatures, and atmospheric conditions.
I think the students would really enjoy the opportunity to use this tracker to look for and research in pairs using iPads/chromebooks.

[Robyn Doran]

Hi Sarah, I agree with you! This app is a very cool tool for teachers and students to engage with. Before doing this course, I certainly underestimated how many satellites there were and what there purpose was.

[Robyn Doran]

Home is a brilliant film, which I really enjoyed watching. It shows the incredible beauty of Earth alongside the impact we have on ecosystems, climate, and our natural resources.

I think introducing these topics to 1st class students would work best if you keep things simple, positive, and hands on . Instead of focusing on the negatives and stressing the students, I would look at Earth as our shared home that needs great care. I would show the students short clips of forests or oceans from the film to spark curiosity, and get them thinking about the environment. Then I would ask the class chat about what makes our planet special. A nice Follow up with hands-on activities like planting seeds in small pots, creating a mini recycling station in the classroom, or going on a nature scavenger hunt in the school yard to help them connect daily habits with looking after the environment. Again as I said in module 2, I could tie in the connection my family has with growing plants and how they try to promote taking care of the environment and our landscapes.

[Robyn Doran]

Hi Bernie,

I agree with you. The video is a great story telling how everything is connected in life. Living on planet earth it is our responsibility to take care of our environments and to ensure we are not wasting resources. I agree with you about positive examples for our students. I always bear it in mind when discussing climate concerns not to scaremonger the students, especially as I have been teaching 1st class in recent years.

[Robyn Doran]

I thought the Paxi clip was a brilliant resource to support teaching. However, I think teachers would want to cover some background language first. If a school happened to have a poly tunnel, taking the class outside would be a great way to make the greenhouse effect feel much more real. My dad is a horticulturist and has many poly tunnels on site. I could help the children relate to their learning by sharing a little about how my dad uses the heat in the tunnel to let the plants grow, and how this heat is similarl to what is happening on earth. Another option could be to bring the students to a nearby garden centre. In my case, I could bring the students to the botanical garden gardens which is close to my school to help them get a deeper understanding.

The TEAL tool makes a fantastic starting point, and that time-slider feature is really great for showing pupils how things have shifted over the years. You could pair the children up with iPads so they can explore the tool at their own pace. Combined with teacher guidance and a structured worksheet to help nudge their predictions along, it’ll really get them thinking about what could happen in the future. Looking at the final results at the end offers a perfect chance to spark a discussion on how warmer temperatures could affect their day-to-day lives—think future birthdays, holidays, plants, and animals. From there, they can pivot into problem-solving mode and write up practical solutions to help reduce the greenhouse effect for their future selves. This could also tie in with green schools in my school. We could do a survey throughout the school with the support from green schools committee members and choose some steps that we as a school will take to reduce our emissions.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by Robyn Doran.

[Robyn Doran]

Hi Noelin,

I really enjoyed reading your response. I agree that it’s a great idea to begin teaching about climate change through teaching about the green house effects. The Paxi video is a great resource to support this teaching. I always enjoy getting the pupils prior knowlkedge on topics like this as it gives you a great starting point.

[Robyn Doran]

I enjoyed reading the paper by Dr. Liston. I agree that STEM was once seen as separate subjects and separate entities. It is nice that the subject is now more about integrating the subjects. I have to admit in the past, I found it difficult to engage in STEM lessons, but as stated in the article, STEM has become widely used in education today through various different portals.

I really enjoyed activity one from the weather and climate activities. It is a nice and simple way of introducing both topics to our students. It can at times be difficult to choose how to teach these topics. Being given a straight forward activity like this one is great and I will be certain to use it in my classroom next year. I found the videos and links in this module very helpful too. I think the kids will find them engaging and will learn alot from them

[Robyn Doran]

Hi Sean. I love your idea here. It’s great to get the kids brainstorming in small groups or pairs. I am a big advocate of displaying the students work. It’s a great idea to use this as a display and could also encourage the children to engage in higher order thinking.

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