[Emma Mc Carthy]

Module 3
Register your garden with the All Ireland Pollinator Plan and record your actions for pollinators, then outline how you would register your school and what actions you could take to help pollinators

What an interesting page I have registered my garden and shaded in the area around what we have done and pledged to do more too increase pollinator activity at our garden. I noted the following tips some of which we are already doing.

Tips to increase pollinators
1- Don’t Mow it Let It Grow ( my husband did a No Mow May )
2- Manage Hedgerows ( we planted more cherry blossoms last year )
3- Plant pollinator friendly cheers ( we have a plan to plant some apple trees
4- Choose nectar pollen rich plants ( we have planted window boxes of rosemary this year)
5- Reduce pesticide use ( no chemicals used on weeds my son pulls them !!)
6- Leaving path ways around a meadow. My husband has only cut the grass around the perimeter of the meadow at the back of our house

Future Actions
1 –Make a small bug hotel
2- Run a FIT and tally within broad groups e.g., bumblebee, butterflies & moths, wasp, beetle
3 Purchase our apple tress
4 For summer bedding in future add nectar rich pollen plants

School
Actions for School

1- Increase awareness ( send links to teachers to the All Ireland Pollinator site)
2- Add our school to the sites list
3- Invite guest speakers to talk about importance of pollinators
4- Encourage a No Mow May
5- Set up small bug hotels
6- Runs a FIT (tally, record on bar chart and interpret data for whole school to understand, display in school hall )
7- Encourage the planting in our summer bedding of pollinator rich plants
8- Run poetry competitions on pollination as the theme

[Emma Mc Carthy]

This is an excellent way of using mapping I too have read that book and never thought of using it to map. Thanks for the idea Colette

[Emma Mc Carthy]

Module 2
Using Data Sets

Explore how you would use some of the online data sets in your teaching of data in maths and to highlight the application of maths in real world contexts.

The online Data sets are an incredible resource that took my breath away when I explored the amount of Data that is ready available.

It was amazing to see how easy it was to use and navigate.

It would be a fabulous resource to down load on a class set of I Pads. I was particularly struck by the data set of local Garda Stations

Lesson Plan
Exploring : Who keeps are local area safe? What resources have they? ( Garda stations) Have you ever visited a Garda station? Can you estimate the amount of Garda stations in our County.

As we live in a border area it would be an idea to compare Garda stations in Laois, Offaly and Tipperary.

Main Body
Using the data set of Garda stations in our 3 local counties I would get the pupils to chart this information on a bar chart. A further chart then will be compiled using the data set of Garda stations 30 years ago.

Maths Exploration
Pupils would compare and contrast the amount of Garda stations 30 years ago and now. These charts would be displayed. Calculations on the declining amount of Garda stations too would be displayed

Literacy Links
Pupils would explore reasons why Garda stations had to close. Extensions ideas including

Class Debate- Imagine you are a local politician campaigning to keep our local station open what would you argument be. V Imagine you are the government wanting to close our local Garda station.

Letter Writing: Write a letter to our local politician appealing to save our local Garda station with the reasons why it should remain open.

Guest Speaker : Invite a local Garda into the class to explain their daily work and the importance of the Local Garda Station.

SESE Links
History: Looking at our Garda staion 50 years ago from online archives. Compare and contrast changes and features that remain the same.

There is so much more that could be explored but the Garda staion decline was just a Data set that grabbed my attention.

FABULOUS RESOURCE

[Emma Mc Carthy]

Module 2
Using Data Sets

Explore how you would use some of the online data sets in your teaching of data in maths and to highlight the application of maths in real world contexts.

The online Data sets are an incredible resource that took my breath away when I explored the amount of Data that is ready available.

It was amazing to see how easy it was to use and navigate.

It would be a fabulous resource to down load on a class set of I Pads. I was particularly struck by the data set of local Garda Stations

Lesson Plan
Exploring : Who keeps are local area safe? What resources have they? ( Garda stations) Have you ever visited a Garda station? Can you estimate the amount of Garda stations in our County.

As we live in a border area it would be an idea to compare Garda stations in Laois, Offaly and Tipperary.

Main Body
Using the data set of Garda stations in our 3 local counties I would get the pupils to chart this information on a bar chart. A further chart then will be compiled using the data set of Garda stations 30 years ago.

Maths Exploration
Pupils would compare and contrast the amount of Garda stations 30 years ago and now. These charts would be displayed. Calculations on the declining amount of Garda stations too would be displayed

Literacy Links
Pupils would explore reasons why Garda stations had to close. Extensions ideas including

Class Debate- Imagine you are a local politician campaigning to keep our local station open what would you argument be. V Imagine you are the government wanting to close our local Garda station.

Letter Writing: Write a letter to our local politician appealing to save our local Garda station with the reasons why it should remain open.

Guest Speaker : Invite a local Garda into the class to explain their daily work and the importance of the Local Garda Station.

SESE Links
History: Looking at our Garda staion 50 years ago from online archives. Compare and contrast changes and features that remain the same.

There is so much more that could be explored but the Garda staion decline was just a Data set that grabbed my atention.

FABULOUS RESOURCE

[Emma Mc Carthy]

Megan

I love the way you mentioned that these activities would be an excellent end to science week having explored further themes in the week like light and the telescope. I think the activities mentioned in module 1 on light and the telescope are excellent resources for us to have this coming science week.  We will certainly be making telescopes this November !!!

[Emma Mc Carthy]

Module 1
Describe how you could apply some of the concepts and skills you have learned in this module to your own teaching practice in line with the the STEM Education Policy Statement.

Encouraging active minds and inquiry based skills learning is the corner stone of this policy document. By nurturing pupils and enhancing teachers knowledge base the pillars aim to strengthen both our STEM skills set and that of our pupils
Pairs, collaborative work, extending knowledge and facilitating prior knowledge are all elements in this module I wish to practice this coming school year.

The lesson on the mystery finger prints was a fabulous real life lesson and the language not only of the finger prints types but the language of culprit etc was a brilliant practice.

This is a lesson I would love to try and use the language in literacy perhaps a clip from Oliver Twist to utilise the language. Also the teacher on the finger print lesson highlighted the importance of the reflective process key to asses of learning and for learning for the teacher. A practice I think critical and as this module mentioned just “one change can make a difference”

Many lessons are science lessons that do not incorporate any type of design, real world applications or core ideas of engineering. The “T” of STEM Education can also be an obstacle to producing a meaningful STEM experiences. This I feel can be an obstacle to my teaching of science perhaps I am using science like a recipe book and not allowing time for proper
– Exploration
– Wondering
– Investigation

These pillars provide an excellent frame work for my practice this coming school year. I love the idea of the prompt to stimulate prior knowledge.
There can be quite a lot of uncertainty around the design and understanding of STEM activities. Te article discussed what STEM is and the characteristics of true authentic STEM activities and lessons.

Elements I want to include in my practice this year are

– Prompt ( opening with a great focus question )

– Wondering ( allowing time in pairs or in teams to question how the experiment may unfold)

– Exploring ( not only with a prescribed recipe but giving the pupils a paper clip and use the language how can this be a piece of technology )

– Conducting Investigation ( allowing enough time for meaningful engagement and investigation )

– Interpret Data ( application of practical maths to problem solve like using the rainbow spinners (circles) and teaching diameter and radius in a real life capacity )

When concluding a lesson I wish to use language such as

What like most about design ? What were challenges? What is best to remember for next time?

Also to integrate with literacy new words explored will be displayed on our WOW wall and give pupils scaffolding opportunities using teacher as a prompter to build on their knowledge of words.

To conclude utilising the following to adjust my practice
1. Pillars ( for planning rather than prescribing )
2. Ample time for exploration and investigation
3. Simple application to maths (using rainbow spinners and apply to language of circle, radius, diameter)
4. Wow Wall for new words
5. Integrate words in to a literacy piece ( finger prints language lesson with a passage from Oliver)

[Author]

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