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Hi Claire
I really like the way you are connecting the children with their local environment. The use of local people in the area is another great way for the children to be connected with the community. The recording of tide levels would be interesting to learn about too. You also highlighted the need for parent support, which is a great way for children to feel that their question is valuable to all generations. Its great question for the climate detectives.
The Climate Detective question – child generated
The area around climate that I think could generate a lot of interest among pupils is the effect of greenhouse gases. By looking at the experiment ‘Under the lid’ would be a great starting point to help the children to gain an understanding of greenhouse gases and how they affect our climate. The children could then consider our actions in the local community. In order for this to be successful, I believe it is important to allow the children to create the question and direct their research towards an area they feel they can achieve and make a change. The framework for creating a question on slide 12 – Climate detectives – research question is an excellent focus planner for the children. Obviously I could help and guide the children, but it is important that the children have ownership over the question.
Areas that children may look at, maybe our school car park. Can we reduce the number of cars entering and exiting. Our use of electricity within our classrooms and school environment. Areas or means to reducing our individual carbon footprint.
The climate detectives program is a great means to children solving real life problems that they observe and want to change. The phases are clear and I really like phase 3 where children present their findings. It makes their work valued and shows how they have positively contributed to climate change
Hi Rebecca,
I would definitely agree with you that ‘Nose High Up in the Sky’ is a great resource for a teacher. It provides great opportunities for children to work together and have a hands on approach to learning about our climate.
I downloaded the Satellite Tracker app
My first observation was the number of satellites that due to orbit above Ireland in the next 20 hours was quite surprising (that there are so many). Here are some that I researched.
Cosmos 1933 – Cosmos 1933 was a Soviet ELINT (Electronic and Signals Intelligence) satellite launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in March 1988.
Terra – Approximately the size of a small school bus, the Terra satellite carries five instruments that take coincident measurements of the Earth system: -Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) – Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) -Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) – Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) – Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
It orbits the earth every 99 minutes, 14 per day. It is 785km above the Earth’s surface.
Meteor Priroda – launched by Russia in July 1981 at TYURATAM MISSILE AND SPACE COMPLEX (TTMTR). The Meteor satellites were designed to monitor atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures, humidity, radiation, sea ice conditions, snow-cover, and clouds.
Saocom1-A – launched in October 2018. The SAOCOM requirements call for a capability to provide timely information in support of natural and anthropogenic disaster management (such as regional flooding, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, forest fires, etc.), and to conduct monitoring services for agriculture, mining and ocean applications – including monitoring surveys of Antarctica (study of continental glacier evolution, global change indicators, etc.). The goal is to obtain data with high-quality radiometric and geometric accuracy (e.g. natural resources identification, interferometry, glaciology), and to provide also high revisit frequencies (daily) in support of specific operational requirements.
ALOS 2 – launched in May 2014 by Japan. ALOS-2 is the follow-on JAXA L-SAR satellite mission of ALOS (Daichi) approved by the Japanese government in late 2008. The overall objective is to provide data continuity to be used for cartography, regional observation, disaster monitoring, and environmental monitoring.
I also found other satellites that still orbit Earth but are no longer functional. It is amazing to know there are so many satellites contributing to providing valuable information.
I think the listen and draw activity is a brilliant idea. I would be very interested to see what the children would draw. Thanks for sharing this idea
The film ‘Home’ has some amazing footage of different places all over the World. Between the imagery and music, it is a thought provoking ‘kick’ in how we are looking after our World. The impact of the way we operate within this ecosystem and the damage we are contributing to is extremely worrying. I think children will be amazed and shocked, at the same time. It could really help highlight the importance of our own individual actions. It also provides means in how we can stop the destruction and help with solutions. I think it would be more effective to watch the video in class in 15minute segments.
The short video on Irelands climate change plan 2019 would help children to make a plan on how they could help with some of the targets. Children could look at the carbon footprint questionnaire with their family as apart of how we can all can contribute to climate change in our homes.
To create awareness around our school the children could produce posters to promote ways of reducing our carbon footprint.
Hi Carmel
thank you for your post. I think an awareness day is a great way for the pupils to promote climate change and share what they have learned with other classes and pupils in the school.
Activity 3 –
This is a very good way to introduce the children to the Greenhouse Effect. The Paxi video is child friendly and very informative. I would use this to initiate discussions among the children about their life experiences. I would ask them to make a list of any unusual weather they have seen or experienced. Then can they think of any fossil fuels that they might use during a school day.
I would like the children to explore the experiment ‘Under the Lid’ and gain an understanding of how temperatures are rising and how this can affect the greenhouse gases. The children need to think about how we are responsible for the greenhouse gases and possible ways we can reduce some of them.
David Attenborough video How to save the planet highlights how we need to make changes. I would show the children this and then group them to discuss what they could do to help the climate.
From the children’s perspective we could look at our individual actions and how we can promote positive climate change in our school.
Hi Lauren
thank you for your post. I really like the idea of a weather station. Children reporting back to their class and other classes is a great motivation factor for learning. I also think the suggestion of visual aids or ICT is a great idea to link with weather apps.
Weather and Climate – STEM Weather station
To get the children to connect with weather and the vocabulary around the topic I would ask the children to give their experiences of weather (sample of experiences in the local area, summer holidays, children with families from different parts of the World). I would then introduce the word climate and ask them what they thought was the differences between the two words. Using the videos provided in module 1 we would clarify the meaning of weather and climate.
From here I would introduce the idea of creating a weather station to cover temperature, rainfall and wind. Using STEM I would split the class in 4 groups, 2 to make a rainfall gauge and 2 to make an anemometer.
I would then ask the children where we should set up our weather station. I would explain as part of the process we need to look at how effective our equipment is and the position of the weather station. Later we may need to adjust / improve / reposition our rain guages and anemometer.
We could also place thermometers around different parts of the school to see is there any similarities or differences in temperature.
Recording the weather daily over a month can give the children time to examine patterns and get an improved understanding of climate.
Through Stem the children have ownership in their learning and this can foster critical thinking. It provides great opportunities for teamwork and communication. The children could share their knowledge and experiences with other classes in the school through the medium of a school assembly.