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Research Question: How can we reduce the amount of single use plastic in our school?
1. Engage the students and Identify the elements of the Research Question,
Establish a base line of pupil knowledge on the amount of single use plastic in our lives and how it is harmful to the environment. As this project would most likely be conducted after other ESA lessons (e.g. the ice is melting), they should already have a solid basis of environmental understanding. Linking with the school’s Green School Flag application and their focus on reducing waste I could direct the pupils to focus on single use plastics in particular and what can be done about it. We can research the topic by watching videos, reading articles and then brainstorm and create mindmaps about the causes of the problem and possible solutions in the general sense.
2. Identify the data to be investigated
The next step would be to look at our individual circumstances and survey the school to see the amount of single use plastic used. We would need to find out figures on how much and what kinds of plastics we use, in what circumstances and what happens to them. We’d need to explore why we use single use plastics in these situations, looking in particular at lunches and and water bottles.
3. Analyse and present the data
Once we have gathered data through surveys and practical investigations (e.g. checking bins) we would need to analyse it and present it. We could use it to identify the areas/causes of the greatest amounts of single use plastic. WE could discuss if the results were what we expected and if there were any surprises.4. Develop an Action Plan
Having data on single use plastic in our school we could then come up with ways to improve the situation (e.g. encourage pupils/classes to change certain plastic heavy lunch orders, find out which of the lunch wrappers can be recycled, collect water bottles for recycling etc) We could also look at ways we can extend this outside of school to make the community more aware of the amount of single use plastics we consume.
These activities (From the Ground and From the Sky) are really interesting and I think my 5th class would find them really engaging. The pupils would enjoy analysing the photos taken from different perspectives and matching them. They could discuss and debate how different photos could be useful. They could also use google maps or an atlas to find where the places are. I think I would print and laminate the teacher resource photos but the class could also ipads or chromebooks to complete this lesson.
There are also some other really interesting photos to explore on the astronauts’ flicker accounts. The class could be divided into groups and each group could be assigned an astronaut. They could then explore the photos and report back to class on what they could find out about that astronaut and what they think their interest and background might be. They could also collaborate to choose a favourite photo and explain why they chose it.
This is really interesting Fildelma, thanks for sharing. There is an astonishing number of satellites above Ireland at any one time.
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>This is a really interesting and engaging film. It is visually stunning with amazing aerial photography as it looks at the origins of the Earth and the impact that humanity has had on it.</span>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Despite showing the grim reality of melting glaciers, polluted rivers, habitats decimated by deforestation and human greed it does have a message of hope at its core. </span>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>However, it is, in my opinion, not really suitable or aimed at primary school aged children. A teacher could maybe use clips or snippets in a lesson but I think it would be best used as a tool to inform teachers themselves. </span>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Some of the other videos could also serve as an introduction to the topic of Climate Change. The Greta Thunberg video is shorter and possibly more accessible and most pupils will have heard of her. There are also some good WWF/ Netflix documentaries (Our Planet) that also have downloadable powerpoint presentations aimed at children. </span>
As with a lot of teachers, I agree with the idea of addressing the topic of climate change in a positive way that doesn’t make them feel hopeless. Focusing on the ways they can adopt good behaviours and model this to others is a good idea.
Climate Reporters (Activity 3) is an interesting activity and builds nicely on the previous two lessons that have the pupils explore the idea of weather vs climate and give them the opportunity to record and analyse the weather locally. They would need at least this knowledge (and possibly more) to discuss and understand the different climate models and predictions.
Some aspects of the lesson would be quite advanced for many of my learners (I will be teaching 10/11 year olds) The videos do help to break it down a bit but there are lots of terms that would need further teaching/explanation or discussion (e.g. datasets, reputable sources, scenario, plausible) so the language skills required are quite high. The pupils would also need good presentation and collaboration skills for this activity and would probably need less challenging tasks to develop these, so this lesson might be one I would do later in the school year.
I agree, its a great video to explain greenhouse gasses. A great starting point for oral language on this topic, especially for 5th & 6th classes.
This is a really good point. We have lots to do to better integrate Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths in a more meaningful way.
I really liked both of these activities, and both would be appropriate to teach in my class (5th) next year.
I think the Weather versus climate activity would be a really good starting point for this topic as many children don’t realise there is a difference between these terms. We spend a lot of time discussing the weather and describing it (as Gaeilge) and they will have heard the term climate (especially in the context of ‘climate change’) but they might not know the difference. This would lead nicely into the Weather Detectives activity. I think they would enjoy collecting and recording the daily temperatures and then using their STEM/Maths skills to create a graph (with real data they have collected) and work out an average.
I also think a school weather station would be a great idea. We could make the anemometer (although I think we might even have some weather recording equipment that we bought a few years ago in a cupboard somewhere!) It would be great to set it up in a safe area and monitor it daily. The weather in Ireland is changeable enough to make this an interesting activity.