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I was just having the dame thought re the Amazon Rainforest and could be a great source of interest for kids as well.
My research question is “What is the solution to climate change?”. I think the simplicity of this question would allow the students to examine our current efforts being undertaken in the combat of climate change. They could also look back at changes that have been made over the years and critically examine what and where we have gone wrong and what is proving to be effective to date. I think Greta’s Ted talk and speeches could be a great provocation for this activity. The students could also look at the school as a point of investigation for its carbon footprint and analyse the school day in terms of energy consumption. This could be done through whole class learning and also small group research using ICT. The children could start to brainstorm action or solutions at a class level and a school level, tying into our school’s Green Schools initiative at the same time. I think it would be very engaging and great that it could be an ongoing project.
The results of climate change are easy to recognise in recent years. In my locality, the wind and storms have caused regular road blockages and power outages. This has resulted in the main road to school being inaccessible and also the school operating without broadband regularly. It has also meant that there have been some school closures due to power outages. This was a good discussion point within the school and Green Schools committee as students themselves began to plan at school level and initiate changes made by both students and staff. This started on a small scale in reducing photocopying, litter picking and sorting rubbish correctly in classroom bins but moved onto a bigger scale in terms of project work. As another participant mentioned, fast fashion has become a huge issue in society today. I was so impressed to see students so engaged in a project based on this topic and conducting their own research and discussing second hand alternatives and being an informed consumer.
I struggled a bit navigating the app but I got on better with the website version. It makes me think that this activity would be better suited to senior classes and would be a great opportunity for utilising ICT.
Starlink 1771: Global broadband network
Starlink 2351 – provision of internet access where it has been unavailable or unattainable
Starlink 1155 – as stated above
SL – 4 R/B: Launched from Tyuratam Missile and Space Center, Kazakhstan
SL – 8 R/B: Launched from Plesetsk Missile and space Complex, Russia.
I did also look at the EO browser and I think my 6th class next year would definitely enjoy experimenting with this. Although I found this task the most difficult to navigate so far on this course, I can see how and why satellite gathering is so important. Children would find this fascinating to navigate and investigate which satellites were passing, however I’m not sure if I would be in my comfort zone using these resources and would need to spend more time using them myself.
I also really love the idea of a welcome cafe, and it could be a great way of bringing parents from thee community into school life.
The Irish Red Cross in Dublin 15 would also be our closest organisation as a resource for asylum seekers and refugees. The enrolment of Ukrainian children in the school has opened up a discussion that hasn’t been had on such a relevant level to the school in some years. As a result, it is more important than ever that we are educating our students in terms of awareness and understanding and the upholding of rights for these children. There are many fantastic EAL resources available to us as teaching aids, however I think the most important thing that we can do is create a safe environment. School should be a safe haven where children feel secure and at ease, feeling part of a community and I think there are many different ways we can do this as a school community. The school has been involved in a local toy appeal also which had a fantastic response.
The Home documentary was very powerful and insightful. The scenery is beautiful and the way the film is made, makes you really think about the stark reality of this scenery and the extensive damage being done to it. I think that it would be a good teaching resource because the impact of human actions are shown very clearly. If you were teaching a younger class, you could use screenshots or still images from the film as a stimulus. I do think the film could be very engaging in older classes. I think Greta Thunburg’s Ted talk is probably the most useful resource of all. I agree with other participants that there is something very powerful about children recognising the activist as their peer. While students may be familiar with her and her cause, they may not have heard her speak in this capacity. It’s a great example of how social media can have a positive effect and also supports Autism awareness. I really liked the tool to rate your carbon footprint also and I think this could be an excellent resource for my 6th class next year.
The Paxi video is an excellent resource, I can definitely see myself using this in the classroom next year, along with the other resources in activity three. I found the video was probably the best pitched part of this activity, in terms of being suitable for all class levels. However I agree with other participants that some of this activity may be more suitable for older classes, or need simplification in the junior end of the school. The Teal tool is fantastic but I did have to rewatch parts to fully get to grips with the task.
I think when teaching the content of this activity, I would definitely focus on Ireland as a basis for learning and then students could investigate or make comparisons between Ireland and the rest of the world. There is a good opportunity for integrating this learning across the curriculum, particularly with maths as well as some links with the Green Schools Programme.
I looked at “poverty and homelessness” which relates to goal number one “No poverty”. The lockdowns in recent years really highlighted inequality within education. Although it isn’t always obvious and probably does differ from school to school, I think it was unavoidable to recognise that certain children were very vulnerable when it came to online or home learning. Working in a diverse area, we encountered a broad level of engagement across our classes but a common theme was that already vulnerable children were engaging with learning less and less. We identified a number of children who were not on our radar in terms of experiencing poverty. As a school, we were providing lunch and food for a number of families and we had not really looked beyond this as an indicator of children that were struggling in terms of their vulnerable household. There were a number of reasons, from lack of access to the internet to not having breakfast in the morning. At a local level, these are the things we are noticing within the classroom. As another participant mentioned above, I have also encountered pupils that cannot afford to go to the doctor as they get older and are above the age of eight. On a global level, this is the same on a much larger scale. Many children have no access to education and in the last two years there are more displaced children than ever. There is such a divide between the global north and south.
Dr. Liston’s paper highlights a multidisciplinary approach to STEM education, using integration and real-world application of concepts. This is so applicable to the classroom and real life teaching.
Activity 1:
As several other participants have mentioned, I think I would use a school activity or an outdoor event as a good hook for maximum engagement. This would work particularly well in terms of older children, as I was working through the activity myself, I was starting to think of how I could tweak it to suit a diverse sixth class next year. I would also try to integrate the different climate zones with the heritage of the students in the class and the places that they visit and travel to.
Activity 2:
I think there are great learning opportunities in activity two and love the integration of maths also. I always love when there is a chance to get outside and get involved in hands-on learning and I think Weather Detectives would be great for this. It would be important to discuss the different variables that allow for accurate readings and maybe have a variety of different sized temperatures depending on the age of students and or differentiation.
I had a very similar experience last year in the classroom, initially sparked by gendered colours. Something so simple can be the starting point for a way bigger discussion.
As teachers we see gender stereotypes in the classroom from early childhood years. Through toys and play, I think it has become inevitable that children take on some of these stereotypes from a young age. I have noticed this in my own classroom in the past during Aistear and roleplay in particular. When roles were assigned by the children themselves during play, I noticed that some children had very definite ideas about who should carry out each role. Some boys were often more vocal about the assignment of parts and roles and started to exclusively take on the “construction” or building tasks. This then meant that other males were following this lead and abandoning a particular role or game that they were engaged in, in order to do the same as other boys. I had to think carefully about how to scaffold or structure this element of Aistear, without participating myself and taking away from their independent play. When they started using a “lucky dip” system of who took on each role, the dynamic of play completely changed and it was very interesting to watch how things changed and levels of engagement also benefited.
Development education is more important than ever in schools for a number of reasons. Through the media and social media, exposure to global issues through these channels isn’t always accurate or factual. Children need to be taught how to filter this media and identify accurate sources. However, this has probably contributed to an increased awareness and understanding for children. As educators, we need to foster this curiosity that students have for what is happening in the world around them. Empathy is something that we can scaffold and this in turn will lead to deeper discussion and in time, thinking about taking action. There are so many ways this can take place in the classroom and throughout the school as part of SSE. Through the use of technology and in conjunction with current affairs, students could be enabled to participate in development education learning within the existing curriculum. This could be done through literacy, drama and SPHE. Confidence, presenting and public speaking skills would improve over time as talk and discussion will facilitate critical thinking.