Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Christina
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your ideas for using the mapping resources from this module withe your special school pupils. The lakes in Naas would be a lovely location for a walk and I like the idea of combining the children’s own observations and photographs of the location with an overall view of the area such as an online map or aerial photograph. I like the idea of giving children a chance to choose from a range of materials to create with or suggest their own and offering a range of supports for pupils to help create their maps.
Hi Laura
Collaborating with other schools around the country woudl be a lovely idea if you could link up with other teachers that you know working in different areas. The idea of uploading photos onto Padlet is lovely but it can be difficult to capture what you are seeing in a photo. Drawings might be a good alternative. Having some common observation sheets that the children could fill in at home on agreed dates might also be a good idea that could highlight the differences in what the children could observe in the night sky. I really like the idea of linking with the wartime balckouts and the Eire signs. It would be difficult for children to imagine what blackouts would look like, given how prevalent artificial lighting has become.
Hi Molly
Sharing your own experience of noticing the difference in light levels between Navan and Lucan, both urban areas is a great way to introduce the topic of light pollution to children. Inviting them to share their own experiences will help to build on this. Children may have experiences seeing the stars on visits to relatives or on holidays in different parts of the country or even in other countries that they can share. Continuing that with an audit of the school grounds is a good idea that will allow children to consider both the problem and solutions. If they could find solutions for creating some darker areas within their school, then they could also start to think about what might be done on a wider area in Lucan.
Hi Robbie
Thanks for your thoughts on this module and how to make the resources work for your third class. As you sadi, the Paxi video is a great way to introduce the concept of greenhouse gases and the basic science around Climate change and pair or group work is a great way to tease out the vocabulary and discuss what they think each term means before discussing the meaning as a whole class. I like your approach to the TEAL tool, leaving it towards the end of the year when you have done more work on timelines, allowing plenty of time to explore the tool and pairing up with an older class. Combining some simple step by step instructions to find a particular peice of information with some more open ended exploration may also be a good approach which allows for difefrentiation.
Hi Erin
I’m gald you found the resources in this module useful. A positive solutions focussed approach is a good way to tackle the subject of climate change with children. Short sections of Home might be appropriate to show with some classes, but you do need to be careful not to overwhelm them. It is important to understand the basic science of climate change so that children know why we need to take action; how reducing waste and saving energy can reduce the amount of raw materials we need to extract from the Earth and the amount of fossil fuels we need to burn and how we can go about taking action. Similarly looking after nature can help to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the air and every bit of food we can grow for oursleves recduces emissions from packaging, transport and manufacture.
Hi Cliona
That sounds like a great project as it is something that is very relevant to the children’s lives and is also very achievable. A waste audit is a great way to get started as it will give real results that the children can graph and analyse and then use those results to set reduction targets. There is a lovely maths component especially with the addition of digital technologies to analyse and represent the data. The audit can be repeated once the children have decided on their actions and put them in place to measure the reduction in waste. It is great to give the children ownership of the project and let them decide on their approach. It is important when discussing the issue of waste at the start of the project to make the link between waste and climate change. So often, we put waste, water, energy etc. into boxes and don’t consider the links between them so it is good to help understand how reducing waste also reduces the amount of energy needed to extract, transport and process raw materials and so reduces greenhouse gas emissions and that much of our waste is plastic, which is made from oil. By understanding why we need to reduce waste, pupils are more likely to adapt positive behavious and continue them.
Hi Laura
The KWL is a great resource to start a dicussion on Greenhouse gases to see if the children have any prior knowledge and identify any misconceptions. I often work with TY students and ask them to give their own definitions for Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases, Global Warming etc and most struggle to do so, so it is good to introduce the concept at a young age and then build on it in future years. For an infant class, the Paxi video itself is probably enough combined with a simple practical demonstration like the ESERO resource Earth Under the Lid, but older classes woul enjoy exploring the TEAL tool to predict future scenarios.
Hi Breege
It is great that the children in your school are already learning about the effects of climate change on biodiversity through their participation in the nature hero awards and I’m glad that you found the resources in this module useful for continuing this education and making further links. As you said, there are a variety of resources that can be used by different class levels with the Paxi video being useful for infants but also as an introduction to or recap on greenhouse gases for an older class who might then go on to use the TEAL tool.
Hi Chloe
Energy use in school is a good choice for a Climate Detectives question as it is something concrete that the children have direct experience of and also something that they can have an impact on. To work out the impact of energy use on climate change, you would need to work out the CO2 emissions associated with energy use. The current emissions associated with electricity generation and fuel use are available from
https://www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/seai-statistics/conversion-factors
In Ireland, we produce 197.8g of CO2 per unit of electricity generated (kWh). If you want to gather data on energy use, before and after your energy saving campaign, I would narrow your focus to just electricity use rather than including heating and other energy uses.
Hi Kayleigh
I love your plan which incorporates so many of the modules from this course and goes beyond to really give the pupils a sense of their own place and the physical features and settlement history which led to the development of the natural, cultural and built heritage of the area. It is a project which has so many different aspects and could involve the pupils in practical hands on learning throughout the school year with strong links to many aspects of both the current and new primary curriculum. I paid a brief overnight visit to Dungarvan last week before travelling down the Copper Coast and it is a fascinating area with so many aspects to explore. I came across the art installation “Crockery Mountain” in the town and loved it.
Hi Keith
That sounds like a great plan for observing the sun including lots of examples of practical maths such as measures, shape and space (directions) and the creation of data tables as well as scientific observation. The addition of dta gathering at home at sunrise and sunset is a great way to extend the learning to home and include parental involvement. When comparing patterns and discussing how the sun appears to move, the two ESERO activities outlined in this module would be a great follow up to understand the rotation of the Earth and is orbit around the sun.
Hi Aisling
Thank you for your thoughts on introducing the concept of light pollution and the ideas of this module to your special school class. As you have said it all comes down to the idea of light and darkness and how darkness is benficial for ourselves and for wildlife. Practical ideas such as using pictures showing the constrast between your homeplace and Dublin and photographs of bright and dark places at night will really help to illustrate the concept. I really like your idea of creating a dark friendly streetscape where lights can be removed and curtains closed. It sounds like a fun practical idea that introduces the idea of actions we can take to reduce light pollution.
Hi Olwyn
I love the idea of investigating Biodiversity in 3 contrasting local areas and displaying their findings in school. It would be good to visit each area a few times if possible, to increase the likelihood of seeing a variety of living things. Dividing what you see into categories such as trees, wildflowers, birds, minibeasts etc would help to break down the audit into manageable tasks, with pupils recording the number of different types of trees or wildflowers they see or ticking or tallying groups of minibeasts from a list. You might also consider taking photographs of some of the specific species you find in each location. Tying your findings in with a lighting survey and thinking about ways to reduce light pollution is a great way to get the children involved in active citizenship and outdoor learning.
Hi Catherine
It is great to see the work that your school have engaged in for their Biodiversity flag. I took a look at your website and it looks like the children are very involved in both learnign about and improving biodiversity in their school and local community. As light pollution is one aspect of biodievrsity loss that is not widely understood or talked about, I was pleased to hear that it had already come up in your Green School surveys. Hopefully your own new knowledge gained from this course will help you to highlight it with your pupils and the wider school commmunity and get everyone thinking about the problem and its solutions,
Hi Noreen
Combining a lighting audit of your school with a light pollution map is a greta way for children to visualise the problem of light pollution as well as being a great integrated STEM activity. Combining this with some biodivcrsity monitoring and an audit of the exisiting features you have added for biodiversity such as your log pile and planting will help children to connect lighting in school to the needs of nocturnal creatures and consider what changes could be made. Involving guest speakers and parents in their plans is a great way to promote active citizenship.
