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Hi Fiona
This is a great idea for a research question that based on a local climate issue and that is also very topical at the moment. There are a few pieces of information that will be needed to carry out your investigation. To link the project to Climate Change, you will need to find out the average Carbon emissions for production of a plastic bottle and an aluminium can and the carbon emissions produced by recycling each of them which should be readily available online. You will then need to find out the current recycling rates for plastic bottles and aluminium cans and compare them to recycling rates before the scheme was introduced. As the scheme is new this year, official figures won’t have been published yet, but I’m sure I have heard some initial estimates being quoted in the media. You have mentioned contacting the European Commission, so you should be aware that the EU legislation requiring all member states to implement a Deposit Return Scheme was enacted in 2019 https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2024/si/33/made/en/ so the work of implementing it throughout the EU is already in progress. The following table will give you past and expected dates for implementation in other countries and will also give you information on the difference in recycling rates between countries that have implemented DRS and those who haven’t. https://sensoneo.com/waste-library/deposit-return-schemes-overview-europe/. As you will see, Sweden had a DRS scheme in place since 1984, which is 5 years before we had our first can recycling bank in Ireland
Hi Patricia
As you say, children who have grown up in an urban area are often not aware of light pollution at all as for them it is what they have always known. Even for adults, although most of us have grown up being able to see the stars clearly at night, we have gradually got used to brighter lights and forget that excess lighting is neither normal nor desirable. There are, of course, advantages to having some outdoor lighting but the levels of artificial light are far in excess of what is needed. Visual representations of the differences in light levels would really help to get the point across and so would sharing your personal experience of growing up being able to see the stars. You could also ask the children if they have any experience of being in darker places in other parts of Ireland or in other countries where they were able to see the stars. Asking about your local authorities plans to tackle light pollution is a great idea as is looking at solutions. Many things could be done in school and the children’s homes to reduce the problem and spreading awareness to others is also key.
Hi Jacinta
Welcome to the course. I’m glad you enjoyed Maeve Liston’s paper. I wasn’t aware of the Jo Baoler book but it sounds like one to look up and the “low floor, high ceiling” idea is very descriptive and even without reading the context in the book, this seems to sum up the teaching of STEM very effectively. I often say, we can start with very simple ideas and questions but by allowing the children to design their own investigations and giving them the space to problem solve and adapt, they can reach great heights in their exploration. I’m not aware of specific Irish proverbs related to weather but I think a good place to begin your search would be Michael Fortune’s website and Facebook page https://folklore.ie/
Hi Alice
You have some great ideas for incorporating the lessons from Home into your classroom teaching without showing them the whole film, which I agree would be too overwhelming for many primary school children. Using stills from the film is a great idea to promote open ended discussion and have the children form their own opinions on what is happening before being introduced to the science behind climate change. I also love the idea of using quotes from the film as a basis for debates and persuasive writing.
Hi Paddy
I like the idea of using short clips from home to promote class discussion and then following up with a lesson on the science behind climate change and its impacts. I love your idea of using Home as inspiration for the children to create their own mini documentaries. This would be a great cross curricular project from the research to script writing and planning and then making and editing their videos. This could also form the basis for a Climate Detectives project which you will cover in Module 5.
Hi Ailbhe
That is a great research question that is relevant to your local area. I love the focus on modelling coastal erosion and discussing solutions and asking the children to model some of these solutions with their tray of sand might be a nice extension. Getting in touch with the UCD researchers would be a fantastic idea. It would be great if they would come and talk to your class and maybe suggest some ideas that the children could use to monitor coastal erosion.
Hi Hillary
That is a really great idea for a research question with a clear plan for gathering the relevant data and a great focus on making a difference
Hi Grainne
That is a great research question that is related to a local climate issue and you have a clear path to carrying out your hands on research and data collection. The only thing I would add would be some research on past weather data in your area to see if rainfall amounts and patterns have changed over recent years.
Hi Conor
It is easy to point the finger at other countries and say they should do better, but Ireland has widescale air and water pollution, destruction of habitats such as our bogs which should be our biggest carbon sinks, and very high per capita greenhouse gas emissions so we need to look at our own country and see what we can do better.
Hi Anita
Well Done. That is an excellent research question. It is related to a local climate issue, is relevant ti the children’s lives, is neither too broad nor too narrow and you have a clear path for gathering and presenting information, for reaching out to the relevant agencies and the local authority and for sharing it with the school as a whole.
Hi Robert
Well done for registering your garden with the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. As with all things practice makes perfect and now you will know exactly how to go about registering your school. As you said it is a great way of keeping track of changes in your school and getting the children involved in measuring and calculating the areas for particular actions is a great way to integrate it into maths in the classroom. Good luck with all of your planned biodiversity actions.
Hi Emma
Yes I think the story of Charles Parsons is one of my favourites from the history of the Parsons family in Birr. I love the story of the Turbinia and the Diamond Jubilee and it would be a great one to recreate as a Lego stop motion video.
Hi Muireann
That sounds like a great plan. I love the idea of starting with the ISS and what life is like for the astronauts working there. As you said, there are some great videos of life on the ISS and the Chris Hadfield version of Space Oddity is great. Starting with the views of Earth from the ISS and comparing them to those taken from the ground will give the children different perspectives and using Google maps and streetview to work down to closer satellite views and compare them to streetview is a great way to extend this learning as they can look at many different environments this way.
