[Una Halpin]

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/

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Jack

This is a good question as it relates to a local climate problem and is not too broad. It would be nice to be able to include an outdoor element to it rather than just growing the plants in the classroom as watering the plants doesn’t accurately reflect what happens in the outdoors where there are many factors that would affect the absorption of rain and the amount of rainwater stored in the ground. Perhaps you could add in an element where a number of the same plants are grown in 3 outdoor beds or planters. One planter could be covered with an umbrella during some rain showers or when rain was forecast overnight to simulate drought, one could be given extra water to simulate heavy rainfall and one could be left as the control. The height of the plants could be measured to check on growth rates and the data could be compared to your rain gauge data. Your plan to have the children do some research on past and predicted future rainfall amounts  and presenting their work to other classes would be a great Phase 3 for your project.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Robyn

That looks like a great video to start a project on sundials. I didn’t watch the full thing, but I did skim through and there seems to be some great information there on both the history and science of sundials. A discussion on what they have learned would be a great way to follow this up. As you have introduced the ideas in the video and the children should have some idea of what is needed to create a sundial, perhaps you make this a Design and Make project rather than just providing them all with the same materials. You could ask them to discuss what materials they might use to construct their own sundials and draw out a plan.  They could then assemble some materials from home, perhaps augmented by a selection of materials that you have in the classroom, and construct their sundials in class on a later day either individually or in groups. Allowing them to choose their own locations to place the sundials and evaluate the location they have chosen afterwards would complete the activity.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Mary

I love the idea of incorporating facts about the planets into the design of the planetary tubes to incorporate both independent research and creativity.  This could form part of a lovely display for a school science fair as part of Step 5 of the Curious Minds awards or a demonstration for other classes. Using videos from the ISS of working in zero gravity is a lovely way to help explain the concept of gravity.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Megan

This sounds like a lovely experience for your pupils and I like the combination of school work and home observation. Carrying the project on at select times throughout the school year is a nice idea as is the idea of giving different groups of pupils the task of observing and recording the moon. Having each child involved in turn will be a great way of ensuring engagement throughout the process. There are so many other cross curricular classroom activities that you could tie in with these moon observations throughout the year. In September, you could cover the lunar cycle but to tie in with the other periods of observation throughout the year you could do a different moon related activity each time covering gravity, tides, the history of the moon landings, music, art or poetry inspired by the moon, creative writing etc.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Aisling

Thank you for your comprehensive post about light pollution, especially your personal anecdotes about the effects of light pollution on your own sleep and that of your parents.  If your pupils too are living in a mixture of town centre housing estates and darker areas this would be a great way to explore light pollution by getting them to observe the night sky at home and do a survey of lighting and compare their experiences. I think you are right about so many animals being confused, not just by light pollution but by the constant destruction of habitats that are pushing them into more urban environments. Security is something that is often used as an excuse for excess lighting and while this is true in some cases, there is no reason why a shop or office building or a private garden needs to be completely lit up all night long and better lighting design can ensure the safety of people walking on the streets at night without causing excess light trespass or skyglow.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Tommy

I admire your commitment this project by organising a night time field trip to study light pollution. I imagine that this would be difficult to arrange, but perhaps if you got support from a local community group, astronomy club, bat group or a tidy towns organisation that are committed to protecting biodiversity, you could make it a joint project where children would come with their families to learn about the night skies or nocturnal animals and you could continue the learning in school through your projects to research the effects of light pollution on native species of plants and animals and your awareness raising campaign and advocacy for better local lighting design.

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