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Hi Justine
That sounds like a lovely project to Design a Dark Sky Place. I love how you have structured the project using the 4 phases of the Curious Minds / ESERO Framework for Inquiry and have considered how your proposed activities fit into the framework. I also hope that it was a useful exercise for you in terms of planning a series of lessons. Using an existing map showing the area around your school and especially including the Phoenix Park is a great exercise for the children as on one hand, they have a large green space but on on the other they have encroaching light pollution form the surrounding city so it is a nice way to consider the challenge of light pollution and come up with creative ways to manage it while balancing the competing needs f different groups.
Hi Tommy
Welcome to the course. I like your idea for a lesson plan on waves, sound and light. It includes a nice balance of discussion and practical activities and investigations to keep the children interested and motivated while making connections between light, sound and other waves. Using tuning forks in water is a great way to motivate children. They love to see who can make the biggest splash and using the tuning fork to see how sound waves travel differently in air (a gas), in water (a liquid) and when the tuning fork end is placed on the table (a solid) is a lovely way to investigate waves.
Hi Patrick
Welcome to the course. I’m glad that you enjoyed the first module and that it has got you thinking about STEM teaching and learning in a new way. It is great that you have a new focus for next year in using the steps of the Curious Minds / ESERO Framework for Inquiry to expand your lessons and make them more meaningful and engaging for your students. Hopefully you will find lots more inspiration for ways to do this in the other modules of this course and lots of ways that you can integrate other subject areas with STEM so you can give your pupils that enhanced STEM experience without losing out on other subject areas.
Hi Evelyn
Welcome to the course. You have given a great example there of how practical hands on Science investigations such as those outlined in the the Curious Minds and ESERO resources can be really useful for Special Education Teachers to work on numeracy and literacy in a fun and hands on way. I love how you plan to use the sundial as a visual way to teach time and also to cover lines and angles in a practical way that might be more relatable to your pupils. I hope you find lots more examples in the course of practical activities like this which will benefit your pupils.
Hi Justine
Moon observation doesn’t fit under the Science curriculum but does fit under the Geography strand of Planet Earth in space specifically the learning outcomes “recognise that the Earth, its moon, the sun, other planets and their satellites are separate bodies and are parts of the solar system” and “develop a simple understanding of the interrelationship of these bodies, including day and night and seasonal movements”. It is also a great way to develop the working scientifically skills especially questioning, observing and recording and communicating. I love the idea of connecting the phases of the moon with the Islamic calendar to make it relevant to your pupils.
Hi Alan
That is a nice Climate Detectives question that is focuses on a local issue and relevant to the children’s own experience. School gardens can be a great place to create scientific investigations by measuring different parameters, changing variables and gathering data and it seems that they are not often used in this way. Using your school, garden for a climate detectives question and investigating things like waterlogging of soil due to excess rain is a good idea if you can set up areas that are partly sheltered from rain or compare rainfall amounts over different days or weeks and compare them to the amount of growth on a fast growing plant. The one things your question lacks is a link to Climate Change. You first need to ask have rainfall amounts increased over the past 30 years as climate data is measured over a period of 30 years or more. You can access online data to see if rainfall amounts have increased (using yearly or monthly data) and then investigate the impact of that rainfall on the school garden.
Hi Margaret
I agree that the Paxi video is a really clear and simple way to explain the concept of greenhouse gases and global warming to children. It is an easy way to introduce the science of climate change and correct any misconceptions the children may have about the causes of global warming and climate change. In doing workshops on climate change in schools, I regularly come across pupils who think that the atmosphere is warming because of holes in the ozone layer, so this simple video is a great way of showing what is already happening. If you have a school greenhouse or polytunnel or even try out the ESA Resource Earth Under the Lid, measuring temperatures inside and outside a greenhouse on a sunny day a nice way to reinforce the learning from the video.
Hi Tommy
First can I just point out that you have posted this response to module 5 in the module 3 forum, so you might want to copy it into the correct location to ensure it is logged correctly.
Linking past weather changes to local community action is a nice idea for a project but as I have pointed out to many other participants suggesting a 10 year time period, you will need to broaden your timeframe to make it relevant to climate. As yearly weather fluctuations are common, changes in climate can only be measured by analysing weather data gathered over a period of 30 years or more. While pupils may have direct experience of weather over a shorter time period, online data is easily available for longer periods. I love the idea of different roles within the group so that everyone is involved in the project and everyone can play to their own strengths.
Hi Karl
Linking climate change to local biodiversity is a great idea for a project topic. as I have said to others suggesting a 10 year time period for investigation, you will should broaden your timeframe to reinforce the difference between weather and climate. As yearly weather fluctuations are common, it is only possible to measure changes in climate when weather data is analysed over a period of 30 years or more. Using some of the tools and resources mentioned in the course, you should be able to look at weather trends over a longer time period. I love the idea of looking at actual versus perceived change as different people often have very different ideas of what the weather was like over the same time period in the same location. To make a connection between Biodiversity and Climate Change, it might be nice to focus in on species that are particularly susceptible to changing climate or extreme weather events, such as migratory birds or butterflies. Butterflies would hopefully be easily seen in parks and gardens from April to June and are relatively easily identified and while long term data from Ireland is scarce, data on Butterfly numbers is available from 2019 from the Irish Butterfly Monitoring Scheme and other butterfly monitoring schemes. https://biodiversityireland.ie/monitoring/. Last year was disastrous for butterflies throughout Ireland and the UK, partly because of a cold wet spring, whereas lots or warm, dry weather through spring and summer this year has been good for butterfly numbers.
Hi Damien
I love the idea of each group researching a different nocturnal animal and presenting their projects to learn more about their local wildlife. So often in schools, I see projects based around animals from far away and many children have very little understanding of the animals living on their own doorsteps. Your projects are a great way to highlight the wonderful biodiversity on our own doorstep and the threats that these animals and plants face every day. Continuing on with their projects by using what they have learned to take action and share what they have learned about light pollution with their families through posters and videos is a great way to finish the project.
Hi Aimee
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your lesson plan. This sounds like a really engaging lesson for your senior infant class. I love how you plan to carry out the lesson after covering time in maths as it is a great way to introduce the playful and practical element of maths. Your smiley face sundial sounds like a lovely plan as is getting the children to use what they have learned from their shadow investigations to choose a suitable location for the sundial. I’m sure your class would love to explain to other classes what they have done and how their sundial works and it is great to give infants the opportunity to explain something to older classes.
Hi Jovana
Thanks for your post. Your lesson plan on the stories and traditions of the night sky sounds like a fun and interactive project. I love the way you have planned to adapt the lesson plan to the needs and abilities of your students and have reference a number of different visual strategies for supporting them in their learning about the night sky, gathering their stories from family and friends, and in telling their stories through written work, oral recordings, drawing or drama.
Hi Andrea
I love the title of your project and carrying it out over a 6 week period is a great way for the children to immerse themselves in the natural and built heritage of their local area. I like the STEM emphasis on tree identification and bird and insect counts and the creative element of nature journaling, drawing and creating posters. Using Emer Jones as inspiration for scientific exploration is a nice touch and I love the idea of your students using their work to take the lead at a school Biodiversity Week event and help to inspire and educate younger classes.
Hi Niamh
Cabragh Wetlands is a lovely spot to visit and it would be great to bring your class there on a trip. Photos and videos are good if you can’t manage the trip, but there is nothing like the actual experience of being in a location to capture the children’s imagination. I love the idea of bringing in the sounds of the wetland as inspiration for musical composition and the drama based around wetland creatures. Shane Casey’s books would be a nice inspiration for stories or drama around wild creatures. The class showcase would be a lovely way for the children to share their work with each other and perhaps they could share with other classes through a school assembly or have some of their writing published in a school newsletter or on the school website.
Hi Louise
This sounds like a lovely lesson incorporating the use of WorldWide Telescope into lessons about the moon. It is great that you enjoyed navigating the resource yourself and that you can see its value for use with your ASD class. It is fantastic that each of your students has access to an iPad which would allow them to make full use of this tool to independently explore the moon and our Galaxy and to follow their interests in discovering new information and seeing space from a new perspective. Giving the pupils a series of tasks to complete alongside this independent exploration can link with your learning objectives in Science and Maths.
