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Hi Padraic
that sounds like a good plan for exploring Biodiversity. I like the idea of the nocturnal cameras but not that you have added the provision “if plausible”. Wildlife cameras could be an expensive buy for a school especially if you have a few of them to increase your chances of seeing nocturnal wildlife but it might be worth reaching out to the school community and any wildlife enthusiasts in the local area and see if anyone would be willing to lend them to you or help to set them up in the school for a period of a week. They have become quite popular over the last few years so it is possible that people will have them and would be willing to help you investigate nocturnal wildlife.
Hi Roisin
That sounds like a lovely set of activities. Looking at different light bulbs within the classroom is a great way to get the children noticing the effects of different lights on their own vision. This combined with use of pictures and discussion within the classroom will help them think about what to look out for when they start exploring outside the classroom and at home.
Hi Karen
I love your approach to using clips from Home. You have a great way of introducing the clips and of pointing out the wonderful parts of our Earth that need to be protected. I particularly like the emphasis on pointing out connections between different parts of the world and how we are connected to and depend on the natural world.
Hi Karen
I love your approach to using clips from Home. You have a great way of introducing the clips and of pointing out the wonderful parts of our Earth that need to be protected. I particularly like the emphasis on pointing out connections between different parts of the world and how we are connected to and depend on the natural world.
Hi Brendan
It’s great that you are already placing a strong emphasis on collaboration and critical thinking in your classroom. Your point about the time constraints is a valid one, but hopefully the resources in this course especially the Curious Minds / ESERO Framework for Inquiry will help to illustrate how a STEM lesson doesn’t just incorporate Science and Maths. Reflective thinking can bring in elements of oral or written language and also includes many aspects of SPHE by encouraging children to focus on their strengths and abilities and how they work with others. I love that you have been using your green screen to allow children to record the weather and making their own weather instruments and using them toi record the weather will be a great addition.
Hi Christina
I love your idea of incorporating a project on stories and traditions of the night sky with Grandparents Day and making it a whole school project. I’m sure the children will love collaborating with grandparents on their research and artwork both on the day and in preparation for the visit and giving an opportunity to children to present their findings and for the grandparents to maybe tell some of their stories in person to a whole class will be a great way to involve everyone, whether they have grandparents present on the day or not.
You make a great point there about the caretaker. An important step in any school biodiversity project is to make sure that the caretaker is on board and knows what the aims are.
Hi Mary
I love your approach here. Recording what you can find, making changes to the lighting and then recording again is a great scientific approach to a problem. Hopefully you will be able to make changes to night time lighting in the school which should hopefully have a positive effect on biodiversity. Your idea of focussing in on a sample area of 2m x 2m is a good one. Ecologists often choose smaller sample areas to survey that are representative of the wider habitat. I would however, consider expanding it out to more than one sample area as even in a school yard, there are likely to be variation in habitat, such as shorter / longer grass areas, planted flower or vegetable beds and areas with trees or shrubs. Perhaps consider selecting a range of sample areas and have groups of children survey each one.
Hi Andrew
That sounds great and I’m sure your own enthusiasm for this project on the moon will communicate itself to your pupils and inspire them. The use of online resources coupled with actual physical observation of the moon is a great way to translate what they learn about on a screen to the real world scenario and being able to make those links is very valuable. You have also emphasised the need for communication with their peers and discussion of what they have observed. This coupled with your sundial investigation from module 1 is a great way to get your class enthusiastic about further exploration of the universe.
Hi Tina
I love your idea of purchasing weather equipment and setting up a permanent weather station in your school. Getting other classes involved would be great as this sis something that all classes could engage with especially if different classes undertook to monitor the weather for a few weeks to complete a study of the weather throughout the school year. comparing the purchased weather equipment to the equipment they make in class will give a deeper understanding of how these instruments work. I alos love you cross curricular ideas related to weather.
Hi Catherine
I’m glad you enjoyed the video Home and can see the value of it for understanding Climate Change. I like your idea of using Kahoot to assess children’s understanding of climate change before doing further work in the classroom and the digital KWL charts will certainly help to focus your classroom research and help you to decide what activities to do to help aid their understanding and get them involved in proactive activities.
Hi Michael
That sounds like a great plan for exploring Biodiversity in your school and the wider area. BioBlitz events are a fun way to get children involved in exploring their local plants and animals and involving other local people is a lovely idea. this would be a great inspiration for exploring other areas for comparison. Exploring biodiversity at home, engaging in habit restoration including your idea for allowing areas of the school to become more overgrown to encourage biodiversity researching local biodiversity and inviting guest speakers are also great ideas for helping children to understand all of the issues around biodiversity.
Hi Orla
Welcome to the course. That sounds like a nice step by step approach to using Worldwide telescope with plenty of opportunity for small group work and exploration. The questions are a good way to guide their exploration. Once they have explored the moon phases online, they should have a good understanding of the moon and its features, this should then spark their enthusiasm for going outside and looking at the moon.
Hi Orla
Welcome to the course. That sounds like a nice step by step approach to using Worldwide telescope with plenty of opportunity for small group work and exploration. The questions are a good way to guide their exploration. Once they have explored the moon phases online, they should have a good understanding of the moon and its features, this should then spark their enthusiasm for going outside and looking at the moon.
Hi Susan
It is such a pity that the existing hedgerows around your school were destroyed. This would have been an enormous loss to biodiversity and planning to plant a replacement hedgerow would be a great plan, particularly if you choose native flowering and fruiting trees. One of the newly developed Curious Minds resources https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/curious-minds-resource-investigating-hedgerow-habitats.pdf includes an exercise on planning a new hedgerow for your school. Using the cctv around your school is a good idea to investigate nocturnal wildlife.
