[Una Halpin]

Hi James

Thank you for sharing those examples of poetry, art and music and explaining so well how they can be used as inspiration in your classroom.

I love A Christmas Childhood and always think of that line ‘Cassiopeia was over Cassidy’s hanging hill’ whenever I try to find constellations in the night sky.

I like your description of the Van Gogh painting and its usefulness in highlighting the difference between the useful artificial light of earlier eras with the excessive light pollution of recent times.

I am also a big fan of the Chris Hadfield version of Space Oddity.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Andrew

I love the idea of organising a local Night Sky Festival for the students to share their artwork and writing is a great idea particularly if you can get local astronomers involved to allow the children and others to view then night sky with telescopes. This has the potential to be a great community event and having it at night when people will be looking at the night sky while discussing light pollution should increase the likelihood of people listening to the children’s messages and taking action

[Una Halpin]

Hi Orla

That sounds like a great project. I love the idea of community involvement, moving from awareness of the issues to coming up with solutions and then the active engagement with local authorities and the local community to try to have some of their solutions implemented. Having a wide range of ways for your pupils to document their work on the project is sure to keep the interest going in your class especially if they can persuade local authorities to engage with them on dark sky friendly lighting or encourage their families and others to turn off unnecessary lights at night.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Emer

Welcome to the course. I’m glad you like the stellarium resource and I like your approach to using it with your class. Having task cards for individual exploration on the tablets is a lovely idea as it provides prompts to guide their learning while at the same time leaving them free to explore. Continuing the exploration at home where they will hopefully be able to see the stars is a lovely follow-up activity.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Maurice

It’s great that Dr Liston’s paper has given you a better understanding of STEM and even better that you have been using a  STEM approach already without realising it. you make a very good point about countering the misinformation around Climate Change. So many people think a colder and wetter summer is evidence that the Earth isn’t warming because they fail to grasp the difference between weather and climate and understand how a warming Earth can make all sorts of abnormal weather events more frequent. I hope that you get to try out some weather instruments with your class and make full us of Science, maths, engineering, technology and integrated learning opportunities that weather recording provides.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Aine

I’m glad you liked the resources in this and you have some great ideas for using them to enhance discussion and critical thinking through analysis of the prediction models and coupling the use of the prediction tool with research on climate policies and climate mitigation strategies employed around the world seems like a very thorough way of deepening children’s engagement with the topic of climate change and encouraging them to think about solutions.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Orla

I applaud all of your efforts both at home and in school and best of luck getting your husband on board. You can still have areas of neatly mown lawn but maybe start with a few small wilder areas around the edges especially along your native hedgerows.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Orla

Thank you for your detailed description of a bridge building project. I love how you have incorporated so many elements into your exploring phase including looking at pictures and videos of other bridges, reading the story and also visiting your local bridge. you have done a really good job of highlighting all of the various ways that maths can be integrated throughout the project and also the skills that the children will be developing at each stage.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Anthony

Using the recent Aurora Borealis sightings is a great way to start a conversation about dark skies with the children. You could ask if anyone managed to see it. Even though I live in a rural area and can see the stars relatively well from my garden, I have some neighbours with very bright outdoor lighting and a few bright streetlights so I was very disappointed not to be able to see the Aurora myself. Sharing your own experience of now being able to experience darkness at night when you couldn’t previously would be a good way to spark conversations about places the children may have been with higher or lower levels of light pollution

[Una Halpin]

Hi Claire

Your sea safari sound like a lovely experience for the children. Marine Biodiversity is not something I have a lot of experience in myself but I am always fascinated when I can look into rock pools and see a variety of life inside. I had an opportunity lately to explore some fantastic rockpools in Tramore where we saw a variety of sea anemones opening and closing as well as a tiny crab. Completing projects in class is a lovely idea so the children know what to look for, as is having a knowledgeable person to help the children choose the right locations to search.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

[Una Halpin]

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.

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