[Una Halpin]

Hi Noirin

That sounds like a lovely lesson plan. The questions are a good way to start the lesson and giving the children the chance to choose their own stick and location gives them ownership of the project. I love the idea of the peer learning, where students who know how to use a compass can teach their classmates and find where North is and also the idea of the pupils explaining  their work to other classes. The compass will point to magnetic North and not true North so with an older class, this could lead to some research on the differences between True North, Grid North and Magnetic North although it is a difficult concept.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Michelle

It is great to hear that you have registered your own garden with the All Ireland Pollinator Plan and that your school is already registered and is doing so much to support Biodiversity. It is fantastic that you have planted so many native trees, which provide a rich learning environment for the children in the school and a stone wall is a lovely habitat to explore. It is great that you already make use of the space and an outdoor classroom will be a lovely addition. Planting pollinator friendly garden plants in beds is also a great idea. Flowering herbs are good and generally easy to grow. For your wildflower area, all you need to do is reduce mowing and always clear the grass clippings and the wildflowers will grow by themselves. There is no need to plant wildflowers and in fact the vast majority of seeds that are marketed as wildflowers are not wildflowers or not of Irish origin, so planting can often do more harm that good for Biodiversity.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Elaine

I love the Rock of Dunamase. It is such a great place to visit and to imagine how it was built, what it looked like and what it was like to live there. I’m sure your infant class would love to use it to learn about the features of castles and as inspiration for their own models. I love the idea of outdoor models for this one. It would be great for the children to build hills in the sand or garden soil and build their Rock of Dunamase model on top with stones and natural materials or to build their model in the classroom with blocks or recycled materials. I remember hearing a few years ago about someone creating a virtual model of what the Rock of Dunamase may have looked like when it was in use, but I can’t find it.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Tommy

Thanks for your response, particularly the ideas for including all learners in practical group activities and including adaptations for students who may have Special Educational Needs or are not used to communicating their ideas through English.  I love the idea of the word wall to help build vocabulary around the subject of weather and climate.  As you said, the collection and interpretation of weather data is a great inclusive activity, where all pupils, regardless of age, ability or learning style can participate at their own level, especially with the use of pictures, recording sheets and different ways of visualising data.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Deirdre

You have highlighted some satellites there that are doing important work monitoring the Earth’s weather and collecting data on vegetation, ocean and atmospheric conditions. There is no doubt that satellites are very useful for learning about the Earth and the damage we are doing to it and provide vital data that we can use to base decisions around. It is a great idea to have students study some of these satellites and create displays and timelines. However not all satellites serve a useful purpose and they can also constitute a big problem in themselves. You touched on the issue of space junk which is a big problem that can increase the possibility of collisions and interfere with the work of useful satellites and with studies of astronomy and this is also worth exploring with the children.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Rhonda

This is a good question, which is rooted in the children’s own experience and addresses a local issue. To make it suitable for a Climate Detectives project and to reinforce the difference between weather and climate, you would need to expand your research to cover rainfall over a 30 year period as Climate is measured over a period of 30 years or more. I love the idea of different groups using different methods to share their findings as it would be a great way to incorporate technology not only in researching and gathering data but also in representing ideas.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Catherine

Taking on a campaign to reduce car idling at the school is a great idea. I visit a lot of schools, both in the morning and for after school CPD and it is something I notice in almost every school I visit as well as every shop or business carpark. It is a big contributor not just to noise pollution as in your question, but also to greenhouse gas emissions. It also causes a concentration of air pollution around the school where children are going in and out, which has an impact on children’s health. Cars burn more fuel and produce more emissions when they are idling than when they are driving so this is a way to tie it in to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Idling surveys are a great idea, and I love your ideas for poster campaigns and a rap to encourage parents to be more responsible. Surveys would need to be done at the time parents are arriving for drop off and pick-up to get the most accurate data, so having a group of children ready to take this on early in the morning and another group to go out a few minutes before school ends would be ideal.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Ronan

Welcome to the course. I like the idea of placing an object in the yard to predict and record what type of shadow it casts. It would be interesting if the children started with something straight like a stick on the first day and then chose different irregular shaped objects on the second day. They would learn about the sun’s movement on the first day and observe the changes in the height and direction of the shadow and on the second day would have fun predicting not just the height of their object’s shadow but what shape it would be at different times of the day when the sun is coming from different directions.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Daniel

It’s so great that you plan to embrace the natural world and bring the children out fortnightly to observe seasonal changes and to document what they see in a nature journal. These activities are so good for developing observation skills and fostering a love for nature and as you said they are also so good for wellbeing and improving engagement. You have a great plan for integrating other subjects also. Maths and language skills can be developed when you are outdoors and when collating and graphing data in the classroom and using the natural world as inspiration for creative writing. There is also a great link with the arts through sketching, model making, drama and music.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Diarmuid

Welcome to the course. I like your plan for using the activities in this module. Using the Paxi video and exploration of the Teal tool as a way to educate the children about the causes and consequences of Climate Change is a good plan. I like the idea of developing a reflection worksheet for children when exploring the Teal Tool and a series of questions to prompt group or class discussion would also be good. Using these tool before moving on to discussing what changes can be made in school and at home is a good idea. I find that children are often great at listing ways to save energy or making posters but often without an understanding of why it matters. Having a basic knowledge of the Science of Climate Change will mean that they understand why actions like saving electricity or walking to school can make a difference and their posters will have more meaning.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Brenda

That’s a great question and one that relates directly to the children and you have a very comprehensive plan for investigating it. Using the online data from the EO Browser and Met Eireann to see has the weather actually got wetter is a good start and by discussing with others and looking up old newspaper articles online, you can gather the dates for large storms and flooding events and check the rainfall amounts for those dates.  Linking in with local farmers or family members who were badly affected by flooding events is a good idea as it links the wetter weather to the consequences of excess rainfall. Finally I love the idea of using the school garden to not just record the weather but looking at things like wetter soil and effects on plants and animals. It would be great to note everything that the children notice and have those notes available for comparison in future years.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Mary

An outdoor lighting audit is a great way to get the children thinking about the problem of excess light. It is something that people often don’t think about until it is brought to their attention so getting the children to notice the artificial lights around them and to think about the types of lights, the types of light pollution they contribute to and whether they are likely to be on all night is a good way of drawing attention to the problem of light pollution. Designing their own shields for lights is a great activity. You could get them to make simple circuits to light up an LED light first, covering the Electricity strand unit and then have them designing a lamp post and a shield using their engineering skills.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Kate

It’s lovely that you have a living Scientist to base a project around. It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the achievements of a local Scientist. It would be great to be able to research Olivia’s work and to use this as a basis for design and make projects based around the theme of health care. I’m sure that Olivia would love to hear also that she is inspiring the scientists of the future. Getting the children involved in researching other local scientists, past and present would be a great project too. If could even include people that the children know who work in STEM.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Clodagh

Welcome to the course. I’m glad you enjoyed the first module and can see how to apply it in your class. Making and using weather instruments is a great practical way to observe the weather on a day to day basis and comparing the children’s own measurements to recorded weather data from Met Eireann is a great way to foster understanding of how weather forecasts are made and provide an introduction to how changes in the atmosphere cause specific weather events.  It is great that you have thought  about how to pair or group children for these tasks to ensure maximum engagement and understanding.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Andrea

Your classroom sounds like a great learning environment with children being given a chance to use their prior knowledge and focus on the STEM skills they have developed in order to develop and investigation to answer a question or design and make something to meet a need or fill certain criteria. I love that you mention “with support if needed”. This is where teachers can often struggle. It can seem natural to swoop in and help when we see children struggle with a task, but being able to step back and give them the space to solve their own problems and learn from their mistakes is an important skill that results in greater learning for the children and a much greater sense of achievement if they manage to work things out for themselves and complete their task. As you have said, being there to provide help when the children ask for it is also important. In this case you can gently guide them through a series of questions that help them to work things out and get back on track

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