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Hi Aaron
A river is always a great idea for a cross curricular study encompassing history, geography, science and the arts. Having the River Shannon as your source of inspiration is fantastic particularly with your plan to bring the children walking along the river banks to observe not only the wildlife along the river but also the historical buildings representing engineering, archaeology and architecture. I love the ideas for creative expression from creating short plays, to collage and music composition inspired by their own personal connections with the River Shannon and its surrounds.
Hi Ellie
The Boora Pyramid is an interesting choice for Engineering inspiration as it represents a crossover of art and engineering and was designed and built by an Irish artist. As you have described the project, there is lots of scope for maths and also art and science with the possible use of local materials and drawing artistic inspiration from the local landscape. There is also a nice crossover here with the Curious Minds Amazing Triangles resource when discussing and exploring the strength of the pyramid shape. I like the way you have left it open for the children to choose their own designs and materials and the use of iPads to both create their designs and record the construction process.
Hi Treasa
That sounds like a great project. I love that it is focussing on a particular local issue that is relevant to the children. You have a clear plan for collecting primary data through traffic surveys and using secondary data such as satellite imagery and air pollution data. There is a great link with maths through collecting, collating and representing the data and I love the idea of creating computer simulations and models. Using the data to generate ideas on taking action to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases from transport is a great way to conclude the project. You might find the Climate Detectives Mini Case Study on Air Pollution useful https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Air-Pollution-Mini-Case-Study-ESERO-Ireland-final.pdf
Hi Sarah
This sounds like a lovely project which has direct relevance the the children’s lives. I like the idea of collaborating with another school to take rainfall measurements or even having the children individually link up with friends or relatives in another part of Ireland as you said. This would be a great exercise in planning an investigation as the class would have to have a discussion on fair testing, come up with criteria for collecting the data and a common model of rain gauge that everyone would make and use and co-ordinate collection of results through a shared template. You should get some great data that could be analysed and graphed. Comparing your daily results to the Met Eireann weather bulletins would be a great way to correlate with actual recorded weather data and looking at long term weather datasets for Ireland would help to make the Climate connection.
Hi Michelle
I just looked up “Zoo in the Sky”. It looks like a great book and wonderful resource to tie in with Stellarium. The pictures are a lovely way to show how the constellations were named and to pick out the stars making up each one. I love the idea of teaching the children how to use the Stellarium app on tablets and then inviting the parents in to learn from the children. Being able to use Stellarium at home on a clear night with their families would be great for the children as they can locate the constellations using the app and then find and identify them in the night sky.
Hi Caitriona
Presenting the children with a set of questions to help them navigate Stellarium is a good idea as it gives them the freedom to explore the resource and learn how to use it while also giving them a framework to operate in and a way to direct their explorations. I really like the extension activity of getting them to come up with their own questions to challenge each other as they will find out extra information this way. Starting outdoors with practical activities to revise cardinal directions is a good beginning. It is always nice to pair a practical activity with something technology based, especially if that activity can be done outdoors.
Hi Marie
Welcome to the course. Reading the myths associated with the constellations is a nice way to connect with the night sky and also to think about the origins of those myths and how people used them to make sense of the stars and planets. Using the constellation models to enhance maths skills such as modelling distance and perspective is a good idea. As you said, astronomy can be a difficult subject to get to grips with so practical activities like these can help to make it more accessible and engaging for pupils.
Hi Niall
It’s great to hear your enthusiasm for the content and materials referenced in this course. As you said, there is so much local information at our fingertips when we start using online maps such as those on GeoHive and the NBDS and online data sets such as weather data. I love your point about the digital skills. As these are all free online tools, the children can gain valuable skills in the use of technology through coming up with questions about their local area and figuring out how to manipulate the tools to zone in and turn on the appropriate layers. There is also a lot of opportunity to develop maths skills through analysing and representing real life data.
Hi Adrian
Welcome to the course and thank you for your glowing endorsement of the Curious Minds programme. It is great to hear that STEM skills and STEM thinking are so prevalent across your school and that your pupils are confident is using those skills throughout their project work in school. I hope that the rest of the modules in this course will support you in this and open up new ideas for investigating and exploring STEM in your local area with your pupils.
Hi Rachael
That is a great question as it is focussed on a single issue and relates to the children’s local area and everyday lives. The 10 year timeframe is good in one way as it possibly relates to the children’s own lives and the changes they may have witnessed in the local area through their lifetime. When using Satellite imagery, it might be a good idea to widen your timeframe and look at changes over a 30 year period to emphasise that climate data is gathered over a period of 30 years or more
Hi Megan
I’m glad that you found Maeve Liston’s paper useful and that it has encouraged you to think more about how you can encourage STEM thinking and exploration in your classroom. A whole school weather and climate project is a good idea. There is so much learning involved in the collection of weather data and the collection of weather measurements, making of instruments, weather reports and blogs and analysis of weather and climate data could be differentiated for younger and older classes with collaboration between younger and older students.
Hi Sarah
I’m glad you liked the tools and resources in this module. When using Climate models like the Teal tool, it is important to understand the background of Climate Change and how data is represented. The modern day increase in Greenhouse Gases began at the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and Greenhouse gases have been rising steadily since then. Although the Teal tool only shows data from the 1950s, the reference point for increases in Greenhouse gases is pre-industrial levels of CO2. Greenhouse gases were still increasing in the 1950s, although not at the same level as they are today.
Hi Sarah
I’m glad you liked the tools and resources in this module. When using Climate models like the Teal tool, it is important to understand the background of Climate Change and how data is represented. The modern day increase in Greenhouse Gases began at the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and Greenhouse gases have been rising steadily since then. Although the Teal tool only shows data from the 1950s, the reference point for increases in Greenhouse gases is pre-industrial levels of CO2. Greenhouse gases were still increasing in the 1950s, although not at the same level as they are today.
Hi Maria
A local rath is a fantastic place to explore with your class. As you said there is so much to discover and learn through visiting and looking at it on maps and aerial photographs to see how the landscape around it has altered over time. Using creative writing to imagine the lives of people living in the rath and artwork to create their own images of what it looked like at the time would really bring it to life for the children and really help them to connect with their own local place. They might also ask older family members if they have any old stories about the rath or might look up the Folklore Collection on duchas.ie to see if there are any old stories recorded from their local area.
Hi Vera
That sounds like a lovely creative project based around Birr and William Parson’s Great Telescope. I love the idea of the diary entries as these would require research into some of the scientific discoveries made by William Parsons, the engineering work he completed on the telescope and life at that time period. His journal entries might even mention other family members. this research would be paired with imagination and creativity for the children to put the diary entries together. Similarly the artwork would be inspired by the Science. I love the idea of putting it all together through reading and drama combined with music.
