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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.
Hi Chantelle
I love the idea of sending home prompt sheets to spark conversations with parents and grandparents about the night sky. Children might not know what questions to ask to start a conversation or family members might need a mention of something to bring back a memory. Some of the children might even look up the Dúchas Folklore Collection at home with their families that could spark memories of other stories and customs. Halloween is often a good time for conversations like these. I love the idea of collecting all the stories old and new and having children retell them or act them out.
Hi Edel
It is nice to make the connection with ancient civilizations and talk about how people told the time in the past. In a time when most people carry around phones or wear watches and we have clocks on many of the devices we use every day, it is hard to imagine the work that ancient people needed to put in in order to be able to keep track of time. There is also a nice link with both geography and history in learning where Egypt and Mexico are on the Earth and some facts about them and also the history link with both of those ancient civilisations.
Hi Katie
Every opportunity that we can give students to act as real scientists and engineers is a valuable learning experience and using real life data makes it a lot more real. I like the idea of the pupils using the data from the Teal Tool and other online sources to complete group projects and then present them to the class. They will learn a lot of useful skills from this and the addition of a creative element such as a drawing, poster or even a creative writing piece of their area in the future is a nice way to consolidate the learning.
Hi Katie
Yes the one I have came from Lidl or Aldi and is designed to fit over a single growbag. You can also buy rigid lids that fit over smaller planters but they would work out more expensive
Hi Nicola
Welcome to the course. I agree that the Paxi video presents the Science about Greenhouse gases and Climate change in an easily accessible way. Often Climate Chang is presented in a very obscure way and while the science is complicated, the basic concepts can be explained in a simple way that is understandable to all. The Paxi video is a good way to start and then involving the children in hands on weather collection and data gathering to explain the difference between weather and climate builds on this as does interpreting the data from the Teal tool. You have also identified lots of different curriculum links which makes this a great cross curricular project.
Hi Hannah
Studying the effect of rising sea levels on Ireland’s coastal communities is a good idea. I like the way you have structured the project, starting with videos to explain the problem and moving on to simple hands-on experiments with melting ice. The ESERO activity The Ice is Melting is a nice one for this. Looking at maps of Ireland to see where coastal flooding has occurred in the past and predict where it might occur in the future is a good idea and there are online maps on sites such as https://www.floodinfo.ie/map/floodmaps/ and https://www.climateireland.ie/impact-on-ireland/climate-hazards/coastal-flooding/ which could be of help. The addition of role playing when discussing solutions would help to increase pupils’ understanding of the issues.
Hi Hannah
Studying the effect of rising sea levels on Ireland’s coastal communities is a good idea. I like the way you have structured the project, starting with videos to explain the problem and moving on to simple hands-on experiments with melting ice. The ESERO activity The Ice is Melting is a nice one for this. Looking at maps of Ireland to see where coastal flooding has occurred in the past and predict where it might occur in the future is a good idea and there are online maps on sites such as https://www.floodinfo.ie/map/floodmaps/ and https://www.climateireland.ie/impact-on-ireland/climate-hazards/coastal-flooding/ which could be of help. The addition of role playing when discussing solutions would help to increase pupils’ understanding of the issues.
Hi Andrew
It is a great idea to focus on your own school and see what actions you can take in different areas to reduce your carbon emissions. Starting with the Climate Detectives website to see what other schools have done is a great idea as it will give the children an idea of what the project is about. Having the children work on different projects in groups can work well if they are familiar with these types of projects, but they will need to be very clear on what question they are answering and if they are not sure, separate projects will require a lot of input from the teacher. Perhaps focussing on one specific area such as electricity or transport and having different groups collect different data or work on different aspects of the project could be a good idea if the students require a bit more guidance.
Hi Michelle
Welcome to the course. I am glad that you found the first module useful can see the value of using hands on STEM investigation and Design and Make to foster STEM thinking and encourage the development of STEM skills among your pupils. Linking what is learned and experienced in the classroom through hands on inquiry based learning to STEM in the real world is important as it encourages children to think about the skills they are learning and to see themselves as Scientists, Mathematicians and Engineers while using Technology to research, record and present their findings. I hope you will find lots more resources in this course that will help you to continue this approach.
Hi Adrienne
That sounds like a great lesson on observing planets during Autumn. It is well laid out and shows the steps clearly with progression from learning about and researching the planets to using star charts and apps, observing Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky and recording . I like the addition of the art activity to draw or model the planets and the creative writing aspect. The geography aspect is also interesting to get the children thinking about what we see from Earth and how different stars and planets will be visible at different times depending on where you are.
Hi Julie
That is a lovely way to introduce the idea of how light pollution can affect biodiversity for your infant class. It is great that you already take them on walks to observe and explore the different habitats in the school. Looking at the habitats from the perspective of artificial light at night will add another dimension to this and guide their discussion on solutions.
Hi Stephanie
It is definitely a fine line between educating children on the realities of climate change and the actions that we can all take to reduce our impact and being seen to blame parents and families. Like you, I always stive to be realistic when talking about actions. While educating children about things like renewable energies and insulation, it is important to acknowledge that installing solar panels or buying an electric car are things that cost money and may not be feasible for many people, but that saving energy and choosing what we buy and what we use are actions that everyone can get involved in and that many of the actions we can take to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions will not cost anything and will in fact save money. When asking about energy saving measures I like to focus on things that the children can do themselves.
