Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
For activity 3, Climate Reporters, I like the group work approach. I think pupils would find this so engaging and would love the research aspect of it, maybe using TEAL or other tools. We use Chromebooks a lot in our school and this would be a perfect activity.
I would start with a discussion around climate to elicit prior knowledge. I feel that many pupils have such a grasp of climate-related issues already and so this would be an opportunity for those pupils to contribute so much at the early stage of the lesson. The Paxi video would explain greenhouse gases in a very accessible way. The visualisations and diagrams would really aid understanding.
An aspect of the above that I feel would be extremely important is for pupils to feel they and their families and communities can actually do something to help, even simple things like turning off, unplugging, recycling, walking, etc. There is a danger of some pupils feeling hopeless and anxious about climate change. I have seen this in my classes previously and I have had parents mention their child’s anxiety to me. It is important to have pupils informed, but also crucial for them to feel there is some hope.
I agree that the Paxi video is especially useful for younger pupils. I think they would enjoy the Paxi character and the visual representations would be accessible for them. I liked the brief recap at the end also. It would probably work best up to 4th Class.
Having reviewed Dr. Maeve Liston’s “Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,” I agree that STEM subjects should be explored with pupils in a way that allows for real-life learning experiences that make the subjects meaningful and applicable. In my classroom, creating opportunities for pupils to develop STEM skills across those subject areas is something I am conscious of, whether it is in group work, research, recording, reporting, applying skills to real-life scenarios.
I love the Nose high up in the Sky activities. I think the pupils would really enjoy the hands on aspect of them. Talking about the weather comes naturally to so many Irish people in particular! I think there would be a lovely opportunity to involve parents and grandparents in the weather proverbs section. There could be scope for inter class projects where proverbs gathered from home could be shared and compared. Maybe parents from a different part of the country/world could share their proverbs also. The creation of a weather station would allow for STEM skills, literacy and knowledge to be developed and pupils could have the opportunity to share their findings in relation to air temperature, wind speed and rain with the whole school.
