[Carmel Wright]

Hi Colette,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

I am delighted to see that you view Liston’s paper as a worthwhile reference for colleagues who are concerned about the introduction of STEM as a subject. It certainly provides a considerable amount of clear-cut guidance and gives much-needed clarity to this buzzword.

Great to see that you plan on using the Weather vs Climate resource with your 4th class learners. Accountable talk techniques sound like a great way to ensure open and respectful communication on what is sometimes a contentious topic, particularly when we move on to the actions required.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Derbhla,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

You make an important point about the nature of these activities being hands-on. It’s a terrific way for learners to engage with a topic in a fun and meaningful way, and by getting the learners to make the instruments themselves, there is a lot of scope for testing, comparing results of the team’s equipment, and addressing any challenges that arise during the design process or when in use.

By comparing results today to historical data, learners begin to see patterns and possibly even the changes that are underway as Ireland is becoming warmer and wetter.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

You make a great point about how climate change is a hot topic and how, through learning about weather and climate, they have a solid foundation of understanding that must precede fighting and reversing climate change.
By getting the learners to create and monitor a weather station, recording and reporting results to others provides a wealth of opportunities for skills development and understanding of this topic.

As another poster who has a weather station mentioned, learners love the opportunity to go record results, and become confident in reading the apparatus.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Killian,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

I can see that you have reflected on and are aligned with the principles outlined in Liston’s paper in your classroom through your meshing of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics together in a meaningful way.

I am delighted to see that you already have a weather station and it’s great to see that it also is something your learners are passionate about and are eager to take turns recording the weather using graphs and pictures.

Of course, you can refine the content of these activities to cover what is most important, shorten exercises, etc, to fit into a busy schedule. In your instance, the learners may already have an understanding of climate and weather so it, may only need to be visited briefly. It all really depends on the group’s starting point, which is what makes a KWL charts so helpful.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Caoimhe,
Thanks for your post. I am pleased that you plan on using the “Nose up in the Sky”. Resource with your 3rd class come September. The seagull proverb is new to me, and I am sure you will encounter some interesting ones from your learners, too!

I quite like this article as it gives a lot of context to the development of weather proverbs as a means to hand on acquired knowledge before literacy was as commonplace as it is today, and some science behind them, too: Weather lore: What’s the science? – BBC News

I encourage you to consider the class weather station and to remember that it does not have to include everything- it can begin as one instrument and progress from there. Or perhaps each class in the school could consider being responsible for one piece of equipment to share the load? All the activities are not intended to be prescriptive and can be adapted to your time constraints and the unique abilities of your learners, etc.

[Carmel Wright]

Hello Mary,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course.

It’s great that this module has provided you with a wealth of resources for the year to come, and that you see this module as an asset when delivering STEM.

The weather station activity is a superb way to integrate the disciplines, and provides ample opportunity for learner led inquiry, problem solving with considerable real-life applications.

It is also a great opportunity for learners to develop communication skills by mentoring junior learners on the station and its equipment, presenting results to other classes, etc.

[Carmel Wright]

Hello Sarah,
Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!
I am delighted to see your positive feedback and enthusiasm for delivering these activities to your learners.

As a small country school, it would be great to include the whole school in this. Learners from other classes will certainly be curious if they come across a weather station in the yard, and together, the classes can learn and do more with this station. If there is a strong farming community, it could be good to link into the importance of weather for farmers too-how does rainfall impact their grass growing, etc.

I am glad to see that you plan on getting the learners to make some of the equipment-it really adds to their skillset through make and do, and seeing if their creation works effectively.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your post. You have put together a nice variety of activities to enhance your learners’ understanding of Biodiversity and Light Pollution.
I particularly like your creative ideas in the classroom list, as it is a wonderful opportunity for learners to express themselves and interweave their new found knowledge on this topic into their art, poetry and storytelling.

Role play is a terrific way to engage the learners and a fun way to get the learners acting out being nocturnal creatures complaining about how the artificial light is negatively impacting them, etc

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Fiona,

Thanks for your post. You make an important opening point about the need for a clear sky, but hopefully a window of opportunity will present itself if running this activity.

As you have found on Stellarium, our ever-changing night sky has a wealth of planets to view. It’s just a matter of knowing when and which direction to set your gaze to. The app makes it significantly easier to become familiar with our night sky.

It may be something that can be given as homework for learners to complete with their parents/guardians, particularly the viewings that begin earliest on a dark winter evening just after sunset, so as not to impact bedtime routines.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Emma,
Thanks for your post. Your plan to engage learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity is a comprehsive approach to this important topic, joining the dots between the biodiversity you observe, current lighting in your locality its impact and how to change this pollution through educating others.

I like how you begin with a visit to a nearby park/forest/ natural reserves-it is only by getting out in nature that learners can begin to appreciate it and the many creatures that we rarely have the time to notice and observe.

Keeping a biodiversity journal is a great way for learners to be more conscious of the changes that are taking place throughout the seasons, and it can also be helpful as a cross-curricular link through learners creating drawings of what they observe.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Ellen,

Thanks for your post. I am delighted to see that you think this makes for a great practical activity. TEAL is a wonderful visualisation app for learners to use as it is a powerful way to convey data yet highly accessible, even for primary school learners. With some initial guidance and training from a teacher, they will soon be confident in generating results of their own.

I like the idea of getting groups to present their information to the class, and by including some hands-on activities, learners will develop their STEM skills and understanding of this important topic further.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Peace,
Thanks for your post and welcome to the course!
I am delighted to see that you find that these resources provide an exciting, structured and comprehensive approach to learning about weather and climate and that you plan on using them with your first-class learners.

Building a weather station is a great project that may take a number of lessons to complete, depending on whether you plan to buy or build some of the equipment. There’s plenty of math integration with this activity, and it also provides learners with a welcomed opportunity for a movement break out in nature as they record results.

It’s wonderful to see that you plan to develop their communication skills by presenting their learnings to their peers, and a possible opportunity to make use of ICT to present findings too.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi David,

Thanks for your post. You make a great opening point about the rewarding nature of teaching such an important topic to learners. This is the biggest challenge we currently face, and it is vitally important that learners have an age-appropriate understanding of climate change.

Home is a great opening prompt, and by eliciting answers to the questions you outlined, learners will come to their own realization of our impact on the landscape and biodiversity.

I like how you plan to simplify the Paris Agreement to plain English, and translate that promise to what we can do, too. By putting the focus on actions like planting trees and projects, learners can take pride in what they achieve. By choosing native trees, they will best support local biodiversity too.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Niamh,
Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!
I am delighted to see that you have a suitable area for this and have plans that ensure this is a leaner-led activity-from discussing the pros and cons of the location to material choices and observations.

It’s great to see that you plan to extend this activity by revisiting it throughout the year, and it could be interesting to align this with an hour change, giving rise to discussions about why there is a change in the hour and while this update happens automatically for our modern devices, it has no impact on the sundial. How will they need to adjust it when this happens?

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Mary,
Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course. You make a great point. Learners, especially juniors, are likely to associate the moon exclusively with night time and the dark. Asking about this and starting to add to the KWL chart you mentioned is a great prompt for this activity.

The Paxi video is a very accessible resource for all learners and covers quite a lot in a short space of time. Senior learners may enjoy Kahoot quizzes on this topic.

It is a great idea to go out and observe the moon each morning, which is accessible to all levels. it is through these experiences that so much is learned, including the frustrations of foggy weather when making celestial observations!

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