[Carmel Wright]

Hi Enda,

Welcome to the course, and thanks for your post! Liston’s paper covers a great deal about the true nature of STEM and its applications in the classroom, and it sounds like you are already very much aligned with her approach in the classroom through the way you approach STEM with hands-on activities, collaborative projects, and a focus on critical thinking and innovation.

Please note that there are a few more parts to this assignment that you are also required to comment on. Refer back to the top of this section for more information. Thanks!

 

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Grainne,

Welcome to the course, and thank you for your post. You raise important points from the paper ‘Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics’, including the need for a hands-on approach for learners. There are a lot of takeaways from the paper that can be applied to the classroom.

I am delighted that you are inspired to engage your learners with a weather station in the coming year. It can be very cost-effective to build your own equipment, but I see you have a long-term plan in mind. Equipment can be worth getting if used regularly!

By gathering data on an ongoing basis, learners will develop their STEM skills and be able to create graphs, use technology etc, to display learnings visually. Senior learners can also present their weather station to younger classes and teach them how to read the various instruments to get the whole school involved. I like your idea of having it in a safe place for practical reasons, just remember to keep the thermometer out of the sun!

 

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course! The sundial activity is a terrific option for learners, and sixth class will certainly get a lot from this activity which lends itself to a host of other topics beyond STEM, including history, geography and art, to name but a few!

I recently visited The Time Museum in Waterford city. The tour is a wonderful way to continue the learning journey for those nearby enough to visit-with displays from sundials to ornate grandfather clocks and even an old precision frequency standard. It demonstrates how timekeeping design has evolved over time to create increasingly accurate devices, from the rudimentary sundial to the international atomic time we use today.

Your plan for this activity in the school is well thought out, empowering learners with the autonomy of assessing suitable sites, and making choices, making this a truly learner led experience.  Revisiting it at different times of year will renews learners’ interest and learning from repeated observations. Best of luck with this activity in the coming academic year!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

I see you have encountered a common problem on this forum. If you write in another app like Word, when pasting, you need to right click and select “paste as plain text,” otherwise you end up with extraneous formatting.

I think the plan for your learners will provide a deep understanding of the planets, by taking the time to research at home, and using iPad’s to further their understanding.

There is a lot of potential for further exploration and using math’s-like calculating how much someone would weigh on other planets or the moon (1/6th), guessing the ranking by weight, or games timing how quickly learners can rank planets in the right order for those only starting to understand the order of the solar system.

I like the idea of teamwork to present and engage younger classes, making it a whole school exploration of the topic. This activity has lots of potential and is accessible for a broad range of classes, when pitched right.

 

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Sinéad,

Welcome to the course, and thanks for your post!

Your plan for engaging learners is comprehensive. By carrying this theme across several classes, and including in homework, learners get to develop a deeper understanding of the topic, and build upon what they previously learned, step by step.

By making use of available resources including the Paxi videos and technology like Book Creator, learners will develop an array of skills.

Learners from senior classes can also present their sundial, and explain how to use it, their findings, etc. to the junior classes. Of course, if it falls/breaks, this too is a great learning opportunity to refine and redesign, nurturing creative problem solving. The sundial is a relatively simple activity but with so much potential for learning across a broad array of topics.

 

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Tara,

Welcome to the course! I see you have encountered a common problem on this forum when pasting. If you write in another app like Word you need to right click and select “paste as plain text,” otherwise you end up with extraneous formatting.

Your plans for engaging your students in this activity are well thought out, factoring in the unique level and abilities within your class. The learners will come along in their understanding of the solar system through this simulation of mass differences. For helping to get the order right, I am a big fan of the common mnemonic “my very educated mother just served us noodles” and of course, it can be fun for learners to come up with their own, as an English cross ciricular link, or physically link up, holding their tubes, representing the planets.

Games like the one you described ranking weight are a wonderful way to engage learners in a fun and informal exploration using the senses.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the course!

 

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