[Carmel Wright]

Hi Gina,

Thanks for sharing.

What an exciting challenge you are setting your learners -finding a way for Bee Bots to meet their friends at another table via a bridge. I love to see a narrative woven into STEM activities; it’s such a fun way to engage learners in the activity and provide purpose to the work.

By using the Bee Bots, learners will need to use their rulers to measure their width to help with the bridge design. I like how you mention the all-important testing of the bridge throughout, and even the materials used can be a source of maths engagement, counting out how many lollypop sticks, what length of tape was used,etc, to determine who used the least materials to achieve the required bridge result.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Carmel,

Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the course.

What a fitting prompt to begin this activity with My Shadow. Based on your outlined plan, I am guessing you have younger learners in your class, and this is a lovely lesson plan to engage with, with thoughtful questions, observations, recording of data and reflections. Lots of potential for learners to come along in their STEM skills development.

I like your idea to use different coloured chalk at different times of the day to make it easier to visually distinguish the times-the devil is in the detail with all class plans!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Farnan,

Welcome to the course.

Thanks for sharing. I am delighted to read that your class was already a hive of activity before the summer holidays with the school weather station and links to cardinal directions and true north versus magnetic north for this activity. By returning and revisiting these topics, it’s a great way to revise previous concepts and build on them with this new activity.

Lovely idea to create a plaque so everyone can enjoy the sundial and read it, along with plans to engage older classes to participate in this activity too.

Fingers crossed for sunny days to run this activity! It helps to be flexible with your schedule for this one to ensure the right conditions.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Maeve,

Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the course!

Reading your plan to observe the positions of the sun, I am guessing you are at the junior end of the cycle, with an accessible, engaging lesson plan that you have outlined.

I like your focus on strategic questions to elicit information and reflect on observations, facilitating the learners’ journey of discovery.
With this inquiry-based approach and aligned findings, learners will begin to understand the emerging pattern and predict future sun positions, developing their STEM skills throughout.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for sharing.

I am delighted that you see the benefits of this activity to get learners interested in and experience in stargazing.

It’s a great opportunity to get learners familiar with cardinal directions, and some may enjoy the opportunity to reference apps like Stellarium, too.

I like your strategy to have groups monitoring a planet each, with independent observation at home and then conferring and discussing results. Lots of potential for peer learning and presenting to further their communication skills, too.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Aimee,

Thanks for sharing!

You’ve created a lovely plan for your learners to observe the planets, taking into consideration the best conditions to carry out this activity, and the benefits of having apps like Stellarium to assist learners at home when identifying what they can see.

Extra equipment like binoculars or telescopes are a great way to take a closer look, and by providing these tools to all learners to borrow, it is an equitable experience for all.

This activity is an excellent segue into the arts to extend this theme, as you mention, with the potential to create models using papier-mache, etc.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by Carmel Wright.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Seán,

Thanks for sharing.

It is a shame to think this ever-increasing pollution is decreasing the beauty of the night sky in your locality, impacting not only views of the Milky Way but also biodiversity. With growing awareness, change is underway, and thankfully, it is an easily solved problem, once the understanding and the will is there to tackle it!

I really like your plan that takes learners on a journey from initial understanding of comparing images to participating in Globe at Night and finally designing models. It would be great to see their work and models displayed/presented to peers as a form of activism to extend awareness throughout the broader school community

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Emma,
Thanks for sharing; what an enchanting list of songs, poems and art. These lists always make me want to listen to long forgotten old gems like Moon River! . It can be lovely to use some Irish songs on this theme too.

I am delighted to see that you are passionate about using music in your teaching already. As Plato said, “Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education.”

I hope this module assignment has helped you reflect on joining the dots between STEM activities, the arts and our past, present and future of Ireland’s Dark Skies.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Fiona,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the course.

I am glad to see you find the resources provided to be very good and child-friendly. There is a whole suite of measuring devices possible for a weather station, and I like how you are considering visual cloud cover observations too.

Time constraints can be a challenge, and another option could be to have the rain gauge as a homework activity. This one offers plenty of opportunities for reflection, refinement, and improvement over time, making it great for math interpretation, from averages to charts and more.

You make a great point about the value of tracking data, and repeating every term has the added benefit of different seasons. It would be great to see what learners predict for each coming season in terms of temperature averages, rainfall, etc.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Ciara,

Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the course!

I am delighted to see your interest in these resources and their scope. Presenting the weather As Gaeilge is a terrific idea for a cross-curricular opportunity, and its wonderful to see your plan to engage the entire school with daily intercom announcements.

Proverbs are a novel way to link in with the wider school community and open a discussion on weather with learners’ family members, and it’s interesting to see if national and international proverbs have a common thread.

By looking into the past, present and potential futures, and explaining the human-made changes that rapidly occurred since the Industrial Revolution, learners will begin to understand the relationship between our emissions and the changing climate challenge.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by Carmel Wright.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Cora,

Thanks for sharing.

Great idea to use the KWL chart in advance of the PAXI video! It’s such an informative resource that I think it’s important learners view it from the perspective of answering specific questions.

Lovely ideas on getting learners to predict-it’s a tool that has so much data, just a matter of gaining confidence navigating it. For digital natives in your classroom, I am sure it will be a breeze!

I like your idea to identify changes and participate in a climate action project. There are so many ways we can all contribute to a better future-and these changes often come with more than one benefit.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Donna,

Thanks for sharing. Weather is such a conversation starter here in Ireland, and yet there is so much that most of us don’t know about it. The Nose High Up in the Sky resources are a great way to engage learners, explore concepts, and even build and monitor their own weather station.

I am delighted to see that you plan on making use of these resources in the classroom. As you say, the nature of the activities is very interactive. For a complex topic like this, it is so important to get a foundational understanding of terms and build from there. The weather station is a great opportunity for learners to take responsibility for the daily task of observing and recording data, so many math opportunities with the data output too!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for sharing. You have come up with a great research question. I like your plan to use the ice is melting resource and include technology to look at satellite images of glaciers.

By making climate-related topics as local and personal as possible, it can really become meaningful. It could be of interest to hone in specifically on how this is going to impact Ireland’s coastline.

I really like your idea to amplify this message of findings-getting the message out there is key! Lots of lovely ideas to share information with posters, assemblies, and even linking in with another school. This is a wonderfully novel peer learning opportunity-and I am sure one that would create great excitement for your class, too.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Susie,

Thanks for sharing.

I really like how you are planning to engage learners with this activity, through an informative video and in particular, your choice of questions to really get the learners thinking about light in their homes, in nature, and its role.

It’s a lovely idea to add a creative art aspect to this, for learners to envision a Dublin without light pollution. The mural would make for a terrific display for a school hallway so other learners can learn a little more about protecting dark skies while appreciating your learners’ artistry.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Sean,

Thanks for sharing.

I like your idea to use a Google Map overlay and embed information from the biodiversity website, and as you say, this is a site that senior students in particular can have endless open-ended learning opportunities from.

It would be wonderful if this could be brought to life with a class visit, perhaps incorporating a hands-on soil sampling and testing activity or talk from a local expert(always worth asking if any parents have relevant expertise to share!)

I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.

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