The past two weeks lectures focused on energy. When i reflect on my time in primary school, I remember learning a little bit about energy but i definitely learned a lot more about it in high school. From studying and learning more about energy in this module it has opened my eyes to the variety of activities and lessons that i could create to teach this topic in the classroom in a fun and enjoyable way. I feel like from the inputs in lectures and workshops on this topic i have developed numerous skills such as communication, team working, research and creativity and now feel more confident about teaching this topic.
For the first input on energy, we got to take part in a debate. The debate was to focus on ‘Alternative Energy’. We worked in small groups to read academic texts focused on wind turbines to find out information to debate about. We then went into larger groups to share our ideas and research with one another in order to work together to come up with 5 key points to debate about. We had two large groups, one for wind turbines and one against, we then had to decide which members of the group would go up to debate. Through this input i learned a lot about the skills i already possess and new ones that i have developed. Through this my team working, communication and research skills came to light. However, i also realized that i do lack confidence skills and this is something i would like to develop throughout my years in university.
The second input on energy focused on an activities we could use in the classroom such as creating a model of a wind turbine. This was an activity that we could to try ourselves and then create a lesson plan based on this activity. When it came to creating the model, we had to ensure that we had the appropriate resources and that we read our instructions correctly in order for our model to work. I was really happy with my end result and it is definitely an activity that I would try in the classroom.
When it came to creating the lesson plan we worked in partners and it was very interesting and fun. I really enjoyed being able to understand how doing an activity like this would be created and written up in a lesson plan. It was a good experience to work cooperatively with someone else and see how they would write up a lesson plan opposed to how I would do it. We managed to finish our lesson plan and we were really happy with the finished result.
Our finished lesson plan.
From both these inputs my knowledge and skills in energy have definitely increased and improved. It was a topic that I didn’t think I would be interested in but now experiencing it in a different way I would love to teach this in the classroom. There are lots of resrouces and activities out there to help with teaching a topic like this that would be fun and enjoyable for the children. There are activities such as creating energy circuits, making a wind turbine, creating animals that use energy and many more. Energy is such a relevant topic and is important to teach as it is something that surrounds us in everyday life.
This week was our time to present our natural disaster presentations to the rest of the class. Previous to this, we were split into groups and each group were given a natural disaster to research and then present to the class.
Our group was given earthquakes. We wanted to make our presentation classroom friendly and one that supplied enough information and facts for our peers but could be used as a lesson plan. From taking part in a task like this I feel like I have developed numerous skills such as: communication, team working, time management, organisation, research as well as listening and computer skills.
Some parts of this task I did find challenging as I feel like time played a major problem for the group. This was because it was a struggle trying to find a time where every member in the group was free to rehearse, especially as we were only given a week to carry out the task. However, we did manage to pull it all together and deliver a good, well researched presentation to the rest of the class. I particularly liked that from watching everyone’s presentations we were able to get different information on the natural disasters as well as different ideas on how we can present and teach these disasters to children.
Additionally, from the previous weeks workshop on natural disasters, I gained some knowledge on the type of activities we could carry out in the classroom e.g. fossil making, tornado in a jar and a baking soda and vinegar volcano. I found this lesson fun and interesting as it gave me some ideas in implementing natural disasters in the classroom.
Fossil MakingBaking Soda and Vinegar Volcano
The skills and information that I have been able to gain from this lesson and topic can and will be a crucial role into my development as a teacher.
Below I have attached a copy of the presentation we created.
Interdependence is “the dependence of two or more people or things on each other” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). This weeks class and workshop focused on the theme and understanding of interdependence and how it can relate to sustainability. There are 3 components which are all interconnected: economic, social and environmental interdependence.
This input was presented in a different way to the previous ones. This theme was first delivered when we went and visited the two contrasting farms last week and we continued this theme this week. This week we were asked to make a Piktochart highlighting the main facts of the sustainability of fishing. “Sustainable fishing means leaving enough fish in the ocean, respecting habitats and ensuring people who depend on fishing can maintain their livelihoods” (Marine Stewardship Council, 2017).
We carried out this task in small groups, of around 4 people. I enjoy working in groups as I feel that my social, team working and communication skills are continually being developed. Each member of the group took a different topic to research and then towards the end we would combine all the information together. This was an excellent idea as it allowed for better time management, our own personal research skills and that the workload was shared. The topic itself was very interesting and I discovered various facts and information such as “Around 70-80% of the seafood consumed in the UK comes from overseas” (Seafish, 2017).
I found that from carrying out this task I developed a lot of new skills. These varied from team working, organisational skills, technology skills and research skills. These skills I believe are important and are skills that I will need to possess and develop as a student teacher.
References:
Oxford Dictionary, (2017). Interdependence. [Available: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/interdependence] [Accessed: 23rd October 2017]
Marine Stewardship Council, (2017). What is sustainable fishing? [Available: https://20.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/our-approach/what-is-sustainable-fishing] [Accessed 22nd October 2017]
Seafish, (2017). Seafish. [Available: http://www.seafish.org/] [Accessed: 24th October 2017]
This week’s class focused on learning about the theme of interdependence and instead of the normal class timetable including a lecture and workshop, we got to visit and compare two different farms. I found the two dairy farms to be very different in they way in which they work even though the end product is the same. The two farms we visited were Strandhead and Mossgiel.
Strandhead dairy farm relied a lot more on technology than Mossgiel farm, it was seen as a modern, ‘state of the art’ dairy farm . In this farm, they used machines to milk the cows, gather the food and deliver the food them. I found this really interesting and eye-opening as I never though that technology could be used in so many ways throughout a dairy farm. I think i always had the typical thought that the farmers did it all by hand but with the progression of technology showed me otherwise. The farmer informed us that the cows don’t actually go outside and are kept inside all year round. I found this fact shocking at first as normally you tend to see cows outdoors, however the farmer explained to us that their farmland is extremely impacted on by the harsh weather conditions and therefore it is healthier and better that the cows are kept inside. He also explained to us that the cows are not forced to milk at points of the day, instead they are able to go to the milking area whenever they wanted to. The cows would go one at a time and whilst the cows were being milked, they were also screened to see if they were lacking in any nutrients and if so they would then be incorporated into their food/diet. When walking around the farm and listening to the farmers, it was clear to see that animal welfare was at the heart of what this dairy farm does.
Strandhead FarmStrandhead FarmStrandhead Farm
Mossgiel farm was a more natural, organic, family-run farm. This particular farm supports local producers and the local produce is said to be a ‘rare find’ (Mossgiel Farm, 2017). This dairy farm, for me, was what i envisioned a ‘typical’ farm to look like. This farm was different from the other farm in various ways. One way in particular was that instead of electronics controlling the milking process it was done manually by the farmer and therefore mean that more than one cow could me milked at the same time. Also, the cows are actually kept outside for the majority of the year in this farm and only really come indoors in the terrible winter months. Mossgiel farm strives to produce natural and ethical food and in my opinion it looks like they are doing that extremely well as well as ensuring that the animals are well cared for.
After visiting both farms and reflecting on the days events, I did notice that both farms did have something in common. This was that the cows were kept separate from the calves. The calves were kept in different pens from their mother. Both farms explained that the reason for this, is that it can give the calves the best start in life. I found this particularly interesting, as i always thought the calves would be kept with their mothers almost like a baby is kept with their mother after birth.
Today’s class was very informative and interesting, it showed me that there are numerous ways of creating milk and that every farm can do this differently. It also opened my eyes to how I could teach a lesson like this in the classroom and that a trip to a farm could be extremely useful for children to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills of how dairy products come from a cow but end up in shelves in supermarkets.
References:
De Boer Housing Systems, (2017). Robert Veitch, Strandhead Farm Open Day. [Available: http://www.deboerhousing.com/blog/30-robert-veitch-strandhead-farm-open-day] [Accessed: 15th October 2017]
Climate Change is an extremely important subject, one that needs to be highlighted more often as it can have a serious impact on the world we live in. If I am being honest prior to this module I didn’t have much of an interest in learning about topics like climate change. I would often hear stories in the news about what it is and what is happening around the world due to it but I never really looked much deeper into it.
In the world the climate is constantly changing and with that means we are bound to experience the effects of climate change. These can vary from agriculture, sea levels rising which can inhibit floods, loss of sea ice and more intense heat waves. These effects not only have an impact on the environment but on people’s lives. This year alone there has been two main hurricanes: Harvey and Imra, that have been the effect of climate change. Scientists suggest that “rising sea levels and warmer oceans, made those storms far more destructive than they would have been in previous decades” (Cable News Network). Hurricanes like these have a tremendous affect on the residents of the area who are left homeless, injured and in the worst case dead. Many scientists believe that primarily climate change is man-made therefore we as the humans it is having an effect on, need to pull together to try and save our environment.
The Government are doing a lot to help lower the effects of climate change. I was surprised to realise that there is actually legislation in place: The Climate Change (Scotland) Act (2009). They have got set targets in place to hopefully reach by 2020 and 2050. These vary from the decrease of greenhouse gases and ensuring there are supplies in place to help the reduction and recycling of waste. There has already been a start on recycling. We now have coloured bins that state which type of material goes in which bin. In my household we have a black, blue and green bin. Our green bin is for any food waste, the blue is for any paper, plastic and cans and our black bin is for any other recycling. I never really cared much for recycling but the use of the coloured bins makes it so much easier and you almost don’t even realise that you are recycling the right way. Furthermore, the governments policy on charging for plastic bags has also had a positive impact on myself as I now rarely ever buy a plastic bag I just use one of the ones I already have in my house. I do think that me re using bags I already have is more so that I don’t have to pay for one but at least it’s helping the environment at the same time in a positive way.
Already, with the hard work from the government to tackle climate change. The first minister placed Scotland at the front of the world fight against climate change on the 5th September 2017. This just highlighted the our country is taking the effects of climate change very seriously and therefore we need to realise this and do our part to help stop climate change.
I took part in a quiz that analysed my carbon footprint. I was really shocked at my result and realised that there is a lot more that I could be doing to lowering it to have a positive effect on the environment rather than a negative one. It made me reflect on the ways I travel to work and university, the food that I am buying and the amount of energy that is used in my household that is unnecessary.
In conclusion, it is crucial that everyone at least tries to tackle and prevent climate change, whether this is walking instead of driving, switching the sockets off in the house when you go to bed, buying more locally produced foods if they are available. It is important to notice that the smallest positive difference in your daily routing can have a huge effective impact on climate change in the world. It is our job as educators to ensure that the newest generation are made aware of the impact we have on climate change and our environment, and how we can have an influence taking care and looking after our environment so that it can then have a positive impact on the world.
References:
Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, asp 12. Edinburgh: The Stationary Office.
WWF. (2017) HOW BIG IS YOUT ENVRIONMENTAL FOOTPRINT? [Online] Availabile: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/ [Accessed: 06 September 2017]
NASA. (2017) Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet Effects. [Online] Available: https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ [Accessed: 06 September 2017]
Cable News Network. (2017) Yes, Climate Change made Harvey and Imra worse. [Online] Accessed: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/15/us/climate-change-hurricanes-harvey-and-irma/index.html [Accessed: 06 September 2017]
This was our second week in the sustainable development module. We had a lecture outlining what this module involved and a short assessment briefing. We also discussed our natural and urban areas and how these areas can have an impact on our physical environment. It was a very informative and interesting lecture as it allowed me to learn the difference between both urban and natural areas as well as how the environment fits into the curriculum for excellence. It highlighted the learning outcomes for social sciences that we as educators will be using when we are out on placement, which was crucial information for us to consider and think of different activities we could do that would fit with these outcomes.
We also had two seminars to take part in. The first seminar involved us taking part in various activities outdoors. In a small group I participated in a sensory walk. It shocked me how our senses could see, smell and hear so many different things in our environment when you focus on it. There is a lot of green space around the university and through this walk we discovered areas that we had never seen before. We noticed various plants and wildlife on our walk which intertwined with the other activities we were to complete. Through doing this seminar, it gave me ideas on activities i could do with the children and how the outdoors is a very valuable and fun resource you could use with the children.
The second seminar of the day involved numerous work stations with tasks for us to complete. The one that stood out to me was when we had to go outdoors and take rubbings from tree bark and some leaves. This was not only a fun activity for us ourselves to take part in but it would be a very effective activity to try with the children on placement. It was interesting to see the various types of leaves and how you can see the differences even more so when you rub over it with a crayon. Another one of the activities we got to do was dissecting a flower and seeing the various parts that make up a flower. This was an interesting and more advanced activity, i feel like an activity like this would work better with the upper end of the school. Finally, we got to hold and feel snails. When i first saw the snails i was a bit apprehensive to actually holding one but once i did it was very fun and interesting to see how they move about and how they consume food. I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop as it wasn’t just an enjoyable experience but it also gave us ideas on how to apply this knowledge to the classroom.
Leaf MarkingsTree Markings
We also had a directed study task to complete, the task was to create a blog post on our own urban environment (which can be read from my previous post). We were encouraged to look deeper into our environment and focus on essential areas that make up our environment. It was exciting and surprising to see how parts of my urban area can have an impact on the physical environment. Additionally, we also looked at ways we could develop a lesson on the environment with a Primary 5 class.
Through participating in the lecture and workshops i feel like i managed to develop a range of skills such as : observing, evaluating, analysing, listening and researching.
The environment, in my opinion, relates hugely to primary teaching. Prior to learning and researching more about the environment i never really had a huge opinion on it and the importance of teaching it to the younger generation. However, now i can see how crucial it is to develop the younger generation’s knowledge of how the areas in where they live can have both positive and negative effects on the physical environment. The Curriculum for Excellence highlights the importance of this through the Social Sciences learning and outcomes. Topics like the environment is an area that can also be interlinked with other areas of the curriculum such as literacy and mathematics, to make their learning more interesting, diverse and fun.
Like i mentioned above, beginning to to take part in this module has changed my thinking on areas such as the environment. Prior to this input, i never really had much opinion on the environment, i was never very interested in what happened in my area and the impacts that it can have on the environment. I always knew it was an area of the curriculum that i had to teach but i never had a particular interest or enjoyment for researching and looking more into it for me to teach to the children. However, now that i have taken part in the workshops, in particular, has changed my opinion in a very positive way. I am now very interested in how the area that i stay in can have a positive and negative impact on the environment. I also feel a lot more confident in teaching a topic like this in a school from the various activity ideas we were given throughout the workshops. I now realise the importance of teaching social sciences to the younger generation and how getting the children involved will make for a more positive and enjoyable learning experience. After all, children are the future.
Since i was a child, i grew up in a small town called Erskine. Erskine is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire. The town lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde and connects the town to Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire. It is known for being a commuter town and it borders Bishopton to the north and Renfrew, Inchinnan, Paisley and Glasgow Airport to the south. Throughout the years, the town has expanded and developed. The population increased to over 15,000 and in 2014 it was rated one of the most attractive postcode areas to live in Scotland.
This task required me to go out and really focus on my urban environment. I was surprised to see how much there was in my environment when i really focused on it. I looked at the aspects of community spaces, transport, physical characteristics, recreation spaces as well as industry and work.
Even though Erskine is a small town, there are many community spaces. We have 4 primary schools in the area, one of them being a catholic primary school and we have 1 high school. We also have two community centres. There is Erskine Community Sports Centre which is a larger allotment and we also have Bargarran Community Centre. As a child, i spent the majority of my childhood in these centres. Erskine Community Sports Centre has a range of sport activities, play groups, extra-curricular clubs, a gym and a hall to hold parties. Me and my friends used to spend a lot of time here playing badminton, basketball, football and many other sport activies. Bargarran Community Centre holds many clubs for children to get involved in. I spent a lot of my time here for my dance and drama club that i was part of for 5 years. There is also many functions for the older generation such as bingo, tea and coffee events. There is also a small doctors office in this centre as well as a music room for any inspiring artists. On reflection, I never fully appreciated the use of these centres until i looked back at how much of my childhood was spent there and the fond memories i have at these places. As well as these centres we also have a community library which is located next to the community swimming pool. The library was used very much throughout my younger years as in school we often took trips down to the local library to explore the range of books on offer. The swimming centre was also a place where i spent a lot of my childhood. I would go every Friday night for ‘fun night’ with all my friends from school and it was a great way of making new friendships and it was a good form of exercise. Aswell as going in my free time, in Primary 6 we went every Tuesday to develop and enhance our swimming abilities.
In Erskine, there isn’t a lot of transport facilities. We have various bus stops located around Erskine, where the bus service Mcgills is used through the town. There is a range of buses to take us to various locations such as Glasgow, Paisley, Clydebank etc. The bus service in Erskine is effective nine times out of ten, although they do often run late and have a tendency to drive past a bus stop without stopping. We do not have a train station in Erskine, there is one nearby in Bishopton but its difficult to get to unless you drive. We have a taxi service that runs through Erskine and that is normally reliable unless you phone in a busy period. Apart from the services i mentioned there isn’t really any other transport services. The roads are planned out very well for if your a driver and it is easy to get to most of the areas in Erskine.
When it comes to the physical characteristics of my town, most of the houses in my area are semi-detached, they are quite run down houses as they were built around the 1960s. A lot of the houses in my street are getting done up to make them more modern and efficient. However, there are many areas of Erskine that have been recently built and so are more up market, nicer, better built and bigger. Around my area there is a lot of green space than what I originally thought. We have a big green field where i often go and walk my dog, we have a beach with a lot of green space around it and woodland walks to go on. There is numerous swing parks with grass all around where you can play ball games or even just games like hide n seek or even tig with your friends. The road conditions in Erskine are alright, they are often getting fixed and updated due to there being more cars on the road and bus routes being made.
The industry and work field in Erskine is quite good, there are numerous retail jobs as we have a Morrisons nearby with many job opportunities, play centres for children such as pandamonium, cafes, food shops and many others. We have an industrial estate nearby where there are various factories and offices. We have a community farm where that is an agricultural place for children to visit and see some of the animals, as well as volunteering opportunities.
Map of the Industrial Park
From completing this task, it has opened my eyes to how important our urban environment is to the making of a community and how we as educators need to allow children the opportunity to experience and learn about their urban and natural areas and how they impact upon our physical environment. It is crucial that children are given the chance to learn about what their urban and natural environment and there is various ideas that us as educators could use to allow the children this opportunity. The Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, 2004) can be used as a resource in order for a lesson plan to be devised. Teachers could take the children on a walk through either their urban or natural environment to allow the children to see the different community spaces that their area have (SOC 2-10a). When they return to the classroom they could create a poster or even a picture book of the different places to live, work and relax in their area. They could also even do a follow up lesson where they could take a trip to the local farm to see how they have an impact on the environment. If its an activity for the natural environment, a good idea would be to take the children through an area with a lot of green space and they could take rubbings from tree bark or even leaves that they have seen.
Leaf Markings
Therefore, it is important that we as educators take our knowledge of our environment and allow the children that we teach, the opportunity to gain the same knowledge of the environment that they live in and the elements that create an urban area.
References:
Scottish Government. (2004) Curriculum for Excellence [Online] Available: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/social-studies-eo.pdf [Accessed: 22nd September 2017].
Renfrewshire Leisure. (n.d.) Erskine Community Sports Centre [Online] Available: http://www.renfrewshireleisure.com/erskine-community-sports-centre/ [Accessed: 22nd Spetember 2017]
Erskine. (n.d.) Erskine [Online] Available:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine [Accessed: 22nd September 2017]
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