During weeks three and four, I have been learning more about climate change and global warming. This is a topic which is prevalent in today’s society as it has become a massive issue for our world. Climate change is often just thought of as how the weather changes on a day to day basis for example sunshine one day and snow the next but according to the Met Office (n.d.) Climate change is the long-term shift in average weather patterns across the world. Since the mid-1800s, humans have contributed to the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air. This causes global temperatures to rise, resulting in long-term changes to the climate. Due to climate change and global warming there has been a large impact on the UK’s seasons and weather. Our summers are getting drier and our winters wetter, the UKs growing season has increased due to there being less rain but sometimes there is extreme weather in the wrong season for example, the extreme rainfall in the UK during the summer of 2007. Before this topic myself and I could also say for some of my peers were only aware of this topic due to the mass media coverage it has had over the past few years however we still did not know a lot about the extent of it. Having this lecture and also the online Moodle tasks has made me much more aware of how much of a damaging issue climate change is and I have also noticed myself being more cautious with things that can affect my carbon footprint. I noticed myself improving my creative and imaginative skills throughout these weeks as in week three we had a workshop in the science lab where we looked at experiments relating to weather which could be used in a primary school setting. We created a tornado, illustrated using shaving foam and food colouring how rain falls through clouds and also did some craft activities. These two skills are crucial to have when becoming a primary school teacher because you need to be able to keep the children in your classroom excited to learn so they will stay engaged and the only way to do this is if my lessons are interactive and fun. In a professional manner I have started to become more research minded as I have been researching climate change and. Global warming and have learned additional information due to this. For example, I have been researching Greta Thunberg as she is a young climate change activist who recently has become highly influential in this area. She is only sixteen years old but has made me realise more about climate change than I have ever known before. Recently Greta tweeted ‘ Over 7,5 million people in over 180 countries joined the #climate strike!We told world leaders to unite behind the science and take action now. They didn’t listen. So, we go on, every Friday. The next global climate strike is Nov 29, and we need everyone to join! #fridaysforfuture’. This just shows how much power this young girl has, she has managed to open more people’s eyes around global warming and climate change than any world leaders ever have. Knowing this kind of information is key when studying too become a primary teacher because when you have your own class you could be teaching a topic on climate change and even the amount of knowledge, I have gained will make it easier when trying to plan lessons and activities. It can also be connected to other parts of primary education for example science and technologies.
@GretaThunberg (2019) Greta Thunberg. 13 October. [Tweet] Available: https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1183452505600077826?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet[Accessed: 7 October 2019].
Met Office (n.d.) [Online] Available: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/climate-and-climate-change/climate-change/index[Accessed: 5 October 2019]
