October 2017 – Sustainable Development Reflections

Disasters…

Disasters were the topic of discussion this week in Sustainable Development. In the workshops we looked at the political/economical aspects of natural disasters and the science behind them.

The first workshop was on the political/economical side of disasters. We looked at in detail the political nature of disasters, the governmental actions in relation to response and rebuilding, the role of international agencies in disaster relief and also how you would go about teaching disasters to children of a primary school age.

The topic of disasters is the one I am most interested in that is included in this module. However, before today I was only aware of the effects of disasters on both the population and the areas that were affected. The political side is something I had never considered.

Today I learned that a disaster is only a disaster if human society is impacted (social disruption, material damage and loss of life). Whereas before I thought that if there was for example a small hurricane, that would be classified as a disaster, no matter the affects that it had.

The most beneficial thing that I learned today however was how you would teach the topic of disasters to primary pupils. I was scared to teach somewhat controversial issues to children at such an early age as they may be affected by what has happened. Nevertheless, I now know not to shy away from disasters. There are so many things that can be done in a school, including but not limited to: fundraising, social subjects, topic work (weather) and simply just talking to the children about what is going on in the world. I’m aware also that images can be a powerful thing, but to use them you would have to provide local and global viewpoints, so that the child is getting the most out of the information. There is also the risk that your class may be more at risk to become anxious towards that sort of thing, so it is important to really know your class before you decide how deep to go into the topic.

I have developed several skills due to this workshop one of them being investigative. I have better investigative skills after looking at two case studies and picking out the differences which will help me as a student and future teacher as it is important to look at the full picture and be able to pick out the relevant pieces of information.

The science workshop was more practical than the first. There were several investigations placed around the class which we were to work through in small groups. Each investigation was different, ranging from making your own fossils to creating your own volcanic eruption.

Thanks to this workshop I am now able to group different disasters such as: hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, into four categories: metrological, biological, geological and hydrological.

This workshop was particularly helpful in relation to primary teaching as it was active learning which was for the most part doable in a classroom setting. Due to the work being so interesting it is likely that the pupils would be engaged and eager to learn.

I have developed several skills thanks to this workshop. My investigative and hypothesising skills have increased as I had to think about the outcome of most of the experiments. My ability to work in a group and share resources with my peers has also increased. Another thing that has developed for me would be my confidence in teaching the science behind disasters to a class. Upon completing each task and thinking about any risk assessment that would have to be considered, I can successfully say that I would happily stand in front of a class and teach them about disasters.

However, something that I still want to work on would be my note-taking skills as throughout the workshop I was to fixated on what was going on that I never took the time to write any of it down which may have a negative impact on my when I come to write my assignment.

Relevant Experiences and Outcomes:

· I can describe the physical processes of a natural disaster and discuss its impact on people and the landscape. (SOC 2-07b)

· Having explored the landscape of my local area, I can describe the various ways in which land has been used. (SOC 1-13a)

· By exploring a natural environment different from my own, I can discover how the physical features influence the variety of living things. (SOC 1-13b)

· I can explain how the physical environment influences the ways in which people use land by comparing my local area with a contrasting area. (SOC 2-13a)

· I have contributed to discussions of current scientific news items to help develop my awareness of science. (SCN 1-20a)

Learning Log 3

Interdependence. When two or more things rely on each other to survive. These past two weeks have opened up my mind to the importance of teaching interdependence in schools as before this module, I was ignorant towards the area and the issues.

We were given the opportunity to go to two very different farms; one was modernised and the other was organic. I was never one for going outdoors and playing around in the dirt, plus the slightest bad smell makes me gag but these trips have opened my mind to the ideas of farming and interdependence.

The first farm was called Strandhead and it was a completely different to what I expected. For one, the cows there are not allowed to go outside, they spend their whole lives stuck indoors. Another thing that stood out as being different was that every part of the farm was modernised. A machine made up the cow feed, another one delivered it (much like a hoover) and another one milked the cows. We were assured that the cows were all happy and everything that was being done was in their best interest and to be honest, nothing looked that bad. The idea of cows being mechanically milked however places unpleasant thoughts in my head that it would be painful and uncomfortable. The video below shows this fascinating process.

This farm was the one in which flagged up ethical issues. Beforehand I expected it to be very intense, with animals unhappy and in pain however I was pleasantly surprised. The pictures below show some of the farm and its animals, including calf’s

The second farm was called Mossgiel and it was a completely organic farm. This farm reminded me most of a farm, the cows were not stuck indoors, and it looked more rustic than the other one. The cows at this farm were fed a multitude of things, the most interesting being potatoes and seaweed. Apparently, the seaweed reduces the amount of methane that the cows produce and in turn helps to slow down climate change. The farmers here used the traditional method of milking by which the pump is placed on the cow’s udders my hands and then a machine milks the cow as opposed to the other process of being completely done by machine. The cows here were placed near their babies as a way to reduce both the stress of the calf’s and the mums. There was a place where the mums could come over and see their babies, lie down and bond with them. The calf’s at Mossgiel were also given their mums milk as that is the only way that they can build up their immune system at that age. Most dairy calf’s are given powdered milk as opposed to their mother’s milk as the cost of milk outweighs the cost of the powdered milk. Mossgiel supplies most of its product to cafes as their milk has the highest fat percentage allowing for baristas to create coffee designs that last the longest. You can also buy the product yourself by phoning them up and placing an order. We were lucky enough to be given tasters of the milk, which to me tasted just like cream. The pictures below show Mossgiel farm.

I can see how effective taking a class of children to farms would be. They would be getting first-hand knowledge of what goes on at a farm as well as the diverse ways in which they get their food. I found the trips to be very engaging and fun however with a class of young children you would have to be careful with any health and safety risks. We could just touch the cows and, so you would have to reiterate to the children either to not touch any of the animals or not to touch their face until after they have washed their hands.

The next thing that was covered in the interdependence topic was healthy oceans with reference to four aspects; industry and economical, biodiversity, community impact and political elements. In small groups, we were to read several websites and watch some clips whilst picking out points relating to each of the four aspects in order to make an infographic. This was a very fun and engaging task as it allowed me to use my investigative skills as well as my creative ones to make an eye-catching piece of work. The link to our infographic.https://create.piktochart.com/output/25412201-new-piktochart

This type of work would be a great lesson in an upper school class as asking the children to research a topic and then create a piece of work would encourage them to be creative and develop multiple skills.

I have learned a lot of new things relating to interdependence these past two weeks that I never knew before such as that technology is playing such a huge part in farming and also that seaweed can help to reduce gas emissions from cows. I have also learned how much money goes into fishing as well what is being done to make our oceans healthy again, things that before this topic I knew nothing about.

Climate Change: Learning Log 2

In the lecture this week, we looked at climate change and the effects that it has around the world. This was very interesting as ideas were shared on the ways in which you would approach teaching children about climate change. We looked at geographical maps that documented the ways in which climate change was effecting the ice caps as well as watching a clip of a man investigating the ways in which floods affect people and the environment. It was a very interesting lecture in terms of the facts that were given out.

The first workshop focused mostly on the weather aspect of climate change, with several practical experiments. We were stationed into six separate groups with a task to do at each station. However, before we started these tasks the full class had to fill out an activity sheet on a specific biome. My group were given a tundra (Northern Siberia) where we had to research; the type of land, the climate, temperature, weather, water, types of animals, plants, people and dangers. The task was that we were stranded in our designated biome with little resources and we had to describe how we would survive. Though this task was one of my favourites out of the whole workshop, to put it to use in a classroom there would need to be significant modifications such as; more time, a fact sheet, more precise instructions etc.

The next activity was creating a tornado in a jar. This was interesting as it was a simplistic version of how a real tornado is formed in real life. The materials needed was; a clear jar with lid, food dye, fairly liquid and a dropper. We were supposed to fill up the jars with water and add a few drops of fairly liquid and food dye then close the lid. Then the jar was swirled around in a circle to create the tornado. Unfortunately, I never got a video of this but this is something that would be worth doing in a class. It was a very engaging activity and would be effective when used in association with either the topic of climate change or weather.

Weather systems was the focus of the next activity. In our group, we had to fill a clear fish tank up with room temperature water and place a cup filled with hot water, red dye and two stones to weigh the cup down and a cup filled with cold water, blue dye and two stones to weigh the cup down at the same time. These two cups represented air front, the red standing for warm and the blue standing for cold. What was interesting about this was that both dyes and water temperature reacted differently when placed in the tank. The red dye stayed up the top and the blue dye sank to the bottom acting as a visual representation of the nature of weather fronts. The video below shows the results. The would again be an effective lesson when educating children on weather fronts.

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Another activity was to create two identical snowflakes and scrunch one up into a ball then drop them down from the same height to see what one reached the bottom first. The pictures and video below show my work. This would be an effective way to teach children about either air resistance or the weather i.e. how different elements are formed and fall (hail and snow).

There was also an activity on the water system in the shape of a quiz which was a fun way to learn about what may be considered a boring topic.

The last activity related again to biomes. We were supposed to create our own animal based on the biome we picked and then write down a bunch of facts that make the animal suited to that environment. This would be an amazing task to do with children of any age as it is bringing in multiple skills including; researching, creating and construction.

Surprisingly our second input on climate change was focused on the political aspect. In small groups, we were handed several resources to look through/watch and decide what the most important for the thing we had been assigned. My group were told to look at climate change from the perspective of an elderly couple living in the suburbs of New Orleans. We were to look at each resource with them in mind, what they would need more than the rest. It was decided that the temperature would be the biggest issue for the couple. As climate change is happening, the earth is gradually getting warmer. This leads to not only increased sea levels from the ice caps melting but also can lead to infrastructure and health problems. Not to mention that natural disasters such as hurricanes thrive in warm air and when taking into consideration hurricane Catrina not that long ago we figured that this would be a priority. When deciding all of this we were looking at protocols such as the Kyoto and Montreal protocol and list what we believe the government can do to help the couple. This proved to be an effective way to get involved in the lesson as well as learn the right stuff. It improved our note taking, listening, writing and researching skills.

The directed study task this week was to calculate our carbon footprint, watch a video clip called “Antarctica on the Edge” and read ‘Climate Challenge (Scotland) Act 2009’. As stated previously I thoroughly enjoyed calculating my own carbon footprint and can see why that is an important thing to do. The legislation however was not a very fun read, but again I see the importance in being able to name the main points of the Act when it comes to assignment time.

Skills I have developed:

Working cooperatively
Researching
Recording
Reporting
Observing
Knowledge

Climate change relates to primary teaching in multiple ways. The most important (to me) is the fact that children are the future. If we don’t educate young people on the impacts and effects that climate change has on the world then there is little hope for it to be slowed down.

Part of the directed study task helped to emphasise this point to me. We were to find out our carbon footprint, which seems easy enough but it was rather daunting. Before this I thought I had a low carbon footprint but it turns out its 111%! If that is just one person who thought they were somewhat ‘healthy’ for the planet, what is an entire generations carbon footprint going to do? If they are educated early then that may lead them to adopt healthier habits which in turn may reduce the rate of climate change.

The clip “Antarctica on the Edge” was extremely eye opening. I was not aware of just how much damage is being done to the earth due to climate change and it was interesting to see the effects first hand. Watching something like this in a class would be a great activity as the children would be seeing how climate change is effecting the world possibly helping them to understand the importance of it.

This theme has enhanced my knowledge of climate change. Before the inputs, I thought climate change was only to do with the weather however I now know that there are multiple contributing factors that cause climate change as well as several different negative effects. After the inputs there were several unanswered questions flowing around my head and so I am going to do some further reading into the topic as a whole in order to educate myself more.

The one area in which I was most interested in was the freak weather incidences that may or may not be a result of climate change. We watched a clip in the lecture of a man testing out how different things hold up in floods which was very interesting that I went home and watched the full video. This would be the type of video that would really get everyone’s attention and so I can see myself incorporating some things like this in future lessons.

Another area that I am interested in researching further is my carbon footprint. Pictured below is my carbon footprint as described by the WWF Website. This number shocked be as I thought my carbon footprint would be a lot smaller. I am planning to research ways in which I can reduce my carbon footprint and do my part to making the world a better place.