Environmental Science
Teacher: Salome Egan
Three Modules of 12 weeks duration – Double Class per week
Aims
- To provide a general education in Environmental Studies for all students.
- To cultivate an awareness of the environment at school, community and global levels.
- To develop a feeling of responsibility for the environment through active involvement in Green Schools.
- To develop skills by providing opportunities to for students to do projects on their own or as part of a team.
- To understand the challenges facing our environment.
- To foster a feeling of stewardship of the environment for future generations.
- To make students aware of Environmental Studies as a third level subject option and as a future career.
- To encourage team work and active participation.
- To break away from passive learning.
- To tap into the innate student interest in Nature.
- To develop a feeling of Global Citizenship.
This Transition Year module aims to provide students with opportunities to:
- push out their boundaries
- meet and accept new challenges
- discover more about their personal strengths
- develop maturity and self-confidence
- improve their self esteem
- build interpersonal and team skills
- discover as much as possible about the environment and identify threats to our planet.
- build character
- embark on new projects both within and outside school
- promote personal maturity
- become more independent learners
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to do projects on the following topics and will present them to their peers using powerpoint and other media:
- Energy as we know it and alternatives.
- Recycling at home and in school.
- Encouraging a Green Christmas.
- Reviewing the adopted areas (areas frequented by students at lunch time outside of the school grounds)
- “Fair Trade” and the organizing of a “Fair Trade” day.
- Carbon Footprint.
- Biodiversitly.
- Climate Change.
- Global Warming.
- Water consumption and conservation.
- Lights monitoring.
- Nationalities in our school.
- Announcements in different languages.
- Global awareness in the school community.
Teaching & Learning Strategies
- Formal input by the teacher
- The students will learn by watching powerpoint and other presentations given by their peers
- The students will learn through active participating in and presenting their assignments in class
- The students will learn by implementing the seven steps involved in the application for the Seventh Green Flag, the theme of which is Global Awareness with an emphasis on Energy.
Assessment
Credits will be given for the following:
- Attendance in class
- Completion and presentation of environmental projects
- Participation in class group tasks
- Effort in class
- Completion of module evaluation sheet
Resources
- Internet
- Library
- Newspapers and magazines
- Local knowledge
- Roscommon Co. Council
- An Taisce and other such agencies
Cross-curricular links with other subjects
- Transition Year Development Education
- English
- Maths
- History
- Geography
- SPHE
- CSPE
- Science
- Home Economics
- Irish
- French
- Gaeilge
- German
- Music
- Art
- Construction Studies
- Metalwork
- Business Studies
- Media Studies