Environment in the Curriculum

The latest issue of The Journal of Biological Education (46 (3) 2012) has an article entitled "The living world in the curriculum : ecology, an essential part of biology learning" by Korfiatis & Tunniclffe. It stirred old feelings in me of my inadequacy at being a more forceful proponent of environmental education (and my inability to clearly articulate what I'm trying to say).
The natural environment is obviously so important to the future of humankind yet we continue to mistreat it and refuse to accept that we need to be in steady state with it and not continually growing. The article discusses the importance of "real ecology" rather than "book" ecology and has its roots in the primary curriculum and the "proposed transformation in science curricula". Here is the key quote:-

 "Ecology education is, in our opinion, the missing link in educational reform, integrating outdoor education, ICT and systems thinking, connecting science with everyday experience, and developing scientific skills for very young children, encouraging modelling activities, and promoting greening of the curriculum"

I'm getting involved with local habitats in the coming weeks - woodland and seashore (see previous post). I am excited and depressed - excited to work with children and keen staff, depressed by the enormity of what I see as a problem with communicating the awe and wonder and the understanding of how the natural world works to a self-interested world. Reminded me of a Waterboys' song with a short narration by Billy Connolly about the purpose of life..

               "..to have children and look after the place"*

                       "Spiritual City" from Dream Harder (Geffen, 1993)

With all the pressure of "routine" teaching and  "initiatives", as well as the need for "innovation", teachers need more and better support. Where's it coming from?

* How does this fit with the "Christian" feel of the album where everything was put on the Earth for exploitation by/the benefit of Man? Mmm. Let's not go there, except in person.

Digital Sorytelling & Animation Resources

I came to digital storytelling as a result of seeing Jason Ohler at the CLC Manager's Conference in Newcastle a number of years ago. Watching a First Nation child narrate and act out her version of a traditional story to camera with her own drawings in the background was compelling. (Ohler is based in Canada.)

http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/index.cfm




I tried to engage others in the potential of digital storytelling not only for the IT element but for the personal and literacy skills developed by children involved in such an enterprise. I've tried to revisit the idea but found it difficult to get it off the ground, probably because of the staffing such an enterprise needs. However, in a recent email was a link to resources for digital storytelling which has rekindled my interest.

http://web.tech4learning.com/digital-storytelling-resource-kit/


The same site also has available a free download of their book Making Claymation in the Classroom.

http://web.tech4learning.com/claymation-in-the-classroom/

If you're not up to Claymation, how about Brickmation? I've started to collect Lego from charity shops to create a bank of materials to used in animation. 

Kar2ouche, Traditional Tales, Support

Kar2ouche is expensive software and not many schools can afford it. My experiences with it over the past ten years have invariably been positive. Children love the visual aspect of it, the range of characters and props and the ability to rotate them through 360o. The added facilities of text boxes and speech and thought bubbles make it ideal for literacy purposes. The ability to save it in different ways, including as a video, is an added bonus.

Screenshot of pupil's work from last Friday

I used it last week, for the first time in a while, with Y3 from a local school at Inspire2Learn. When I made their videos, I was struck by the visual component of their work and how much I'd liked to have been able to follow this up through the literacy-side. 

Yesterday, I was talking to a literacy expert, Kar2ouche came up and Traditional Tales which I've spoken about before. This reminded me of some very good work that was done with a Kar2ouche module on Hansel & Gretel. I got involved at the time and did a version of the tale emphasising all the Science aspects (reflection, shadows, food etc). 

So, the purpose of today's blog is to highlight the possibility of using Kar2ouche (there are 50 modules*) and to offer to give some free support to schools that might have purchased it but feel they are not exploiting it to its full potential.

* Egyptians, Romans, Habitats, World War 1, French, Victorians, Tudors etc

Washout

The ASE Cheese & Wine Event was postponed because of the atrocious weather. Unfortunately, Davina and I both missed the email and turned up. Nevermind. I did use my iPad to take some photos of Durham and the Wear. Here they are:-

Maths Through Story

At the beginning of November, Redcar & Cleveland's Inspire2Learn team are organising a Maths through Story Week. I've been to the planning meetings and so am sworn to secrecy about what people are going to deliver, me included. Looks like being another of their really good events.

Anyway, there I was, looking for more books for my collection, when I saw Maths Curse by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith. Lane Smith's book It's a Book is one I love.

This isn't a book anyone mentioned so I feel fairly safe in telling you about it.
It starts

 "On Monday in maths class Mrs Fibonacci* says "YOU KNOW, you can think of almost everything as a maths problem". On Tuesday I start having problems."

There then follow a whole series of fun maths related problems to conquer before laying the maths curse. True to form though the final page reads.. 

"..life is just great until science class, when Mr Newton says, "You know, you can think of almost everything as a science experiment..""

I wonder if they ever wrote THAT book!



* For information on Fibonacci & Science see the latest issue of the ASE's Primary Science Review

Another book by Scieszka & Smith

ASE & Space

Tuesday evening is the AGM & Cheese & Wine Event of the NE Branch of the ASE. We are trying to recruit new members from the trainee teachers at Durham University on this occasion and I've been asked to do a little slot on Space and IT for them.
Whilst working at the City (now Civic) Learning Centre Eston, I was involved with the development of Space Days. The programme for these included an introductory lecture and the teaching of different bits of software to allow pupils to show their knowledge and understanding of the topic. The lecture was enhanced by having access to a large space (the auditorium) and the Magic Planet. 

The Magic Planet consists of a large hollow sphere onto which can be projected the Sun and all the planets of the Solar System. Used in the auditorium, it allowed the physical modelling (by pupils) of the motion of the planets, day/night, seasons, eclipses and phases of the Moon. A really useful and engaging resource. Inspire2Learn at the CLC has a Magic Planet that can be loaned by schools, which I would highly recommend.

Latterly, we also developed another highly thought of Space resource for the Immersive Room. The IR has three screens, six projectors and surround sound. The experience consists of taking pupils for an imaginary take-off, trip to the planets and return to Earth. During the experience, all manner of space-related issues can be raised. My favourite part involves a poem about living in Space and leads pupils into thinking about their survival when they can't carry all the water they will need on the voyage.

I hope to have time to show the trainees how the iPad can enhance their lessons and impact on their pupils. I'll do this with the Space theme and especially the augmented reality app Spacecraft 3D.

I also feel that the Space topic is a great place to introduce robots, e.g. Lego NXT, to children. The prominence of Curiosity on Mars in the news adds to this.

Finally, what software? 2Simple allows for everything from making a postcard or leaflet (2Publish) to making a flash file of The Solar System (2Create-a-Story). Simple games can be made with 2Do-it-Yourself. Comic Life is always popular with pupils and Photostory, although not looking great, does produce good results with quality resources. I feel the best way for pupils to show their knowledge and understanding is by producing a presentation, either PowerPoint or Smart Notebook, incorporating animations, flash files and videos (especially if made by themselves).
Can I recommend mind-mapping, again, as a great way to organise your thoughts?

More Songs about Parasites & Plague

I've haunted charity shops for years in search of books and CDs and teaching aids. I've now added trips to HMV shops as another essential part of my rounds. Why? They now have section of pre-owned CDs, almost all of which are priced at £2.


One of the CDs I picked up last week was by Eric Burdon and the Animals. Younger readers might not have heard of the original Animals, who came from Newcastle, and their lead singer, Eric Burdon, who went over to the States soon after their initial success. The double CD reissue consists of Winds of Change (1967) and The Twain Shall Meet (1968). On the latter is a track I discovered only this year called Sky Pilot. It's about an army chaplain in the Vietnam War. On the other CD is a really strange track, The Black Plague, about a great plague in medieval times. I want to try them out on an audience to see the reaction. Can't wait to do the Sixties and Tudors respectively!

As usual, other songs and links spring to mind that I'd like to incorporate in my teaching. I'll just mention one CD called Partisans & Parasites by Daniel Kahn & Painted Bird. I'll highlight two tracks, one is a really detailed and accurate account of Parasites (ideal for Biology lessons) and the other about a true plot by Jews to murder 6 Million Germans (aftermath of World War 2).

Just to keep right up-to-date, the new Bob Dylan CD has a really great song about the Titanic called Tempest (the title track).






There must be a website somewhere which ties "popular song" to the National Curriculum, mustn't there? I'm off to have a trawl.

Ancient Egyptains

I'm doing a day at Inspire2Learn on the Egyptians. It's nearly a year since I did the Egyptians last but what good memories it brings back. It was a privilege to work with staff and pupils. As a result of the warm memories and my involvement with their use of IT, I thought I'd outline some of what we did (the IT bit).

Pupils had available to them all of the following software:-

2Simple Collection
    2Animate - animated scenes and images for presentations
    Publish - postcards, leaflets, booklets
    Create-a-Story - retelling of stories (e.g. Cleopatra), explaining processes
          (e.g.mummification), information (e.g. Famous Egyptians)
    2D-i-Y - make games for their peers

Audacity - to record their own voices/sounds for presentations

Comic Life - to tell stories, present information

Photostory - video presentation of artefacts

PowerPoint - to present information but also to tie all of their work with other programmes and in non-IT areas together. (Smart could have been used similarly)

They even did green-screen video work.

I'm sure that these pupils would have had a ball using Kar2ouche at Inspire2Learn and being given an Immersive Room experience. 
For more details of what's available at Inspire2Learn please contact them directly.

Although I taught some of the software to pupils and supported them, I think my major role was making what they wanted to do as easy as possible. A major part of this was having a large bank of suitable resources readily available. This is an organisational headache and I have multiple copies of files all over the place to help the learning process. Themed resources for Egyptains included Everyday Life, Famous Egyptians, Fashion, Gods, Hieroglyphics, Mummies, Pyramids and The River Nile.

Free Support

Two things of possible interest have been flagged up on the Planet Science website.

 

Film Challenge - The National Physical Laboratory has a film competition running which closes soon. You might have an idea to do something but need a bit of support. Contact me and I'll try to support you for no charge.

Microscopes for Schools - M4S have free resources available on their website. If you have a microscope and would like some free support or would like to borrow and use microscopes with, again, free support, please contact me.

Traditional Tales and Folk Song

It's my birthday so please can I have an incoherent rant?

 I hope that, if you've visited my blog before, you've picked up that I love music and illustrated children's books. Today I received a CD by Anda Union from Mongolia called "The Wind Horse". If you've never heard Mongolian music before you might find it hard going but I've lived with it for a number of years and absolutely love it .... and what it stands for ..... a celebration of a culture that's evolved over hundreds of years. Last week I picked up a copy of "uprooting" by Warsaw Village Band. It is in a similar vein.





Last Friday night, my wife and I went to see Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick at Middlesbrough Town Hall. It was in a similar vein. Martin seemed to want to involve us in the evolution of the material, its sources and influences.




There are hundreds of illustrated versions of the traditional tales of Europe (Hans Christian Andersen, Brothers Grimm, Perrault, Lang) but how much of the heritage of the British isles is taught in our schools? I've never been a primary teacher so really don't know.

Now this is where I become difficult to follow. I'm not nationalistic. I don't consider myself English, British, European or any other such group. I did use to tell all and sundry that at heart I was an African!

Some of the most moving stories in our heritage appear in song and are rarely used with children. Admittedly, the tales of murder and incest would not go down too well in primary schools but, come on, let's celebrate our heritage properly. There are hundreds of songs, so why not use some of them. I know I'm wanting to get more music into schools but there is also the bardic story-telling tradition. There are some amazing story-tellers out there. I've only come across a few because I've spent most of my life immersed in Science but I'll mention two, Robin Williamson and Hugh Lupton. 
What other aspects of our heritage could we highlight? A different sort of Christmas? A re-assessment of the rites of spring?

My scientific background makes me want to come to a conclusion but there isn't one, there's just the suggestion that maybe we need to look more closely at our priorities for a future that is both incredibly exciting and also increasingly frightening.

If you got here, well done.  

Ogden Nash & Natalie Merchant

I discovered Ogden Nash in my teens by coming across:-

"Candy is dandy

but liquor is quicker"

I collected several of his books of poetry (usually rather battered) and the "best of". Witty, clever and fun.

Today I managed to get a copy of one of his poems. It had been illustrated and produced for children, "The Adventure of Isabel" with pictures by James Marshall. 

Being a bit slow, it took me a while to realise this was the poem of the song I enjoy singing along with by Natalie Merchant. In 2010, Natalie released a double CD set of nursery rhymes under the title "Leave Your Sleep". Produced as a result of conversations with her young daughter and thoroughly researched, the project is a joy and well worth exploring. It also includes poems by Jack Prelutsky, Mervyn Peake and Charles Causley.

Natalie used to be the lead singer with a band called 10,000 Maniacs. They produced some memorable music, most importantly for me the album Blind Man's Zoo. The tracks "Hateful Hate" (about the history and exploitation of Africa), "Jubilee" (one man's take on the races mixing) and "Poison in the Well" (us and the environment) would appear on my Desert Island Discs compilation.

Another poem that I first encountered as a sung version is " I come and stand at every door" by Nazim Hikmet. The song version appeared on a Pete Seeger LP back in the 1960's. It was used then in an anti-war context and is about Hiroshima and all the lost children.

"I come and stand at every door

But none can hear my silent tread...."

iPad Collage apps

I've downloaded so many apps over the past couple of months with the intention of reviewing them and deciding which are most appropriate for me and children. I've not got round to doing proper reviews but here are emailed exports from a number of the "collage" apps.

I haven't paid for any of these, taking advantage of them being free (permanently or for a limited period). They have slightly different features which you'll need to explore but they're all easy to use. The emailed exports are also usually of good quality.
     

Pic Collage
Bubble Frame
Polyframe

FastCollage
Diptic
Photoframe
TurboCollage
Collage

I'll also include here:-
    Comic Strip
           
This list is not exhaustive, does not cover apps I couldn't get for 
free and which might only be 
available for the iPod.


The only one I've not included as a screenshot is PicPlayPost. This I like because you can import video as part of the collage of images.

















Finally, these apps are ideal for recording a field trip or event "on the fly" and personalising it.

Autumn - damp possibilities

I like the cold mornings and mild days we're having at the moment. Wish it would last. It's a time for getting out and popping Himalayan balsam pods. 

Never done it? Have a go. It's good for the child in us all.

Watch the video :    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw_ySsU-u8w

This is of course a lead into using autumn as a time to explore seed dispersal in plants.

WIND

Helicopters of sycamore, ash and maple. 
Spiralling lime seeds.
Poppy "salt cellars" 

ANIMALS
Blackberries, rose hips, sloes
Goosegrass, burdock

SELF-DISERSAL (explosive)
Himalayan balsam

WATER (sorry, had to fit it in)
Coconuts

As usual, a book popped into my head when I was doing this. One of my favourite things to engage children is to talk about seeds and poo. Not only are the seeds spread, they also get a dollop of fertiliser into the bargain. The book is Poo by Davies & Layton. It's fun, informative and well illustrated, like their other books. Take some of the claims with a pinch of salt, it's the nature of writing such a book for children. For example, the smallest poo is not the bat, not even the midge larva poo my wife worked on at Newcastle University which required microscopy and micropipettes. What is? What do you think?

If you want to compare my blog with something quite different, then why not try my son's. It is much more thoughtful, literate and personal. It is all about music, something he and I have a shared passion (if not a share taste) for.

whatwasmusic.blogspot.com

Learning Days

It was good to get out of the house and talk to people today. The Redcar & Cleveland Learning Days look as if they are going to be interesting, engaging and good fun. I'm getting involved with Maths through Stories, the Christmas Lecture and Exploring Earth and Space.  

From the discussions, a couple of books came to mind which you might like to investigate if you don't know them.

Tuesday by David Weisner (A brilliant spooky picture book)

Is a blue whale the biggest thing there is? by Robert E. Wells 
(From a blue whale to the size of the universe, nicely done)

I also ended up talking about Shaun Tan and his award-winning animation The Lost Thing. Several of his books were highly recommended by my colleague.

Marie Curie Cancer Care is inviting children aged 3-11 to take part in its Mini Pots of Care fundraising activity. Details are available from:

 www.mariecurie.org.uk/minipotsofcare