Teachers' Resources

Fish are vertebrates. That means they have a backbone. But unlike mammals, fish don’t have lungs. They breathe by taking oxygen from the water in through their mouths, where it passes over the gills. The gills then absorb oxygen from the water and send the oxygen throughout the body. Some fish are carnivores. They eat other fish and small animals and insects. Other fish are omnivores, eating both plants and animals.

Things To do
1.    Download the activity sheet Veggie Delight Worksheet below and ask the children to name the vegetables and everyday foods that are made from the products.
2.    Download the Maps of Ireland handout below and ask the children which county the vegetables come from.
3.    Look at a map of the world and ask the children which country their favourite fruit comes from.

Things To do
1.    Tell the time?
You will need:

• A bowl, a straight stick, some small pebbles, rocks, watch or clock

Directions:

• Find a sunny spot in the grass and put the stick in the ground (make sure it is straight).
• Throughout the day, place a rock for each hour indicating where the shadow falls at that time.
• Now your sundial is ready to use. When you want to tell the time, just look for the shadow

2.    Download and printout the Sundial Worksheet below on card and make a sun dial.
You will need:

• Cardboard, scissors and sellotape.

Directions:

• Cut out the dial plate and the gnomon.
• Cut a slit in the dial plate along the dotted line.
• Score alone the dotted lies on the gnomon. Fold along these lines. Slide the folded gnomon into the slit in the dial plate and stick the gnomon flaps to the bottom of the dial plate with sellotape.
• Take the sundial to a sunny place and place it in a north-south direction.
• The gnomon should cast a shadow and you will be able to tell the time (Don’t forget to calculate in daylight savings time where appropriate).

From the time when swallows start gathering on telephone lines to make the journey to Africa, right through to the first one arriving back on our shores and signalling the beginning of summer, there is still so much to see and enjoy. Can you remember, or imagine, getting your first diary as a child, and keeping it for a year

Shane Casey, Biodiversity Officer, Clare County Council gives us a little glimpse of what adventures might be encountered each month in the PDF below!

The river Nore (An Fheoir) rises in the Devil’s Bit Mountain in Co. Tipperary. It then flows through County Laois and enters County Kilkenny at the townland of Ballynaslee. It flows through Co. Kilkenny, before flowing into the River Barrow a few kilometres north of New Ross. 

It is known as one of the Three Sisters Rivers (Barrow, Nore, Suir). The River Nore is 140km in length and drains an area of approximately 861 hectares. It has a very steep gradient, but this is lessened by the many weirs built along its length.

This project is kindly supported by the Kilkenny Education Centre and the Heritage Council.

Skills and concepts development
Children should be able to:
1.    Time and Chronology:

• Describe events as before/after/ later/earlier
• Use a simple timeline

2.    Change and continuity:

• Identify features that have remained the same, for example the houses and the bridges near the river
• Identify how the River Nore has changed

3.    Cause and effect:

• Examine the reasons for the flood and the effect it had on Kilkenny City

4.    Using evidence:

• Photographs of the river today
• Photographs of the flood
• Edited version of articles in the Kilkenny People

5.    Synthesis and Communication:

• Communicate an awareness of the story of the flood and stories associated with it, in a variety of different ways such as drama and art.

5.    Empathy:

• Imagine and discuss what it was like to be rescued in a boat on the evening of the flood.
• Imagine and discuss what it was like to have your home destroyed by floodwater.

Methodologies

• Among the methods which may be used are:
• A story lesson based on the accounts from the Kilkenny People
• Examining a photograph taken of the flood
• Listening to personal memories of the flood (oral evidence)
• Integration with other subjects: the river (Geography)

Assessment

• Teacher observation
• Outcomes of pupil-pupil and teacher-pupil discussion
• Teacher-designed tasks
• Work cards designed to help children examine the evidence

Alfred's Big Adventure is all about the antics of an ant, which takes place in the great expanse of a back garden! It's a great way of engaging younger pupils with what's going on just outside their backdoor. 

The Secret Diary is aimed at slightly older children and contains some funny and engaging commentaries on the changing seasons, a really lovely way to engage children with the changes taking place in nature throughout the year. 

The Agony 'Ant' is great fun and highly entertaining. Children should get a real kick out of the disgruntled inhabitants of the natural world, including a very upset tree who wants advice on how to rid himself of the nesting 'squatters' on his branches!

Skellig Michael is also an internationally renowned site for breeding seabirds with its steep rock slopes and cliffs providing nesting places for a variety of seabirds. It is this combination of cultural and natural history which imbues the island with a strong sense of beauty and spirituality. When inscribing the site on the World Heritage List in 1996 UNESCO described Skellig Michael as a unique example of early religious settlement which illustrates, as no other site can, the extremes of Christian monasticism.

Things To do
1.    Explain the difference between fresh water and sea water. And try some of these experiments.
How do we know that there is salt in the sea water?
You will need:

• bowl
• 480 ml ocean or sea water (You can make your own by mixing 10 ml of salt with 480ml of water)

Directions:

• Pour the water into a pan.
• Place the pan in a warm, dry place.
• Allow water to evaporate—this usually takes a few days.
• Make observations.

2.    Is it easier to float in the ocean or in fresh water?

You will need:

• 1 uncooked egg
• 1 jar filled with fresh water
• 1 jar filled with sea water

Directions:

• Put the egg in the jar of fresh water.
• Observe what happens.
• Put the egg in the jar of ocean

However, more importantly, these top predators command a special interest and respect, particularly with children. Clare, Galway and Tipperary County Councils have collaborated with BirdWatch Ireland and with support from the Heritage Council, have developed workbooks for primary schools focused on the amazing birds of prey in Ireland, from the smallest - which is a falcon called the Merlin, to the largest - which is the enormous White-tailed Eagle.

Through animations, ecological information, fun facts and games, the different raptor species are used to introduce and explore topics such as ecosystems, food chains, conservation threats, and the importance of a healthy environment.

Watch this video piece on Hen Harriers produced by Birdwatch Ireland which was filmed in the Slieve Aughty Mountains, Co. Galway.