This is a Key Action 2 Project involving schools from Ireland, Portugal, Greece Germany and Slovenia. The overall aim of the project is to raise the levels of attainment in the STEM subjects in all of the students of the participating schools. We will also strive to provide all children within the age range of 4 – 12 with access to innovative teaching methodologies in the STEM subjects. Differentiation will be an integral part of the project so that all children with special needs, gifted students etc will be to access and benefit from teaching and learning in the STEM area. Our project proposes to provide the staff in the participating schools will specific training so that they feel at ease with and confident in the teaching of STEM. Staff will be encouraged to and supported in using a wide range of methodologies.A weather station will be set up in each school and this will be used as a medium to teach lessons in the subjects of STEM. A manual for these lessons will be produced and this will be used in the immediate and long term as an exemplars of good practice.Tools such as scratch, animation, excel, histry.com, sway, robotics and raspberry pi will be used by the children in the presentation of project results. Staff in the participating schools will be provided with training in the aforementioned technologies and on how to integrate them into the project. Age appropriate weather boxes with manuals will also be compiled with the children learning very useful skills in the making of basic weather instruments.The project will be disseminated to parents in the participating schools and to other local schools. Links will be forged with local teacher training colleges by providing student teachers with an opportunity to view how the project works and enabling them to use these ideas as teachers themselves. We will exhibit the project at local regional and national science fairs and make it available to a wider audience via a website.This project is rooted in the environment, very relevant to the children’s lives, cross curricular by its very nature and uses tools and technologies which are embedded in the digital era. It will undoubtedly foster a keen interest in our children in science, technology maths and engineering and make these subjects extremely relevant for these students in pursuing future careers in STEM.
• Context/background of the project; This is a Key Action 2 Project involving five schools from Ireland, Portugal, Greece Germany and Slovenia. The idea to use the weather to teach STEM subjects rose from a pilot project run by the Irish school. Having seen how effective this was we decided to find international partners to further enhance the project idea. This has been a hugely successful and innovative project with very positive spin offs for students and staff. • Objectives; The overall aim of the project was to raise the levels of attainment in the STEM subjects in all of the students of the participating schools. The project also aimed to cultivate a more positive and inclusive attitude towards STEM in staff and students. • Number and profile of participating organisations; Five schools from Ireland, Portugal ,Greece, Germany and Slovenia participated in this project. the project was aimed at children aged 4 to 12 years. In Portugal the emphasis was on the gifted students in the school • Description of undertaken main activities; Staff in the participating schools were provided with specific training in the STEM subjects Staff were encouraged and supported in the use of a wide range of effective and innovating teaching methodologies. Weather stations were set up in each of the participating schools as this formed the basis for the teaching of STEM in this project. Specific weather related STEM lesson plans were drawn up for all classes in the primary school. Age appropriate weather boxes with manuals were compiled. Children in the participating schools were up skilled to a wide range of tools - Scratch, Powerpoint, animation, excel, histry.com, sway, robotics and raspberry pi. Children and staff were given a wide range of opportunities to present aspects of their STEM work at local and national level. Links were forged with local industries, colleges of education and third level institutions. • Results and impact attained; Staff are more competent in the delivery of the STEM related subjects. Students and staff have expressed a more positive attitude towards STEM Detailed lesson plans for use in the teaching of STEM have been formulated. Strong links with local industries, community groups and third level colleges have been formulated. Some of our senior students who have moved on to second level schools have been pivotal in introducing robotics and Scratch to their new schools. • If relevant, longer-term benefits. This Key Action 2 Project has given rise to a much more positive attitude to STEM among staff and students. Already we have seem more of our students engaging with these subjects in second level and the skills they have acquired in primary school being used to enhance work done by our local secondary schools.