5*S: Space Surveyors, Students, STEM and the Sustainable Development Goals, is a Science Foundation Ireland/Esero Ireland Funded Discover partnership between five organisations – Maynooth University, TU Dublin, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and Esri Ireland. All partners have one thing in common - they are passionate about surveying and space technology. Ireland invests €17 million a year into the European Space Agency programmes, and we want to showcase what this brings back to Ireland with the goal of stimulating engagement and curiosity in STEM. We are using the free cloud platform provided by Esri Ireland and their award-winning ArcGIS for Schools programme to bring this content to all interested schools in Ireland. Throughout the course of a typical workshop students will learn how the European Space Agency/Copernicus ‘Sentinel’ Satellites look at the world we live in as well as how they help Ireland meet our commitments towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Students will be guided through this process by experienced chartered surveyors as ‘GeoMentors’.
What is on offer for interested teachers and schools:
Your school can be visited remotely (during COVID) for a workshop talking your students through a specific element of the curriculum taught with space data. Once restrictions are lifted in-person visits can begin again, this project will run until end 2022.
The target groups is Junior Cycle years 1- 3 and Transition Year. A 5*S workshop is beneficial to a wide variety of JC subjects but at the moment is primarily focussed on elements of the Science and Geography curriculum.
A typical workshop is an hour long but can be tailored to fit the duration of your class. We have a range of content available.
There is very little required from your school, a remote workshop can be done over Teams or whatever medium your school uses. The students and teacher will get a weblink to the content and will be able to work through the presentation along with the instructor. Alternatively you can set your school up with ESRI ArcOnline software that will allow for you to create your own story maps as well integrating spatial data into your lesson plans going forward.
The teacher will be supported during setup of their school with the ESRI cloud accounts as well as information about how they can add their own students as users of the software.
The benefits of receiving a 5*S workshop is that students will gain an insight from industry professionals into the satellites that are orbiting around the earth constantly, capturing data every day all around the world. They will learn how spatial data can be used to visualise and analyse a number of different real-world issues from climate change, renewable energy to flood mapping. For teachers they will gain an insight into incorporating ArcOnline story maps into their arsenal of resources. Data is all around us but the real power of data is being able to visualise it in a clear and concise way that students will not only be able to understand but also be able to remember.
