Bringing Ireland’s Deep Atlantic into the classroom
The Marine Institute welcomes the addition of new online classroom resources for Junior Cycle students, which will feature the documentary series, Ireland's Deep Atlantic.
Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT), Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) recently launched a new selection of online classroom resources for the Junior Cycle classroom. Ireland's Deep Atlantic is one of three Irish-produced and publicly-funded television programmes used to create the online resources.
Ireland's Deep Atlantic, produced by Sea Fever Productions, sees filmmaker Ken O'Sullivan embark on a series of voyages in the North Atlantic in search of blue whales, sharks and deep-water coral reefs. Ken O'Sullivan filmed part of the series on board the Marine Institute's marine research vessel the RV Celtic Explorer and documented coral reefs at a depth of 3,000 metres using the Marine Institute's ROV Holland 1.
The new online classroom resources for Business Studies students will utilise the series, including video clips of the RV Celtic Explorer and scientists, to learn about consumer behaviour and sustainable development, and the impact of economic growth on society and the environment.
Geography students will learn about the 'Real Map of Ireland' and the importance of Ireland's ocean territory. The students will also learn about the exploitation of water, fish stocks, forestry, and soil and the relationships between the physical world, tourism and transport.
Ken O'Sullivan of Sea Fever Productions said, "This project took five years to realise with huge co-operative work from a number of organisations and groups, but it's just wonderful now to realise that every teenager in Ireland will see our beautiful, fertile oceans and learn not just about the rich life within them, but the impact of human behaviour on our oceans with things like consumer spending habits, marine plastics and also the value of eco-tourism to coastal communities. Ireland's Deep Atlantic is the first documentary to be used in this way and the platform has now been built for RTÉ to host many more publicly funded documentaries in this way for the secondary school education curriculum."
Patricia Orme, Director of Corporate Services at the Marine Institute said, "These online resources enable Ireland's Deep Atlantic to be utilised as a learning tool in Junior Cycle classrooms across the country. Students will learn from engaging video content that showcases marine life in Irish waters and the work of Irish scientists. Bringing Ireland's Deep Atlantic into the classroom increases awareness about Ireland's valuable marine resource, encouraging students to become ocean leaders and marine champions."
The production of Ireland's Deep Atlantic was supported by the Marine Institute, BAI and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Teachers and students can access the educational material and the programme clips referenced from the RTÉ Learn website at https://www.rte.ie/learn/junior-cycle/
ENDS