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I have taken a screenshot of this list as I plan to do a thematic unit with infants. This list will be very helpful for planning lessons and exploring the theme of the night sky.
I really like the idea of a project to collect piseogs. traditions and stories of the night. This would be a lovely idea to involve parents, grandparents and possibly the local day care centre which we often link in with during the year for various occasions. I would firstly explore more common piseogs traditions and stories with the children and discuss these. We would then create a list of questions that they could ask when interviewing people. We would then focus on interview skills as part of an oral language lesson and how best to record answers. The children would then decide how they want to record these. They could be audio/video, written, illustrated etc. A collection could be made and shared with the local community. The children could also present their findings themselves which again would link to oral language and work could be done on presentations and public speaking. This would be a worthwhile project as a lot of these piseogs and stories are at risk of being lost unless they are recorded.
I think the idea of introducing the concept of light pollution is great and I think the children will be very interested in this. I also think there is a lot of activities the children can engage in to explore this concept both at home and at school.
In our school we try to focus on biodiversity through the Green Schools Programme. The committee have been very instrumental in organising seasonal nature walks for younger classes to explore the plant and wildlife in the local area. There is also a class each year that engages in helping with the local community allotments. The children really enjoy this and take great pride in what the plant in the allotments. There is also a bug hotel in this area which is hugely popular and a great way to show the children the different insects that are found in the area. This year we also focused on planting wildflowers in areas of the school playground. The committee explained the importance of wildflowers and how they help with biodiversity. In the past we have also had bird boxes on the school grounds and the children enjoy seeing the different birds that come and go throughout the year.
I really like this idea as it gets the children outside and looking at their own environment and could also involve other family members at home. I think the children would also enjoy the use of ICT in this lesson.
The affects of light pollution are certainly topical in the area in which I live. We live outside a big town and the village in which we live has become quite built up over the past few years. I recently read about a report the local tidy towns had published about lighting for the local people’s park area. It mentioned that the current lighting in the park was incompatible with the biodiversity needs of the park and called for changes to be made. I was thinking that it could be an idea to link in with the local tidy towns committee and maybe involve some classes in this. The park is adjacent to the school and is often the location for nature walks with all classes. It would be a fantastic way to get the children involved in a local community initiative and possibly solve the lighting issue to ensure the park is safe for the village residents but also safe for the wildlife that live there.
I like the idea of the children having a ‘moon diary’. This idea is great for younger children and I also think it is a good activity to get them outside first thing in the morning. The idea of taking photographs is also effective as it would serve as a visual reminder for some children who may need this approach.
The lesson I chose to investigate and would implement in my class would be based around observing the moon. I think this is very topical at the moment with the recent lunar eclipse. I also think this would be a nice lesson to complete with Junior Infants. I think it would be a great start to the day to observe the moon in the sky and look at how the moon looks different depending on where it is in its orbit. The video ‘Paxi and our Moon’ was very effective in explaining the different phases of the moon and also how an eclipse occurs. This may be a little abstract for younger children but I think it would work well in older classes. In the morning the moon would be visible in its third quarter and I looked up when this would be happening next. It will be on the 4th of September 2026 and the 3rd of October 2026.
I really like the idea of incorporating Gaeilge and drama into the lesson. I think it could be a very effective thematic unit across all subjects.
I found the paper Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics intriguing as I feel it was effective in highlighting the importance of Engineering in STEM and how sometimes it can be overlooked. The paper acknowledges that Engineering is in fact the glue that holds science, maths and technology together. I thought the example of the pen was very effective in explaining this and showing how a simple everyday item lends itself to STEM. I think this would be a great way of explaining STEM in the classroom particularly to older classes.
I enjoyed reading the ESERO 30 Day and Night lesson. I thought it was very engaging and the fact it included hands on activities means that it would be an effective lesson for all learning styles. I teach Junior Infants and I feel the part of the lesson about nocturnal animals would be the most engaging for them as we do usually touch on this when learning about Autumn. I think the discussion on the different adaptations each animal has would be fantastic for children who are more curious and lends to higher order thinking. For the younger classes to make this a bit less abstract you could use a globe and a torch. Show them where Ireland is and then shine the torch on Ireland. Discuss that there is parts of the world now in darkness and then do the opposite.
I think this is a very interesting research question and one that can be tailored to any age group. I think at the moment with the hot meals being provided it has provoked us to think about the amount of food waste being produced and also to ask questions about how this concept can be made more environmentally friendly.
I think this question would be engaging and relevant to the children in my school as our village is built on the river Fergus a tributary of the River Shannon. The river is a focal point of the community with various festivals and events held on the banks of the river throughout the year. Also a large multinational company was located just beside the river for many years providing huge employment in the area. The children are familiar with it as we would often take a walk down along the quays particularly with the older classes during the summer months to observe the river features and wildlife. The river does however flood during times of extreme rain and in storms causing damage to the surrounding buildings, nature and wildlife. The children could begin by investigating the causes of flooding and collect anecdotal evidence from people in the community about historical flooding events in the village. Visuals, videos and written evidence could be explored. The children could then conduct some fieldwork providing it is safe to do so along the banks of the river. As a class we would discuss safety rules beforehand and ensure that everyone is aware of the rules before we embark. The children could look for flood marks on buildings, trees, or riverbanks that indicate past water levels. Discuss how high the water reached and what might have been affected. The children can document this by drawing, writing or taking pictures on a class iPad. Following on from this the children could draw up an action plan on what measures they think need to be taken to protect the local environment from future flooding events. The local county council could be involved as the children could send their findings in to them or ask a local councillor to visit the school and listen to the concerns of the children. We could then look at flooding in other parts of the country and the world. Comparisons could be made and the children could identify how the weather and climate change is affecting regions located beside rivers. I think it would be a great project to do with an older class and it would provide lots of scope for cross curricular integration.
I agree that this is a fantastic resource to promote oral language development as the visuals provide a lot of scope for engaging children in discussion.
Having read through and analysed the ESA resource ‘From the ground to the sky’ which is highlighted in this module I think it would be a great resource to use for teaching about space and satellites particularly in the older classes. I liked the way the visuals provided have actually been taken by astronauts on the ISS. This gives a more meaningful aspect to the lesson as the children are given a clear understanding of what can be seen from space. I think these visuals provide great scope for lots of classroom discussion. The match the photo activities are also very child friendly and can be differentiated accordingly to meet the needs of all the children in the class and I like the way they can be tailored for individual or group work activities. The sentence starters also provide great prompts for both the teachers and the students for whole class and group work activities. This is a resource I would definitely use in the future with a senior class.
