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Hi Aisling
I like the way you have suggested using Van Gough pieces as an art lesson to work on the Night sky. I think this is a great way to link in the topic. Also the use of local artists is a great idea as well in linking the local community.
Describe how you could implement a version of “Design Your own Dark Sky place” in your school/classroom?
Introduction stimulus looking at artist work Vincent Van Gough’s “Starry Night”. Pose questions to the children , what do you see, what is the artist trying to demonstrate, What do the colours suggest? Would our sky look like this? Look back on previous lessons on the importance of dark skies for nocturnal life. Link back to previous lessons on the investigation of areas around the school where outdoor lighting is present and consider options if light can be reduced. Children will then be asked to work in groups and design their own Dark Sky place for the school grounds. Children can present their project as a 3D model on where outdoor lighting is used and demonstrate in model where this can be reduced. Each group will be given the opportunity to explain their model and how it supports biodiversity. This fosters collaboration and environmental responsibility for children.It also promotes childrens appreciation of the importance of protecting the dark skies for all stakeholders.
Hi Irene,
I love the idea of planting and maintaning hedgegrow to protect nocturnal wildlife. Children would love this hands on acitvity and I like the way you have linked in use of surverys and nature walks to record information. Would defentely look at doing this in my own school in the upcoming academic year.
I would incorporate the needs of nocturnal animals such as bats,foxes, owls etx into a school biodiversity plan by helping learners understand that biodiversity is not only about what we see during the day, but also about the many animals that depend on the dark in order to surrive.. This topic provides an excellent opportunity to connect science learning with environmental responsibility and everyday actions. I would begin by asking children to investigate which nocturnal species live in the local area, such as bats, moths, hedgehogs, owls, and other nighttime animals. Learners could explore how artificial light affects these animals by affecting feeding, navigation, breeding, and predators. Activities such as creating projects such as species fact files and creating maps of outdoor locations would be a good way to teach this topic. Children could also carry out an audit on lighting in the area and create ideas on how the lights can be reduced. This links in well with the biodiversity plan. This would promtote children’s scientific skills and also allow them to think more critcally and becomre more enviormentally aware.
I like your idea of the KWL chart it is a great way to elicit from children what they know before the topic begins and to check if our objectives have been met when finished with the topic. As the teacher I am always suprised when I do a KWL how much some children already know on a topic.
Light Pollution is becoming an increading problem in todays society so it would be a great topic for children to learn more about.
Class Discussion first on light pollution, KWL chart on what children know and what they would like to learn.First explain the term pollution is it good/bad etc and see can children figure out the meaning. Follow on from the lessons on the moon, this would be a nice way to move onto the topic of light pollution. Pose questions such as,What is light pollution?, Why do we need outdoor lighting?, When does lighting become a problem?
Night Sky Observation – Ask children for homework to observe the sky at night and
Record how many stars they can see. Children come back to school and Compare observations from different locations. Extension could look at google maps over time and see the difference in the sky throughout the years. Look at the development of towns in terms of town lightening, building of more houses etc.
Light Mapping – children will create maps showing sources of artificial light in their neighbourhood. Identify areas with good and poor lighting design.This is a great idea to construct own sundial in the child’s own envrioment. I like the way you have included lots of inquiry based learning and collaboration. Also great to see children learn in their immediate enviorment.
I would creaete a lesson on the Moon in which children will engage in projects. Children will become moon dectectives and investigate how the moon changes over time. I would use the Stellarium to show children the postion of the moon and explore its different phases.
To investigage and engage the children the would look in the morning and see the moon if it is visible and ask questions to the children (Can you see the moon after sunrise, different weather). In class we would compare our observations and record what we have seen ovee a period of time and sketch a drawing. We would then compare what we seen to the simulation in Stellarium.
An extension could be children creating a moon journal for several weeks, children could complete this as part of homework.I really like Niall’s idea on having the children work in groups in order to create facts on the different plantets. Children are provided an opportunity to show off their different talents such as art, english, social skills. It provides children an opportunity to learn from each other.
I really like Niall’s idea on having the children work in groups in order to create facts on the different plants. This is a great way of having all work together collaboratively and creating an excellent class display and children have the opportunity to show of their strengths in their groups.
Children could usea globe, a lamp to represent the Sun, and the ESA resource, students would investigate how sunlight reaches different parts of the Earth throughout the year. Working in small groups, they would rotate the globe while keeping its axis tilted, observing how the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive different amounts of sunlight during different parts of Earth’s orbit. Students would record their observations in diagrams and explain how changes in daylight hours and the angle of sunlight influence seasonal temperatures.