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This lesson sounds like it could cover so many different subject areas and be a great group project.
Prepare a school project to collect Piseógs/Traditions/Stories of the Night – Inspired by the Dúchas Folklore Commission
I’ll be teaching 6th class this coming year so the Dúchas Folklore Commission would be a great resource to inspire. I would allow them to examine how almost 90 years ago schoolchildren, like them now, gathered old traditions, beliefs and stories from their friends and families. We would particularly hone in on night-time traditions, piseógs and stories – such as about stars, the moon, fairies, banshees and different lights. This resource would then provide the inspiration for the children themselves to speak to older relatives or friends to see if they have any Piseógs/ Traditions/ Stories of the Night. These would then be shared, both orally and on paper, to create a class collection to serve as a resource for children in our school for years to come. Hopefully it would create a further awareness among children of their night sky as a part of both nature and culture and not to take it for granted.
How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans
Studying the nocturnal species of Ireland would be a great starting point, as it can be a mistake to assume the children’s prior knowledge. We would focus particularly on the nocturnal species that might live near our school. A study/ recap of light pollution, as discussed in the previous forum, with a particular focus on the school environment would also be important. Following this we would examine ways to reduce light pollution, such as motion sensors or timers, and educating the whole school community about everything mentioned above. It would also be important to reach out to the wider community as each school environment is not an island, but a small part of a town or village. Actions carried out in the school should also be carried out by the surrounding community to protect the needs of nocturnal animals.
I love the simple idea of the posters to spread awareness around the rest of the school and community.
Create an observing plan for autumn that shows which planets are visible in the evening sky.
This is a great idea for an activity to get children interested in and give them experience of stargazing, recognising planets and stars and the skill of recording observations.
We would focus on a few important planets that are visible on autumn evenings. Based on data, Saturn, Venus and Uranus would be the main ones in our part of the world.
I think splitting the class up into small groups and getting each group to track a particular planet would be the most effective way of focusing the children and narrowing their task. This would involve finding out where the planet is weekly, marking this location on a chart, determining when and where to search for their planet and making their own independent observations.
In a whole class setting then each group would provide feedback to their classmates, allowing for further discussion and exploration.Construct a sundial in your immediate area or plan for your school grounds to see where a sundial could be placed:
This sounds like a great idea for a lesson. It could easily allow for integration of many different subject areas. I would explore the history of sundials and the different ancient civilizations involved in such. There is an art lesson I have taught many times before of an Aztec sundial using warm and cool colours. The science topic of light is another important area to be explored. Various investigations using torches and shadows could be carried out before starting on the actual sundial activity itself. Once the children are sufficiently aware of the workings of a sundial we would start the construction. Maths is an important element here in drawing a circle with a centre point. Geography and Science (Magnetism) is also involved as a compass could be used to find North and South. The children would then love the novelty and responsibility of making shadow lines and recording the time during the days and weeks following.