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I love the link to the topic of WW2 and I find the idea of the glimmer man very interesting. I’m sure the children would too even the name “glimmer man”.
In the last decade the area where I teach has changed from being a small village to being a commuter town. Light pollution has increased dramatically by flood lights at training grounds, large street lights and numerous new estates. I would use a History lesson to trigger interest in the children. We would look at old photos of the area and examine the type of lighting we can see etc. We would then go on a walk around the area noting and mapping the different types of lighting in the area. In the classroom we would discuss the impact this lighting might have on our view of the night sky and animals in the area. We would also dicuss ways this could be reduced. There are a few nature trails in the area with many nocturnal animals. At home I would ask the children to look up when it’s dark and note what they can see on the sky. Can they see many stars if any? Our local Tidy Towns committee and GAA are very involved and connected with our school. As a project the children could write letters to the committee and GAA club to see if there is anything they could do to reduce light pollution. The children could experiment with different types of lighting to come up with suggestions for them. Earth Hour is in March every year and is not linked directly to light pollution but climate change. However during Earth Hour people are encouraged to turn off lights and electrical items. In the lead up to Earth Hour the children could prepare to look at the sky during the hour and see what they can spot. We would look at constellation mapping to help them identify any constellations if they can see them.
According to timeanddate.com the moon phase after full moon is the best time to see the moon in the morning from school. This is the third quarter which begins on the 24th of September. There will also be a super full moon on September 18th which makes for an interesting week.
As a trigger for this lesson I would show the children the Paxi video followed by a think,pair, share about what points they took from it. Following this we would do ESERO 62 to see how and why the moon looks different everyday and also to reinforce that the moon orbits the earth. I would ask the children to pinpoint which moon phase we are in now. After this I would then introduce a moon phase log. The children would complete this at home in the days leading up to September 24th when we would complete it together in school. In an older class I would asl discuss with the children how moon phases might affect different animals.
I love the use of group work for your activity and getting the groups to consult with the other groups is a great idea.
I would use the ESERO 30 day and night lesson with my senior class. We would begin by looking at pictures diurnal and nocturnal animals as the trigger. I would also integrate maths and time by looking at world clocks and am/pm with the children. We would discuss why it might be am where we are and pm in Australia. We would create a kwl chart to see whwhat they already know about day and night and some interesting questions they have about day and night. I would then use the ESERO 30 tasks and ask the children to cut out the tasks. We would look at how a child in Europe experiences daytime while a child in Australia is in night and vice versa. Following this I would use the orange activity to show how the sun gives daylight and as the orange(earth) moves the daylight moves to a different part of the earth. The entire time I am doing this I would be encouraging the children to tell me what they see or think is happening.
