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Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky? For example: Look up President Michael D Higgins’ “Stardust”
The night sky is surely something that connects us all, connects us to our ancestors and connects humankind in a shared appreciation for its beauty. It is no wonder there’s so much art, music and literature that has been inspired by the night sky.
In terms of art ‘cafe terrace at night’s and ‘starry night’ by Vincent Van Gogh immediately spring to mind. I find van goghs style and energy so appealing to children and always makes for a fun study in school! I love how Van goghs night sky paintings have been given a new lease of life in recent years such as the 360° view ( https://kuula.co/post/79QMS ) / 3d animations/ immersive experiences and films too.
Even the markings of newgrange or other neolithic markings around Ireland could be interpreted to be symbols of space or the skies…. Swirls and spirals are plentiful in this early artwork.
In terms of music, so many songs spring to mind , Neil Young’s ‘harvest moon’, ‘moon river’ by Audrey Hepburn, and ‘ fly me to the moon’ by Frank Sinatra. More modern songs such as ‘counting stars’ by one Republic and ‘a sky full of stars’ by coldplay would also be really fun to explore in the classroom or have playing in the background during a night sky art lesson!
Kate Bush song ‘the big sky’ is another beautiful song inspired by the skies. Space Oddity by David Bowie and rocket man by Elton John are 2 more classics to add to the playlist!
Stardust by president Higgins is a beautiful poem, one I was unaware of before this course.
‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ is another striking and well known poem that has beautiful imagery about the skies. (“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills….Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” This is a poem I learned myself in 5th class and I’ve never forgotten it. I loved it!How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversityI would begin this topic with a simple project on local nocturnal animals. Children could split into groups and choose different animals to research and study. I would encourage them to consider habitats, feeding patterns of the animals, whether they are in decline and why, the animals unique physical traits, etc. Each group could then report back to the class on their findings . They would compare any physical traits or behaviors that these creatures have in common. I would then encourage the children to take their project one step further and research how light pollution might affect these different animals. This module has some great videos and websites that I could direct the children towards, eg the ‘light pollution and wildlife’ video and the ‘bug life’ review on artificial light and animals. They might investigate bright lights at night in their local environment and see what animals are attracted to these lights. I would ask them to consider what the animals might be doing if they were not being drawn to these lights…. would they be sleeping/hunting/etc? I would encourage the groups to again present their findings on the effects of light pollution on their chosen animals and consider any similarities or differences they find across the different nocturnal animals.
We would then move on to local flora and perhaps do a field study of native species around the school. One activity that I find every class enjoys no matter the age, is throwing a hula hoop in the school pitch and then studying any plants and animals they find inside on closer inspection. This might be a nice starter project. We could extend this to identifying trees, plants and shrubs in the local environment. I would again follow this with a study of the effects of lights at night in plant species. The BBC article ‘How light pollution disrupts plants’ senses’ will be of great interest to my 5th and 6th class this coming year and will be a great resource for helping them understand how plants and animals are so interconnect and how light pollution can disrupt the cycles of both.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
I have noticed a huge difference in the quality of visibility of the night skies in my hometown over the years. The town has grown considerably, especially in the last decade. As a child I loved looking up at the stars and finding constellations, and sadly there is much less to see now. Light pollution has definitely made a huge impact on what we can see, even from the outskirts Of my town and this makes me so sad. On a recent trip to Kerry i was reminded of what I could once see, the skies in all their glory! Children growing up with reduced visibility will know no different so I think it is more important than ever to teach children about light pollution, steps they can take to reduce it and also to encourage them to look to the skies when they go to more remote areas.
Luckily, the children I teach are in a more remote rural area so they have a much clearer view at night. I think it would be interesting for them to view the skies from the nearest town if possible and compare. It might help them be aware of the importance of conserve the clearer views they have at night.
The ‘what is light pollution’ video will be a good resource to have for beginning this topic with children.
I think it will also be important to explore the effects of these lights on the natural world and nocturnal animals in particular. Children in our school are growing up surrounded by nature and I find they have a great love for the animals and habitats around them. I’m sure they will be very interested to explore how light pollution can be reduced in order to help these animals and protect their habitats. Simple steps like shielding lights, using warmer artificial light and reducing light usage at nighttime are all great ways to do this and are easily done.
I hope to construct a sundial in my school grounds in the coming year. I will be teaching 5th and 6th and I’m sure they will enjoy helping decide where to place it. I will encourage them to think about placement and consider other shadows, windy /sheltered spots & materials that will withstand the weather. We are lucky to have plenty of space around our school and a very large yard so I don’t think finding a suitable spot will be anyway difficult. It would be nice to involve the younger classes too and perhaps the older children can demonstrate how to use it at break times if we were to construct it on the yard. It would be interesting for the children to observe it each break time over several weeks and compare the placing of the shadow each day. My 5th 6th could of course check it at different times if the day and mark with stones where the shadow lies. We have plenty of pots and bamboo sticks so I might begin by getting them to construct a temporary one like the one in the video. Then I would encourage them to think about best materials for a more long term sundial. They could paint on stones and mark out the shadows each hour.
This is such a lovely fun activity and I feel it will naturally integrate history as we explore the importance of the sun in keeping track of time in the past (ancient civilisations, newgrange etc), geography (shadows), art (using shadows in paintings) and maths (recording, measuring etc).
What I also like is that the children will be using the school environment to it’s full potential, getting outside, getting actively involved in a hands on activity and working together to explore an interesting and engaging topic.
I plan to study the moon with my 6th class in September as there are 2 very exciting things happening with the moon that month. The full supermoon on September 17th will be a great novelty especially if we are already learning about the moon and I can imagine the children will be excited to observe this as part of their homework! Also, on the night of 17 September into the 18th, the moon will pass into the earth’s shadow for a partial lunar eclipse. This will be very exciting to explore also. I will introduce the topic early in the month using the paxi and our moon phases video as I feel this explains the moons movements in the sky and the phases of the moon very well. I will get the children to use the moon observation log sheet. The 3rd phase towards the end of the month (the 24th) will provide good opportunities to observe the moon in the skies in the mornings and we will continue into October and it will be still visible in the mornings then. I feel this topic will lead very well into integration for this time of year(Halloween) ie moon silhouette paintings for Halloween, investigating light and shadows, so it’s a great time to study the moon!