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“Design Your Own Dark Sky Place” in the classroom can be an exciting and educational project. I would Start by introducing students to the concept of Dark Sky Places, areas committed to reducing light pollution to preserve natural nightscapes. Again i would focus on Ballycroy national park and show the kids images of the night sky.
I would get the children to Brainstorm different songs or poems they could think of that might influence a piece of art on the night sky. I would show them the van gough painting and play a clip from the song starry starry night by Don Mclean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxHnRfhDmrk
I would then get the children to paint their own painting influenced by dark skies. This could be influenced by starry starry night or a piece of art or music of their choosing . I would set up a display of our dark skies with the titles of songs or quotes of songs or literature that influenced their paintings.
Love the idea of using posters drawings or digital means to illustrate dark skies. i think the kids would really enjoy this.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.
I think watching some of the se videos would be very interesting for kids to see the abundance of nocturnal insects and some nocturnal wildlife in their local area. Looking at moth as pollinators children could investigate their importance for pollenation as well as food for bats and other predators. I think the idea of an artificial light trap shown in one of the videos in this section or simply using a night light and webcam could show the amount of insects that are attracted to artificial light. Children could set up a webcam to capture footage of insects attracted by artificial blue light pollution. The impact of light pollution could have ripple effects on feeding patterns pollenation etc. I also think it would be an great little project to set a wild flower garden with native Irish species.
I think children would really enjoy using a webcam to try catch a glimpse of nocturnal animals. The impact of artificial light on moths and other insects could also be documented by video and they could watch how insects are attracted to light and how this could have a knock on effect further up the food chain for bats or barn owls feeding.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
I live in an urban area that definitely is impacted by light pollution. I found it interesting that as you become accustomed to street lights in urban areas you forget how much they are actually blocking your view of the night sky. I think for kids to become aware of how much light pollution blocks out the night sky they would need to do a survey of what light is used in public spaces in their local area and how munch modern blue lighting is used. I am lucky enough to live not too far from Ballycroy national park which is fantastic for dark skies. A friend of mine has some great photos of the night sky in Ballycroy on a clear night. I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast the images he has taken to pictures taken in an urban area. This would give children a very clear indication of the stark impact light pollution is having on what they can see.
Really like the idea of projecting up a constellation in the class and then seeing how different levels of artificial light impacts this and how light pollution can affect how they view the night sky.
I never would have considered the idea of observing the moon with the kids in the mornings. Its a really nice idea and will give them a clear understanding o night and day and how their surroundings are in a constant state of transition. I think using a moon observing log for kids would be a very interesting way for kids to see the changes and log their findings. From consulting a guide for visibility of the moon the first quarter could be observed in September 2024 and the full moon in December. This would give the children a real visible and concrete change through the phases through the first term of school. They could map the changes on their observation log and create models of the different phases. which will reinforce the different phases and give concrete materials to present their findings to the class. It would also make a nice display in the classroom.
Great idea to do two different phases the first quarter and full moon so kids can get a clear indication as to how the moon actually changes visibly and become more aware of it through their observations.
I think a lesson on observing the seasons could be very interesting to see how aware kids are of the changing seasons around them. I often think their concept of time and dates can be very abstract and noting physical change each year could be an interesting class discussion.
They could do a survey on the class to see how they think duration of daytime varies over the seasons. They could also ask peoples opinions on the variation in times of sunrise ands sunset.
Aspect of sunrise and sunset is another concept I think many students wouldn’t pay much heed to so could also be an interesting survey and discussion.
A sundial or just even noting the different position of the sun through out the day would also be an interesting class discussion and how you could tell what time of day it is without using a clock or watch.