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Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Thinking about this I could immediately name many poems I’ve read over the years referencing the night Sky, the stars or the moon;
John Keats – ‘Bright Star, Would I as Steadfast as thou Art’
Emily Dickensen – ‘AH, Moon and Star’
Sylvia Plath, ‘Stars over Dordogne’
Even when the moon and stars are not the topic of poems they are often used in metaphors or to set scenes, such as in Kavanaghs ‘In Memory of my Mother’, where he talks about the ‘ricks against the moonlight’, or in the famous Wordsworth poem ‘Daffodils’, he compares them to stars – ‘Continuous as the stars that shine, and twinkle on the Milky Way’.
In music I could also immediately name many songs, from across many genres and times, that feature the night sky.
From more modern songs such as Coldplay’s ‘Sky full of Stars’, and ‘Yellow’, (‘Look at the stars, look how they shine for you,’), Or One Republic’s ‘Counting Stars’. To others across the last 50 or so years –
Lee Ann Rimes – ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’
Thin Lizzy – ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’
Frank Sinatra – ‘Fly Me to the Moon’
And even back as far as Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, the night Sky has been a popular feature of many songs. When I asked my husband the same question he immediately thought of ‘Twinkle Twinkle,’ one I hadn’t even considered, but a popular one in my house with small children!
However, when I thought about Art featuring the night Sky, I found it much more difficult to think of examples beyond ‘Starry Night’ which was surprising. A small bit of internet research soon showed me that there was plenty to be found, Van Gogh had many other paintings of or featuring the night sky – ‘Road with Cypress and Star’, ‘Café terrace at Night’, and Starry Night over the Rhone’, were a few, along with
Winslow Homer – ‘Moonlight’
JMW Turner – ‘Fishermen at Sea’
James McNeill Whistler – ‘Nocturn, Blue and Gold’
All paintings made striking and effective with their depictions of the night sky.
I was also not surprised to see, with a quick search on Etsy, there are over 1000 paintings available to buy of the moon, stars or sky at night, proving that it is not a subject of the past, but one still heavily influencing artists today.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Thinking about this I could immediately name many poems I’ve read over the years referencing the night Sky, the stars or the moon;
John Keats – ‘Bright Star, Would I as Steadfast as thou Art’
Emily Dickensen – ‘AH, Moon and Star’
Sylvia Plath, ‘Stars over Dordogne’
Even when the moon and stars are not the topic of poems they are often used in metaphors or to set scenes, such as in Kavanaghs ‘In Memory of my Mother’, where he talks about the ‘ricks against the moonlight’, or in the famous Wordsworth poem ‘Daffodils’, he compares them to stars – ‘Continuous as the stars that shine, and twinkle on the Milky Way’.
In music I could also immediately name many songs, from across many genres and times, that feature the night sky.
From more modern songs such as Coldplay’s ‘Sky full of Stars’, and ‘Yellow’, (‘Look at the stars, look how they shine for you,’), Or One Republic’s ‘Counting Stars’. To others across the last 50 or so years –
Lee Ann Rimes – ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’
Thin Lizzy – ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’
Frank Sinatra – ‘Fly Me to the Moon’
And even back as far as Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, the night Sky has been a popular feature of many songs. When I asked my husband the same question he immediately thought of ‘Twinkle Twinkle,’ one I hadn’t even considered, but a popular one in my house with small children!
However, when I thought about Art featuring the night Sky, I found it much more difficult to think of examples beyond ‘Starry Night’ which was surprising. A small bit of internet research soon showed me that there was plenty to be found, Van Gogh had many other paintings of or featuring the night sky – ‘Road with Cypress and Star’, ‘Café terrace at Night’, and Starry Night over the Rhone’, were a few, along with
Winslow Homer – ‘Moonlight’
JMW Turner – ‘Fishermen at Sea’
James McNeill Whistler – ‘Nocture, Blue and Gold’
All paintings made striking and effective with their depictions of the night sky.
I was also not surprised to see, with a quick search on Etsy, there are over 1000 paintings available to buy of the moon, stars or sky at night, proving that it is not a subject of the past, but one still heavily influencing artists today.
How would you engage your learners to explore biodiversity in the local area?
Having explored the topic of biodiversity, what it is and why it is important, with nature walks in our local park, I would use some of the activities from the Laois County Council booklet – ‘Gardening for Biodiversity’, as they are all very simple and achievable, yet effective. I think actively engaging in encouraging biodiversity, especially with the aid of a book produced locally to the school, would really engage young learners. I especially liked the suggestions –planting pollinators, wildflower patch, plant native trees – grow willow from cuttings, and Bird feeders, as they are all ideas that could be easily implemented around the green areas of our school.
To then look at the possible impacts of light pollution of biodiversity, I would introduce the topic of nocturnal vs diurnal animals, using the Esero lesson 30 plan and resources. I would then encourage the children to engage in the ‘exploring’ section – leaving on a light at a window and observing what insects are attracted to it, or taking a walk after dark to observe if any bats/insects are attracted to streetlights they see, and take note of what type of lights they are, and what colour.
Based on any findings made, we would then have a class discussion on the effects of light pollution on insects we have observed, and from there we could discuss the possible effects on nocturnal birds and animals that can be found in our locality.
How is light pollution affecting my local area?
I am very fortunate to be living in a rural part of Ireland, we have no street lights or lit up buildings in the area, and so do not suffer from much glare, light trespass or clutter. At night we can general see the stars and moon quite clearly, something my family really appreciates. However, despite being a good distance from the nearest town or built up area, we do experience sky glow in certain areas, and it does intrude on the views of the sky – something that is increasing over the years as nearby areas become more built up and creep closer to where we live.
In contrast, I teach in a large town, where most of my learners experiences are very different – I’m sure many of them would not remember seeing a clear view of the stars from their garden or window, except perhaps during a powercut! This was really brought to my attention after the recent show of northern lights I watched from my bedroom window – but almost none of my students were as fortunate.
I think there are some great tools in this module to engage my learners to explore this – the Mayo dark skies video – Time to protect the night would be a fantastic starting point to introduce the topic of light pollution. I think the questions to prompt children to explore light pollution from their own home would drive home the relevance of the topic for them. And the design challenge – to think about light pollution in their school or home, and make a plan to reduce it – would encourage them to consider that they could have an impact on light pollution themselves.
Plan to observe the moon;
I would introduce the topic using Kwl chart, then watch the ESA Paxi video to introduce the topic in fun way. To then keep the fun and remembering a certain ad from my childhood I would pass out some jaffa cakes (or suitable alternative!) and see if we could recreate the different phases of the moon, and name them.
Using timeanddate.com I can see that the last quarter of the moon should be visible from the 24th September.
I would then Head outside with my class to make our observations – fingers crossed for a clear day! If the weather doesn’t cooperate I would use the stellarium app to show the class that night’s moon on the whiteboard.
If weather permits we would all draw and label the moon as we see outside, or if it doesn’t, do the same using the stellarium app, before playing a game where we work together to pin the correct names on pictures of the moon cut from paper, to make a nice display for our classroom.
The Stellarium app would also be a great resource to download onto our class chromebooks, as something the children could check and explore during free ICT time regularly – I have downloaded it to my phone already and am finding it so interesting!
Construct a sun dial;
I would choose a hopefully sunny week for this lesson. I would take the children to the yard and encourage them to study their shadows; explore what side they are on in relation to the sun and trace around them with chalk. I would then choose a place in our yard (we are fortunate to have lots of yard space that is unobstructed, and a second small yard space used for quieter activities) and use the stick and bucket shown in the video, and visit with the class every hour throughout the day to mark with chalk where the shadows are and the corresponding times. I think this lesson would then intergrate nicely with some construction for art, using lollipop sticks, a template for the times such as the one in the video, and some marla, where the children could create individual sundials to take home, to discuss what they have learned with their grown up.
I also love the idea of creating a more permanent sundial, using a broom handle and a piece of plywood that the children could design and decorate with paint. We have a lovely green space next to our school polytunnels that would be perfect to place it.
