[Catherine Freeman]

Light pollution is becoming more evident in my local area, with a lot of street lighting, illuminated buildings, and residential outdoor lights reducing the visibility of the night sky. This limits the opportunities for children to observe stars and understand natural light cycles while also affecting local wildlife and biodiversity. It is important to reflect on this issue and highlight the importance of developing environmental awareness from an early age. I will be teaching second Class this year and I would encourage inquiry-based learning through a “Night Sky Investigation.” Pupils could compare observations of the sky from different areas, create simple light pollution maps, and discuss how artificial light affects animals, people, and the environment. Storybooks such as ‘There once was a night sky’ by Bob Crelin, outdoor observations, art activities, and STEM challenges, such as designing a shielded streetlight model, would promote creativity and critical thinking. Giving children engaging, cross-curricular experiences would enable children to appreciate the importance of protecting dark skies and adopting sustainable practices within their community.

[Catherine Freeman]

Plan to observe the moon. Which phase of the moon is best for observing in the morning? Which dates will that be in 2026- 2027. To start, I would ask the children to chat about what they already know about the moon and get them to make predictions about what they expect to see. I am hoping this will spark their prior knowledge and encourage them to ask questions. We would then work in pairs to observe the moon. They would record their findings on labelled drawing and simple written descriptions. The children would be encouraged to use vocabulary such as crater, surface, shadow. On our return to the classroom, the children would look at a moon phase calendar and have a chat about how the moon changes over time. WE would watch the Paxi video on this also. For morning observations from school, the last quarter moon is probably the best phase to use as it rises around midnight and stays in the sky during the morning. The 4th September, 3rd October, 9th January and 328th may appear to be good dates to conduct observations and children can compare and contrast and also observe if there are any patterns.

[Catherine Freeman]

Lyndsey,

Thanks for this great plan. I also have second class and really enjoyed reading it and feel it will be a very interesting lesson to teach. I like how child centred it is. There is a lot of integration too.

[Catherine Freeman]

Hi Elizabeth,

I really enjoyed reading your plan. I did Ancient Egypt with 3rd class a few years ago and this would have been a great extension to the unit. It is so detailed and includes so much that it will maintain the children’s interest and keep them excited about the topic.

[Catherine Freeman]

I have chosen Esero 30 Day and night in the world.
I will start with a read aloud of a book called ‘Sun Up, Sun Down: The Story of Day and Night’. I will read this to the class and stop and discuss and answer questions at different points of the story. I will then show them the Paxi day, night and seasons video and we will have further discussion.
After this I will turn off the lights. I will have a large globe, and I will point a bright torch at the globe. I will explain to the children that the globe is the Earth and the torch will act as the sun.
I will place a sticker where Ireland is and slowly spin the globe around in a circle around the torch. Show that when Ireland faces the light it is daytime and when Ireland faces away from the light it is night. Discuss with the children what they see in the sky during day or night such the sun, moon, stars.
To finish, ask the children to draw two pictures on a page split in half showing one thing that can be done in daytime like school or going to the playground. and on the other side what can be done at night like sleeping

• This reply was modified 3 months ago by Catherine Freeman.

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