Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
The idea of using Google Drawing to digitally design the dark sky sounds great and I think it is a really engaging way to use technology for older Primary pupils.
Songs/Poems/Stories/Art that connect us to the Night Sky.
I decided to focus on traditional folk tales from around the world. As with all folk tales there are many different versions. I tried to vary the location of these folk tales to engage pupils and to show diversity for pupils who families may not originate in Ireland. Below is a list of some folk tales I thought were beneficial and engaging, along with associated learning.
Folk Tale – The Wild Hunt
Culture – Celtic
Night theme – A ghostly procession said to ride across the night sky.
Classroom link and potential learning – How dark skies benefit nocturnal animals.
Folk Tale – The Púca
Culture – Irish
Night there – A mysterious shape-shifting creature that appears after dark.
Classroom link and potential learning – Irish habitats at dusk
Folk Tale – Anansi and the Stars
Culture – West African
Night there – Stories linking Anansi with the stars and the night sky.
Classroom link and potential learning – Navigation using the stars
Folk Tale – The Rabbit in the Moon
Culture – Japanese (although there are many different versions)
Night theme – Explains the markings on the Moon through the tale of a rabbit.
Classroom link and potential learning – Moon phases and how moonlight affects animal behaviour. Sketches of the moon and the maria (ancient lava plains)
Folk Tale – Coyote Places the Stars
Culture – Native American
Night theme – Explains the creation and patterns of the stars.
Classroom Link and potential learning – Investigation of constellations and their patterns.
Folk Tale – Maui Slows the Sun
Culture – Polynesian
Night theme – Explains the length of daylight and the cycle of day and night.
Classroom Link and potential learning – Day and night: How Earth’s rotation creates the daily cycle of sunlight and darkness. Light pollution: Why natural patterns of light and darkness are important for wildlife.
This is a very well thought out series of lessons and making it more “hands on” should definitely increase pupil engagement.
How would you engage learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on biodiversity?
I would begin by splitting the class into 2 working groups that would search around the local area/school grounds. Group 1 would engage in a Mini-beast hunt – finding as many different creatures as they could. Group 2 would work on a similar activity but with trees and plants. In these activities they would also investigate, and note, the different habitats/environments where they were found.
I would introduce a few interdisciplinary areas; e.g., using the amount of different trees to create graphs or discussing lifecycles and food chains/webs. This would naturally lead to a discussion on why there are differences in the numbers; e.g., are some of the animals/plants endangered?
With regards to the potential impacts of light pollution on biodiversity I would begin by investigating nocturnal animals by talking a walk at dusk or early evening and recording what was seen or heard. This would be hard to achieve during school hours but it could be a homework task. During this task it would be important to take into account any lighting – like street lights. I would then take the topic further with the question of how light pollution impacts insects. I think many would initially go with owls or bats but I think diversifying the question to insects would generate different discussions and would allow the pupils to “think bigger by looking smaller” – i.e, what a declining insect population would have on a wider ecological landscape. It would be challenging to physically create investigations for this in the classroom so a research project would be a suitable option. Key questions could include; what insects are attracted to artificial lights, why is this a problem, what does a declining insect population mean for the animals that eat them.
A similar approach could be taken with regard to plants and vegetation if this was something the class was more connected with.
I like the idea of involving families and spending the time outside. It is probably a key way to develop a deeper understanding of the topic.
Globe at Night as a teaching resource
I would not begin the lesson sequence by immediately introducing Globe at Night. I would begin broader in the general themes or pollution, environment, etc. Initially through a class discussion or in pairs/groups in a mind map. I’d allow the pupils to feedback and create a larger list or table of their responses. I don’t imagine light pollution would be high up in their thoughts but I imagine it would come up. If not, some strategic questioning would be used.
Then I’d explain that we were going to take light pollution and explore it further. With an older class that were capable of using ICT independently I would give them a short amount of time to find a definition of light pollution and some examples of what it impacts, e.g. nocturnal animals (ecosystems), energy use (environmental), human health (circadian rhythms).
We would look at the Globe at Night resource following this.
I would take these responses, along with some other topics, and set a collaborative task using the impacts of light pollution discovered – Create a presentation to explain to the class what you have discovered and what, if anything, can be done to “solve the problem”.
A further option would be to allow the pupils to record with a supervising adult as a homework task.
The idea of creating a moon journal is a really nice one. It would give the pupils something to look forward to each day and it wouldn’t be a big strain on time.
An idea I could use in the classroom would be to use Stellarium to discover and identify some of the commonly known constellations that can be viewed in Ireland, e.g. The Big Dipper, Orion, and to locate/have an understanding of the North Star.
We’d continue by looking at the mythology and why they are named as such could involve some independent research, or team research tasks that could end with a short presentation to the class – increasing those associated skills.
The lessons could progress into a more creative path with the pupils being given a differentiated printout of the night sky and challenging to locate the constellations discussed – with or without the use of Stellarium as a guide.
They could then choose their favourite one and create an art piece of it using a wide range of resources, e.g. chalks, pastels collage.
As an extension, or homework task, the pupils could try to find these constellations for real. For this reason I would probably look to begin these lessons in late Autumn or during Winter.
Q3
I would use the pupils in the class to create a “human” sundial.
Possible Learning Intentions:
Observe how shadows change during the day.
Introduce/use compass directions.Potential Lesson
Draw a large circle in the playground and mark out the N, S, E and W compass points. Mark the middle with a circle or other 2D shape.
At different points in the school day, e.g., before break, lunch and home, a pupil stands in the middle and their shadow is outlined onto the ground.
The pupils could compare the direction of the shadow with the time of day on a worksheet or table completed in their book. They could then make predictions for other times in the day based on what patterns they have noticed.
This is a draft outline for a lesson, or a few lessons. There would be things to be altered depending on the resources and size of the school. It could be differentiated to include hour lines on the circle instead of compass points. This differentiation could introduce angles and further mathematical concepts.