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I think this would work very well, Seán. I really like the idea of a Space Week which I haven’t tried previously but would be great and could encompass a lot. There is a lot of links to different areas of the curriculum too; always a good thing!
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 has always featured strongly in songs/poems/art. As mentioned in the module, you have songs like David Bowie’s Starman, but it is featured in a variety of different types of music such as ‘Under Stars’ by Brian Eno (a connection to David Bowie) which has an ambient, contemplative sound, which puts in mind the huge night skies in places like rural America. It can help us feel almost at one with the entire universe or, perhaps in a bleaker sense, show us how insignificant we can sometimes seem among all the vastness. In contrast, you have songs like ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ by Coldplay which are both uplifting and joyous. While not a poem, the title of the Stephen King book of short stories ‘Full Dark, No Stars’ hints at how the absence of stars and the hopefulness of light can lead to literal and metaphorical darkness.
An entwining of the world of music and art can be seen in ‘The Starry Night’ one of Vincent Van Gogh’s most beautiful and famous paintings, depicting (although apparently not astronomically correct) swirls of the night sky, which was then mentioned in the Don McLean song ‘Vincent’. Edvard Munch (famous for The Scream painting) has a slightly more uneasy take on the night sky in his Starry Night painting. I was not as knowledgeable about the poetry of the night sky beyond a Walt Whitman poem which mentions ‘the chandeliers of the universe’. The sky at night has long been a source of inspiration and wonder for the arts just as much as it has for the sciences.
For the classroom setting, I would focus on simple poems and songs like ‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star’ and ‘Star Light, Star Bright’, perhaps introducing the Coldplay song and the Vincent Van Gogh painting. As my class last year loved the work of Mainie Jellett and wanted to learn more about the art world, this would be great opportunity to introduce Van Gogh to them in a cross-curricular environment.
Sounds like a fabulous school, Alison. I always find the bug hotels to be great fun, but I hadn’t considered owl boxes previously. Definitely something to consider and using recycled materials would be an opportunity to widen the discussion.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.
In the class setting, I would take the pupils out in groups on safari to explore the school grounds (ours is a country school) to look for, and try to identify, insects, plants, birds, etc, bringing along a safari pack of magnifying glass, guide book, pen and paper, insect viewers, and so on. We would record what we found and they could do drawings of their favourite or most inspirational find. They could also do this on a more ad hoc basis at home where they are more likely to see larger wild creatures. I would then introduce the topic of light pollution and give them examples of how this has an effect on local biodiversity. I would give them examples of ‘corridors of light’, for example, the lights on motorways and how species like bats avoid them. I’d also explain how moths usually navigate using the moon and how they get disoriented by artificial light, an example being how they behave around these kinds of lights – flying around in circles – which most of the pupils would have witnessed in their own homes, especially around this time of year. This is such an important topic that I would love the pupils to try to come up with their own solutions on how they could help negate the effects of light pollution in a mini Young Scientist style classroom exhibition.
Great ideas, Aoife. It would be really interesting to see the effects that all the lighting at Shannon airport would have. And I like that you have some of the pupils focused on the effect light pollution has on humans too (sleep disruption, health issues). When we talk about it we mostly consider the impact on animals and insects as well as how it makes it more difficult to see the night sky, while health issues are not mentioned as often and they should be.
1. Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
Even though my local area is rural there is still plenty of light pollution. People that have floodlights or sensor lights (which can be activated by nocturnal animals) can cause glare or light trespass (someone else’s light coming into your house) for their neighbours, especially through the use of LED lights which are harsh and much more common these days than twenty or thirty years ago. As well as being a nuisance, this glare can impact deciduous trees which can fail to shed their leaves as normal in response to floodlights/excess light. It will have an impact on stargazing as well, as stars, planets, etc, cannot be seen as clearly in the night sky – e.g. more likely to see an orange glow than a clear star. It also has an impact on biodiversity in terms of flora and fauna (as outlined in more detail in my module 4 answer) and insect life. As light pollution takes place after dark this will be something that the children can explore at home with their parents, especially in the winter time when it gets dark around 5pm, far in advance of their bedtimes. They could check if there are areas around their house that are sufficiently dark or areas that don’t need as much light as is currently there. They could also examine if the light is the optimal kind of lighting (downward being best and could be better for the environment as might use lower wattage). They could also use a simple night sky comparison experiment with the help of their parents. They could examine the night sky under normal lighting conditions and then, by switching off most of the lights (and navigating safely of course) see how different and brighter the sky looks without the human-made sources of light.
Sounds like a great plan, Orla. I completely agree with the idea on having a guest speaker. Yes, to make it work well it would be far better to have someone at night time, but if it could be organized it would be a magical experience. I think even adults would revert to child-like wonder in those circumstances and it could be an amazing event for the whole school.
Plan to observe the Moon – which phase of the Moon is best for observing in the morning from school? What dates will that be in 2025 -2026?
Our rural school in North Cork is a great base for observing the sky. It would obviously be most exciting to view a full moon at night, but as this is impractical I would work with the class to figure out the best day and hour to view the moon in the morning (prior to 10am). Using timeanddate.com we can see the dates for the phases of the moon, the upcoming ones being: New Moon – 23 Aug 2025; First Quarter – 31 Aug 2025; Full Moon -7 Sep 2025; Third Quarter -14 Sep 2025. School orientation would also be a factor and the children could also use elements of Geography in figuring out north, south, east and west. We could watch some of the child-friendly Paxi videos in preparation and, for homework, the pupils could use a moon observation log to track the moon across the night sky, recording date, time and shading in the type of moon visible, e.g. waning crescent, etc.
The new song sounds like a great idea, Emma. I know my pupils would love the creative aspect of it (and the chance to show off their musical talents) and it would definitely help them to remember the planets. Lots of fun and good for cross-curricular integration as well – art, music and science. And as you say, getting rid of the last few crisps from a packet of Pringles so they could bring the empty tube to class the next day would be a far from onerous task!
2. Construct a sundial in your immediate area or plan for your school grounds to see where a sundial could be placed.
I’d start by discussing the project with the class, ascertaining their prior knowledge and sharing the objective with them. I’d give them an overview of the history of sundials and the part they played in ancient civilizations as well as showing them examples of sundials from around the world (Greenwich observatory, etc).
The class would work in groups to assess what materials could be used in the construction of the sundial (as our school is in a remote and windy area the materials would need to be sturdy), as well as the best area on the school grounds on which to place it. We could discuss how to find the latitude of the school and how maps are oriented towards celestial north rather than magnetic north.
After constructing the sundial we could check on it throughout the day, gauging its accuracy against regular timekeeping and discussing the pros and cons of using a sundial. The children would love being out and about so it would be a very enjoyable activity!