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Night is an excellent theme for integration and the changing world around us. I have used many of these examples in younger and older classes especially in the younger classes I have more experience with, to explore day and night and look forward to using them and other participants examples too. I also love to use books in younger and older classes to introduce a topic and gaeilge ideas too that I like.
Art – The Starry Night, The Night Watch, Nighthawks, The Sleepy Gypsy, Nocturne in Black and Gold, Starry Night
Songs – A Hoot in the Night, You are my sunshine, Somewhere over the Rainbow, The Sound of Silence.
Poems – The Owl and the Pussycat, the Moon, Silver, Night, The Moon, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningBooks- Goodnight Moon, Owl Babies, The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark, The Night Gardener, The Dark is Rising
Gaeilge- Oíche Mhaith, An Ghealach, Na Réaltaí, An Spéir san Oíche
Elizabeth, thank you for your detailed examples in each category. I will definitely be exploring the more unfamiliar ones to me and integrating in my lessons in the coming year .
Night is an excellent theme for integration and the changing world around us. I have used many of these examples in younger and older classes especially in the younger classes I have more experience with, to explore day and night and look forward to using them and other participants examples too. I also included books and gaeilge ideas too that I like.
Hi Elizabeth, I really like your lesson idea on introducing the topic with a book. Lovely idea to zone in on swallows, investigate and identify the impact light pollution has on them as well as the home school link for their own investigation.
Exploring Biodiversity and Light Pollution in Valleymount Co Wicklow:
Living in the Valleymount area, I feel very fortunate to have such a rich natural environment on my doorstep. With the Blessington Lakes, farmland, hedgerows and woodland surrounding us, I would use the children’s own local environment to make the exploration of biodiversity meaningful and relevant.
I would start off brainstorming the concept biodiversity with the children and discuss. I would then bring my pupils on a biodiversity walk around the school and surrounding area and along the Lakeshore behind our school, where they could become “biodiversity detectives”, identifying and recording birds, insects, plants, trees etc. We could particularly explore our hedgerows and discuss how they provide food and shelter for local wildlife.
I would then encourage the children to think about Valleymount at night. As it is a rural area, we are lucky to experience relatively dark skies compared with larger towns and cities. The children could identify local sources of artificial light, such as houses, farmyards, football pitch lights, streetlights and traffic, and investigate how increased lighting might affect bats, moths, insects and other nocturnal wildlife.
At home, the children could carry out a simple night-time observation at home, recording the lights and wildlife they notice. We could bring our findings back to class and create a map showing darker and brighter areas around Valleymount.
Finally, I would encourage pupil voice by asking the children how we could help protect our local environment. They could create a “Keep Valleymount Dark and Wildlife Friendly” poster or presentation helping them recognise that small actions in their own homes and community can make a difference to local biodiversity.Niamh, great ideas particularly in relating the lesson to the childrens different experiences of light pollution in ireland and holidays abroad. I also like the concept of encouraging the children to bring in pictures of examples of light pollution.
While Valleymount, Co Wicklow still enjoys darker skies than many urban areas, the growth of housing developments, increased street lighting, football pitch lighting and brighter outdoor lighting are beginning to affect the visibility of the night sky. Wicklow County Council has also recognised the importance of reducing light pollution through Dark Sky initiatives and by encouraging wildlife-friendly lighting in local planning.
I would begin by asking my 3rd class to work collaboratively on a KWL chart on what they know first by displaying the question , “what is Light pollution?” and allow each group to give feedback. And then record what they want to know.We will have a talk and discussion circle time about what we notice when we look at the sky from home at night and whether we can identify any stars or constellations.
I would then allow the children to explore photographs of dark skies with light-polluted skies and encourage the children to discuss why they look different in small groups.
The children would then complete a simple night sky survey with their families, recording how many stars they can see and identifying areas where bright lights make it difficult to observe the sky.
Pupils would then share and graph their findings before discussing how artificial light affects people, wildlife such as moths.
We would use Stellarium or WorldWide Telescope to compare what the sky above Valleymount should look like on a clear night with what we can actually observe.
Assessment activity: choice board- Children would work collaboratively to create posters, Google slide presentation or art representation on how they could reduce light pollution in school and home by for example turning off outdoor lights, using downward-facing lights and protecting local wildlife.
Rohana, I really like your lesson which has many highlights particularly integrating stem, oral language, ict and art and a reflective approach for the children in pairs.
Lesson: Exploring the Night Sky with Stellarium / WorldWide Telescope
Class: 3rd Class
Learning Intentions:
– Identify some stars and constellations in the night sky.
-Use Stellarium or WorldWide Telescope to explore the sky.
-Understand that the stars appear to change position as the Earth rotates.
Resources:
Interactive whiteboard
Stellarium or WorldWide Telescope
Globe and torch
Observation worksheet
Activity:
-Revise how day and night are caused by the Earth’s rotation.
-Questioning: “Have you ever wondered why we can see different stars at different times of the year?” Show a short image or animation of the night sky to spark curiosity.
-Open Stellarium or WorldWide Telescope and display the night sky over Ireland.
-Identify the Moon, North Star and one or two simple constellations.
-Change the time in the software to observe how the stars appear to move across the sky.
-Encourage enquiry with prompts such as, “Why do you think the stars appear to move?” or “Can we see the same stars every night?
<p style=”text-align: center;”>-In pairs or small groups, pupils complete a simple sky hunt, locating specific objects and discussing what they notice.</p>
-Pupils draw and label one constellation on their worksheet, record one fact they learned and one question they still have.Assessment:
Teacher observation and questioning.
Completed constellation drawing and fact.
Pupils share one new thing they discovered using the software.
Extension:
Pupils use the software at home with their family to find a different constellation and bring one interesting fact or drawing to class the next day.
Tracey, I like the idea of using your local woodland to explore seasons and taking and comparing photos of the woodland in different seasons. So simple but so effective.
Option 3 :
<p style=”text-align: left;”>To introduce the concept of day and night, I would first explore the children’s prior knowledge by asking questions such as, ‘Where does the Sun rise?’, ‘Does everyone all over the world have daytime at the same time?’ and ‘What have you noticed about the Sun during the day?’ the children would engage in a KWL chart in pair work or small groups. This allows me to assess their understanding and build on their existing knowledge first.</p>
I would then use the short stimulus such as the Paxi – Day, Night and the Seasons video and Think-Pair-Share to create interest, followed by a hands on activity using a globe and a torch to model how the Earth’s rotation causes day and night and encourage to explore this too.The children would then carry out their own investigation by observing and recording the Sun’s position at different times during the school day—morning, midday and afternoon.
They would record their observations through labelled drawings, simple diagrams or tables and then work in pairs to compare patterns before sharing their findings with the class.
The children could also link in with Geography to locate Ireland and another country on a globe to compare day and night. As well as using Google Earth to see where it is daytime and night time around the world. There is also great opportunity for integration with Maths by using bar charts to demonstrate the position of the sun.
We would conclude by discussing the evidence they gathered, allowing the children to construct the understanding that the Earth rotates, making it daytime in one part of the world while it is night time elsewhere.
Throughout the lesson, I would use questioning, observation and discussion and use exit tickets to assess their learning and explore the concept in other practical enquiry based ways if required.