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It’s a great idea to give different roles to individuals in the groups and have them report back to their group. It will really give each student a sense of ownership over their own learning.
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”
Paintings:
“Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh – A swirling night sky filled with stars over a quiet town.
“The Night Café” by Vincent van Gogh – Depicts a café under a dimly lit sky.
“Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket” by James Whistler – A depiction of fireworks in a dark night sky.
“The Colliding Galaxy of the Cosmic Bridge” by Aelita Andre – A modern abstract representation of the cosmos.
“The Great Wave off Kanagawa” (Night Version) by Katsushika Hokusai – A reinterpretation featuring a starry sky backdrop.Songs:
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” – Traditional
“Starry Starry Night” – Don McLean
“Talking to the Moon” – Bruno Mars
“Fly Me to the Moon” – Frank Sinatra
“A Sky Full of Stars” – Coldplay
“Moon River” – Henry Mancini
“Written in the Stars” – Tinie Tempah feat. Eric Turner
“Blue Moon” – Billie HolidayBooks/Poems:
“The Moon” Robert Louis Stevenson
“Windy Nights” Robert Louis Stevenson.
Plenty of options for incorporating into English, SESE and the arts.
How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans?
To begin with we would complete a KWL chart about the needs of nocturnal species in our locality.
In groups, students will research and plan how to make the school more friendly to nocturnal animals including:
Sheltered areas: Provide sheltered areas, such as dense shrubs or small enclosures, where nocturnal animals can take refuge from the elements or feel safe.
Nighttime lighting: Ensuring there is no unnecessary lighting at night that might disrupt animals natural light-dark cycle.
Installing Bat Boxes/ Moth houses/ Bug Hotels to make the area more friendly towards nocturnal animals.
Nighttime observations: Organise wildlife cameras that might capture the activity of nocturnal animals and use it as a basis for providing educational programmes throughout the school.
This is a great idea Brendan. I like the idea of having the children use Padlet or Canva to present their ideas to the class. Visiting the National Park will also help to link it to their own experience.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
Light pollution has many negative impacts on our locality including:
Disruptions to ecology: Nocturnal animals may find it more difficult to hunt at night and find sufficient food to survive. Migratory birds may also be disrupted by light pollution.
Human health: Light pollution can impact quality of sleep and in turn lead to increased stress levels for people, negatively affecting their mental health.
Night sky: light pollution reduces our ability to observe celestial events and stars, diminishing the community’s connection to the natural night sky and the opportunity for astronomical education. The beauty of a star filled night sky and the peace and calmness associated with this are also lost in the case of light pollution.
Energy waste: Excessive and wastefully directed night time lighting can have a negative effect on our carbon footprint. It is worth analysing the necessity of constant lighting at night in certain locations.
This can be explored with students by introducing them to the topic using their own observations from home at night by asking them to observe the sky and compare with their classmates. We would then use the Globe at Night resource to contrast our locality with different areas around the world.
Create an observing plan for autumn that shows which planets are visible in the evening sky:
I love the idea of engaging the children by creating a plan of the planets that are visible at different times and locations.
Once we have identified the planets expected to be visible, I would encourage home-school links by asking the children to use the Stellarium website/ app to confirm the predictions.
Prior Learning:
I would introduce the concept of a sundial by showing pictures of a real sundial. I will explain that a sundial uses the sun’s light and shadows to tell time.
Activity: Constructing a Sundial
I would take the students outdoors to an area that receives direct sunlight.
Sundial Construction:
1: Give each student a paper plate. Explain that this will be their sundial face.
2: Students place their dowel or stick through the dot in the centre of the plate so it stands up straight
3. Students to use markers or crayons to draw numbersObserve Shadows:
Students will now observe where the shadow falls on their sundial at various intervals.
This will help them notice how the shadow moves throughout the day.Discussion:
After observing, gather students back and discuss what they noticed.
Ask questions like: “Did the shadow move? What time do you think it is when the shadow is pointing to this number?”This is a really engaging video to grasp the attention of the children. I really like the idea of creating a video to show to another class too.
Class Plan for Space Week: Senior Infants
English:
Story: Aliens love Underpants by Claire Freedman
How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers
Procedural Writing:
1. How to build a rocket.
2. Making “Moon Rocks” using rice krispies & marshmallows.
Art:
Building Solar System using clay and painting the planets.
Creating constellation pictures using glow in the dark star stickers on black card.
Junk Art: Design and Build rockets using recycling materials.
PE: Space Missions – Create an obstacle course using hoops, beams etc., pretend to be astronauts navigating unknown planet in space.
Music: ‘Blast off’ song by Ready Set Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAGgXTZT7TM
Twinkle Twinkle song.
Geography: Planet Earth in Space: explore night/ day lesson.
Science: Light: Explore how shadows are formed
I love the idea of stations Niamh as it has a number of cross curricular links. One of our topics for Aistear this year was the Arctic and children created fact books using the Book Creator app about each animal. That might be useful for your station 5 too.
Activity Set based on Weather- Animals in the Cold (Esero 7)
Introducing the topic by showing the children a picture of the arctic and discussing the weather and how hot/cold they think it might be there.
We will read the story Arctic Animals by Jill McDonald. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qlU7VDlzPg
We will identify each of the animals adaptations to stay warm including how Polar bears have thick fur and blubber to keep warm, arctic foxes have thick fur and small ears to reduce heat loss, penguins have feathers that help keep them warm, and they waddle instead of fly to conserve energy. Seals and walruses have blubber and layers of skin to keep warm in the water.
Children will sort a group of pictures into arctic animals or pets etc.
We will create a class book about arctic animals and their adaptations to stay warm.
This is a lovely story and a great stimulus for the lesson. I love the simplicity of the art lesson with tin foil and black card.
Activity Set: Space and Aliens for Senior Infants.
Introduction: Using the stimulus of the book Aliens love Underpants, we will read and discuss the story.
Development: Children will create their own aliens using playdoh. They can add details using buttons, goggly eyes, pipe cleaners etc. We will make fun styles of underpants using construction card. Children can change their alien’s underpants outfit by sticking different ones on.
Conclusion: Present their creations to the class.
Extension: Maths: Create various patterns/ 2D shapes on the aliens underpants.
