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Elizabeth, this is a very comprehensive list of Night Sky resources that could be used across all classes! Fantastic Mr. Fox is a very good one I didn’t think of for my list!
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky
Art
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
Starry Night over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh
Starry Night by Edvard Munch
Georgia O’Keeffe – Nightscape
Pablo Picasso – The Night Fishing at Antibes
Claude Monet – The Cliff Walk at PourvilleSongs/Poems
Nursery Rhymes: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Star light, Star bright
Hey Diddle Diddle
The Owl and the Pussy-cat by Edward Lear
The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson
Fly me to the Moon by Bart Howard
The wound at the side of the house by John O’Donohoe
Star man by David Bowie
Stardust by President Michael D Higgins
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise BrownStories
Children of Lir with the constellation Cygnus (the swan)
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
How to catch a star by Oliver Jeffers
The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield
Papa, Please get the moon for me by Eric Carle
The Girl who drank the moon by Kelly BarnhillGetting the children to become “biodiversity detectives” is a great idea Laura. Being actively engaged in their learning around the school grounds and local area is much more exciting and engaging than learning from any book!
How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans
For a school biodiversity plan, educating the children on the needs of nocturnal animals is essential. They need food, water, shelter, safe places to move and importantly, areas of natural darkness. I would make protecting darkness part of our approach to supporting nocturnal wildlife. Children would be encouraged to observe the presence of nocturnal species around the school, such as bats, moths, owls and hedgehogs, without disturbing them.
We can support nocturnal species by making the school grounds a safe, dark and wildlife-friendly habitat by switching off unnecessary outdoor lights and using downward facing lighting where possible. Planting native species like wildflowers and hedgerows and leaving areas of grass unmown, provide food and shelter for wildlife. We have also recently installed a bat box and look forward to observing its visitors! Providing water in the form of a small pond or water feature also provide great support for wildlife.Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this
I am living and teaching in a small rural town in Kerry. Over the years, as the town has grown, I have seen a great increase in light pollution. We are very fortunate to be surrounded by countryside and have relatively dark skies but an increase in artificial lighting such as street lighting, security lights, homes and businesses, the night sky is getting brighter. I have noticed fewer stars are visible as the sky is brighter, nocturnal animals are having their feeding and breeding patterns disrupted, it is increasingly impacting on people’s natural sleep patterns and it is an unnecessary waste of energy.
I would engage my 1st Class learners by firstly asking them what they notice when they look at the sky at night. We could discuss why we need lights and whether we need all lights to be on all night. The children could make simple observations from home with an adult, comparing what they can see in the sky on a darker evening with what they see near brightly lit areas.
In school, we could create a “Dark Sky” project. Children could draw what they observe, count visible stars, photograph the sky with parental permission, and map sources of artificial light around our local area. We could then discuss how we might reduce unnecessary light while still keeping our community safe.Hi Lyndsy, you make a valid point here about lighting interrupting wildlife which rely on natural light cycles. We were recently discussing the lighting outside of our school and this also came up. It can be difficult to get the balance right between safely lighting up an area while also being mindful of local wildlife.
I would engage the children in my 1st Class by introducing the topic “Create an observing plan for autumn that shows which planets are visible in the evening sky”. I would begin by asking the children what they can see in the sky during the day and what they can see at night. We would look at photographs of the Moon, stars and planets and discuss what the children already know. I would explain that some planets can be seen in the evening sky and that which planets we can see changes throughout the year.
The children would work together to create a simple Autumn Evening Sky Observing Plan. Using an age-appropriate sky map, images and teacher guidance, the children would identify a small number of planets that may be visible during autumn evenings.
The class could create a large observation chart with headings such as Date, Time, What can I see? and What do I notice? Children could make drawings, use simple words or place stickers on the chart to record their observations. Where possible, children could observe the evening sky from home with a parent or guardian and bring their findings back to school.
Lyndsy, this sounds like such a wonderful engaging lesson. My class love learning about space and I know they would thoroughly enjoy this! I look forward to trying it out!
For my 1st class, I would use the “30 Days and 30 Nights in the World” document to explore day and night and how they are different. We would use pictures, stories and simple experiments to investigate that the Sun gives us light and that different parts of the world can experience day and night at different times. Children are encouraged to ask questions, make observations and talk about their ideas through playful engagement with the content.
Children would recognise and describe activities that happen during the day and the night like going to school, eating breakfast, playing outside, having dinner and bedtime. Children must then differentiate between day-time and night-time activities and sort. They would then add one activity they like to do during the day and night.
Children would develop an understanding of Earth, sunlight, light and darkness using the song “The sun is shining”. Also using a globe and a torch the children will take turns holding a globe and observing which side of it is lit and which side is dark when the torch (sun) is shining on it.