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Download the Teacher Guide & Pupil Activities for the ESA Resource ‘ Nose High Up in The Sky, carry out the pupil activities yourself and post your thoughts on the resource and if you would use it in class.
I really like the activities outlined in this ESA resource. It is very well detailed and the teacher guideline is concise and outlines clearly the learning outcomes of the children. There are also numerous links with extra resources at the end of this document. The activities outlined are interactive and would lend themselves very well to child centered learning and group work within the classroom. The lessons provide great scope for active learning. I also think that the information given about the ISS is very interesting and very well aimed for children. I always find that children take such an interest in the ISS.. so a great way to grasp their attention!
I particularly liked the old weather proverbs outlined at the beginning of the activity and I think it would be a fun and grasping way to start the activity!Hi Alice.. I completely agree with you here in that the video could be too overwhelming for the children to watch all at once and how important it is to focus on the changes that we can make to help rather than worrying them about the damage that has already been done to earth. I also like your ideas of integrating the video with English debating and I think that would be great for older classes!
Home is a beautiful video and I think that it could be used in the classroom from junior infants to 6th class. It really shows the contrast in places in earth.. from remote untouched areas to man made cities. It will show children just how diverse the world is. It is also clear on how the rich man made areas are causing green house gases and effecting the poorer areas with climate change. It really displays the beauty of the world around us but also some of the damage that we are doing to our world. I think it would be a powerful way to encourage and motivate children to make a change. I think that it is very important to focus on what the children can do rather than worrying them too much.
I also liked the video from Greta Thumberg.. she is very motivational. I would definitely show this to a class as I think that because she is young the children could relate to her more and she is very focused on the changes that we can make.I completely agree with you here Luke.. this activity is highly interactive and engaging. A great way of exploring this topic with the children. I also really like your idea of enriching the activity with showing the children real world data on temperature increases and having the children come up with solutions to this. Motivating them to make changes!
This activity is very engaging and interesting. It is very child-centered and i think would provoke the motivation and curiosity of the children. They would be very active in their learning in this activity/lesson. The children’s understanding and learning about the future effects of Greenhouse gases would be developed. The paxi video was excellent and I would definitely use this at the start of my lessons. I also think that it would be important to educate the children at the end of the lessons on how we can all make a change to reduce our effect on green house gases! This will motivate the children and encourage them to do their bit!
I have enjoyed the first module in this course. There is a wide range of resources available to teach this topic. I will definitely use some of the activity ideas and videos from this lessons. The STEM education outlines the importants of creativity and child centered learning and this module provides multiple ways of facilitating this in the classroom.
Activities 1 and 2 are very well planned out and very realistic for the classroom. I think that they are child centered and will be excellent in helping the children learn more about weather and climate in a motivating and fun way. Nose up High in the Sky lends itself to a lot of integration in maths, numeracy etc. There was a lot of content here and this learning could definitely be developed over a few weeks with the children.
In activity two I thought that the worksheets were very practical and child friendly and would focus the learning of the children. These lessons plans included videos, ideas for child focused creative learning and group work. There were excellent extra links at the end of the pdf that I will also use next year! These lessons definitely promoted child investigation and curiosity which I will aim to do more of in my classroom next year!I agree Gráinne.. adding a weather station to the school would be an excellent way to get children from junior infants to 6th involved and develop their interest in weather and science!
Hi Rachel.. these are excellent videos that you have attached! I will definitely add this to my bank of new resources from this module. We also have an organic garden attached to my school. I agree, it is an excellent hands on way for the children to explore different life forms and plants in the garden.
I agree Shane.. I think that creating your own dark sky space in the classroom is an excellent way of getting the children interested in light pollution. I also think that it is a very visual way that they will learn about it! Lessons like this are incredibly child centered and will always motivate the children. I like your idea of the children’s creating posters and presentations. A great way to develop the lesson.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Songs:
Twinkle twinkl
Moon River
A sky full of stars by coldplayArtwork:
Starry night – Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh quote “For my part I know nothing about certainty, but the sight of stars makes me want to dream!”
Verschuier – The Great Comet of 1680 over RotterdamPoems:
Five little rockets standing in a row
“The Starlit Night” by Gerard Manley HopkinsI would also consider showing the children photography on the night sky! There are some beautiful photos online which would show the children just how the night sky can look without so much light pollution!
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.There are a number of excellent resources from this module that I would use to educate the children about biodiversity in our local area. It is definitely important to teach the children about the local wildlife before teaching them about the effects of light pollution on them. I particularly like the ideas on this lesson plan on Biodiversity from ESERO. It had great resources to teach the children about various animals and wildlife – https://teachnet.ie/ds/pdf/curious_minds_framework_ds_biodiversity.pdf. I think I would find the list of Ireland’s birds resource excellent https://birdwatchireland.ie/irelands-birds-birdwatch-ireland/list-of-irelands-birds/?habitat=all&bird_size=all&bird_family=all&bird_season=all&bird_color=all&bird_sort_order=all&title=owl I find that nowadays children are not aware of the birds that are around them and it is so important for them to have that knowledge so that they are then motivated to protect these species!
I also liked the video https://teachnet.ie/courses/steaming-through-dark-skies-and-biodiversity/lessons/dark-skies-biodiversity/ as it explains how light pollution can effect the wildlife!Hi Gráinne, I really liked your mention of the wildlife disruption and the effects of light pollution on plant growth. It is something that I had not thought of before this module. I also agree with the effect of light pollution on our circadian rhythms.. it is vital to teach children about this. I think it is effecting many people nowadays and and increasing amount of people are having trouble sleeping. I think that if you gave the older children this knowledge it would help them going forward. They would understand just how important it is to turn off the tv/ipad and lamps before bed time. I also agree, Patricks idea to use a projector to mimic the night sky is excellent!
I found this topic particularly interesting. I think that on reflection I had not noticed the amount of light pollution in my area and how it has changed over the years. When I was holidays this year in rural France I definitely noticed the night sky and how bright the stars were. It opened my eyes to how I cannot see the night sky as clearly at home due to light pollution. The local area around my school would have great differences in terms of light pollution. There are some children who will live out in more rural areas and others in much more urban areas. I think this will add to the discussion and learning of the children. I would explore the local area of the school with the children and see if they notice any light pollution. I would draw the children’s attention to stargazing. I would ask them to check every night to see if they can spot the stars. I will explain that light pollution has a huge effect on our ability to see the stars. I think that this would tie in nicely with the story of how the constellations got their names from the previous module. To further engage the children in the topic I would certainly use some of the resources from this module such as …
-Dark sky places finder tool
-Observations – The globe at night video
-Dark sky policy in IrelandI think it would be important to draw their attention to the types of light pollution, checking if the lights are shielded, the colour of the lights etc.
Hi Eva, I completely agree with you here. The videos from paxi videos are incredibly useful and explain the concept of space in such a way that it is easy to understand. I will definitely use these videos in my classroom next year.
I also think it is very important to teach the children about the constellations. I have never found an effective resource for informing the children about the constellation. However, I really like the Cassiopeia and Orion and the story behind the naming of the constellations!
Plan to observe the Moon – which phase of the Moon is best for observing in the morning from school? What dates will that be?
I really think that this would be such an interesting activity to complete with the children in the morning time. It is something that I hadn’t thought of before but I think it would really fascinate children. I think that this would help the children’s understanding of the moon and earth greatly. I would definitely get the children to use concrete materials etc in art and crafts to create the different phases of the moon.
The first quarter of the moon will be visible in the morning time this September. It would be a great way to explore with the children the visibility of the phases of the moon. It would also help to demonstrate to the children the position of the moon, earth and sun relative to each other.
