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Songs – There are so many, many songs ,poems and art that connect us with the night sky that I have space many happy hours listening, looking and reading this morning! The night sky can be a source of motivation and inspiration for anyone who looks up at it. Lyrics can invite the listener to embrace the boundless possibilities of life and to revel in the wonder of the natural world, or can provide a powerful and uplifting message of empowerment for listeners of all ages. Lyrics can speak to themes of self-discovery and independence, themes of strength, defiance, and perseverance, themes of love, loss, and the beauty of nature, feelings of a sense of awe and wonder at the vastness of the universe or offer a moment of peaceful respite from the world’s hustle and bustle. Themes that inspire and uplift listeners around the world, themes of ambition, hope, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world, redemption, and the power of human connection. Songs that invite the listener to reflect on the passage of time and the fleeting nature of human experience.
Examples include:
• “I’m a Star, The Stars Song” by StoryBots
• “Vincent” by Don McLean
• “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra
• “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic
• “Stars” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
• “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay
• “As With The Night Sky” by Kyle McEvoy and Philip G Anderson (video)
• “The Big Sky” by Kate Bush (video scene where she is shining torch into the night – talking point )
• “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus
• “Northern Sky” by Nick Drake (video)
• “Night Sky” by Faime (video) explore themes of passion, desire, and the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world.
• “The Night Sky” by Keane (video)
• “The Night Sky” by Mostly Autumn
• “Same Night Sky” by 2AM Club -an anthem for anyone who has ever felt the ache of missing someone and the hope that comes with knowing that they are still out there, under the same night sky.
• “Airplanes” by B.o.B
• “Look Up at the Stars” by Shawn MendesArt – The most famous example that crops up on every search is Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”, housed in New York’s MoMA.
Websites that include Van Gogh and many other nightscapes include:
https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/night-sky-paintings/ include:
• Edward Hopper – “Nighthawks”
• Vincent van Gogh – “Starry Night Over the Rhone”
• Adam Elsheimer – “The Flight into Egypt”
• James Whistler – “Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket”
• Tarsila do Amaral – “The Moon”
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/the-arts/5-most-beautiful-and-famous-paintings-of-the-night-sky/photostory/109073932.cms include:
• ‘Moonlight’ by Winslow Homer
• ‘Moonlit Shipwreck at Sea’ by Thomas Moran
• ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’ by van Gogh
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-night-sky-in-art include:
• Nebra sky disc (c.1800–1600 BC, copper & gold, Early Bronze Age Unetice culture)
• A Moonlit Wooded River Landscape by Aert van der Neer
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-artists-made-night-sky-muse include more recent artists, for example:
• Mara de Luca – “Cut Night Sky 1”
https://artfilemagazine.com/artworks/
worth a look at with older classes: https://feastcornwall.org/camelford-night-sky-art-installation/
if money and distance allows: https://media.ireland.com/en-ie/news-releases/global/stars,-stones-and-an-experience-of-the-dark-sky.aspxPoems/ rhymes –
• “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth
• “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” by Edward Lear
• “The Starlit Night” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
• “A Visit from St. Nicholas” By Clement Clarke Moore (‘twas the night before Christmas…)
• “The star” by Jane Taylor (‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’)
• “The Moon” by Robert Louis Stevenson
Technically a rhyming book “Adam’s amazing space adventure” by Benji Bennet is a fabulous resource for lower classes to be inspired by.
The children themselves may enjoy ‘researching’ night sky songs, poems, art by quizzing family members and maybe seeing which is the most popular! (statistics)A fantastic selection Christine, thank you. I will be adding to my own list. There is really an endless list once you start looking!
I would start with a walk of school grounds, a viewing or reci. Brainstorm all we saw, what else might be there and how we could access it? (bug hunt!) I would introduce the words biodiversity and light pollution and get them to work together and log thoughts and ideas re same. Then I would show some of the videos in this and the last module. We are within walking distance of an SFI Discover Centre which host biodiversity related programmes. We would visit. Following all this we would make a plan of action. For example:
• Audit our grounds to establish what we have. (photographs might be best descriptor)
• Look at what needed to improve biodiversity value – reduce mowing, eliminate pesticides (if we find that we use them), have or extend our wild grass area and label it.
• Re-establish our bug hotel
• Look at using bird feeders, bird boxes and bat boxes
• Have a wildflower area – pollinators.ie will be our source of seed
• Check if visitors of interest would come and help / advise our team.
• Log progress as jobs are done
• Check regularly to track and log any changes
• Repeat original audit at decided intervals (monthly, seasonally or yearly) to track progress and amend as needed.Light pollution would be treated similarly. Awareness is key, to engage in exploring this, a conversation followed by showing the videos from this module, ‘What is Light Pollution?’ and ‘Exploring Colour’, the 4 categories of light pollution as well as the components of light pollution and its effects.
Investigations of their local area and wider world (though technology/ holidays/ relations/ paired schools experience). Prompts including number/ type lights, distance between them, hiding places for animals etc. What can be changed/ improved by us/ council/ community, how to raise awareness among school/ community/ positions of authority/ changes to be made, make them, compare them.
There are websites that will encourage, enlist and engage people actively in improving night pollution. Susan Geaney highlighted them earlier in the month: Participate in Globe at Night: https://www.globeatnight.org/
Participate in Earth Hour: https://www.earthhour.org/
What is the effect of light pollution on animal life? https://www.noao.edu/education/files/TheNightYouHatched.pdf
Find out about Dark Skies in Ireland and around the world: http://www.mayodarkskypark.ie/ , http://kerrydarksky.com/ and http://www.darksky.org/
Find out how assessing the lighting needs of your school is linked to Green Schools Energy Theme?
It is definitely a topic that will benefit the children’s own growth and health if they understand the impacts of light pollution and take responsibility for improving things as they grow. Our job as teachers is to empower students to see an issue, consider options and create solutions. Then to assess their solutions and see what impact if any it has made and update and amend accordingly. A sense of responsibility and ownership hopefully increases engagement and results in higher self esteem in people! So, students minding their environment are also minding their own mental health. A win win for all.Thank you, David. I will be adding the bite-sized biodiversity resources from the Irish schools sustainability network to my resource pack! I also think a dedicated biodiversity journal that may follow them throughout their school life would be a fabulous record for them to keep and ensure that future biodiversity wellbeing is in good hands!
Firstly, I (the teacher) had little or no idea of the impact of light pollution on biodiversity. I did know that blue light affects sleep but in truth, I didn’t think about it beyond that. I grew up in Galway City, with street lights outside. Generally orange in color, if I remember correctly, is this a better kind of street light? I wonder if whoever decided that street lights would be orange did so for the sake of biodiversity? Sometimes, I think, modern life decision-makers forget the why when deciding to ‘change things’. I now live in rural county Kerry with no street lights and a magnificent night sky on a clear night!!
My school is an urban school and as such, it is always bathed in light; the night sky is not dark there. Streetlights, house lights, garden lights, etc all illuminate the night. The night sky is invisible because of this light. I wonder if students know what they are missing? Not to mention the broader implications on local biodiversity and our own health – Nocturnal animals, who hunt and navigate in the dark; Birds, insects, and other creatures who are drawn to artificial lights; trees are photosynthesising for longer hours; and human’s circadian rhythms are disrupted, impacting sleep quality and overall health and wellbeing.Awareness is key; to engage in exploring this, a conversation followed by showing the videos from this module, ‘What is Light Pollution?’ and ‘Exploring Color’, the 4 categories of light pollution as well as the components of light pollution and its effects.
Then an investigation of their local area and wider world (through technology, holidays, relations/ paired school’s experiences). Prompts include number or type lights, distance between them, hiding places for animals, etc. What can be changed/ improved by us/ council/ community, how to raise awareness among school/ community/ positions of authority. Decide on changes to be made, make them, log and compare results.
There are websites that will encourage, enlist and engage people actively in improving nighttime pollution. Susan Geaney highlighted them earlier in the month: Participate in Globe at Night: https://www.globeatnight.org/
Participate in Earth Hour: https://www.earthhour.org/
https://www.noao.edu/education/files/TheNightYouHatched.pdf
Find out about Dark Skies in Ireland and around the world: http://www.mayodarkskypark.ie/ , http://kerrydarksky.com/ and http://www.darksky.org/
Find out how assessing the lighting needs of your school is linked to Green Schools Energy Theme?
Light pollution awareness is definitely a topic that will benefit the children’s own growth and health if they understand the impacts of light pollution and take responsibility for improving things as they grow.Both Stellarium and the World Wide Telescope would be great apps to have on the tablets and laptops at school. I am moving from junior infants to the senior side, and maybe they are already available and being used. If not, I will introduce these resources. I will be working with small groups, which would allow more freedom for self-guided use of apps, with some prompts like “What is the difference between a planet and a star?”
I will be learning along with the children! I found the YouTube video in this module very informative and it made the Stellarium app easy to use. Frances from the Blackrock Castle Observatory did a superb job of explaining it to the non-initiated. Teachers could share that video on their whiteboards with the pupils to show how to use the app. Then the children could also access and share the app/web at home.
The genius of Stellarium is that you can set it to a particular date, time, and location. Everyone can find out what constellations are visible, where the moon will be located, the stage or phase of the moon, and all the visible planets.
I think it will help enhance children’s understanding of their place in the universe! Even down to knowing where North, South, East, and West are.
While Stellarium is a fantastic resource for children, a great way of developing an interest in the night sky and allowing them to use the app/web to engage in learning at their own pace. So, too, is the World Wide Telescope, a definite positive addition to their learning capacity and at their own level/pace. Tours, projects, and even a free 8-day curriculum on the causes of the seasons, which would suit higher-class primary school children, are all available on WWT.that should read: Sinead, I agree with you. I love Michelle’s idea of using pegs and pegboards; it adds another dimension to peg board activities!
Sinead I love your idea of using pegs and pegboards, it adds another dimension to peg board activities
I love the idea of school council involvement! and ‘book creator’ I must look it up. Thanks for the ideas
I like the idea of revisiting it at intervals during the year and the learning from same. Finding whether or not there’s a difference, finding solutions as to why there may be, and researching your results!
Listons (2018) paper which unravels stem beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics was food for thought. She explains extremely well what stem actually is and also what it isn’t! She proposes that STEM should comprise of the following characteristics: removing traditional barriers separating the four disciplines of science technology engineering and math (Vasquez, Comer, Sneider 2013), allow for innovation and critical thinking (Jolly, 2017) integrate real-world rigorous and relevant learning experiences for students (Vasquez, Comer and Sneider 2013) inspire creativity problem solving inquisitive thinking and teamwork (Roberts, 2012) integrate and apply a deeper level knowledge and understanding of mathematics and science to create technologies and solutions for real world problems using engineering design approach (Jolly, 2017).
Until I read this earlier, I wasn’t 100% sure what STEM actually looked like and how it worked best! The creation of a sundial would tick all the above boxes (if there were boxes!). We are looking at innovation, problem solving, inquisitive thinking, teamwork, creativity, knowledge and understanding of maths and science to figure out how a sundial works, where is best to place it and why, construct your sundial having decided on best materials to use, monitor your sundial and log your findings and present same to your classmates/ other teams. Along with STEM you also have some ‘comhtháthú’ with geography, history, English and visual arts and more along with lots of fun, hopefully!
