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Excellent idea to add in books. There are so many good books that refer to the night sky. You’ve written down a great selection.
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”
There are so man brilliant songs that refer to the night sky in their lyrics. These are all suitable for school and there’s a variation of songs for different age groups. These songs would be a great hook to introduce the stars, the moon, the night sky or space.
Songs
Starry Starry Night- Don McClean
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Hey Diddle Diddle (The cow jumped over the moon)
Starman- David Bowie
Never Enough- The Greatest Showman Cast (All the stars we steal from the night sky)
Rewrite The Stars- The Greatest Showman Cast
Sky Full Of Stars- Coldplay
Rocket Man- Elton John
Fly Me To The Moon- Frank Sinatra
Counting Stars- One Republic
Rule The World- Take That (All the stars are coming out tonight, they’re lighting up the sky tonight)
The ‘lighting audit’ is a great idea. This would really engage the children in the idea of suitable lighting to reduce light pollution and would also refer to ‘the five principals for responsible outdoor lighting’ resource from module 3.
Q.1. How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.
The lesson would start with a K.W.L. to access what knowledge the children already possess on biodiversity in their local area.
The children would then explore the school yard and grass area for insects, birds and animals. The children would record what they find and take note of where they found it. Later we would discuss the areas in which the animals predominately were found and why that might be. This is when light pollution would be introduced again. The children would have prior knowledge of light pollution from previous lessons.
Then in groups the children would research various species of animals such as bat, moth and hedgehog. The children would research what role this species plays in the ecosystem, how light pollution affects it and what the wider consequences are.
An extension activity to this could be the children creating a ‘wildlife-friendly lighting plan’ in their school.
I love the idea of comparing two areas. This would work brilliantly for both the rural and the urban class’ to study a different kind of area to their own home. This can expand the knowledge of both groups of children.
Q.1. Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
Light pollution is becoming an increasing issue in rural counties. Fewer stars are visible and therefore it is reducing opportunities for schools and communities to explore astronomy. Also, in rural counties, where biodiversity is important, light pollution can have a knock-on effect cross ecosystems, especially on bats, birds and insects. Another issue it that the glare from bright lighting on a road can reduce visibility and road safety.
The children would be completing a project on the impact of light pollution, suitable for a 5<sup>th</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup> class.
Firstly, I would re-introduce the children to light pollution and gather their prior knowledge. We would also explore a number of resources from module 2- Five principals for responsible outdoor lighting and Kelvin color temperature scale chart.
The children would carry out their own research on light pollution on chromebooks. They would investigate the type of lights in our town, dark sky friendly lights and the colour of lights being used. The children could also carry out investigation work for homework, exploring the different types of light and colour of lights in their locality, with a parent. The children would also research the effects of light pollution on our skies, on people, on animals and on energy.
With the information they have gathered, the children would then create presentations that they could present to our local County Council on ways in which the Council could reduce light pollution in our town to benefit everyone.
I love the idea of creating a digital moon journal in Book Creator. When answering this same question, I wondered how I could develop the lesson from the paper observation log to a digital one, but I was unsure of how this could be done. Thanks for the suggestion, this sounds great!
Q.3 Plan to observe the Moon – which phase of the Moon is best for observing in the morning from school? What dates will that be in 2024- 2025?
From my research, the Last Quarter and Waning Crescent phases are best for morning observation. The best month for viewing this moon in my location in 2026 will be October, so this is a lesson I would aim to teach then. My lesson is planned for a senior class setting.
Lesson introduction- The lesson would start by discussing whether or not the moon is visible during the day. We would then explore the various phases of the moon.
Main activity- First the students would research where is the moon is online using some of the websites suggested in Module 2 e.g. Timeanddate.com. The children would then put this into real life practice. Using the resource ‘the moon observation log’, the children would take note of the appearance of the moon every morning for a week. The children could also do this at home on the weekend of that week.
Extension activities-
I could give the children a challenge to recreate the model of the moon in the classroom e.g. the ball and lamp.
The children could also explore the moon at night and use the moon observation log to record their findings.
It’s a nice idea to use the compass, this could be a good progression from using a sundial or a shadow stick. It would also be a great opportunity for children to become familiar with using a compass.
It’s a nice idea to use the compass, this could be a good progression from using a sundial or shadow sticks. It would also be a great opportunity for the children to become familiar with using a compass.
Q.3 Plan how your students could “observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting and at different times of the day”.
The lesson I have planned is suitable for 3<sup>rd</sup>- 6<sup>th</sup> class. First we would refresh our prior knowledge on the positions of the sun when rising and setting and why this occurs.
The children will then come up with their own ideas of how they could record the positions of sun in the school yard.
The children will then go outside and place a stick in the ground. They will do this first in the morning and they will record the time on their worksheet. They will draw a shadow line from the stick in chalk on the yard and also draw a diagram of this on their worksheet. The children will repeat this activity later in the school day in the afternoon time.
The children will be encouraged to repeat this activity at home in the evening time when the sun is setting. I would also encourage the children to get their parents involved in the task.
The children could repeat this activity each school day in the week and then analyse the data they collect.
This lesson contains the science of the sun rising and setting, the engineering of creating a tool to record the position of the sun and mathematics in analysing the data they collect.