Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I love the stimulus ideas and the cross curricular opportunities highlighted in your post.
The story of the owl babies is another excellent resource that could be used to introduce noctural animals to the children and introduce day and night.
1. Describe how you could implement a version of “Design Your own Dark Sky place” in your school/classroom?
Step 1: Look at what a dark sky place is and look at examples of Kerry Dark Space and Mayo Dark Space.
Step 2: I would ask the children to look at their own sky at home on a clear night and identify whether they can see the stars. We talk about how built up areas you will be able to see less stars or no stars and how light pollution affects the viewing of the milky way.
Step 2:We would design our own dark place in our school. I would ask the children to come up with ways to ensure lighting doesn’t affect the wildlife living in the space. I would ask them to brainstorm different ways to or using alternatively lighting dimmed lights or orange lighting ect. We would take pictures of the space before and after.I love the idea of creating dark zones in the school and observing the findings from this would be very interesting for the children.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.We would start by exploring the nature all around our school. We have made lots of bird feeders around the school so it will be a wonderful to watch the birds and their activity .We would go on a bug hunt and discover the insects in the area. We will discuss the link between the species and how they rely on each other for their survival. I would next introduce the theme of light pollution and how bugs and insects are drawn to the light and how many die as a result. Therefore there is less food for the bird and animals. We would discuss the variety of ways that we can help with light pollution. Use down lighters, yellow or orange lighting ect. We would create posters for around the school to help raise awareness about light pollution and we could create stories on book creator to show to each class.
I love the use of chromebooks to research the light pollution map. It would give the children a greater understanding of their local community and create awareness about light pollution.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how would you engage your learners to explore this.
Lesson: To understand the term light pollution and recognise how the actions of people can impact their environment.
Class: 5th/6thStep 1: KWL with whole class to see prior knowledge of light pollution.
Step 2: Explain what light pollution is. Light pollution is “the inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light” We would watch a short youtube video to explain light pollution and help prompt questions and engagement in the topic.
Step 4: Explain that Light pollution falls into four categories…..
Glare: Excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort
Sky glow: Brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas
Light trespass: Light falling where it is not intended or needed
Clutter: Bright, confusing and excessive groupings of light source
Step 5:I would create a matching activity with a variety of pictures from the above categories. I would ask the children to discuss the pictures in groups and place into the category they think it matches.
Step 6: We would next discuss the visual affects of light pollution. Light pollution can be costly, and effects people, wildlife, and outdoor environments. Blue light scatters far wider into our atmosphere, Over 50% of the Irish population can no longer see the Milky Way from their own homes, Almost 20% of the Irish population use colour vision at night due to the level of brightness from light pollution.
Step 7: We would look at the lightpollutionmap.info to look at the data from our area. We will be able to recognise areas that have a greater population and areas of less population that may need to be protected from light pollution.I love the differentiation you have used here in this lesson.
<p style=”background: white; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.2pt 0cm;”>I love the idea of the Autumn sky display it would be a lovely way for children to come together and learn together and it would instill excitement and enthusiasm for the project.</p>t
Create an Observing Plan for autumn that shows which planets are visible in the evening sky.
The children would love this lesson. I would start by discussing what planets are visible from Ireland and explore some viewing apps like stellarium and skyview apps.
Step 1: Choose a clear night as this is essential for viewing and choose a location away from street lights ect to optimize the darkness and make viewing clearer.
Step 2: Stellarium and Sky view apps are a wonderful way to help us identify planets more easily and it’s a fantastic way to get parents involved in their child’s learning and to give them an idea of the topics being explored in school. It would be a fun home activity.
Step 3: The use of binoculars or a telescope would give greater viewing however they are not essential as there are some planets that are visual with the naked eye. Some planets will look like stars so with the use of the stellarium app is very beneficial in identifying these. Parent support is necessary for this activity.
Step 4: Use a notebook to record your findings and observations the date and time over the Autumn period and notice any changes.
Step 5: Research and learn about the planet you found. Present your project. Create a project around this. The children could create a kahoot quiz for the class around the planets they found.
I am looking forward to using these apps in my class next year.4th/5th Class lesson
Following on from exploring the theme of the sun, I would engage the children in a group activity where they have to observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting at different times of the day. I would ask the children to collaborate and discuss the varying ways we could record this using shadows eg, using the trees in the yard, using a meter stick, using their bodies ect. I would encourage different methods for each group for variety and motivation for the project. I would use tools like chalks to draw around shadows and rulers to record length and width of shadows at the varying times of day. We would discuss safety when observing the sun. We would choose a certain location within the school yard and three specific times within the school day to record. We could incorporate the use of an Ipad to take pictures of the position of the sun. Each group could use bookcreator to input their findings and record the things they noticed about the position of the sun. The sun is lower in the sky in the morning and higher in the sky during the day time. We would link the movement of the sun’s position with how the earth rotates.
Following on from the observation we would create a project to showcase our findings through art or media presentation we would share with other classesI really like how you used space music as a stimulus and linked their learning to everyday objects around the classroom. Well done!
Class Plan to Engage with Space Week
My goal for Space Week is to create a fun-filled, action-packed experience that sparks curiosity and fosters a love of space through hands-on, imaginative learning. I aim to inspire a sense of wonder and awe in the children while using a cross-curricular approach to connect learning across subjects.
Day 1 – Launch into Space: Build a Rocket
Objective: To introduce space exploration and kick off the week with an exciting hands-on challenge.
• Discussion: What do we know about space? What would we like to learn?
• Activity: Build and decorate mini rockets using recycled materials (plastic bottles, cardboard, paper, foil).
Day 2 – Meet an Astronaut (Imaginative Interview)
Objective: To explore life as an astronaut and develop questioning and speaking skills.
• Activity:
o Watch a short video interview with a real astronaut
o Children brainstorm and write questions they’d ask if an astronaut visited the class.
o Role-play: one child pretends to be the astronaut, others ask their questions.
Day 3 – Space Science Fun
Objective: To explore space through simple, fun science experiments.
• Experiments:
o Crater Impact Simulation: Drop small balls into flour and cocoa to simulate meteor impacts.
o Rocket Fuel Experiment: Vinegar + baking soda in a small container to simulate propulsion.
o Gravity Drop Test: Compare falling objects heavy vs light to discuss gravity.
• Discussion: Why is gravity important in space? What is a meteor?
Day 4 – Planet Explorers
Objective: To learn facts about the planets in our solar system and express learning creatively.
• Song Time: Learn and sing “The Planet Song” or “We Are the Planets.”
• Group Work: Assign each group a planet to research.
• Art Activity: Create a papier-mâché model or poster of their assigned planet.
• Presentation: Each group shares facts about their planet with the class.
Day 5 – Space Celebration Day
Objective: To celebrate learning and showcase the week’s work.
• Dress-Up Day: Children come dressed as space-themed characters (astronaut, alien, star, sun, moon, etc.)
• Space Quiz Game: Fun team quiz using facts from the week.
• Classroom Gallery Walk: Display rockets, planet projects, writing pieces, and experiment photos.
Space Week Plan
I would create a padlet of a variety of activities for teachers to choose from. Some things I would include, Give a fun fact about space everyday. Teachers would read space themed stories everyday/ show videos the solar system, the moon, astronauts ect carry out experiments and showcase them to other classes. I would ask teachers to choose a science activity based on the space theme and then the children could showcase what they had learned to each other in the different classes.Writing activities/ comprehensions based on the space theme for the week. Kahoot quiz on the space theme. Art activities like building a rocket or creating their own planet using polystyrene balls, sun catchers in the theme of space. We could end the week by dressing up. The children could choose a space themed character. I would hold a competition for the best costume from each class.Wonderful resources for teaching the moon. I like the stories you have chosen. Here’s another link to a you tube video that might be interesting John Lewis ‘Man on the Moon’
I like the use of the KWL Chart to assess their prior knowledge and see how much knowledge they have of the topic. This is a great basis to plan your lessons from.
Activity set: Hands-on classroom themed activities.
There are many wonderful hands- on classroom themed activities I would use. I particularly like the esero activity on the ice is meltinghttps://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/47_The-ice-is-melting.pdf . I often explore the theme of Antarctica and I think this will be a wonderful addition to that theme. I love the experiment to investigate what will happen to the water if the ice at the North Pole and the South Pole melts. This experiment is a great way for the children to understand the difference beween land ice at the South Pole and sea ice at the North Pole and to explore ideas like – will sea levels change?, Will he temperature change?. Some further steps I would take towards a STEM focused SSE is to introduce STEM week into our school and carry out these hands- on activities from the curious minds and esero activities with the children. I will share the links with my colleagues also.