Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Thank you for sharing these suggestions. I really like the idea of using songs, poetry and artwork to introduce and conclude lessons about the night sky but I didn’t think I’d be able to come up with a very long list. I especially like the inclusion of Irish writers such as W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney and John O’Donohue, as they help children see how the night sky has inspired generations of Irish artists and storytellers. The Starry Night by Van Gogh is another fantastic choice, as it encourages close observation and conversations about light, colour and the beauty of the night sky.
Another piece that could work well is “The Owl and the Pussy-cat” by Edward Lear, which has lovely night time imagery.
School Project: Collecting Piseógs, Traditions and Stories of the Night
Inspired by the Dúchas Schools’ Folklore Collection
For this project, you will become a folklore collector, just like the children who took part in the Dúchas Schools’ Folklore Collection in the 1930s. Your job is to talk to an older person in your family or community, such as a grandparent, parent, neighbour or family friend and collect the stories, traditions and piseógs (Irish superstitions) that they remember from when they were growing up. Many of these stories were told in the evenings around the fire or before bedtime and have been passed down from one generation to the next. By writing them down, you are helping to keep an important part of Ireland’s history and culture alive.
Start by asking your interviewee about where they grew up and what life was like when they were a child. Then ask them about the stories they remember hearing at night. These could include stories about fairies, ghosts, the Banshee, the Púca, haunted houses, fairy forts or other local legends. You might also ask if there were places that people avoided after dark and why they were believed to be mysterious or unlucky.
Next, ask about any piseógs or old beliefs that people followed. These might include things people did to bring good luck or avoid bad luck, such as throwing salt over their shoulder, never cutting down a fairy thorn bush or greeting a magpie. Find out if there were traditions connected with important events like weddings, births, funerals or farming, and whether certain animals, birds or sounds were believed to be signs of something good or bad.
You can also ask about special nights during the year, such as Halloween (Oíche Shamhna), Christmas Eve, May Eve or St. John’s Eve. Many families had traditions or customs for these occasions. Ask if there were any bedtime routines or things that people believed should or should not be done after dark.
Write down any local sayings, rhymes or expressions that your interviewee remembers. These often tell us a lot about how people understood the world around them. If they have a favourite story or one that really stands out, record it in as much detail as possible.
When you have finished your interview, write a short paragraph about what you learned. Think about which stories you enjoyed most, whether any of the traditions surprised you and why you think it is important to keep these stories alive. Every story you collect becomes part of Ireland’s rich tradition of folklore, helping future generations to learn about the beliefs, customs and everyday lives of people in the past.I have some honeysuckle planted in my own garden and it’s only with the warmer nights I’ve discovered the stronger scent in the evenings. I think creating flowerbeds with night-blooming and scented plants is a great way to attract pollinators that are active at night, helping to increase biodiversity in the school garden. This would also be a great way to raise awareness of night time pollinators.
To engage learners in exploring biodiversity and the impact of light pollution, I would organise simple outdoor investigations in the local area.
First, I would take the children on a nature walk around the school grounds but as we are quite restricted I would go to the local church carpark and the small community greenspace. The variety of habitats should increase the amount of different plants, insects, birds and animals that the children will record. The children could make a biodiversity checklist or take photographs of the species they find.
Next, as a homework task, the children would investigate light pollution by observing different areas during the evening or researching local street lighting. They could compare well-lit areas with darker areas and discuss how wildlife might be affected.
The children would then research how artificial light can impact biodiversity, for example:
• Bats and owls may avoid brightly lit areas.
• Moths and insects can become attracted to lights and be more vulnerable to predators.
• Birds may become confused during migration.
Finally, the children could share their findings through posters, presentations or discussions and suggest ways to reduce light pollution, such as using lower-intensity lighting or switching off unnecessary lights, we could display these on our community noticeboard at the school gates.
This hands-on, child led approach helps learners develop observation, investigation and environmental awareness skills while understanding the importance of protecting local biodiversityNiall’s way of engaging learners focuses on learners’ personal observations and comparisons between locations. I should have incorporated this, as our school has pupils who live in rural and urban locations. I like how you have given the children opportunities for observation, comparison and reflection.
Light pollution in my local area (Meath/Cavan Border)
Although I live in a relatively small town in County Meath and I teach in a rural area close to a major town, light pollution is becoming increasingly noticeable due to expanding residential developments, street lighting, commercial premises and traffic along major roads. County Meath is among the higher-light-emitting counties in Ireland, largely due to its proximity to the Dublin commuter belt and ongoing urban growth.
Light pollution affects the local environment in several ways:
* Wildlife: Artificial lighting disrupts the natural behaviour of nocturnal species.
* Human health: Excessive light at night can interfere with sleep patterns.
* Astronomy: The increased skyglow makes it difficult for amateur astronomers. Local astronomy groups often travel to darker rural locations within Meath to observe the night sky.
* Energy waste: Poorly directed outdoor lighting wastes electricity and contributes unnecessarily to carbon emissions.How I would engage learners to explore light pollution
To develop learners’ understanding through enquiry-based and active learning, I would plan a cross-curricular investigation that incorporates science, geography, mathematics, and digital technology.
1. Introduce the concept
* Begin with photographs comparing dark skies and light-polluted skies.
* Ask learners what they notice and discuss why we need darkness.
* Introduce key vocabulary.2. Conduct a local investigation
Learners could:
* Survey the school grounds and neighbourhood to identify sources of unnecessary lighting.
* Create a map showing locations of streetlights, floodlights and illuminated buildings.
* Record observations using photographs or digital mapping tools.3. Measure light pollution
Learners could:
* Use Sellarium or another star-counting app, or simply count visible stars from different locations.
* Compare observations from the school, residential areas and nearby rural locations.
* Record findings in tables and create graphs to identify patterns.4. Investigate environmental impacts
Working in groups, learners could research how light pollution affects:
* wildlife,
* human health,
* energy consumption,
* astronomy,
* climate change.Each group could present its findings through posters, presentations or short videos.
5. Problem-solving activity
Challenge learners to become “lighting engineers” by designing a more environmentally friendly school or community lighting plan. They could:
* Recommend downward-facing, shielded lighting,
* suggest motion sensors or timers,
* Identify where lighting could be reduced without compromising safety.6. Community action
Learners could:
* produce information leaflets for families,
* create a “Protect Our Night Sky” campaign,
* organise a stargazing evening with parents and the local community,“Have you ever seen the Moon during the day?”, was the first thing I thought of when deciding which assignment to do. It is such a simple but a strong stimulus for challenging children’s misconceptions that the Moon is only visible at night.
One extension could be to use Stellarium before going outside. Students could predict where the Moon should be located in the daytime sky and then test their predictions through observation. This would encourage them to use evidence and develop their understanding of how the Moon’s position changes throughout the month.
I also like the idea of the Moon diary as it allows children to identify patterns over time and construct their own understanding of lunar phases. I always assign a child the job of the Sun Diary at the start of every year where they use the internet to record the time the sun rose and will set. I definitely will incorporate a Moon Diary from now on to highlight the relationship between both.
Class Level: 3rd/4th Class
Duration: 30–40 minutes
Stimulus
I would begin by reading an extract from Look Up! by Nathan Bryon. If you don’t have a copy it’s available on YouTube. The story follows a young girl who is fascinated by space and encourages others to look up at the night sky. I would use the book/video to spark discussion about what children know about planets, stars and constellations.
In addition to the book/video as a stimulus I might use a ‘mystery object box’ containing a globe I already own that rotates on a small support so it looks realistic from the point of view of the child. I would keep it in a box and get the children to peer in before giving them the chance to see another perspective of peering out.
Learning Objective
Students will use Stellarium or WorldWide Telescope to identify objects in the night sky and record their observations.
Activity
1. Read the selected extract/watch the video and discuss:
o What did the character observe in the sky?
o What would you like to find in the night sky?
2. After all children have had an opportunity to look inside the box with the globe, I would reveal the globe and allow them to observe it from different angles. I would then ask the children to imagine they are astronauts looking at Earth from space and discuss how their perspective changes depending on where they are viewing it from. The rotating globe would help children visualise that the Earth is a sphere and that it rotates on its axis.
3. Open Stellarium and set the location to Ireland.
4. Display the evening sky and identify:
o The Moon
o One visible planet
o One constellation
5. Students complete an observation sheet:
o Draw the object they found.
o Record its name.
o Write one fact about it.
Discussion
• Which object was easiest to find?
• How do planets differ from stars?
• Why is technology like Stellarium useful for astronomers?
• I would encourage them to compare Stallarium with the rotating globe and discuss whether the stars are actually moving or if it is the Earth’s rotation that makes them appear to move.
Extension Activity
Students design a “Night Sky Guide” for younger classes, including drawings and facts about the objects they observed.
Assessment
Students demonstrate learning by accurately identifying at least one celestial object and recording observations using drawings, labels, and scientific vocabulary.I’m glad you mentioned ‘authentic problems’. Children are often more engaged when they investigate authentic problems that are relevant to their lives and surroundings. As a teacher it’s hard to come up with authentic problems that the children have to solve as they often believe that the teacher knows the solution so why bother. I’ve come up with some great authentic problems about creating a sun dial reading the posts on this forum that might get the children thinking. It’s also important that these authentic problems can be solved and the children don’t feel defeated.
‘Plan how your students could “observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting and at different times of the day’
I have previously tried to teach my students how to observe and record the position of the sun at different times of the day. This activity captures the imagination of younger children and older children alike and is quite simple and doesn’t rely on many resources or involve much preparation.
At the start of the day, I bring the children outside with some different coloured chalk and a clipboard. I ask them to stand in the same marked spot. They observe and record the position and length of their shadows. Every hour, we return to the same location and repeat the activity, noting any changes in the direction and size of the shadows. The students record their observations in a simple table and drew diagrams to show the shadow positions throughout the day. We also discuss where the sun appears to be in the sky at each observation point and how this relates to the shadows they can see. By the end of the activity, the children recognise (hopefully) that the sun appears to move across the sky from east to west and that shadows change position and length as the sun’s position changes. This provides a practical and engaging way to explore the movement of the sun.
Obviously there are some challenges when carrying out this activity. As we live in Ireland the weather conditions are variable so it might need to be extended over a month rather than a day as the activity depends on a sunny day. Also time management is another obstacle in a busy day. Taking the children outside every hour requires careful planning. Ensuring that each child stands in exactly the same spot for every observation can be challenging but is important for accurate results. And also some children may lose interest if the activity feels repetitive, so it may be necessary to incorporate discussion, prediction and recording tasks to keep them engaged, with the hopes of creating a display board with the results.
One of the reasons I undertook this course was because I found it difficult helping children move from simple observations to a deeper understanding of why the changes occur. I have heard fellow teachers wonder why it can be warmer at various times of the year when it’s the same sun so it’s clearly a hard concept to grasp. While the children can easily notice that shadows change position and length throughout the day or we can point where East and West are, concepts such as the Earth’s rotation and the apparent movement of the sun can be abstract and challenging for younger learners to grasp.
In the future I will refer back to this course and encourage the children to discuss their findings with their peers and suggest explanations based on their observations. This hands-on approach is great for promoting inquiry-based learning, allowing the children to develop critical thinking skills, make predictions, test their ideas and build their understanding through direct experience and observation.