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Michelle I love the way you plan to use the story “Owl babies ” as a trigger for the lesson. Such a lovely way to introduce the lesson while also making reference to nocturnal animals and dark skies. Brilliant!
Hi Aine, I agree with you, the photos taken by the astronauts from the ISS were amazing and I do think that children will find these photos enthralling to look at as well as looking through their flicker accounts it would be so relatable to the children.
Reflecting on gender stereotypes in the classroom, I recall an incident in a 6th class at the beginning of the year. It was during a PE lesson involving a team sport. I noticed the girls appeared unmotivated and were not participating in the game. After pausing the game, I brought both teams in and asked what was happening. To which the girls replied ” the boys never pass to us , they don’t need us on their team so what’s the point!” The boys at this point had replied that this is the way they always play because “the girls don’t want to play”.
After this discussion, I had to address these stereotypes present in the class which involved deliberate action by me as a teacher to promote an inclusive learning environment. This included using gender-neutral language, ensuring equal participation opportunities, providing diverse role models, and challenging stereotypes through curriculum and classroom practices.
At a whole school level, I was able to organise a female soccer player who is a past pupil from our school, to coach football skills as part of her work experience in our school to all class levels and this female soccer coach had a huge influence on all our boys and girls . Similarly, by getting outside sports agencies that provided both male and female coaches into the school to coach skills in basketball, cricket, tag rugby, GAA, cycle safety, it had such a positive influence on gender stereotypes and something that we as schools need to be aware of moving forward. I know in our local GAA club they often get members of the Senior ladies’ football and camogie team to coach a training session to the underage boys and girls’ teams. I think that schools could also embrace this opportunity to promote an inclusive learning environment.Hi Shona, I agree with the gender stereotypes in PE . I know from experience that having a female past pupil in to coach football skills as part of her work experience in our school, had a huge influence on all our boys and girls . Similarly, getting outside sports agencies that provide both male and female coaches into the school to coach skills in basketball, cricket, tag rugby, GAA, cycle safety can has a have such a positive influence on gender stereotypes and something that we as schools need to be aware of. I know in our local GAA club they often get members of the Senior ladies football and camogie team to coach a training session to the underage boys and girls teams. I think that schools could also embrace this opportunity.
It is so lovely Shannon to hear that the students who carried out the audit on the school’s waste, resulted in a positive change to the wider school community regarding their hot lunches and also motivated these students to take on wider issues in the locality as a result.
“The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World” by Ehigie (2021) highlights the importance of global citizenship. A global citizen should have two core values in abundance. The ability to care for others and the ability to empathise with others are of utmost importance. Ehigie refers to the change that each of us can do to make a difference in our world today even though it might seem futile- like our small step to change might seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things. However, he refers to the “power within the system of self” where he alludes to the process of reforming our own self is of a greater importance and of deeper value and that we should never underestimate the role that we play as an individual in society.
Incorporating Development education into our teaching practices would deepen our students and our teachers understanding towards taking action for a more just and equal world. More importantly it provides a unique opportunity for students to reflect on their roles and responsibilities as global citizens. It is fundamental that we as teachers equip students with the skills and motivation to consider local and global issues themselves, to use their creativity to imagine the possibility of change and to engage in projects that raise awareness and produce actions for positive change.
Organising professional development workshops and promoting collaborative planning would be a great way of encouraging colleagues. At a whole school level having a key focus on promoting a caring and empathetic environment that values global citizenship through whole school projects like Green schools and Student Union representatives. By embracing these whole school initiatives, we can inspire children and teachers that their voice matters and that we each can make a positive impact in our homes , our school and our society.Describe how you could implement a version of “Design Your own Dark Sky place” in your school/classroom?
Looking at Ireland from Space, I would use the video “We’re Brighter together ” from electric Ireland as a trigger to get the children thinking about dark sky places. I would then ask the question “Why can we see artificial light from Ireland at a distance of 200 miles away?
After this discussion, I would divide the students into groups for their design challenge. I would use the Framework for Inquiry to assist them. Students will be assigned one of the following stakeholder groups to represent their views:
1) Lighting Planners/Designers
2) Visiting Stargazers
3) Conservation Rangers
4) Local Residents
The challenge for the learners would be “to represent the interests of different stakeholders with a meeting to investigate the key requirements for establishing a dark sky site in their locality. The views of stakeholders will be considered and presented at the end of the session.” The students would then present results in the design of a map, using photos or drawings to create a collage of their dark sky place, and a brochure providing information on the attractions within the site along with useful information for the visitor to inform them of what to expect.
I would further challenge the groups by asking the following questions “How can we preserve dark skies and still have light in our lives?” “What information would be useful for visitors who want to visit your dark sky place?” Other factors to consider would be the safety of the visitors, biodiversity at night, access to the site, stargazing tips and information on astronomy.How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.I would begin by having class discussions and brainstorming about our own natural spaces surrounding our school building and the natural spaces that we have around our own homes. Ask students about how they think the huge increase in infrastructure and buildings in the last 15 years (light pollution) might have on local biodiversity in our area.
From here, the children would work in groups of 3 to study satellite photographs of their community before and after the amount of housing estates and roads were built. (Observation and data) They would also use tools like the EO browser to assess urban development in the area. A map of the local community would then be divided up into separate areas and numbered. Each group would be assigned an area to study, observe and document. Students would do a biodiversity study of the assigned area. “What native plant and animal species can we find? ” “Think of other animal species who might use the area?” “How could we find out about nocturnal species.
I would invite local environmentalists and community members to speak to the children about the changes that they have observed in the community and to hear the local impact of reduced natural spaces have had on our community.I really like your idea of setting up a motion activated camera to study the wildlife in your lovely school grounds which would have an huge impact on the children’s learning. Real -life learning – brilliant.
I like the idea of a “stargazing” session in a darker area away form the city lights. I think that students would gain an immediate impact from this experience. I also like your idea of a community awareness campaign.
In the last 15 years, our local area has had a huge increase in the building of new roads, housing estates, industrial buildings, and school buildings. Due to this infrastructure, there has been a huge increase in artificial light. It is quite shocking to see the same area only 15years ago was covered in fields and paddocks for horses. Much of this artificial light is wasted light. Unshielded lights overpowering the darkness, and the waste of energy is obvious. Streetlights produce most of the light pollution in our locality. Light pollution threatens the health of every living thing on earth. Lights at night affect plant growth too.
It is important to enable the children to learn about ways to reduce light pollution in their area and to identify the simple things that we can do to ensure that light is neighbourhood friendly, energy efficient and to help to preserve dark skies.
With my own students I would use the Framework for Inquiry to assist them in their investigations of “How we can reduce light pollution in our local area”. I would use starter questions as a “trigger” to their thinking around the topic e.g. “Can we make shields for lights to reduce light pollution?”, “Where should lights be directed?” I would then divide the children into groups and design their own “streetscape” using a variety of light sources and deciding as a group where light is needed and where it is not.
Following this I would challenge the groups further by asking them to participate in a design challenge: “Can we make a plan to reduce light pollution in our local area?” The students can share their results in the form of a map or drawings or photographs and an inventory showing the number and type of lights, effectively building a toolkit for reducing light pollution in our local area. I would get the children to use the following link to assist them with their map work. https://www.darksky.org/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2019/06/Dark-Sky-Assessment-Guide-Update-6-11-19.pdfAfter downloading the “From the ground and from the sky” (Slide 19 as referred to in the assignment) I carried out the following activities:
Activity 1: The Earth seen from ISS
In this activity I would use a video of ISS as a “trigger” to stimulate conversation and discussion about a typical day in the life of an astronaut living in the ISS. I would use role play –”hot seat” to see if the children could step into the astronaut’s shoes and give an account of his/her life in space and also to describe what he/she can see from the ISS. We would then examine some photographs taken from the ISS in groups and feedback to the class what they think the photos are of.Activity 2 : Match the photos (taken from the ground and by astronauts)
I think that this is an excellent activity to use for a groupwork activity too. Children would be encouraged to use their geographical skills here to locate where the image was taken. To make this lesson more interesting I think I would create a Kahoot quiz using all the photographs . The children would really enjoy this.Activity 3 : Higher Up! (taken from the ground and by satellites)
Again I would use a Kahoot quiz for the matching part of this activity but I would also encourage the children to use some software/apps where they can view satellite imagery “live” so that they are given a real-life opportunity to witness the footage of our satellitesHOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a compelling and heartbreaking account of the impact of human life has had on our beautiful natural planet. One of the interesting facts that I learned was that the earth has existed for 4 billion years and humans only appeared 200,000 years ago. The human thirst for power, greed and our lack of attention and care for our natural world is destroying it for our future generations.
I would use this video as a “trigger” to stimulate interest and discussion with an older class such as 5th and 6th . I would get the children to work in groups of 3 to identify what they think is the biggest problem. Then in their groups they could come up with a solution to this problem. I would give the children the opportunity to listen to Greta Thunberg to show the children how one voice whether it is an adult, or a child can have a direct impact on our thinking and our behaviour as human beings and how this can then influence our own carbon footprint and teach us that we each have a responsibility in caring for our planet
It is important at the end of the lesson to show the class the video of David Attenborough, where he celebrates some of the world’s most innovative solutions to help protect and repair our planet.Yes I agree with using role play too and I think that the “conscience alley” activity would be a very effective one to use with the children.
I think that this would be a fantastic research question Jane especially when the children are so connected with the local beach already. It will spark interest with them immediately. I like your idea of tracking the amount of litter showing up on the shoreline and this is something the younger children will be able to monitor and track easily.
