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Collecting stories from older family members is a fantastic thing to do. My grandmother participated in the project in 1933 as a child and herself went on to become a teacher who loved to share old stories, poems and folklore with her students. With the advancment in technologies we have such an opportunity to record more of the rich tales, traditions and history of our country. As we are so multicultural we also now have the opportunity to record the stories of people from other countries.
Describe how you could implement a version of “Design Your own Dark Sky place” in your school/classroom?
4th Class will learn how to protect the night sky and help nocturnal animals like bats, owls, and moths.
We’ll start by looking at photos of real Dark Sky Parks in Ireland and ask:
• Why is darkness important for animals and people?
• What makes a good place to see the stars?
Next, the class will work in small groups to create their own Dark Sky Place around the school or maybe in Min Ryan Park (which is close by). Each group will:
• Design a map showing stargazing spots, quiet zones for animals, and safe walkways.
• Make a poster or leaflet to teach others how to protect the night sky (e.g. using better lighting, turning lights off at night).
• Choose nocturnal animals to include and explain why dark skies help them.
• Suggest fun ideas like a stargazing night or bat walk.
I’ll provide materials like A3 paper, star stickers, coloured pencils, and photos of wildlife.
At the end, each group will present their Dark Sky Place to the class and we’ll make a display for the school hallway. We will also present our projects at assembly in order to share what we’ve learned with the rest of the school.Really like the idea of enegaging with the parents and organising night walks. The school PA would be a great resource to get started with this. It could be a school wide event mayeb linking with the green school biodiversity flag.
How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans.
This plan is based on my school Wexford Educate Together, based in the Whitemill Industrial Estate, it is an urban and industrial area with nearby residential areas. We have had issues with foxes making dens in the school grounds and being on our yard during the day; they show no fear at all and have actually approached students. Several times we have been forced to remove the children from yard altogether. Hopefully developing a biodiversity plan will help the school in supporting nocturnal wildlife by reducing light pollution and creating dark sky-friendly habitats.
These are some of the things I would do. Firstly do a light pollution audit to assess outdoor lighting. Replace bright or upward-facing lights with shielded, low-intensity, warm LEDs, and add timers or motion sensors to reduce unnecessary night-time lighting.
Designate a dark habitat zone on the school grounds; possibly to the right of the field. Plant night-scented native flowers like evening primrose to attract moths, and install bat boxes, owl nest boxes, and hedgehog shelters in quieter, shaded areas.
Create awareness campaigns—posters, videos, or presentations—on how light pollution affects nocturnal species and how small changes can make a big impact. Engage local businesses in Whitemill to promote dark-sky actions beyond the school. Link in with the WSPCA who are also based on our campus to see how else we could help
Finally, monitor progress by recording species sightings and comparing before-and-after data. We could share our findings with the WSPCA and Wexford Library hopefully becoming a beacon for dark-sky biodiversity, the school can inspire action across Wexford Town.Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
Light pollution in Wexford Town is certainly an issue and is affecting the visibility of the night sky, especially in areas like the quay, town centre, and residential estates where streetlights and shopfronts stay lit well into the night. The shopfronts being lit up is actually bizarre when you think about it; I’m sure they have a reason for it but the town is deserted at night so I can’t see what advantage there is to having them all light up like Christmas trees.
I’m basing my lesson on 4th class and focusing it on the local area in and around Wexford town where our school is based and where many of the students live. We are lucky in a way being an Educate Together as many students commute long distances from the countryside to school. I think there will be a very good mix of students who can and can’t see stars at night from where they live.
Introduction
I would begin by asking questions and showing photos and videos in order to engage the class.
Ask:
• “Have you ever seen lots of stars at night?”
• “Do you think we can see more stars in town or in the countryside? Why?”
Show photos:
1. Sky over a city with few stars.
2. Sky in a dark place full of stars.
Short video clip (e.g. 1–2 mins of a time-lapse showing city sky vs. dark sky reserve – YouTube or ESA kids).Explore – What Is Light Pollution?
Explaining what light pollution is and its impact on nature, humans and also energy waste
Show images of Wexford streets lit at night (Google Street View) vs. rural areas nearby where some children live e.g. Tagmon, Mayglass etc.
Ask:
• “Where in Wexford do you think you wold see more stars?”
• “Why might animals like owls or bats prefer dark places?”Mapping Activity
• Give students a map of Wexford Town with local landmarks (bullring, Redmond square, library, quay, school, etc.).
• Mark where lights are strongest (quay, town centre) and where they think the sky might be darker (e.g. outskirts, near Ferrycarrig).Reflect & Record
• Class draw or write:
o A picture of a bright place in Wexford and a dark place.
o One sentence: “Light pollution makes it hard to see the stars because…”
• Whole-class brainstorm: “What could we do to make Wexford’s sky darker at night?”
o E.g. turn off garden lights at bedtime, use better light fittings, raise awareness.
For a home school link I would send a note home inviting families to look for stars together one evening.
• Including a simple Star Log Sheet:
o Day & time
o Number of stars they can count (estimate)
o What lights are nearby?
o Can they see the Moon? Planets?
Encourage parents and children to:
• Take a photo of the night sky if possible.
• Visit a darker area (Raven Point, outskirts) and compare.
• The children could then share star logs and photos back in class and create a “Night Sky of Wexford” display wall.
I would integrate with the following curriculum areas
• Art: Draw “Wexford with stars” vs. “Wexford with streetlights”.
• Drama: Act out being animals confused by bright lights at night.
• SPHE: Link to wellbeing—how light pollution affects sleep and health.
I’m actually very excited about this activity and will be giving this a go with my class next year. I do need to make more of an effort to make use of the locality in my lessons and this is the perfect opportunity.I didn’t realise there was a super moon in early November, thanks so much for sharing. This would be an ideal time to do this lesson.
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?
I’m basing this activity for use with 4th class. Looking at the phases of the moon is somehting i’ve never done with a class before and would be really excited to do this.
According to my research the Last Quarter moon would be the best one for observing in school rising around midnight and then visible through the early morning sky. The dates i’ve found are as follows:
Autumn Term
14 September 2025 – Last Quarter13 October 2025 – Last Quarter
11 November 2025 – Last Quarter
11 December 2025 – Last Quarter
Spring Term
10 January 2026 – Last Quarter9 February 2026 – Last Quarter
11 March 2026 – Last Quarter
9 April 2026 – Last Quarter
Summer Term
9 May 2026 – Last Quarter8 June 2026 – Last Quarter
Lesson Outline
In-Class PreparationIntro: Show images of Moon phases and ask questions ask “what phase is this?”
Explain: Describe why the Last Quarter appears half-lit and why it’s visible in the morning sky.
Observation Sheet: Distribute simple sheets to sketch the Moon over 3–4 mornings, noting time and changes.
B. Outdoor Observation (10 min break or before school)
On one morning after Last Quarter, go outside.
Let students find the Moon, sketch its shape, note its position in the sky
Follow-Up
Back in class, students share sketches: “What did you notice?”
Discuss how the Moon changes night by night.
Introduce simple Moon vocab: terminator, crater shadows, half-Moon etc.
As an educate together school, creating home links is very important to us so I would also pick a Last Quater date later in the year and send home the observation sheet for the children to complete a 3 moring obeservation with their parents describing what they notice: shape, brightness, position and then sharing their findings with the class.
I really like your idea to incorporate Newgrange and the history of sun dials into the lesson. The children will be fascinated at how people of that time were so in tune with their environment.
Gravity/Weight – Assemble an Earth Tube and one other planet tube – decorate in a suitable manner.
I have 4th class next year (after quite a few years in the junior phase) so I’m basing my lesson on this year group and hopefully hitting the curriculum objectives. To engage the students at the beginning I think I would probably kick off with a few questions to get them thinking and to hook their curiosity e.g.
“What would it feel like to jump on the Moon?”
“Do you think crisps would be heavier or lighter on Jupiter?”I would have a discussion with them about gravity and e.g. “Gravity is the force that pulls things down.”, “Earth has gravity, and so do other planets – but not all the same!” and “Big planets like Jupiter pull harder. Small ones like Mercury pull less.” I would use child friendly videos, cartoons and diagrams to help with this and to engage the children further.
I would then facilitate a hands-on investigation allowing them to; hold and compare the crisp tubes labelled with different planets, guess which one feels heaviest or lightest, use a scale to weigh them, record their guesses and actual measurements in a simple table.
I would follow this up with higher order questions to allow them to apply some of what they’ve learned e.g; “Why does the Jupiter tube feel heavier?”, “What would it feel like to walk there?”, “Why do things weigh less on the Moon?” This could lead into some writing or project work.
I would also try to link with other areas in the curriculum to enhance learning further e.g. measurement and data in maths, report writing in literacy, visual arts – constructing models of planets/moon/sun etc, we could also learn more about the individual planets in geography.