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3. School project
For this project, I would explore Piseógs, Traditions and Stories of the Night through the History strand of Feasts and Festivals, linking the project with celebrations throughout the school year.
We could begin with Samhain, exploring the importance of darkness, fire and light in Irish traditions, including bonfires, lanterns and beliefs associated with the longer winter nights. At Christmas, we could investigate the Irish tradition of placing a candle or light in the window, traditionally associated with welcoming Mary and Joseph and offering hospitality to travellers. We could also explore the German legend of Martin Luther and the first candle-lit Christmas tree, providing another interesting connection between Christmas traditions, light and the night sky.
The children could also collect Irish folklore associated with darkness and night-time, particularly stories of the púca, fairy forts and the Other Crowd. We could explore why so many of these stories take place after dark and consider how the darkness of the Irish countryside may have influenced the stories people told.
An important element would be collecting local oral history. Children could interview grandparents, older relatives or members of the community about piseógs, stories and traditions they remember, particularly those connected with night-time, darkness and seasonal celebrations. These could be collected into a class book, display or digital presentation.
The project could also be broadened to look at festivals and traditions involving light and darkness in other countries and cultures. Overall, this would provide a meaningful cross-curricular way of exploring the night while encouraging children to collect and preserve local traditions and stories that might otherwise be lost.
Hi Elizabeth, this is a fantastic collection of resources and one I will definitely hold on to. It is great to have so many useful ideas gathered together in one place. Thanks for sharing!
Denise,
I really like the idea of using a moth trap, particularly as it gives the children a practical, hands-on way of exploring nocturnal biodiversity. I also think the fact that the trap uses light is a great discussion point. The children can see first-hand how strongly moths are attracted to artificial light and then consider what might happen when they encounter outdoor lighting every night. It would make the impact of light pollution much more meaningful than simply learning about it in the classroom.
2. Biodiversity Plans
When developing a school biodiversity plan, I think it is important to consider not only the species we see during the school day, but also those that use the school grounds at night. As mentioned in the presentation, nocturnal species such as bats, moths and owls depend on darkness for feeding, navigation and shelter, and artificial lighting can disrupt these behaviours.
I would involve pupils in investigating which nocturnal species might live around the school and identifying habitats such as hedgerows, mature trees and green spaces.
The biodiversity plan could also include a simple audit of outdoor lighting, considering which lights are necessary and whether they shine towards trees, hedgerows or the sky. Actions could include switching off unnecessary lights and using timers or sensors.
We could also protect dark areas by maintaining hedgerows, planting native night-scented flowers for moths and other insects and installing bat or owl boxes. This would help pupils recognise that darkness itself is an important part of a healthy habitat and that protecting dark skies can play a valuable role in supporting local biodiversity.
Hi Oonagh,
I really like your point about the GAA floodlights, as this is something that would be very familiar to children in many communities. With GAA pitches, sports grounds and other facilities now regularly lit up on winter evenings, many children have probably grown up seeing very bright artificial lighting as a completely normal part of the night-time environment. They may never have considered what the area would look like without it or the impact it could have on wildlife and the night sky. I think using something so familiar is a great way of encouraging them to look at their own surroundings differently.
1. Light pollution studies
My local area is predominantly rural; however, it has changed considerably in recent years. New housing estates have been built and the area is gradually becoming more developed. With this development has come an increase in streetlights, outdoor security lights, house lighting and traffic.
I would begin exploring this topic by asking the children to brainstorm different forms of pollution. They would probably identify air, water, noise and litter pollution quite quickly.
I would use the Siding Spring Dark Sky resource to develop their understanding of light pollution. The resource encourages pupils to investigate light pollution in their own homes and communities and consider practical ways of reducing it.
The children could then investigate light pollution in our own locality using the online Light Pollution Map. They could locate the school and compare the level of artificial light around our area with nearby towns, cities and more remote rural locations. As the website includes satellite light data from different years, pupils could also investigate whether the amount of artificial light in the locality appears to have changed as the area has developed.
As a home-based observation activity, pupils could record sources of artificial light visible near their homes after dark, with adult supervision. Back in class, we could collate the results and identify common sources such as streetlights, housing estates, businesses and security lighting.
Finally, groups could consider the question: “How could we reduce light pollution in our community?” They could suggest solutions such as installing motion sensors and switching off unnecessary lights. This would allow the children to see light pollution not simply as a distant environmental problem, but as an issue they can investigate within their own changing rural community.
This is a lovely idea, particularly the Autumn Planet Diary. I like how the observations are spread over several months, as this would give students a real opportunity to notice changes and patterns in the night sky over time. Keeping the observations at roughly the same time each week would also make it easier for them to compare their findings.
To introduce the activity, I would begin by making a connection with this summers lunar eclipse. I would ask the children, “Did anyone see the lunar eclipse last week? What did you notice about the Moon?” We could briefly discuss what they saw or heard about the eclipse and look at an image if some children did not observe it. I would then ask, “Does the Moon always look the same?” This would lead naturally into a discussion about the phases of the Moon and our plan to observe it from school.
For a morning observation, I would choose a time when the Moon is in a waning phase, ideally around the Last (Third) Quarter (04 Sept). This makes it particularly suitable for observation during school hours. A waning gibbous Moon can also be clearly visible in the morning.
Before choosing our observation date, I would use the Timeanddate Moonrise and Moonset calculator for our location. This would allow me to check the Moon’s phase, illumination, moonrise and moonset times and position in the sky. I would select a morning when the Moon should be well above the horizon during school hours and also check the weather forecast.
Before going outside, the children could predict what shape they expect the Moon to be. During the observation, they could sketch what they see and record the date, time, weather conditions and Moon phase. Afterwards, we could compare our observation with diagrams of the lunar phases and use the ESA Lunar Eclipse and Phases of the Moon resource to explore why the Moon appears to change shape as it orbits Earth.
This would allow the children to connect a recent astronomical event with their own first-hand observation of the Moon.I really like the idea of using a Mystery Box to introduce the topic of day and night. It is a lovely example of active learning and would immediately pique the children’s curiosity about the topic. I also like how it encourages oral language and discussion, while allowing the teacher to assess the children’s prior knowledge in a fun and informal way.
Option 4: One Year on Earth – Understanding the Seasons Resource
I would begin by eliciting pupils’ prior knowledge about the seasons, e.g. changes in clothing, vegetation and activities on the farm. I would place a strong focus on oral language and discussion. Whilst the ESA resource does have images included, I would first use images of the local area in different seasons. This would allow pupils to make connections between the topic and their own environment.
I really like the use of aerial imagery in the ESA resource. Children could work on this in pairs as Earth Detectives, examining the images for evidence of the different seasons and discussing their observations. This promotes critical thinking, as highlighted by the Liston (2018) paper.
The practical Earth–Sun activity would be particularly valuable. Pupils could work collaboratively using a globe and a torch to represent the Sun. I would encourage them to predict what will happen before moving the Earth through the different positions in its orbit and then compare their predictions with their observations.
To extend learning, children could create a continuous display showing their school locality through the seasons. Alternatively, they could photograph the same area of the school grounds at different points throughout the year to record seasonal changes. I also find the changing seasons to be a great stimulus for art lessons, which would allow for further integration across the curriculum.