[Noreen O Keeffe]

I watched that video of the the three astronauts from the international space station and the music is just so beautiful in the background, I will definitely show it to the pupils, thanks for the recommendation.

[Noreen O Keeffe]

Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky? <i>For example: Look up President Michael D Higgins’ “Stardust”</i>

These examples are a lovely way to create interest at the start of a lesson. A book I have would also be a lovely introduction to a lesson is ‘The Way Back Home’ by Oliver Jefferys and it has some lovely illustrations to accompany the story also.

Songs

• Twinkle twinkle little star
• Counting Stars-One Republic
• Space Oddity David Bows
• A Sky Full of Stars-Coldplay
• Moon River
• Fly me to the Moon
• Starman
• When you wish Upon a Star
• Nightswimming REM
• Mr. Blue Skies by Electric Light Orchestra
• Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles.

Poems

• The Dark-Lemony Snicket
• The Owl and the Pussycat
• Stars Sra Teasdale
• The Moon Robert Louis Stevenson
• Bright Star John Keats
• I loved the Stars too Fondly Sarah Williams
• Bed in Summer Robert Louis Stevenson

Art

• The Starry Night and Cafe Terrace at Night Vincent Van Gogh
• Falling Stars Franz Von Stuck
• Moonlight Night Kandinsky
• Starlight Night Georgia O Keeffe

[Noreen O Keeffe]

An overnight camera is a great idea and I can imagine it would provide valuable information for further discussions. I also like the idea of creating awareness of biodiversity by showcasing project work in your schools assembly.

[Noreen O Keeffe]

• How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans

I would start by explaining to the children what the term ‘biodiversity’ is and the importance of darkness as an essential to the habitat of nocturnal species. I would use some video clips and photos as a stimulus for further discussions.

We could do an audit of the night time lighting in our school and identify if there is any unnecessary lighting or if we can change any existing lighting to less evasive and softer bulbs. We will consider motion sensors as an effective change to lighting being left on all night. We have a garden and some log piles but are there any dark corners for bats and other ground nocturnal species that could be created or where could bat boxes go?

We could map out areas of our school where light pollution is high and discuss any changes that could be made. The children could design posters to raise awareness and involve the student council to further raise awareness of biodiversity in our school and our local environment. Having some guest speakers come in and involving the parents with any garden improvements would also be very positive for our school action plan for biodiversity.

[Noreen O Keeffe]

Yes I agree that one decision in terms of lighting can affect another area and maybe this is not considered in the overall decision. You have given a good example of this in your own locality. It is hard to get it right to provide lighting but to also deeply consider the cost of these changes to the environment. The county councils need to consider this in future planning and try to incorporate less evasive lighting or unnecessary lighting.

[Noreen O Keeffe]

1. How light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.

I never truly considered light pollution and its impact until we spent one night in a desert while travelling. I couldn’t believe how much I could see in the night sky, far away from houses and built up areas and this course reminded me of that. The sky was dark but full of life, it was amazing.

I would raise awareness of this in the classroom, possible during space week. In Cork, where my school is, it is an urban area with lots of light and all of the children live in the estates around the school. Being from the country myself where it is much less bright, I would show pictures or urban/rural night skies for comparison to highlight the difference in the skyglow. Mallow would make a good comparison with areas of West Cork and I researched that West Cork is one of the least light polluted areas of the country. Why can we see so much more stars in the rural picture? What do the children think of the comparison photos. Ask them to jot down their thoughts in pairs for feedback, I would also encourage the pupils to sketch the comparison and what impact they can see to the local environment-give prompts such as wildlife, emissions, sleep/ health and visibility.

I would ask parents to go out with their child one night for homework and observe what they see in their night sky. As a group STEM project, we could help by designing a streetlight that works to light around it but not let too much light escape upwards into the night sky. This could extend to artwork of the night sky, map work in Geography and surveys in Maths.

 

[Noreen O Keeffe]

It is a lovely idea to draw your own constellation and the pupils can get creative doing that. Creating their own short story about their constellations would also really draw on their imagination and bring a fun element into the lesson!

[Noreen O Keeffe]

Question 2

I would love to use Stellarium as a resource during space week. It has excellent 3D images of the day and night sky and shows all the phases of the moon and its cycle. The tutorial online is great and you can set your location or use auto location so you can explore the sky in your local area.

I would start by using the book Zoo in the Sky which introduces constellations through stories and chat about some of the constellations they may already know the name of and how they think they are names. Do you know how to find north by looking at the night sky?Have you ever really studied the night sky or used a telescope?What are the different phases of the moon?

I would then introduce Stellarium, set our location and use its features to explore the night sky. I would ask them to record 3 facts/questions during the exploration which could include names of constellations they have learned about. We would locate a visible planet depending on the time of year and see how the night sky changes over time. There is also a speed up feature which really highlights this. What does this study of the night sky tell astronamers?Using their facts/questions and the i-pads in pairs, i would get the pupils in 5th to find 2 constellations and a planet and complete a few simple sketches to show their location. We could also sketch the various phases of the moon during its cycle in our copies.

The link to this website could be sent home and a homework piece could be to make some observations of the night sky and let the class know what they saw. Could they find the north star?

[Noreen O Keeffe]

I like the idea of using a song as a prompt, its not the first prompt I would think of so Ill definitely try that. The junior classes would love the Storybots song and it would start a memorable lesson. It is also nice to lead up to the lesson by completing the given task over a few days to make observations and maybe rethink their initial thoughts over a few days.

[Noreen O Keeffe]

Construct a sundial in your immediate area or plan for your school grounds to see where a sundial could be placed

I would start with the ESRO framework and use a prompt to engage the children’s interest and get them thinking and wondering about time. What if we removed the clock from the room, how would we tell the time?If you had no watch would you still make the bus?football training?What did they use before watches thousands of years ago? We would try and make connection with what the pupils already know about the position of the sun and the movements of the planets.

Out in the playground, I would use a meter stick in an upright position to make a shadow and we could predict things like how long would the shadow be?What would a short/long shadow tell us?Would it be any different at other times of the day (Repeat activity after lunch for example)Which direction will it move-clockwise/anticlockwise?Words like rotation, axis and compass points will be introduced.

After more discussion and exploration,  I would give a challenge that we will construct a sundial in our school and we must find the perfect spot using our previous knowledge in this lesson.

 

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