[Olwyn Matarazzo]

I also looked up ‘Stardust’ by Michael D Higgins and really enjoyed it. Fantastic piece of writing by him. I feel it would be more suitable for older classes if used in the classroom, the language is quite complicated and would need much explaining. Children could draw what they feel as you read the poem or write their own versions of the poem.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

1. Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?

I really like the idea of incorporating songs/poems/art into lessons about the sky. A memorable way to spark children’s curiosity. There are so many ways that these songs, poems and pieces of art can be used in the classroom to inspire children. I’ve added some books also as I think these really engage children.

Songs: Fly me to the Moon (Frank Sinatra), A sky full of stars (Coldplay), Don’t stop me know (Queen), Moon River (Andy Williams), Space Oddity (David Bowie), The whole of the Moon (The Waterboys)

Rhymes: Twinkle, Twinkl, The Owl and the pussy cat, Hey Diddle Diddle

Poems: The Moon (Robert Louis Stevenson), Bright Star (John Keats), The Moon and the Stars (Mary Howitt)

Art: The Starry Night (Vincent Van Gogh), The Scream (Edvard Munch), Under the Stars (Henri Rousseau)

Books: How to catch a star (Oliver Jeffers), Goodnight moon (Margaret wise Brown), There’s no place like Space (Dr. Seuss)

 

 

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

These are really engaging, hands-on, active lessons for the children. By doing a ‘lighting audit’ children would have to work together to come up with solutions for improving the lighting around the school. I really like your idea of planting a night-pollinator garden also. Children could feel that they have made a huge impact for biodiversity in their local area. They would be able to monitor the results of the things they have changed also and see the impact they have had. Great way to get children to be active citizens!

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

1. How would you engage your leaners to explore biodiversity in your local area and possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.

I would start by introducing children to the term biodiversity and explaining that biodiversity means all the different living things that live on the planet. I would then encourage children to think about their local biodiversity and what living things they think live there. We would go on a walk around the school and investigate. I would ask children to count the different living things they can find. My school is located near a village and there is also a forest near by. I would take the children on a walk around the forest and compare the biodiversity there to around our school. Is there more or less living things? We would then compare it to the local village. I would display results in the classroom comparing all three locations. We could investigate further by looking at different parts of the world and the biodiversity that is there.

We would then look at the impact of light pollution on all these areas. Which area do children think has the most light pollution? Why? What impact can this have on different animals living in the area. I would encourage children to make posters to display around the school encouraging others to think about light pollution and to choose warm, yellow or amber bulbs, turn off more lights, close curtains at night etc. (Link to persuasive writing in English)

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Mairead I really like your idea of reading books first to the children to spark their interest. Thanks for the link to the book ‘Night box’. I think I will use this with my class also. Linking the nocturnal animals to your lesson is a great idea as children are always so interested in animals that come out at night and how they navigate and hunt. It will get them thinking about how these animals need the dark and how we need to protect the dark skies from artificial light.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

 

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

I would begin the lesson by discussing the different places that children live i.e. countryside, town, city. Ask children what they can see at night when they look up? Record findings. My school is situated in the countryside and most children live near the school. I would encourage children to make observations over a period of a few weeks to see what they can see at night. All children would observe and record on the same nights. They could make daily sky observation diaries (link in Diary writing for English) Children would compare their findings and observations with that of others in the class. I would encourage children to ask family members who live in towns or cities to report back to them what they can see at night when they look up. We would then use the Globe at Night program to see what can be seen in other areas at night. We would analyse the findings and discuss why we can see more in the countryside compared to people who live in the cities. As a class we would brainstorm different ways in which to reduce artificial lighting.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Catherine I love this idea for your 1st, 2nd & 3rd class. Great to get their families involved also and get everyone to observe on the same night. There are so many ideas to extend this learning in the classroom e.g. making 3D models of what they observed, looking at other parts of the world and the position of the stars, planets and constellations there. Its so interactive and children would be really engaged and it would spark a real curiosity in them.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

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 2026- 2027?

I love the idea of observing the moon with the class. I would start by asking the children what they know about the moon and how they think we could observe it. Address any misconceptions that the moon is only visible at night. Explain that we are going to observe the moon during the day at different times of the year to see how it changes and what we notice about it. I would create a display board in the classroom having the dates clearly labelled as to when we would observe the moon (One section per month). I would allow the children to draw the moon as they observe it and then display the drawings. I think it would be a great way for the children to see the changes in the moon by seeing their own drawings at different times of the year. It would be a class project and I would also encourage the children to observe the moon outside of school and see do they notice any other changes. I feel this could be an ongoing project for the year and we could link many other subjects to it e.g. we could write stories about visiting the moon, we could design space suits, we could look at gravity in a science lesson.

The moon phase which is best for observing in the morning is the waning crescent and the dates for the next school year are 3^rd-4^th Sept, 2^nd -3^rd Oct, 1^st Nov, 30^th Nov – 1^st Dec, 30^th Dec, 28^th Jan, 26^th Feb, 27^th Mar, 25^th Apr, 24^th May, 22^nd June

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Olive I really like your idea of the children collecting different natural objects to display beside the pictures of the trees. Children love collecting things from nature and bringing them into the classroom and what a great way for them to see the changing seasons if you could leave the items displayed all year.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Q3. 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 would begin by telling children that we are going to record the position of the sun at different times of the day. Ask children how they think we could do that. Getting children to work in pairs we would go to the school yard and draw their shadows with chalk at different times of the day, remembering to stand in the same spot each time.. We would record where the sun was in the sky as a class when we return to the classroom. Ask children questions about what they notice about the shape and size of their shadows at different times of the day.

At home I would ask children to observe where the sun is in the morning and evening in their houses. Then report back to the class. Ask questions like what does this tell you about the position of your house in comparison to your friends? Children will begin to understand East and West by observing the sun throughout the day.

I would also add in an Art lesson and get children to draw themselves or an object on a sunny day. Based on where they put the sun in the sky children would then sketch on the shadow also.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Caitriona thanks for the links to the sensory story and the link to sound effects. What a great way to spark children’s interest when learning about rockets and space. I also love the idea of children using straws to blow the rockets and race them; so much fun and learning and real memorable activity for children.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Activity: Space & Rockets

First class

Learning objectives:

·        Children will investigate using lots of different materials to create a rocket

·        Children will make predictions about what materials will help a rocket to launch

·        Children will discuss what worked and didn’t work and make changes to be successful

Lesson

I would start by reading ‘Aliens love Underpants’ and ‘There’s an Alien in my book’. We would then discuss how rockets launch into space. What shape rocket do children think would be best? Why? Link to Maths- different shapes. I would show children videos of rockets launching. Then I would provide children with lots of different materials e.g. pipe cleaners, bun cases, tape, toilet roll holders. Children would work in groups to try create a rocket that will launch/fly. Then we would take the rockets outside and allow the children to launch them to see how far they will travel. Did they launch? Why/Why not? What would you change? Allow children extra time to add/take away parts of their rockets to see of they can successfully launch.

Feed back to class. Children discuss why their rocket launched/didn’t launch.

 

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Caitriona I love how you have made one lesson on weather link to so many other curriculum areas. There is so much learning here and so much you can get covered. I especially like how you would link to different habitats and the animals in different parts of the word. There would be so much discussion here and more links with Geography. Children could also look at how the animals stay warm/cool in different parts of the world.

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

Activity: Where Do You Live?

Junior Infants

Learning objectives

·        Children would discuss the type of house they live in and name different types of homes e.g. flat, bungalow, semi-detached

·        Children would compare their home to homes around the world

·        Children would deign their home using junk modelling

Lesson

I would begin by showing children pictures of different types of home and naming them. I would get children to pick the home that is most similar to theirs. We could tally the different types of homes and link to Maths by creating a pictogram/bar chart.

Next we would look at homes around the world e.g. huts/igloo’s/camps. We could look at similarities and differences between our homes and homes of others. We could also compare to homes long ago- how have things changed? (Link to History)

During Aistear stations I would get each child to design their own home using junk modelling materials. Children would feed back to the class on how their home looks. Display the homes in the school like a small village/town.

 

[Olwyn Matarazzo]

I love this Art idea Karen. So much learning and links to Maths here for younger children. Lots of creativity also and children making their aliens how they want them. I’m sure a lot of googly eyes will be used!!!

I love the extension of using the aliens to come up with stories or adventures. This could be done in small groups and link to drama for children to act out the story using their aliens.

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