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I really like that you included poets that you studied from the Leaving Cert! There is great imagery of the night sky in these poems.
– Songs
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star – A classic song about the stars.
Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) – Don McLean, inspired by Van Gogh’s painting.
A Sky Full of Stars – Coldplay.
Counting Stars – OneRepublic.
Fly Me to the Moon – Frank Sinatra.
– Poems
Bright Star – John Keats.
The Star – Jane Taylor.
Stars – Robert Frost.
When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer – Walt Whitman.
– Art
The Starry Night – Vincent van Gogh.
Starry Night Over the Rhône – Vincent van Gogh.
Ancient cave paintings showing the stars.
Constellation maps created by ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Chinese civilizations.
Indigenous artworks inspired by the Milky Way and constellations.I love your idea of comparing the school garden to the local wooded area, focusing on light pollution. This is an excellent way for children to realise how much light pollution is in our localities. Do we need to be creating this level of pollution? A great discussion!
– There are many ways to engage my learners to explore biodiversity in my local area. Firstly, I would invite a guest speaker from the Tidy Towns to speak to the class. I would also arrange for the students to visit the allotments in Ballincollig. The students would be able to see fertilised compost as well as various plants and pollinators. I would ensure the students understand the importance of protecting the pollinators. Throughout the year I would work with the students to plant vegetables, crops and pollinator friendly plants. I would also encourage bug hunts and get the students to create bug hotels in groups. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is an excellent guide to understanding the importance of no mow areas and increasing wildlife such as dandelions. Light pollution can have an impact on local biodiversity. Too much light is a big impact on nocturnal animals; it turns from night into day. It threatens the hell of every living thing on earth. Videos and whole class discussions could be used to illustrate what we can do to bring back the dark of night to planet earth!
I love the idea of the KWL! Also you have included pair work and group work. Children learn best during group activities!
Light pollution affects my local area through excessive street lighting, security lights, and illuminated buildings, reducing visibility of the night sky and impacting wildlife. To explore this issue, I would begin with a starter question such as, “How does artificial light affect our environment at night?” Learners would then use LightPollutionMap.info to investigate satellite data, including visible and infrared light, and compare local light pollution levels. Next, they would conduct a daytime survey of the school grounds, creating a bird’s-eye map showing the location of outdoor lights, nearby trees, and potential wildlife habitats. They would record the number, type, purpose, and whether each light is shielded. Working in groups, learners could present their findings through maps, drawings, photographs, and a light inventory. Finally, they would develop a toolkit of dark-sky-friendly recommendations, such as shielding lights and reducing unnecessary lighting, to help minimise light pollution in the local area.
This is an excellent lesson Siobhan. I think sending the link home to parents would work really well. The children would love to discuss the night sky at home, spotting planets and seeing stars!
To help children understand the phases of the Moon, I would begin by asking if they think they can see the full Moon during the daytime. This encourages them to think about day and night and to justify their answers using scientific reasoning. Next, children would work in groups of three to model the Sun, Earth and Moon. One child would represent the Sun, another the Earth, and the third would move around the Earth as the Moon. By swapping roles, each child experiences how the Moon’s position changes and how this affects the phase we see from Earth. To extend the lesson, I would plan a morning observation of the Third Quarter Moon, as this phase is best seen in the morning sky before and after sunrise. Suitable school-year dates in 2024–2025 include 24 September, 24 October, 22 November 2024, and 21 January, 20 February, and 12 May 2025. ICT tools such as Stellarium Web and Worldwide Telescope can then be used to observe the Moon over a month, explore the night sky from Cork, and locate the North Star.
I love the idea of keeping a diary. Collaborating with other students is an excellent way to get children communicating about sunrise and sunset. It could become a weekly homework task too.
Students will observe the Sun’s position at different times of the day by looking for its location in the sky during morning, midday, and afternoon. They will sketch or draw what they see and may mark the Sun’s position on a classroom window to compare changes throughout the day. Observations will be recorded in science journals, including the time, weather, and the Sun’s apparent position. Across the school year, children will revisit these observations to identify how the Sun’s path changes with the seasons. Class discussions will encourage students to recognise patterns in sunrise, sunset, and the Sun’s height in the sky. The One Year on Earth activity resource can be used to help students understand why these seasonal changes occur and how Earth’s movement around the Sun affects the seasons.