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Thanks for sharing such a variety of songs, poems and art ideas to link in with teaching the topic of the stars and night time
Design Your Own Dark Sky Place project is an engaging way of getting the children to work collaboratively in groups to complete a worthwhile activity that incorporates so many skills across numerous curricular areas. This project would be ideal to do during Space Week. The class will be divided into 4 groups- Lighting Planners/Designers, Visiting Stargazers, Conservation Rangers and Local Residents. Begin by discussing thd following topics- Why are dark skies important for nature? How can we protect our night skies? Next they will proceed to consider the light pollution in their school environment and its negative effects on biodiversity and wildlife at night. A map using photos or drawings is drawn up to create a dark sky place to help protect the local nocturnal species and in area.
After the completion of the project the design challenge will be evaluated. Is it realistic? Does it have a positive affect on the environment? Does it fit with sustainable development goals?
I have always found that projects that involve animals are particularly appealing to children and they love engaging in them so I predict this one would appeal greatly to my class.
I love the idea of using local knowledge down through the generations to compare the changes in marine life in the area
How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans
To begin with we would study and investigate the different groups of nocturnal species present in Ireland- mammals, birds, in vertebrates. I will show them pictures of various nocturnal animals such as bats, owls and insects and they will discuss what they know about them. Next we will explore the negative effects light pollution is having on these creatures. Artificial light sources near bat roosts will be explored. It both confuses and dazzles them at night leading to reduced foraging time and subsequently less food. Similarly insects are often attracted to lights and this can disrupt their feeding patterns and make them more vulnerable. This module contains numerous excellent links to resources such as videos and articles that I found extremely helpful to increase my knowledge on this topic and that could be used in the classroom. One example was the link to the Guardian article ‘ Britain’s moths decline by a third in 50 years’. This is worrying as they play a vital role in our ecosystems, being pollinators of many plants and provide essential food for thousands of animal species, including bats and many familiar birds.
Next we will look around the school environs to see if any changes could be implemented to reduce light pollution and in turn play their part in preserving the habitats and natural routines of nocturnal animals in their locality. For example change lights to downward facing features.
I think this is a really interesting, hands on ,engaging lesson that the children will both enjoy and learn alot from.
The children will explore light pollution using Globe at Night . This is an International campaign and excellent resource to learn about the disappearing night sky by measuring data one hour past sunset . The reality of light pollution and the causes and solutions to this problem will be covered in this lesson. We will begin by discussing any prior knowledge of the topic . At home , maybe as a family activity and using star maps printed off from Globe at Night , they will follow 5/6 steps.
1. Record when observations were made .</p>
2. Record where we3. Locate current/prominent constellation of the month and select the chart which best represents the faintest star visible in that constellation.
4. Record sky conditions at the time of observation e.g. cloudy, clear.5. Optional- input data from a sky quality meter if available.
6. Click submit to send and the data will be visible on the Globe at Night data map.
We will discuss their observations in class. By undertaking this worthwhile lesson the children are playing their part in helping monitor levels of light pollution worldwide. The impacts of light pollution on plants, wildlife and energy consumption have knock-on negative impacts on us all and as the children are the future I think it’s so important to teach them about these topics to the best of our ability.
Thanks for sharing the book Mae Among the Stars. I think this would be a great starting point for teaching this topic .
First of all I would like to begin by saying that the resources and websites etc suggested in this module such as Stellarium, Worldwide Telescope and timeanddate.com are fantastic and will help greatly me going forward in my teaching.
I plan to use Worldwide Telescope to teach the children the causes of seasons on earth. We will follow the KWL approach ( elicit prior Knowledge, discuss and document what they will Would like go know about the topic and conclude with discussing and documenting what they have Learned) After the K and W are completed the lesson will begin by introducing terminology and concepts that are key to the children’s understanding of the lesson e.g. orbit. axis, axial tilt, hemisphere. Some of which may have arisen in the K or L. We will then proceed to explore and learn how the sun moves through the ssky. They will learn how heat energy is transferred to earth through hands on activities with physical models that the children could make as part of an Art lesson.We will explore how the tilt of the Earth affects the seasons by watching the sun’s path change over months. The instructional videos in the lesson give students the chance to connect pen and paper illustrations of the earth and the sun with accurate 3 dimensional models. By the end of the lessons the aim is that the children will have gained a clear understanding of how and why it gets warmer in the summer and colder in the winter.
In Unravelling STEM: Beyond the Acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ( Liston 2018) the importance of cross curricular links is emphasised. We as educators need to foster a deep curiosity in the children and encourage critical thinking as they engage in meaningful, collaborative projects with their peers.
Creating Sundials is the topic I have chosen to discuss for my first assignment. I would begin by getting the children to close their eyes and transport themselves back in time to before the invention of clocks and watches. I introduce a problem next- visitors are due to arrive at a certain time to share a meal but how can we know when to have the food ready? In groups they discuss this and I will discover does anyone know what a sundial is ( a device that tells the time of day during daylight hours by the position of the sun in the sky) or what methods they used in ancient civilations to tell the time. Our project then will be to create a sundial using paper plates . We write the numbers representing the hours at the side and draw lines from the middle to the numbers . The lines move as the sun move. We will place them outside and check on them hourly. We will discuss how shadows are smaller around noon when the sun is higher and longer as the sun moves lower.
We will contrast and compare modern ways of telling the time to ancient methods after we complete the project.
