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Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas! I really like how you’re using contemporary music and films to create a magical connection to the night sky. Songs like A Sky Full of Stars and Rewrite the Stars are perfect for setting a calm and inspiring atmosphere that can spark children’s imagination and curiosity.I also love your suggestion of linking movies like Moana and Wall-E to discussions about stars, navigation, and the balance between light and dark — these stories offer fantastic opportunities to explore science and storytelling together.
In my First Class, we might try some of these songs during art activities and I will definitely add some of those films or clips as visual stimuli to introduce topics.
Our school is based in the northwest of Ireland, so we’re lucky to be not too far from Mayo Dark Sky Park. I would introduce the idea by showing the children some pictures of the park and talking about how it’s such a valuable place to see the stars because there’s very little light pollution. We could also explore some of the animals that live there, like bats, owls, and pine martens. We once had a guest speaker from Mayo Dark Sky Park who taught us a lot about the local flora and fauna.
In First Class, I’d keep the activity simple and hands-on. The children would design their own “Dark Sky Place” for our school using drawings, junk art, and small world play. We could talk about what makes a good dark space — things like low lighting, quiet areas, and safe places for nocturnal animals. The children could also use apps like Book Creator or Minecraft Education on Chromebooks to create their own Dark Sky Place. As a class, we could explore ideas such as: a stargazing bench or picnic area, hedgerows or trees for shelter, bat or owl boxes in darker corners of the yard, and signs asking people to turn off outdoor lights at night.
To bring their ideas to life, we could make simple dioramas using shoeboxes, recycled materials, and natural items. We might add small battery-operated tea lights or solar lights to represent lighting in a way that’s safe and doesn’t cause light pollution.
We could also learn a night-themed song — my class this year loved “Fireflies” by Owl City when we were learning about stars and nocturnal animals. We could create glow-in-the-dark art to decorate our classroom and link the activity to both SESE and Visual Arts.
I think this kind of project really helps children understand how light pollution affects biodiversity and how small changes can make a big difference.
That’s a great point about how daytime animals often get more attention in school biodiversity plans. I really like your idea of starting with an audit of local nocturnal species like bats and owls — I’m sure the children would really enjoy getting involved with that.
Creating safe, darker spots around the school seems like a practical and effective way to support these animals. Adding bird boxes or bat boxes in quieter, less-lit corners would not only help them but also give the children something real to observe and care for.
Promoting awareness through posters and surveys is a wonderful way to involve the whole school community and highlight why the night environment is important too. Linking up younger and older classes for some of these activities would be a great way to encourage teamwork and peer learning across class groups.
When thinking about our school’s biodiversity plan, I believe it’s important to include nocturnal animals and consider how light pollution affects them. Many of the children in my class are fascinated by animals that are awake at night such as owls, bats and hedgehogs and this curiosity can be a great entry point for learning about so many things.
Our school is located near buildings that are no longer in use which could potentially offer shelter or nesting areas for nocturnal species, especially bats. This gives us a chance to talk about how human-made spaces can sometimes support wildlife, and how we might help protect or improve those areas on our school grounds.
With my First Class pupils, I’d start by learning about nocturnal animals through stories, videos, and songs. One idea is to learn the song “Bats are sleeping” — it’s repetitive, easy to remember, and fits in well when learning about animal groups and seasonal changes. We could also listen to real night sounds and try to guess which animals make them in a sound hunt.
To make the learning more hands-on, we might create simple “night vision glasses” during an art lesson using red cellophane and cardboard frames/toilet roll holders. This would spark great discussion about how our eyes and animals’ eyes work differently in the dark.
As part of our biodiversity work, we could engage with our green schools plan by:– Create a “Nocturnal Animals” wall display showing what animals are active at night and how they survive.
– Survey the school grounds to find quieter, darker corners that could be protected or enhanced (e.g. with bat boxes or hedgehog houses).
– Use the disused buildings nearby as a discussion point for creating protected areas for wildlife.
– Design simple posters or signs encouraging us to reduce outdoor lighting in the evenings.
– Include a night sky awareness activity, like drawing what they see in the sky from home or doing a “dark spot” map of their street with their families.
This would link in naturally with our SESE lessons on light and animals, and allow the children to build empathy and awareness of how even their small actions can help support biodiversity.
The David Attenborough documentary about sea turtles sounds like a really powerful way to introduce the idea of light pollution. I just watched a little bit on You Tube and I was hooked! The story of the baby turtles is so memorable and would definitely grab their attention — it makes the impact of artificial light really clear.
With my First Class group, I might simplify it a bit by just focusing on the turtle story and following it up with a short discussion: “Why do you think the turtles got confused?” or “Have you ever seen a really dark night sky?” We could draw a turtle’s journey and show the difference between natural and artificial light.
Your idea of breaking the topic into categories is great for older classes! I can imagine they would become really invested in this project. I would adapt it for my younger class by giving simpler tasks like matching pictures of natural vs artificial light or making a class poster on “How to Help the Night Sky.”
Light pollution is something I would like to explore with my first class in September. With all the streetlights, car parks, shop signs and outdoor lighting, it’s often hard to see more than a few stars, even on a clear night in our town. Children in First Class might not even realise how much brighter the night sky could look in a darker place. To help them explore this, I’d start with a simple question: “Do you remember when everyone was talking about the Northern Lights being visible in Mayo?” I’d show them some photos taken from Enniscrone beach and ask, “Why do you think so many people drove out to the beach to see the sky that night?” This could lead to a group discussion about how the lights in towns can block our view of the stars and how we sometimes need to go somewhere darker to see the sky properly. For homework, I would ask the children to look out their window at night and draw what they can see. We’d compare the drawings in class the next day and talk about how many stars were visible, who could see more stars, country vs town etc. I would also show them side-by-side pictures of a night sky in the countryside and one in a city so they could see the difference clearly. In class, we could make a display showing two night scenes—one of a busy town with bright lights and one of a quiet countryside sky filled with stars. This links nicely with the science curriculum where we look at light sources and learn about natural and artificial sources and the effects they have.
That sounds like a really clear and engaging plan! I like how you’re using videos and visuals to help the children identify the planets first — there are great planet games on ‘wordwall’. The idea of the class choosing a planet to research and then creating a “Planet Spotting Guide” is a great way to involve them actively in their learning.
If I were adapting this for First Class, I’d keep the research simple by focusing on one or two key facts about each planet and using lots of pictures/songs to help them remember. I would ask the children to work in pairs to create a Blooket quiz about their chosen planet. Later, we could combine all the Blookets to make a fun interactive book about the planets. The evening observation could be kept straightforward, with parents helping to spot the planets. A homework sheet could be sent home too—something like a ‘night sky treasure hunt’ to guide children and parents in spotting planets and other features.
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 2024- 2025?
The Moon is something I find children are naturally curious about as they hear about it in many bedtime stories and nursery rhymes. I teach senior infants and my students often spot the moon in the morning sky on their way into school and are surprised to tell me it’s still there, since they usually associate the Moon with night-time only.
I plan to observe the moon during its Last Quarter phase, visible from late night into the morning — perfect for us to spot while we’re outside on yard during our small break. Two dates I’ve chosen are 17 September 2024, which works well early in the year as the class settles in, and 15 January 2025, which I think will be a lovely calm activity for the first full week back after Christmas when everyone is getting back into routine.
After we observe the Moon, the children could draw what they saw and share their thoughts in a think-pair-share discussion. We’ll keep a Moon phase calendar where we tick off dates and build a visual log of our Moon sightings across the year. We could also discuss the Moon’s shape and link it to our maths. To add a bit of fun, we could learn the chorus of “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra. It’s a simple way to integrate SESE subjects, build on observation skills and help the children connect with something they can actually see and talk about together.
The outdoor classroom sounds like a brilliant idea with lots of potential for learning. Using sundials to figure out the best spot for the greenhouse is a great hands-on activity and having the children record their findings on iPads will really help keep them engaged. In a multigrade setting, I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities for peer learning as well! It would be lovely to create a simple weather station in the outdoor classroom. The children could take daily measurements of temperature, wind, rainfall, and sunlight using easy-to-use tools like a rain gauge and thermometer. This would give them ongoing, hands-on data to record and discuss, helping develop observation skills and connect science with their everyday environment. It could also tie in nicely with lessons on seasons and weather patterns.
One Year on Earth – Understanding the Seasons resource (ESA) – Teaching the seasons is such a big part of the junior classes SESE curriculum. I sometimes find that the workbooks can feel a bit out of reach for the children, especially in Senior Infants and First Class. I really believe that tangible, hands-on experiences are key when teaching about the seasons and the changes that happen throughout the year. Some of the ideas I’m planning to use next year include having a daily weather chart that the children update themselves and taking a photo of the tree outside our classroom once a month. These photos will form a digital log of their learning. We’ll create a wall display with a season table where we add anything relating to the current season and take nature walks around our school grounds. I also like the idea of having tadpoles in the classroom to watch as they grow, and planting seasonal plants like daffodils or sunflowers to see real growth linked to the seasons. To make it even more engaging, I plan to have a class teddy who we dress according to the season, which the children would really enjoy. I also think looking at weather reports on News2Day can help connect what we learn in class to the wider world. In addition, incorporating seasonal songs and poetry will help bring the topic to life in a fun way eg. A PE warm up ‘Autumn Animal Scramble’
I think that mixing these hands-on activities with discussion and observation would really help the children grasp the concept of seasons in a way that feels real and meaningful to them.
That sounds like a fantastic Space Week! I love how you’ve given each day a theme . The activities are so hands-on and age-appropriate, and I especially like how you’ve included both indoor and outdoor exploration, like shadow tracing and the calming “spacewalk” meditation, such a lovely way to finish the week.
I love your idea to use digital tools to document learning. I might try using Blooket or Canva so parents can see what we’ve been up to during Space Week or maybe create a mini scrapbook. I like how you’ve included storytelling in your alien activity — such a fun way to build oral language.
One more idea could be to start each morning with a space-themed song like Zoom Zoom Zoom, Climb Aboard the Spaceship, or even a Danny Go! space video from YouTube to get everyone moving and ready for the day.
For Module 5, I looked at how I could bring maths and science together through the theme of Space, focusing on rockets. A brilliant way to kick this off is with Reaching for the Stars by Dr. Norah Patten — she’s Ireland’s first astronaut-in-training and a really inspiring figure for children. I’d also show the clip of her on the Late Late Toy Show to make that real-world connection.
We could try building a rocket for Dr. Norah using balloon rockets or even the “rocket mouse” from the Science Museum in London — both are fun and easy to set up. After testing them, we’d have a go at predicting which might travel furthest and why, and measure the distances, tying in maths through estimating and recording results. It’s a great way to explore forces in a hands-on, exciting way.
We could link this into SESE by looking at birds’ wings and how planes fly, and develop literacy skills by writing questions for Dr. Norah Patten or even pretending we were interviewing her. For drama, I might go into role as a visiting alien and get the children to explain what rockets are and how they work. We’d also learn the song Zoom Zoom Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon – it’s simple and fun, and would be a lovely way to finish a space-themed day/week.
Great idea Orla! I love how you’re using a mix of discussion, movement, and art to teach about seasons and weather. One idea might be to add a simple weather chart that the children can update daily alongside their calendar work to observe changes over time.
For art, you could have them create a seasonal collage using magazine cutouts or craft materials to show different clothes and types of weather.
In English, a fun activity could be packing a suitcase for teddy, where the children describe what they would pack for each season — it’s a great way to build vocabulary and practice speaking and reasoning skills.
For my Module 4 assignment, I chose the activity set Weather with a focus on animals that live in cold places. In class, I’d start by talking about animals we know in cold parts of Ireland, like seals, and then move on to animals from Antarctica, like penguins. This helps kids understand how animals live differently depending on where they are and how they survive in cold weather.
A fun hands-on experiment would be making a “blubber glove” with lard so the kids can feel how blubber keeps animals warm in icy water. It’s a great way for them to understand science by doing something practical.
To get kids thinking and talking, I’d use the Astronomy Picture of the Day to connect what’s happening in space with weather on Earth. This helps tie different subjects together and keeps things interesting.
For the STEM-focused School Self-Evaluation, I’d collect evidence by watching how well the kids understand weather, how animals adapt, and how they use scientific ideas. I’d look at their work, listen to their discussions, and think about what’s working well and what could be improved.
For my Module 3 assignment, I chose the Space and Aliens activity. We’d begin with a class discussion about what might be different on other planets—what kinds of people or creatures might live there, how they would move, communicate, and what their world might look like. This would lead into a drama session where the children act out life on another planet, using imaginative movements, sounds, and gestures.
As a follow-up, the children would create their own aliens using clay, based on the ideas they came up with. I’d also use the Mars Classroom resource, which includes a great starting discussion on what a Martian might look like. From there, we could sort and classify the clay aliens by features such as number of eyes, limbs, colours, or textures—linking with oral language, science, and early maths skills.
To extend the drama element, I’d take on the role of a visiting alien who has just landed in the classroom. The children could explain where they are, who they are, and what happens in school on Earth. This would encourage role-play, improvisation, and language development in a fun and imaginative way.
For music, we could use the Star Wars theme or another instrumental space track to inspire movement and atmosphere. For PE, I’d plan a space-themed movement game like “Rocket, Planet, Asteroid” or set up an obstacle course where the children move through space, jumping over craters or dodging asteroids.
