[Rory Grant]

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

Some songs that come to mind would be:

Sky Full of Stars- Coldplay
The Dying Light- Sam Fender
Rocketman- Elton John
Bad Moon Rising- Creedance
Written in the Stars- One Republic

[Rory Grant]

I am based in northern Donegal and we have had a lot of activity in the last few years. This has generated a lot of interest in the northern lights and many of the kids have gone “hunting” with their parents and families

[Rory Grant]

I would begin by checking the children’s existing knowledge of what a habitat is and ask for their insights on the types of habitats that exist in Ireland and further afield. I would share some images of common habitats and ask the children to list some of the plants and animals that exist there.

My hook for the lesson would be the question, “What do these habitats need to survive and thrive?”

During the whole class teaching aspect of the lesson, I would focus on the impact of light on plants and animals. I would make relevant links to the human world and how light impacts us, especially during the hours that our bodies are trying to relax and prepare to sleep. We could even briefly discuss how prolonged screen time at night negatively impacts our sleep.

I will then share images that show light pollution and ask the class how this may impact the plants and animals there. We would then work in small groups/pairs to compare a landscape with and without light pollution and ask the children to list how each habitat could possibly be impacted.

I also think it’s very important to emphasise that not all light is bad, especially as regards to photosynthesis in plants. A keyword would be artificial.

[Rory Grant]

All of the suggestions listed above are excellent and very easily to build around the day to day running of a busy school. I think these suggestions are all compatible with the students home-lives and could be incorporated into their own gardens and localities. I always try to promote the message that each garden and field is a unique habitat and needs preserving, all of these suggestions amplify that message.

[Rory Grant]

I really enjoyed this module and gained lots of ideas on how to make this topic accessible and interesting for a typical class.

After giving them some input on the idea of light pollution, I would get the students to survey the school grounds and the immediate environs that surround it. We are based in a rural setting in Co. Donegal and I would imagine that we wouldn’t be severely impacted by light pollution. After collecting all the data, I would then get the children to apply their maths skills and graph these findings. I would also use Google Maps as a basis of helping the children mark the types of lighting in our surroundings and also perhaps the colour of the lighting too.

We are located within 10 minutes of an urban centre and we could then designate a suitable area to survey on the same basis as above. This fieldwork opportunity would provide them with a very meaningful opportunity to analyse their findings and make comparisons. We could also ask the children to link up with their parents and submit photos of the night sky from their place of dwelling. We do have a small amount of pupils who live in the urban area described above so that would also provide us with opportunities to compare.

Finally, I think our findings would be an excellent feature at our annual science fair held each Spring.

[Rory Grant]

Brilliant idea, using an Eramus partnership with a contrasting area would be a very meaningful experience for the students and allow them to agree on a shared approach to collecting, collating and presenting their findings.

[Rory Grant]

I am really looking forward to using Stellarium in my classroom during the next school year. I plan to create a resource where we can track movements at certain times of the day and also incorporate some measurements during evening hours too. My school is in a fairly rural location and not hindered greatly by light pollution.

I also plan to incorporate some teaching and learning on the origin stories of the many constellations of stars. I think this would afford the children a very worthwhile opportunity to learn in a cross-curricular way and see the link between the human world and the cosmos.

We could even create some basic telescopes of our own and imagine how these planets and constellations were found and tracked so long ago.

[Rory Grant]

Hi Lorraine, I have similar views on the use of Stellarium. It is surprisingly user-friendly and I love how they can personalise their learning based on geolocation. I think there would be a cohort of students in every class who would make good use of this resource in their free time too.

[Rory Grant]

I have completed a similar activity to “Complete an Earth tube” in the past with my previous 6th class- albeit minus the heavy focus on gravity. I have found that students become highly engaged with planetary conditions within our solar system and enjoy comparing aspects such as length of day, atmospheric conditions and gravity levels etc. This task would be excellent for group work and allow collaboration. I think this would also allow them to apply mathematical skills in a very meaningful way and allow them to make comparisons with our own gravitational pull on Earth.
I also believe that completing this group project could also encourage children to design further experiments on the theme of gravity and allow further scope for investigation on the basis of “Pupil-led experiences”.
Once again, all of the above would be entirely keeping with the aims and objectives of STEAM/STEM based learning.

[Rory Grant]

I think this would be a fantastic learning experience and would be completely compatible with STEAM/STEM orientated learning. I think this could be something that is easily incorporated into a typical weekly routine and the students could quickly take ownership of this. Completing the measurements would tie in very nicely with their ongoing learning on angles in maths and also give them a beneficial, “Real-life” application of angles. Once data is collated, the students could easily graph and present their findings to their peers and fellow class groups. This would be ideal for an annual Science Fair for example

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