[Seán Ó Tuathail]

I looked at music and song that was inspired by the Night Sky as well Amy but had forgotten all about the Star Wars Soundtrack! I remember whenever I played The Imperial March in class the kids loved it, and went crazy!!

Thanks for sharing.

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

The Night Sky has been a great influence to artists for centuries. The Moon, the stars and the planets have inspired a lot of musicians to write great songs. Here is a list of a few that could serve as a pre-lesson warm-up on the Night Sky in your classroom.

– A Sky Full of Stars, by Coldplay. This is lively uplifting song from the well-known band about feeling inspired and illuminated by the glowing Night Sky.

– Fly Me to the Moon, by Frank Sinatra. This is a well-known song by the famous singer about how he is mesmerized by the moon in the Night Sky and how he would like to go playing among the stars.

– Vincent, by Don McLean. This song often called by its opening line, Starr, starry night, is written as a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh and his painting, Starry Night. There are so many images and adjectives in the song, you could ask your class to write down or remember which one’s stick out to them.

These songs and so many more can serve as a great introduction to a lesson on the Night Sky and how it is an inspiration to people and can be to the children as well.

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

I had a similar idea to yourself Eoghan with the children going outside and looking at biodiversity in the local area but I hadn’t thought of making a map of what they had found. This is a great one as it will give a visual picture of the work that the groups have done and is a great resource to hang on the wall to support the lesson.

Thanks for sharing!

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

<p class=”western”>Our Coiste Glas/ Green-Schools Committee are about to start working on our new theme, Biodiversity so this module is of great relevance to my school. To engage learners to explore biodiversity in our local area should be easy as we have great amenities beside us. The first step would be simple, just to step outside!</p>
<p class=”western”>We are lucky to have the War Memorial Gardens beside us which is run by the OPW in Dublin. We have a very good relationship with the Park Wardens and they are happy to help us by accomodating our pupils for any cross-curricular themed lessons we are doing in the park and gardens.</p>
<p class=”western”>To start, I would plan a lesson where we discuss in class the nocturnal animals that the children think might be living in the park. We would discuss as well the effect that light pollution would have on these animals. After our inclass work, we would move outside and go to the park to interview the Park Wardens and ask them what nocturnal animals they know are living in the park and what area of the park they are living in, without going too close to these areas to disturb their habitat.</p>
<p class=”western”>I would ask the children to then look at the lighting in the areas around these habitats and to take note of the kind of lighting that it is, a soft light or a harsh LED light. The park runs along the River Liffey so I would ask the children to look at the kind of lighting that is used on the way down to the river from their habitat.</p>
<p class=”western”>We could collect our observations and have a whole-class discussion when back in school on the positive and negative impacts that light pollution will have in our local biodiversity.</p>

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

I never thought of a light-measuring app, Catherine. That’s a great idea, thanks for sharing.

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

Light pollution can have an impact on an area, a negative one at that! Light pollution is light the the ‘wrong place’ or at the ‘wrong time’ as mentioned in the module above. Excessive lighting in our area can cause visual discomfort for us and light clutter can cause confusion to many.

Light pollution can have a negative effect on our wildlife with nocturnal animals suffering as their natural environment changes.

Powering the light can be costly and a misuse of resources, namely electricity. It also has a negative effect on our CO2 emissions.

To engage learners to explore the theme I would have a whole-class discussion on the negative effects of excessive light and light pollution in the area. The children could mention an area beside them and link it to one of these negative effects, a waste of electricity or its negative effect on wildlife in the area.

A significant problem with light pollution is not being able to observe the night sky. We could discuss this in class and look at Ireland’s three dark light areas and how the sky looks in their area.

With all this, I would hope that the children would have a greater understanding of light pollution and try to do their bit to lessen it going ahead.

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

That sounds like a great lesson Lyndsy, and very thorough. You have your pre-lesson introduction, your activities and your objectives all there, with the children learning about constellations and making their models.

Thanks for sharing

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

I know that kids in my class this year will really enjoy observing the moon over a month. There is much to learn from observing it, that it is spherical, that it is lit by the sun and that we see different amounts of the lit side as it moves around us in space.
We would plan to observe the moon in school first thing in the morning just after 9am. The Moon Observation Log from the module is a great idea to record and track the progress of the moon as it our view of it changes over the month. Each child would have one to fill out and learn from. As I understand it, January would be a good month to do our observing as the moon would still be visible in the mornings with the shorter days and the later mornings.
As we know, January can be a long and hard month at school being cold and just after Christmas. A continuous lesson like this would give the children something to look forward to

• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by TeachNet Support.

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

We are lucky to have plenty of space in my school and are encouraged to get our classes outside as much as possible. Looking at constructing a sundial in my school, I would ask the class where they think would be a good spot and hope that they would choose the middle of our school yard.
We would try to plan ahead looking athe weather forecast and pick a week with good sunlight. From there we would fix a cone with some bamboo attached to the top of it and mark it’s position with chalk. Then we would mark circles around it in a circle with chalk and note the times on the hour. The school day is only five or six hours so we would have circles marked from 9am to 2pm and I could mark a circle at 3pm after they had left.

This is a great lesson for a class to plan and get involved in with active learning!

[Seán Ó Tuathail]

I like your cross-curricular linkage Elizabeth with history and ancient Egypt, geography and Galway and technology/ICT and iPads.. brilliant!

Thanks for sharing

[Author]

Posts