[shane mcsweeney]

hey…thanks for the list….some nice poems i can use for my buddy scheme with 4th and jnr infants…..

[shane mcsweeney]

Dark Sky: Irish Arts & Culture Resources

Poetry

Moya Cannon – Night
Moya Cannon’s Night is an especially strong choice for a Dark Sky project because it captures the experience of encountering a truly dark, star-filled sky. The poem can prompt children to consider how artificial light has changed what we see at night and what might be lost when the stars become invisible. A useful classroom question is: “What happens when we lose the darkness?”

Theo Dorgan – Skull of a Curlew
Theo Dorgan’s Skull of a Curlew provides a strong connection between the night sky, darkness and wildlife. It can be used to explore how the natural world depends on particular habitats and conditions, linking directly with the biodiversity element of the Dark Sky project. Children could consider how a nocturnal animal might experience a landscape differently from humans.

James Stephens – Blue Stars and Gold
James Stephens’ Blue Stars and Gold offers vivid imagery of stars and the night sky and provides an accessible introduction to poetic responses to the heavens. Children could use the poem as inspiration for creating their own descriptions of a dark Irish sky, focusing on imagery, colour, sound and feeling.

Michael Chambers – Beneath the Night Sky
Michael Chambers’ Beneath the Night Sky is particularly relevant because it was inspired by the Mayo Dark Sky Park and connects the night sky with Irish landscape, memory and mythology. It offers an excellent opportunity to show children that protecting darkness is not simply a scientific issue but something that has cultural and emotional value.

1. B. Yeats – The Song of Wandering Aengus
   Yeats’ The Song of Wandering Aengus provides a rich connection between Irish mythology, nature, twilight, stars and imagination. While it is not specifically about light pollution, it can help children explore how the night and natural landscape have inspired Irish writers and storytellers.

Art

Jack B. Yeats – The Sea and the Lighthouse
Jack B. Yeats’ The Sea and the Lighthouse is particularly useful for the Dark Sky project because it creates a visual contrast between natural darkness and a powerful artificial light source. Children could examine the painting and ask: “Is artificial light always helpful?” This opens discussion about the purpose of lighting, light spill and the balance between human needs and the natural environment.

George William Russell (Æ) – Mystical Figure in Winged Boat
George William Russell’s mystical imagery provides an opportunity to explore the Irish night sky through imagination, mythology and symbolism. Children can examine how darkness and stars are used to create a sense of mystery and wonder, then compare this with their own experience of the night sky.

James Arthur O’Connor – A Thunderstorm: The Frightened Wagoner
James Arthur O’Connor’s dramatic Irish landscape shows how natural light can transform a dark landscape. Lightning provides a useful contrast with artificial lighting and allows children to think about different sources of light in the natural world.

Frances McKenna – Night Sky Above Armagh
Frances McKenna’s work provides a contemporary Irish connection to the night sky. It can help children understand that the Irish landscape and night sky continue to inspire artists today and can provide a starting point for their own visual responses to darkness, stars and place.

Patrick McSweeney – The Grey Pool
Patrick McSweeney’s work can be used to explore darkness, reflection and the representation of light. Children could investigate how an artist creates the impression of light within a predominantly dark scene and then experiment with their own night-sky ar

Irish Songwriters and Songs

Karan Casey – I Thank My Lucky Stars
Karan Casey’s I Thank My Lucky Stars is a particularly useful choice because its imagery connects stars, moon, birds and the natural world. It provides a natural bridge between music, biodiversity and appreciation of the night sky. Children could listen for references to the natural world and consider what the song suggests is worth protecting.

Bap Kennedy – Moonlight Kiss
Bap Kennedy’s Moonlight Kiss uses moonlight as a central image and offers a more emotional and atmospheric response to the night. It could be used to explore how songwriters use the moon and darkness to create mood, feeling and imagery.

Inni-K – Night Sky
Inni-K’s Night Sky provides a contemporary Irish musical response to the night sky. It offers an opportunity for children to hear how a modern Irish songwriter uses the night as a source of inspiration and then create their own short musical or lyrical response.

Lisa O’Neill – Goodnight World
Lisa O’Neill’s Goodnight World can support discussion about night, nature and humanity’s relationship with the wider natural world. It provides a contemporary Irish perspective that could complement the scientific investigation into biodiversity and the impact of artificial light.

Joshua Burnside – Moon High
Joshua Burnside’s Moon High uses the moon and night as recurring sources of imagery and inspiration. It can be used with primary pupils to explore how the night sky can become a metaphorical as well as a literal subject in songwriting.

[shane mcsweeney]

hey…..i have never heard of chatterpics APP. it sounds brilliant as i have 4 children who are in or ASD room and this is a brilliant way for them to be fully included and thrive with a task such as recording. They find writing difficult and laborious not to mention the multitasking of viewing, writing, describing. I am definitely going to introduce this to me nature walks, school tours, blogging lessons. Thanks so much

[shane mcsweeney]

4th Class STEM Investigation: “Does Our Area Need More Darkness?”

Begin with a local mystery: “Our school and community are full of living things — but what happens to them when artificial light is introduced at night?” Children explore the school grounds/local area, identifying and classifying plants, insects, birds and other organisms. They record where they find them, habitat type and evidence of biodiversity.

Children then map sources of artificial light — streetlights, security lights, buildings, floodlights — and develop their own questions and hypotheses, for example: “Are there fewer insects in brightly lit areas?”

Working in small teams, pupils collect simple data from darker and more brightly lit locations, using observations, photographs and, where available, simple light meters. They compare results, create tables/graphs and look for patterns.

This directly supports the new Primary STEM curriculum, Stage 3, particularly Living Things: investigating biodiversity, habitats, food chains and the interdependence of living things; and Energy and Forces: exploring natural and artificial sources of light. It also integrates Mathematics, digital technology and communication.

Crucially, the pedagogy is inquiry-based and child-centred: pupils ask questions, predict, investigate, collect evidence, collaborate, analyse results and reflect rather than simply receive information.

Finally, present pupils with an engineering challenge:

“How could we provide necessary lighting while protecting local wildlife?”

Groups design and test a wildlife-friendly lighting solution, then present their evidence and recommendations to the school/community.

This develops the new STEM emphasis on agency, outdoor learning, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, evidence-based reasoning and real-world action.

[shane mcsweeney]

its going to be really interesting to try and video the eclipse next week and see how the darkness will lead to quietness…going to use this as my introduction  to how the loss of darkness at night may have on our biodiversity. Try and get the children thinking about it as a full time problem and not just a rare phenomena

[shane mcsweeney]

4th Class Project

Guardians of the Dark: Our School’s Journey to the Stars

Age: 9–10 years
Duration: September–June
Local connection: Kerry International Dark Sky Reserve
Main question:

“How can children help protect Ireland’s dark skies and the plants, animals and people that need darkness?”

This is much stronger than making the project simply about astronomy. The Rising Star criteria specifically include dark-sky conservation, natural darkness and light pollution, while previous Rising Star recipients have undertaken research, education and community action.

1. ENGAGE — “What has disappeared?”

Show pupils two photographs of the same night sky:

A: a dark rural sky with many stars
B: a brightly lit urban sky with very few stars.

Ask:

“Are the stars disappearing—or are we making them harder to see?”

Then introduce the Kerry International Dark Sky Reserve.

The children investigate why Kerry has worked to protect its darkness.

2. WONDER

Create a Dark Sky Wonder Wall.

Possible pupil questions:

• Why is the sky darker in Kerry?
• Why can’t we see as many stars in Cork?
• Does artificial light affect animals?
• Do birds need darkness?
• Do insects need darkness?
• Does too much light waste electricity?
• Can we make our school darker at night?
• What can children actually do?

The class selects several questions to investigate.

3. INVESTIGATE — Our School Light Survey

This becomes the project’s main scientific investigation.

Question:

“How much unnecessary light is there around our school?”

Children conduct a daytime survey of outdoor lighting—they don’t need to be outside at night.

Map the school.

Mark:

streetlights
security lights
playground lighting
building lights
illuminated signs

For each light, record:

• Where is it?
• What is it lighting?
• Does the light point downwards?
• Does it shine sideways/upwards?
• Could the area be safely lit with less light?

This introduces the important concept of responsible outdoor lighting rather than simply “no lights”.

4. MEASURE THE NIGHT SKY

Use a Sky Quality Meter, if you can access one, or a suitable citizen-science method/app under teacher guidance.

But I would make this a class/community investigation rather than expecting 10-year-olds to go outside alone at night.

Possible observation locations:

School → local area → darker rural location → Kerry Dark Sky Reserve

Children compare the data.

This gives you genuine evidence rather than simply telling them that light pollution exists.

5. INVESTIGATE BIODIVERSITY

This is where your previous seasons/biodiversity work becomes extremely useful.

Investigate:

“Why does darkness matter to living things?”

Children research and observe examples such as:

bats
moths
birds
amphibians
insects
plants

Develop the idea:

Natural darkness is part of a healthy ecosystem.

Don’t claim that artificial light affects every species in the same way. Instead, children investigate specific examples and use evidence.

6. OUR KERRY CONNECTION

Create a virtual field trip to the:

Kerry International Dark Sky Reserve

Children investigate:

• Why was it protected?
• Where is it?
• What makes the sky dark?
• What can people see there?
• How does the community benefit?
• How does the reserve help protect the night environment?

The Reserve itself highlights the ability to see the Milky Way, planets, galaxies, clusters and other astronomical objects with the naked eye.

If feasible, finish the project with a class visit/family visit to the Reserve rather than making it a compulsory school-night activity.

7. TAKE THE NEXT STEP — CHILDREN BECOME “DARK SKY DETECTIVES”

Now the children move from learning → action.

Each group designs one practical intervention.

For example:

Group 1

“Switch Off When It’s Not Needed”

Group 2

“Point Light Down”

Group 3

“Protect Our Night-Time Wildlife”

Group 4

“Help People Discover the Stars”

Group 5

“Our School Dark-Sky Code”

8. COMMUNITY ACTION

This is crucial if you’re aiming for a genuinely strong Rising Star nomination.

Children could:

• present findings to the principal;
• create a school dark-sky policy;
• design posters;
• make a short video;
• write to the local authority;
• contact a local astronomy/dark-sky organisation;
• give a presentation to another class;
• create a family “Switch Off and Look Up” challenge.

The pupils should initiate at least some of the actions themselves.

That demonstrates commitment rather than simply completing a teacher-assigned project.

9. THE BIG STEM INVESTIGATION

Give pupils a challenge:

“Can we design a light that helps people see safely but causes less light pollution?”

Groups design a model.

They investigate:

Direction of light

Brightness

Glare

Energy use

What the light actually needs to illuminate

Then build prototypes from simple materials.

This introduces genuine engineering design:

Ask → Imagine → Plan → Create → Test → Improve

10. FINAL RISING STAR PORTFOLIO

Don’t simply make a nice display.

Create a Dark Sky Evidence Portfolio containing:

Scientific evidence

• light survey
• measurements
• graphs
• photographs
• observations

Children’s questions

• Wonder Wall
• investigation questions

Research

• Kerry Dark Sky Reserve
• biodiversity
• effects of artificial light

Engineering

• lighting designs
• prototypes
• testing

Community action

• letters
• presentations
• posters
• school recommendations

Reflection

Each pupil answers:

What did I discover?

What did I change?

Why does protecting natural darkness matter?

What will I do next?

The really important part for Rising Star

I would make the project child-led as it develops.

The official Rising Star criteria are about demonstrating enthusiasm and commitment, not merely producing a technically impressive science project.

There is also a wonderful Irish precedent: Conor Casey and Hannah Coombs, students from Kenmare, received the Rising Star Award in 2019 after investigating light pollution across Munster, including measurements at 20 locations, and their work helped raise awareness of the Kerry Dark Sky Reserve.

That gives you an exceptionally strong local narrative:

Kenmare students investigated light pollution and helped raise awareness of Kerry’s Dark Sky Reserve. Our 4th Class pupils are continuing that tradition by investigating our own local night environment, studying its effects on biodiversity, and taking action to protect natural darkness.

That is a far more compelling project than simply “we learned about the planets.

[shane mcsweeney]

i just came back from Thailand and my 13 yr old daughter was fascinated with the different night sky. Southern Cross in all its splender. Got me thinking how we could make 3d constellations of our sky and Australia’s sky (big topic in my class). It would also help to somehow hang them over and under a large globe to really underpin the idea of the earth being surrounded by different views of our sky’s. Shine torches on from Oz and Ireland and see how its impossible to view same constellations. Get my Tin Foil ready for Sept

[shane mcsweeney]

Creating an Observing Plan: Which Planets Can We See?
4th Class – Science, Technology and Engineering (STE)

Learning Intention:
We are learning to create and use an observing plan to identify which planets may be visible in the evening sky.
Resources: Stellarium, child-friendly sky maps, tablets/computers, observation recording sheets, compass directions and pencils.sky photograph and a child-friendly star/planet map. They discuss what they notice and what they think they are seeing.
Wonder: Pupils generate questions such as: Which planets can we see from Ireland? Why can we see some planets but not others? Do the planets appear in the same place every night? Their questions are recorded and used to develop the class investigation question: Which planets might we observe in our evening sky, and when?
Explore: In groups, pupils use Stellarium, set to the location of their school, to explore the evening sky on a selected date and time. They identify planets that the model predicts may be visible and practise locating them using compass directions and familiar reference points. Pupils record their predictions before making observations.
Investigate: Each group creates an Evening Planet Observing Plan for one week. It records the date, time, weather/cloud cover, compass direction, approximate position, suspected planet and evidence used for identification. Where possible, pupils make observations of the evening sky with their families. Pupils who cannot make an outdoor observation can use the class’s shared observations, photographs or Stellarium to participate fully in the investigation.
Share & Interpret: Groups compare observations with their Stellarium predictions, identify patterns and discuss differences between predictions and findings. They communicate conclusions using a labelled sky map, table or digital presentation.
Take the Next Step: Pupils use Stellarium to predict which planet they might look for on another evening and reflect on what further observations would make their evidence more reliable.
The investigation develops the STE learning experiences of questioning, predicting, observing, recording, analysing evidence, communicating explanations and reflecting on learning. Flexible roles and recording methods—including observation, drawing, writing, photography, digital recording and discussion—support the meaningful participation of all pupils, including autistic pupils and pupils with physical disabilities.

[shane mcsweeney]

Observing and Recording the Sun’s Position Using the Curious Minds/ESERO Inquiry Framework

Learning Intention: We are learning to investigate how the Sun’s apparent position changes throughout the day by gathering, recording and interpreting evidence.

Engage: Pupils examine photographs of the school grounds taken in the morning, at midday and in the afternoon. Using a Think–Pair–Share strategy, they discuss what they notice about the position of the Sun and the changing shadows.

Wonder: Pupils generate their own inquiry questions, for example: “Does the Sun stay in the same place all day?”, “Why do shadows change?” and “Does the Sun always rise and set in the same place?” Their ideas are recorded on a Wonder Wall, and the class agrees on the investigation question: How does the Sun’s apparent position change throughout the day?

Investigate: Working collaboratively in mixed-ability groups, pupils predict where they think the Sun will appear at three agreed observation times (e.g. 9.00 a.m., 12.00 p.m. and 3.00 p.m.). From the same safe observation point each time, pupils use a compass rose to identify the Sun’s apparent position (east, south or west) and observe the direction and length of the shadow cast by a one-metre gnomon. They record the time, weather conditions, Sun’s apparent position and shadow length on a structured investigation sheet. Pupils are reminded never to look directly at the Sun.

Take the Next Step: Groups compare their findings, identify patterns and use evidence to explain how the Sun’s apparent position changes during the day. They reflect on how repeating the investigation in different seasons could provide evidence to explain changes in daylight hours and seasonal patterns.

The investigation develops the STE learning experiences of questioning, predicting, observing, measuring, recording, analysing evidence, communicating explanations and reflecting on learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles ensure all pupils participate meaningfully through flexible recording methods (drawing, writing, photography or oral explanation), visual supports, clearly defined group roles, accessible observation points and predictable routines that support pupils with additional educational needs, including autistic learners and pupils with physical disabilities

[shane mcsweeney]

the globe and the torch is always a brilliant lesson on a dark winters day…can nicely segue to topics shadows, people and other places or if you have a split-able globe then delving into the Earths core.

[Author]

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