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What a brilliant, hands on way to connect urban pupils with nature and light pollution, a great mix of creativity, learning and local action.
Music/Songs/Poems/Art connecting us to the night sky:
Music/Songs:
“Clair de Lune” – Claude Debussy
A soft piano song that sounds like the quiet beauty of the moon at night.
“Space Oddity” – David Bowie
A fun space song about an astronaut flying through the stars.
“Moondance” – Van Morrison
A happy song about dancing under the moon and stars.Poems:
“Silver” – Walter de la Mare
A poem that describes how the moon makes everything look silver and magical.
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
A well-known poem about wondering what stars are as they shine in the sky.
“Star Light, Star Bright” – A short rhyme about making a wish on the first star seen at night.Art: Looking and Responding
Starry Night – Vincent van Gogh A painting with swirly stars and a glowing moon in a beautiful night sky.
The Great Wave – Hokusai
A big wave in the ocean with a calm sky and soft moon in the background.Art Activity:
Night Sky Collage – the children create their own night sky using black paper, adding stars, moons, and planets with cut-out shapes, foil, glitter, or glow-in-the-dark stickers.
Hi Tanya,
I like the idea of inviting guest speakers from The Irish Wildlife Trust in to talk to the children, it would give them a deeper understanding of nocturnal animals and make the learning experience more engaging and memorable.
To support nocturnal species in school diversity plans, it’s important to reduce light pollution and create safe habitats. Many animals like bats, owls and moths need darkness to feed, move and survive.
Schools can help by using low warm coloured lighting that only turns on when needed; and by planting native plants that support nighttime pollinators. Creating dark areas on school grounds can give these animals a better chance to survive.Teaching the children about nocturnal wildlife is also key. Schools can include lessons about animals that are active at night and how light affects them. With support from parents activities like night walks, bat watching or building shelters for insects can help the children really connect with nature.
Hi Emma,
Very in-depth, meaningful plan! Creating a campaign to highlight the effects of light pollution is a great way for children to learn about such important environmental issues while making a real impact in their own community.
Light Pollution is a growing issue in many areas, especially in towns and cities where artificial lighting from streetlights, buildings and vehicles brighten the night sky. This excess light disrupts natural ecosystems by confusing nocturnal animals, disturbing plant growth and affecting human sleep patterns. It limits the ability to see stars and experience the natural beauty of the night sky.
To engage the children in exploring this I would start by showing them pictures of the night sky in the city and the countryside. We would talk about the differences and why it happens. Using torches in dark boxes or drawing starry skies can help them understand how light affects what we see. We could create a dark room in the classroom to see what stars would look like without too much light around.
Hi Ellen,
What a fun and interactive way to explore the night sky! Stellarium makes learning about stars, planets and constellations feel like a real adventure!
Setting your own location and travelling back to historic moments like the 1969 moon landing really helps bring astronomy to life! A fantastic blend of science, history and fun!
Observing the Moon:
We would begin by exploring interesting facts about the moon such as the moon has no light of its own, we can only see it because it reflects the light from the sun. When do we see the moon? Can we see it during the day? Discuss and explore how the moon orbits the Earth and how different parts reflect sunlight at different times.
What’s the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse? Explore and discuss moon landings starting with the first, Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, 1969.
Using the ESERO Moon Observation Log Template we record the date, time and the shape of the moon, observing which quarter the moon is in that period. We would bookmark the website, http://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases to keep a regular check on the moon phases along with the use of the Stellarium app to observe the appearance of the moon.
Hi Sandra,
Very in-depth plan! Great ideas, lots of playful activities to help children explore light, dark and daily routines in a fun, hands on way!
Constructing a sundial:
I would choose our school garden to construct a sundial, its level and it receives the most sunlight. We would begin by picking a spot to on the ground where the children’s body casts a shadow, mark this as the central spot, so that they know to come back and stand in this same spot each time.
From this position, place a ruler on the ground in the same direction in which the shadow is created from the child’s body. Use chalk to draw a straight line from the centre spot, going outwards along the line of their shadow. Make a note of the time at the end of the line.
On the next hour, stand in the centre spot again and use the ruler and chalk to draw a second line, making a note of the new time.
Repeat these steps every hour until the children have recorded a shape for at least 4 times in one hour intervals. The sun dial will show how far the sun has travelled during each hour.
Ask the children:
How far is the shadow moving each hour ? What direction is the shadow moving in? Would this be the same in every country in the world? Where do you think your shadow will be in 9 hours time? Why does the shadow move? What is causing it to change position? Will your shadow return to its original position? Can you explain why?This sounds like a fantastic, well-thought-out plan! Integrating playful, cross-curricular activities with key texts and hands-on stations will make Space Week both very memorable for the children.
Space Week offers a learning experience that sparks children’s curiosity through the well-loved theme of space. In English, children could engage in creative writing activities such as space-themed acrostic poems, diary entries from an astronaut’s perspective, postcards from aliens, and descriptive writing using prompts that encourage them to imagine what they might see, hear, or feel in space. Role-play areas with passports, logbooks, and checklists (things I will need in space!) encourage imaginative play and vocabulary building. Space-themed stories like Whatever Next! and Aliens Love Underpants enhance reading sessions and inspire writing.
In Maths, children explore numbers through hands-on activities such as building rocket towers with cubes, space race dice games, and space themed board games like bingo and memory. A planet scavenger hunt helps reinforce problem-solving and observational skills. Science lessons focus on light sources, shadow investigations, and exploring planets through interactive discussions and fact file creation. Children also learn about materials by designing, building, and testing rockets, with a supervised rocket launch experiment bringing science to life.
Creative skills are encouraged in Art through making space-themed collages using mixed media such as foil, sequins, and dark paper to create starry skies and rockets. Children also craft large papier-mâché planets for a hall display. The week concludes with a Space Exhibition where other classes/parents are invited in to view the work, including art, rockets, and writing. Throughout the week, children develop teamwork, creativity, and develop a wealth of knowledge in science and literacy, making learning fun, meaningful, and memorable.
Great approach! Connecting weather to animal adaptations makes the lesson engaging and helps kids understand how animals survive in cold climates.
STEM has an extraordinarily strong role to play in schools. STEM underpins every part of our lives; it’s everywhere in the world around us. With STEM in mind, the emphasis should be based on skills such as questioning and problem solving which can lead to better creativity and greater innovations. It builds resilience and boosts confidence, and it enables children to embrace their mistakes as part of the learning process. I often tell the children in my class that making mistakes helps our brains to grow! It also encourages many other factors such as experimentation, tech-use, and teamwork.
One website I have used in the past is http://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities. It has loads of fun, hands on STEM activities, challenges, and demonstrations for kids. Most materials are easy to find, and most activities take no time at all. Some of the experiments include build a balloon car, build a paper rocket, elephant toothpaste, walking water, build a sandcastle that can support a brick, can you catch a bubble, turn milk into plastic, make a miniature water cycle model and many more.
