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Describe how you could implement a version of “Design Your own Dark Sky place” in your school/classroom?
The ESERO lesson on this provides an excellent structure I have taken inspiration from.
Engage:
Present a picture of the night sky in a Dark Sky Park as the discussion for a ‘see think wonder’.
Introduce and facilitate the discussion of a Dark Sky Park and what it would look like in our community.
Present questions like: who re the stakeholders, where would it be based, map of the area, who would it attract, what would they need, what biodiversity may be affected, how could we restrict light pollution?Explore:
I love the idea of assigning the children as stakeholders which gives them a chance to consider another valuable perspective. They can speak to some ‘actual’ stakeholders and then feedback their thoughts which will help in putting together the initial plan.
They need to refer to parking, safety, lighting.
Explain:
Each group will share their learning with the whole class so that all info has been shared and all children can use it.
Elaborate:
Design a brochure sharing the idea of a Dark Shy Place. Share the map of the layout, rules of use, opening hours, safety precautions, etc.
Evaluate:
They could present their brochures to other classes for feedback or questions on any of the terminology and ideas.Great ideas, Sinead. Projects are definitely a brilliant way to engage children and I think it’s lovely to compare info and stories through generations.
• How you would incorporate the needs of nocturnal species, especially those that rely on dark skies into school biodiversity plans
Our school biodiversity plan would encourage biodiversity in general but I can see the value of mentioning nocturnal animals as they may otherwise go under the radar.
Here are some ideas to incorporate the needs of nocturnal animals:
A Bio Blitz event to understand what biodiversity we currently have in our playground or locality and gather a record of such.
Involve the children in this process by equipping them with identification booklets, sketchpads, cameras. Equipped with this info we could create a biodiversity map.
We could then build on this information and seek to recognise where in the yard we could increase biodiversity levels. This could be bug hotels, bat boxes, wildflower areas, tree/ bush plantation, etc. many of these could be built or created cheaply with the children’s help.
To motivate the community further in terms of nocturnal living things, the installation of a motion camera could add excitement.
The ‘Wild things at school’ books by Éanna Ní Lamhna and the Esero 30 ‘Day and Night’ could provide further reading, resources and ideas to build on the terms around biodiversity and nocturnal too.I like the idea of asking the children to leave a light in a window to allow them to see and recognise what nocturnal creatures may live in their locality.
A reflective piece on how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this:
Like many here, I am becoming increasingly aware of the changes occurring to our dark skies.
I think that this topic would be most suited to senior classes so as to have a better chance of some perspective.
Engage: I think the comparison drawn between the skies of 1995 and 2015 would be a great opener to spark discussion using the thinking strategy ‘claim, support, question’.
Explore: This time present two photos of the recent Northern Lights. One would ideally be taken locally and the other taken with either an obviously better or obviously worse view. The children could hypothesize what they think would cause this.
Explain: Next the children can share their ideas and be presented with the ‘what is light pollution’ video.
Elaborate: We could choose a project to work on here, maybe the light pollution map or the light and dark activity. Both would offer the children a chance to connect with this topic.
We could also take part in ‘earthhour.org’ to find practical ways to improve light pollution in our locality.
Evaluate: We could work on a presentation or a quiz here to share our growing knowledge.
Extend: The children could go on to explore how light pollution affects us, nocturnal animals, plants, etc.I love the lighting redesign idea, to give the children some responsibility in improving things and engage in higher order thinking.
Hi Christina,
This would be lovely with infants and they would certainly love to participate in moon observation homework!
Create a short teaching resource using Stellarium/ WorldWide Telescope:
Engage: Show the children a picture to spark a ‘see, think, wonder’. It could be of a starry night including some constellations.
Explore: Let the children know that we will be learning about constellations. Ask them to brainstorm ideas as to how would be best to learn about this topic.
Explain: Allow the children a chance to explain their ideas as we may already have an expert who would be happy to teach us or have children who came up with interesting ideas.
Elaborate: Now introduce the children to stellarium and worldwidetelescope to further their knowledge and give them a chance to experiment with this in pairs on i-pads. In this way they could take some tours and learn how to find the north star.
Evaluate: This would be a lovely opportunity for a project which could be presented in many different forms: posters, presentation, artwork, etc
Extend: A lovely extension could be to incorporate the project on making your own planetarium. This could give the children a chance to show and share their growing knowledge on stars by creating their own version of a starry night.Create a short teaching resource using Stellarium/ WorldWide Telescope:
Engage: Show the children a picture to spark a ‘see, think, wonder’. It could be of a starry night including some constellations.
Explore: Let the children know that we will be learning about constellations. Ask them to brainstorm ideas as to how would be best to learn about this topic.
Explain: Allow the children a chance to explain their ideas as we may already have an expert who would be happy to teach us or have children who came up with interesting ideas.
Elaborate: Now introduce the children to stellarium and worldwidetelescope to further their knowledge and give them a chance to experiment with this in pairs on i-pads. In this way they could take some tours and learn how to find the north star.
Evaluate: This would be a lovely opportunity for a project which could be presented in many different forms: posters, presentation, artwork, etc
Extend: A lovely extension could be to incorporate the project on making your own planetarium. This could give the children a chance to show and share their growing knowledge on stars by creating their own version of a starry night.ESERO 30 day and night :
I like this lesson as I think it is well suited to the middle classes but leaves lots oI like the idea of the children around the world activity to get the children thinking globally and what that means for us in different ways.
I would use the photographs of the animals and ask the children to think what way they could be classified. They may think in terms of habitat, weight, size, colour, etc. These are great discussions and can then lead to the introduction of diurnal and nocturnal.
It would be great to share traits of each and then see if we can classify them correctly based on that.
There are two lovely activities to show day and night in the world, one with the orange and one with the cut outs. I would have half the class work on one activity while the other half work on the other activity.
We can share our results with one another and go on a walking tour around the class to try out an activity different to their original one.
f room for differentiation.