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- <p align=”LEFT”><span style=”color: #163c42;”><span style=”font-family: Bahnschrift Light, sans-serif;”><span style=”font-size: medium;”>Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky? <i>For example: Look up President Michael D Higgins’ “Stardust”</i></span></span></span></p>
<span style=”font-family: Bahnschrift Light, sans-serif;”><span style=”font-size: medium;”>There were many great examples of night inspired songs, poems and art in the Forum. I thought I would look for some more unusual examples to add to these. Joseph O Connell an American sculptor has some beautiful kinetic sculptures inspired by the night sky, stars and planets. I found a website 9 Creations Inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night | Bromleys Art Supplies which has different interpretations of Vincent Van Goghs Starry Night. I think it would be good for the children to see a famous piece of art inspire and be interpreted in different ways. Of course there are Van Goghs other night time paintings like Cafe Terrace at Night and Starry Night over the Rhone. Not quite night inspired art but I came across pictures of cave paintings illuminated at night by torches which were quite evocative. I suppose it is artwork done at night time. The shadows and illumination really give a sense of living by the cycle of day and night and being enveloped in darkness at night with only moonlight and starlight. I looked up Aboriginal star art as suggested by one of the forum posters and came across this site. The Significance of Stars and the Sky in Aboriginal Art and Stories – Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery </span></span>
Such a lovely idea saying goodnight to the stars. I am often struck by the idea that people just like us have been looking up at the same night sky for tens of thousands of years.
It would be lovely to give the children an opportunity to show and share their work with their peers. It would help create a sense of school ownership and community. It might also lead to a school practice with younger classes taking on the role of biodiversity coordinators when their turn comes.
You could also upload pictures of the children’s work and suggestions on the schools social media page or contact a local paper.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.
The school is situated at the edge of a town. We are lucky enough to have a lot of green area, hedgerows, birds, squirrels, passing foxes and we used to have frogs. I would start by showing them Albert Nolan’s video on biodiversity. The start of the What is biodiversity video would be suitable for the age group that I have but it might be a little too serious towards the end. I would ask them to explore the school grounds and note the plants that are growing there. We have ipads which they could use to take a picture of what they see and then use the Wildflowers of Ireland site to identify them. I would then give the children a blank copy of a biodiversity map of the grounds and ask them to mark the plants that they have found.
At a later time we could explore the creatures in the school grounds. We could use the umbrella trick under the trees and bushes, bird feeders at the windows would attract birds where the children could observe them and use the keys from the Heritage in schools resources to identify them. I could ask the children to imagine what other creatures could be around us that we don’t see, why don’t we see them and what clues might they leave for us. The national biodiversity database would give us some information on what creatures we could expect to find in the area. This could lead to a conversation about nocturnal creatures. As a homework assignment I could ask the children to do a nocturnal walk at home using the starter questions and predicting questions in the ESRO resource. The video resources on how creatures see at night were very child friendly and should spark the children’s interest on the impact of light pollution on these creatures.
We could then explore the relationship between the plants and creatures on the school grounds eg long grass for travel, hedgerows for passage and shelter, flowers , nuts and seedheads for food and water sources. there is a sports complex being built next to the school. When completed we could compare our biodiversity survey before and after the complex with it’s lighting. A small stream that used to be beside the site was blocked and we haven’t seen frogs since!
I must look for these documentaries. David Attenborough has a wonderful way of engaging his audience. Younger children connect readily with nature and wildlife and would engage in thinking of ways to protect them. The lighting in sports pitches is familiar to the children and a strong example of light pollution.
I like the idea of looking at a photo taken at dusk of a familiar area and asking the children to look at where the artificial light is coming from. I think it would really help to develop the children’s skills of observation when noticing artificial light.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
I would explore the Stellarium site with the children and show them what is above us in the skies. I would then give them the homework task of looking at the night sky and see what they can see. Being mindful of bedtimes it would be best to do this when the evenings grow shorter. I could send a link to the site home as part of their homework if parents were interested in exploring it at home.
The next morning I would invite the children to share what they did or didn’t see. Some of the children live in built up areas and others in the countryside. We could explore if their is a link between where we live and what can be seen in the skies.
I would start to engage the children’s interest in and awareness of light pollution by showing them the clip of Help protect NSW Dark Skies. As part of a further homework assignment the children would list sources of light they notice around their locality. We would gather this information together the next day and discuss their use and impact. We would explore nocturnal creatures and ask the children to think about how they think light would affect them. We could then explore way in which we could use light at night as needed but in a way that respects the world around us.
I think observing the moon would best suit the age group that I have. I would start by asking the children how old they think the moon is and draw a timeline back to the Vikings, the romans, the Greeks, cavemen, dinosaurs eg…I would then ask them to imagine people or animals looking up at the night sky and how they made sense of it, how it helped them and how important it was before artificial light. I would then introduce stories and myths that people created to explain the moon. I would further develop the topic with an art class on 3D shapes and shadows and connecting this to Aristotle using the moon to discover that the Earth was round. We would them copy Aristotle observing the moons phases and recording them. I think October would be a good month for this as it ties in with a Halloween theme. I would use the Heavens Above or Time and Date online resources to find out when the waning gibbous to third quarter of the moon is visible in the morning or waxing gibbous to first quarter in the afternoon in the western sky, whichever is closest to a suitable date.
It would be interesting and helpful for the children to see the sky on Stellarium before going outside to find the moon during the day. It would add a sense of excitement and fun to the activity. A great idea!
I really liked your idea of introducing the idea of day and night with animals. It might be interesting to explore the midnight sun in parts of the artic circle as well and explore how this might impact people and animals there.
I have a first and second class group. I really like the simple sundial with a bamboo stick and flower pot. It is easy to put together and move and has accessible materials so it is perfect for learning from trial and error, allowing children to learn from experience, problem solve and learn from each other. They find the analogue clock quite difficult to understand. I think showing them the connection between the movement of the sun on a sun dial and the passing of time on a sundial would help them understand the concept. Playing shadow chase would help children notice the sun and shadows. Children learn to be strategic about making their shadow smaller or narrower to make it more difficult to catch them. We have a large school ground and there is a noticeable difference in light and warmth in different areas. Growing sunflowers would also draw their attention to the sun’s movement. They could experiment where best to grow them, watching them lean towards the light or move them with the sun’s movement and compare their growth.
On a local level I have noticed changes in the seasonal cycle of trees and plants.I think there are less bees in my garden each year. There are also very few nocturnal moths. I used to have frogs in my garden but I havent seen one in years now. There has been more coastal erosion and I have seen large sand hills disappear after heavy storms. Although welcome there has been far less frosty or icy mornings We have had a water shortage all summer.
I think it is important to teach children to be aware of consumption at an early age. A lot of old fashioned habits were practical and easy to apply. Closing doors when the heat is on, not wasting material, only taking what you will use. I get the children to gather up all unused art materials and have scrap boxes of paper, material and odds and ends. I teach children to only put out a little paint at a time and to mix colours or look to a neighbour. Drawing paper comes from recycled photocopied paper. Each year I plant pollinating flowers in class for the children to take home.
I like the idea of class energy and recycling monitors. Showing the children the water cycle, how our water is treated and the water shortages in other countries helps children be more aware of water usage. Showing the children images of deforestation in the rainforests really makes an impact and they have a greater appreciation of where our paper comes from.
I loved the idea of bringing people in from the community to involve the children in recycling and upcycling projects.
Biodiversity is a topic that children really engage with. Planting for biodiversity, native plants, trees and hedgerows, school ponds are all practical hands on activities that children enjoy. Teaching children about seasonal produce, where food is being imported from, clothes mountains and their impacts in the environment and the countries they are being imported to will help them make more conscious and informed choices as adult consumers. As a school we could try to reduce car engine idling at drop off and collection times by getting the children to remind their parents to turn off engines. Encouraging children to look after and keep their school materials. Over the years I have really noticed the throwaway or just get another one habit increase. Encouraging children to photograph and share changes or activities they are doing at home eg picking beach litter or waterbutts would help promote a sense of community and togetherness. These could be displayed in a central part of the school.
