[Noirin Phelan]

Some great ideas and links thanks Orla. I like the mix of Bowie’s Starman and Holst’s The Planets to show different responses to the night sky. I’ve also used Frost’s Stars to get students thinking about imagery and the night sky. The Haiku activity works really well to link STEM and literacy.

[Noirin Phelan]

I really like this plan.  I found the song Biodiversity by Billy B a great starting point. It’s catchy and ties into themes of habitats, species interdependence and conservation. the lyrics highlight whales, rhinos, rainforests and coral reefs. I like the mix of tasks like sketches and species lists and the wall chart that give everyone a chance to get involved.

[Noirin Phelan]

This a great project. The step by step guide makes it manageable even for those who have never done any star gazing before. I love how it has  the hands on observation and citizen science project so pupils can see their contribution matters.  A great way to raise and awareness about light pollution while keeping the sense of wonder about the night sky.

[Noirin Phelan]

I love the way you have combined the stories, songs, art and play to make the planets engaging for infants. The link with 6th class and telescopes is one I will be borrowing

[Noirin Phelan]

Thanks Monica for sharing those ideas for your lesson. Some great ideas to integrate STEM with my SET group. The discussions, the hands on activities and moving onto the higher order questions will allow me to keep the students motivated!

[Noirin Phelan]

I enjoy Autumn and Winter evening and night walks a mile or so from home where we have great opportunities to explore the night sky with limited light pollution or I take to the water and wait until dusk arrives.  As the evenings get darker I encourage my students to look towards our local headland where Saturn will be visible on clear nights. I would review compass directions in advance of this and show students how to find N/S/E?W and orientate themselves.  Jupiter will rise justfurther east later in the month and can’t be missed its so bright. Throughout October students could observe how the positions of the planets shift and this will give us an opportunity to review and explore other aspects of Earth and Space strand. In November then at dawn in the darker mornings on the way to school Mars will be visible before dawn. I would use the interactive whiteboard to explore the ESERO resources to support our exploration of the Autumn Night Sky

[Noirin Phelan]

The satellite images are a great idea of exploring the seasons.  They are such a fantastic resource and Google Earth is often underutilised.

[Noirin Phelan]

I’m the Green Team Co-Ordinator and I now realise that we need to review our biodiversity plan to include protecting nocturnal species and add this to our Action Plan.

Using our school SESE padlet I will upload links for teachers to use about the dark sky and specific links to websites where children could learn about our indigenous nocturnal species.

We could carry out at a light pollution audit. Following a recent modernisation and extension there were  a large amount of unnecessary lights in the school grounds. While they have been reduced I feel we need to again review the lighting to create a safer space for our moths and bats.  We could plant some honeysuckle and evening primrose to increase the night flying insects. We could build and install bat boxes. We already have an owl box.

I would encourage classes to create a dark sky diary for the school website where observations of stars, moon phases and nocturnal animals could be recorded such as owls. moths and bats and sea creatures.

[Noirin Phelan]

Answering question 2

The night and darkness in Ireland is full of sounds and movements we don’t always see. Children living in urban area don’t always get to experience the darrkness void of human noise.

I will  list some songs that bring sky and the sea together  as I live and teach in a coastal town. Songs like Óró sé do bheatha ‘bhaile , The Cliffs of Dooneen, Galway Bay, Carrickfergus, Isle of Hope , Isle of Tears and The Whole of the Moon could be explored in class.  Quotes from Ó Riordán – “Ní bhíonn sa dorchadas ach féileacháin na réaltaí” nó O Díreáin “I m’aonar i measc na gaoithe ag féachaint suas ar spéir na hoíche” or Ní Dhomhnall’s “Is í spéir na hóiche mo pháipéar bán.”

I would use these quotes as a creative writing prompt and ask them to write a short story or poem using one of the quotes. I would ask  to create artwork inspired by some of the songs.

[Noirin Phelan]

Some great ideas here to integrate using different media and great way to link the past and present. Dúchas.ie is a great resource and recording stories and voice clips or short videos about the night sky from older people in the locality would be very worthwhile. These could then be shared on a padlet or drive for other classes in the school to use.

[Noirin Phelan]

The plan would be for my 6th class SET group to construct a sundial in the  school grounds.  I’d begin with a prediction exercise to get the students thinking like scientists.

Questions like – at nine o clock, do you think  the shadow be long or short? Which direction will the shadow point do you think?
At midday , will the shadow be at its shortest or longest?
By hometime, will the shadow point in a different direction than it did in the morning?

The children could then go outdoors and choose a sunny spot in the school grounds that receives direct sunlight for most of the day. This will depend on cloud cover on the day. A location near the raised beds would be ideal as it flat and easily accessible by all. It would be a good place for children to show their parents the project too.

They I would encourage the children to find a vertical stick, maybe bamboo from the garden and try and get it firmly into the ground to cast a shadow.
During the day, the students would mark the position of the stick’s shadow every hour using a marker or small stone.  The whiteboard timer could be used to create an hourly reminder alarm.

I would then get the children who are scouts to show their peers how to use a compass and make sure the shortest shadow is aligned with true north to create an accurate time marker at noon.

Students could write up the project for the school website and take photos and video to enhance the project and document for whole school records. The activity could be added to the schools SESE padlet.

The children could  present their work to other classes who were interested , explaining the process and they could offer to lead them in building their own simple sundials. This would be an opportunity for these SET students to grow in confidence through peer-to-peer teaching.

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