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Describe how you could implement a version of “Design Your own Dark Sky place” in your school/classroom?
Working in a built up urban area may present some additional challenges to this activity however with a little imagination I feel it could be quite successful. I would begin by introducing the class to Dark Sky Spaces in Ireland and sharing images of Ireland’s dark sky areas. Prompt questions such as why would people visit a place like this? what could you see here? What animals do you think would like to live here? Etc. would allow the children to draw on their previous learning around light pollution, dark skies and biodiversity. Using Google Earth we could look at the area around our school and see if any particular place stands out as a good setting for our Dark Sky Place. Perhaps the Phoenix Park may reveal itself to be just such a place? It would be quite easy for me to arrange a class visit to the Phoenix Park and this may help students to appreciate more fully the task in hand. Allowing the students to envisage the project from different stakeholders’ perspectives is a great idea as it encourages greater empathy and allows for a wider scope of enquiry. Each group may encounter different challenges around lighting, parking, noise and disruption to neighbours and they will be encouraged to use models and maps to experiment wand come up with solutions.
What a lovely way to celebrate your school’s rich history Lora. I’d say the 100 year old lady had sone tales to tell!
How lovely to have a forest school section and rewilding area in your school Patrick. So great that the children have access to nature.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.The first step to explore biodiversity is our school’s local area would be to ensure that the children know what biodiversity actually means. There is a lovely (very short) David Attenborough video clip called ‘What is Biodversity?’ which is great for generating discussion around the topic. It is really important then to shift the discussion to a national level – what biodiversity exists in Ireland? and then to our immediate locality. The next step would be to have the class conduct a biodiversity survey or Bioblitz and identify what biodiversity exists in our locality. Our school is in Dublin’s inner city and we have very limited outdoor space. We do have a small park nearby and a pond a little further away. I think I would encourage the class to look at these 3 areas – school, park and pond both separately and then as a whole. Once we have established what biodiversity exists I would have the class make posters explaining this to the rest of the school. A celebration of the biodiversity in our urban landscape. Once there is an awareness of what actually exists in our area the next step is to make a plan for what we want to improve. While we may not have space for wildflower meadows or tree planting we could possibly set up insect hotels, bird feeders or bat boxes. It would be interesting to conduct a bioblitz the following year and see if anything has changed. It would be fascinating to set up a night vision motion detection camera near the school to see what nocturnal animals visit. Perhaps linking up with a school in a less light polluted area and comparing night camera footage would get children thinking about the effects of light pollution on nocturnal animals.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
I was lucky enough to travel across America many years ago. Camping in the desert under the stars is one of my most enduring memories. The beauty of the night sky is breath taking. This module has made me realise how privileged I was. I was shocked and saddened to learn that over 50% of the population of Ireland and over 80% of the UK’s population can’t see the Milky Way. I work and live in Dublin. I can’t remember that last time I saw the night sky clearly. The children I work with are mostly from the inner city and they rarely if ever get out to the countryside. I suspect they would be amazed if they saw what the night sky looks like without light pollution. It is an unfortunate fact that they think the night sky they see is what the sky is meant to look like. I would like to dispel this myth for them by undertaking an investigation into light pollution in our area. A good starting point for discussion would be the ESRO Light and Dark activity. I also like the box planetarium and Space Week activity on light pollution to allow students to get hands on experience.
I would love to get my class involved in a Dark Sky Assessment of our local area. Our school is located in the city next to a small urban park. This park is lit up at night although it is closed to the public. Our street is lit by beautifully ornate Georgian lamp posts. If they could come up with some possible alternatives or adaptations to the current lighting in our area perhaps we could get a campaign going and try to affect change. It’s worth a shot.I also live and work in an urban area Patrick and I completely agree that it is important that our students appreciate that the night sky they see is not how the sky actually looks. It breaks my heart to think they may never see the milky way!
Plan to observe the moon.
According to timeanddate.com there is a super moon and a partial lunar eclipse visible in Dublin on September 18th 2024. Although the moon may be more visible in the mornings later on in September, this partial eclipse could be an exciting time to generate interest in the moon and its phases.
Prior to observing the moon and its phases, I would ensure that the children understand that the moon orbits the earth. I would use the activity ESERO 62 Observing the Moon to allow the children to see how the positions of the sun the moon and the earth affect what we can see of the moon from earth. Creating models of the moon earth and sun using papier mâché could enhance this lesson. I saw a lovely simple activity online where the class recreate the phases of the moon using Oreo’s. The added bonus being that the children get to eat the part of the Oreo to create the moon phase. These hands on activities are fun and can be turned into lovely (though temporary) displays. The Paxi and our moon video would be a good addition to the work done in class.Good point on the unpredictability of the Irish weather Brendan. The clouds could scupper the moon observation plans!
I agree Patrick there is potential for cross curricular integration with the sun dial activity, as indeed with many of the activities in Module 1. I look forward to trying this next year.
<span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;”>I am looking forward to making Planet Tubes with my class next year. What I particularly like about this activity is the scope for differentiation and the many cross curricular links it facilitates.</span>
<span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;”>I teach in a special school and my class is quite small. This allows me to have each child make a planet tube to complete the solar system. Having researched their given planet, each child would decorate and label their tube. I would have them find between a1 and 3 interesting facts about their planet. They would then present their tube to the class and describe their planet. I would then have the class place them in the order they come in the solar system. I would use the ESA Paxi and the Solar System video to help reinforce this information. </span>
<span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;”>I would introduce the topic of gravity possibly using the Reel Science video to help here. I would explain that objects can be heavier or lighter on different planets. I would probably not go into the difference between mass and wright at this stage. Splitting the class into pairs I would have them measure the correct amount of ballast for their tubes. I would play some games like guess the heaviest lightest tube, put the tubes in order from heaviest to lightest. I might have them check the weight of their classmates tubes for accuracy. For some students this may be enough. I would get them to label their planet with the weight of the tube and write about what we have learned. Other students may be able to extend their learning to the difference between mass and weight, calculating the weight of different objects on different planets and understanding the concept of weightlessness/micro gravity.</span><span style=”color: #000000; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; font-size: medium;”> </span>
