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Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Songs:
Twinkle, Little StarMidnight Sky
Starships
Talking to the moon
Stargazing
Star Light, Star Bright
Mr. Moon
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon
Hey Diddle Diddle
Star Light, Star Bright
The Moon Shines Down
The Owl and the Pussycat
Fly Me to the Moon
What a Wonderful World
A Sky Full of Stars
Space Oddity
Walking on the Moon
Drops of Jupiter
Counting Stars
Starry, Starry Night
Moon River
The Sound of Silence
Poems:
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- The Moon – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Moon – Emily Dickinson
Silver – Walter de la Mare
The Owl and the Pussy-cat – Edward Lear
Night – William Blake
The Star – Jane Taylor
Stars – Sara Teasdale
The Stars – Robert Louis Stevenson
A Visit from St. Nicholas – Clement Clarke Moore
The Comet – Christina Rossetti
A Visit to the Moon – Emily Dickinson
The Moon – Valerie Bloom
Stars – Mary Oliver
The Moon Was But a Chin of Gold – Emily Dickinson
Art:
Vincent van Gogh – The Starry Night
Claude Monet – The Cliff Walk at Pourville / night scenes
Georgia O’Keeffe –Sky Above Clouds
Edvard Munch – The Starry Night
I agree I love Starry Night.
I think The Starry Night is a wonderful piece of art to introduce to children because it encourages them to look closely, ask questions and express their own ideas. Van Gogh’s use of bold colours, swirling lines and movement in the sky creates an immediate visual impact and gives children lots to talk about.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.
Exploring biodiversity: I would ensure to involve the pupils in hands-on observation, investigation and outdoor learning activities. I would organise a biodiversity walk around the school grounds and local area. I would create a key which enables them to find different types of plants, insects, birds and other wildlife. I would then ask all pupils to create a biodiversity map which shows the different types of wildlife in our school and local area and we will display them and create a 3-D model.
Impacts of light pollution on biodiversity: Introduce light pollution using a video. Ask many question about the night sky and light in their local area – the types of light – artificial, commercial, street lights etc. Discuss how these lights may affect wildlife. Investigate whether there are more insects around a light source or a dark area – record and draw their findings.
Encourage the children to consider possible solutions, such as switching off unnecessary outdoor lights, using motion sensors or reducing the brightness of lights. This would allow them to understand that small changes in our local environment can have an impact on biodiversity.
I would aim to make the learning active, local and inquiry-based. By allowing children to observe biodiversity for themselves, ask questions and investigate the possible effects of light pollution, they can develop a greater understanding of their local environment and a sense of responsibility for protecting it.
I particularly like the idea of beginning with a concept map. This would allow the children to share their existing knowledge about swallows while also identifying questions that they would like to investigate. Observing the swallows on the telephone wires using binoculars would make the learning meaningful and encourage the children to become more aware of the wildlife around their school.
Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
In my local area light pollution is an increasing issue. As the area continues to develop and expand there has been street lights, commercial lighting and many facilities developed which include adding more lightening to the local area. The artificial lighting can have many positive and important effects for a community – safety etc but excessive lighting can reduce visibility of the night sky and negatively impact animals.
To engage my learners with this topic, I would begin by showing them a suitable video on light pollution – https://youtu.be/OWiw_YPoI0Q to introduce the concept and spark their curiosity. I would then encourage the children to carry out a simple night-sky observation at home with their families. They could record how many stars they can see, note the amount of artificial light around their homes and identify different sources of light pollution in their local area.
In the classroom I would encourage pupils to share their findings and observations. I would ask the pupils to guess what kind of an area do they thing their peers live in – rural / urban. We could discuss why some areas may experience more light pollution than others and explore how artificial light affects people, wildlife and our view of the night sky. The learners could then investigate practical ways to reduce light pollution, such as switching off unnecessary lights, using motion sensors and ensuring outdoor lights are directed downwards rather than into the sky.This approach would make the topic meaningful by connecting it to the children’s own local environment. It would encourage curiosity, observation and environmental awareness. The children would learn that even small changes in how we use artificial light can help protect the night sky and local wildlife.
I like how your activity moves beyond simply identifying the problem and encourages the children to think about possible solutions. This supports environmental awareness while also developing observation skills, curiosity and a sense of active citizenship. It would be a great opportunity for children to realise that even small changes in how we use light can make a positive difference to both people and wildlife.
Create an observing plan for autumn that shows which planets are visible in the evening sky.
I would introduce the idea of the solar system to the pupils by showing them this video – https://youtu.be/_LGvH-iuMS8
Then I would turn off all the lights in the classroom and close the blinds. I would display a picture of the night sky. Ask the pupils a simple question ‘What would you see in the sky at night?’ Let the pupils answer this using the think pair and share methodology and then get their ideas. Display their suggestions on the whiteboard then at the end of the lesson they can compare their initial ideas with the correct facts.
Teach the pupils about all of the planets but focus on the autumn ones – Saturn and Jupiter. Talk about their characteristics etc. Create an autumn night sky map for the pupils.
Use questions like –
Find the direction the planet should face.
Locate Saturn or Jupiter.
Mark the planet on the map.
Draw what they think it would look like through a telescope.
Ensure the pupil records the time and date they see the planet. Ask them to record data about these planets for a few weeks to see of they are still visible a month later.
Finishing activity – Choose one child to come to the front and secretly give them a planet card. They become the “planet” and the rest of the class are the detectives.
The class can ask yes/no questions to figure out which planet they are.
I really like this idea. It allows the pupils to engage with hands on activities while collaborating with their peers.
I really like the activity which allows pupils to construct a sundial in their immediate area.
To spark curiosity in the children and to introduce this lesson to them I would put a sundial under a box and reveal it to them. I would ask them questions like – What do you think this is? How do you think people told the time before clocks and phones? Can you guess how this object works without touching it?
I would then take the class outside and complete an activities that show them the relationship between the sun, shadows and time.
Ask the pupils many different questions about their shadows – Can you always see your shadow? How is your shadow formed? Can you stand on your shadow? They will then become shadow detectives to find out the answer.
Call out a statement to the pupils that will enable them to engage in a discussion in pairs
‘Imagine we all jumped into a time machine and travelled back in time maybe 3000 years. When we arrive back in time we discover that there are no phones, watches, clocks or even electricity. How do you think we can tell the time ? We need to know what time to have dinner and what time to go to school’.
See what they come up with then introduce them to the idea of using the sun.
Use chalk and the pupils to record the movement of the sun. Create an imaginary clock – the pupils will be the hands. Record with chalk the movement of their shadow and record the time.
Extra activity – get them to predict where their shadow will be in an hour.
Activity – Imagine you are a child living before clocks were invented. Write a short diary entry explaining how you used a sundial to know when it was time to work, eat, or meet your friends.
Finish up the lesson by reading the fairy tale ‘The Sun Thief’ https://youtu.be/2-NQG7OJFYs
Assessment activity – Give each child a piece of paper with the following prompts
- One thing I learned about a sundial is…..
- A sundial tells the time by…..
- A question I have is….