[Una Halpin]

Hi Aoife

Using your school as a location for designing a dark sky place is a great idea. You have mentioned in previous posts that you have some trees and wildlife and planting areas that already make your school more suitable for wildlife than the surrounding built up urban area and your class last year have already experienced the effects of light pollution in not being able to see the Northern lights. Using that idea of creating a small oasis of darkness in the midst of a brightly lit urban area is a great way to get the children involved in thinking about the problem and its solutions and I love the idea of presenting their ideas to the principal and combining with energy saving initiatives for Green schools.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Jamie

I like the idea of comparing different habitats within the school or the surrounding area to see the variety of wildlife they encounter. This exercise should help them to realise that different plants will grow in different areas because of factors like sunlight, soil depth, slope, space and human disturbance or management. Animals in turn will have their own needs and will depend on having the right trees, hedges or flowers for food and shelter. If we consider light pollution, we add in another human factor that plants and animlas have to contend with. Combining the biodiversity data they have gathered with the surveys on light levels, should allow pupils to develop their own understanding of the impact of artifical light in their area and to get them thinking about solutions.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Louise

When typing elsewhere and copying in to the forum just right click in the window and choose paste as plain text. That will copy without all the extra formatting. You can leave this post if you like as the extra formatting isn’t too much of an issue. I won’t delete it and leave you with nothing.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Katie

You have some great ideas for introducing infant classes to the idea of a weather forecast. Using songs, pictures and videos is a great way to introduce younger pupils to weather vocabulary. Activity 2 in this resource is also ideal for infants as they can use simple instruments and picture cards to make weather observations and record the weather daily. This weather recording activity could lead on to a discussion on weather patterns and combined with watching some clips of weather forecasts from RTE the children might make a weather prediction for the next day and present it to the class. The concept of climate is probably a bit advanced for infants so the TEAL tool would not be relevant to their weather reports

[Una Halpin]

Hi Anna

I love the idea of using many different approaches to study the same thing. After using videos and pictures to learn about some of the constellations, children should be more prepared to engage with the Stellarium map and to make their star wheel. By using both the physical and digital tools, children can compare them with each other and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. By trying them out in school and then hopefully at home at night, some children may find the star wheel easier to work with while others will favour the Stellarium ap.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Laura

I agree that creating a design for a dark sky palce is a great opportunity for cross curricular learning and could also be a great way opportunity for integrated STEM by including opportunities for some of the following: scientific investigation of widllife in the locality and types of lighting, engineering design of lighting infrastructure and shielding, exploration of lighting technologies, digital design programmes or methods of presentation and the use of maps, scales and co-ordinates to draw up plans. The children will ahve opportuinties for collaboration and critical thinking as they work together to design their place and present their work.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Garrett

That sounds like a lovely lesson and a great tie in your literacy lesson on “The owl who was afraid of the dark”. I’m sure the story will capture the children’s imagination and they will enjoy finding the constellations named in the book and investigating when they can be visible in the night sky in Ireland. It would be a lovely idea to extend the learning into homework and asking the children to look at the sky at home in the evenings when Orion or other constellations are visible. The Kahoot quiz with pictures of constellations is a nice way to recap on what they have learned.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Mairead

Welcome to the course. I am sure your first and second class will enjoy learning about how people told the time in the past. This would be a nice tie in with time in maths and making the sundial is a nice way of investigating time in a hands on and playful way as well as investigating the movement of the Earth through investigation of shadows. I love the idea of the painted / varnished stones which the children could design and paint as an art activity.

[Una Halpin]

Hi June

That sounds like a great opportunity to be able to attend that Biodiversity day and take on practical tasks as well as learning about Biodiversity. It is good to be able to share what you see in Wicklow with your pupils living in inner city Dublin as it is a good way to discuss differences. It is also good to highlight species that might live in the city and to do what you can in school to encourage smaller creatures like moths and bees. It might also be a good idea to highlight urban wildlife such as urban foxes and seagulls. People often consider these a nuisance but it is important to realise that wild animals and birds like these are forced to move into urban areas and scavenge our waste becasue we have destroyed their habitats and forced them into smaller areas.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Paula

You have made an interesting point about how artificial lighting designed for safety can in some cases make things less safe. I often find when driving at night that I find it very difficult to see at motorway junctions and areas that are well lit up because the lights are too glaring after driving on dark roads. I am sure that with better lighting design, the pedestrian bridge could be lit up safely without causing an issue for motorists and hopefully the County Council will take people’s concerns on board and redesign. this scenario could be a good one to introduce to the children to design better shielded lighting for the pedestrian bridge.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Dympa

I love the idea of using Van Gogh’s stary night as a prompt activity. When the children realise for themsleves how difficult it is to see the stars in an urban area, this will lead to lots of discussion on why it was different fro Van Gogh. It will lead to discussions on how things have changed over time with greater numbers of brighter artificial lights and also lead to discussions on the difference bewteen urban and rural areas. Perhaps the children will be able to share stories of visiting relatives or travelling to more rural areas where they light have been able to see more stars. The design of streetscapes and light shields would really follow on well from this.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Michelle

Living near Killarney National Park would be a good opportunity to look at lighting outside and within the park by doing lighting surveys on the streets of Killarney and also in places within the park. It should be possible to map the lights they see, both on walks with the class but also when walking with parents or other groups during evenings and weekends. Mapping the position of the lights, it might be possible to draw conclusions about how far the street lights will penetrate into the park and which areas are likely to be best for night time Biodiversity which could really add to your discussions around protecting biodiversity.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Rebecca

To resolve your formatting issue, before pasting in text, right click on the response window and choose “paste as plain text”. This will remove all the extra formatting.

I love the idea of using places near your home town of Birr to contrast with areas that are familiar to children living in Dublin. Using the Birr Suspension bridge to compare to local bridges in Dublin would be a great way to begin a discussion on the uses of bridges and the design of different types. You have outlined lots of ideas for incorporating practical maths in a real world setting.

[Una Halpin]

Hi Eva

I love the idea of using not just one local bridge but a few different types. This is a great way to discuss the purposes of different bridges and the design that best suits that purpose. That is a great way to begin discussions of the bridges that the children will create and help them to set criteria as a class.  Inspired by your post I’ve just looked up Broom Bridge and found that it has importnat historical and scientific significance as well as being importnat for transport in Dublin so it could also be the inspiration for further STEM and cross-curricular studies

[Una Halpin]

Hi Sharon

That is a lovely idea for a class project. The River Shannon is an important feature not just in your local area but for the whole country, so it is great for the children living close to the river to explore their part of the river and interpret what they find through science, art and creative writing. Giving the children the choice of which art medium to use and which form of creative writing to produce really helps to make it their own. Nature walks could be repeated throughout the year in different seasons increasing the children’s knowledge of local biodiversity and giving further opportunities for artistic, and creative expression.

[Author]

Posts