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Detail how light pollution is impacting your local area and how you would engage your learners to explore this.
I teach in a rural school which has pupils from that rural area and also from our local town.
I would approach this activity by brainstorming what the pupils understand by light pollution. It would be very interesting for the class to note the differences between the two contexts. I think this activity would lend itself to group work.
We would refer to the International Dark Sky Association clip on Losing the Dark and consider the impact in three different sections:
- Impact on animals
- Impact on plants
- Impact on humans
We would also refer to Dark Sky Ireland and Duncan Stewart’s clip. I was shocked that 50% of people in Ireland and 80% of people in the UK don’t see the Milky Way. It was also sobering to see the change in the natural sky map of Ireland from 1997 to 2015. I’m sure it is even worse now, 9 years later. I live in a very rural part of Co. Wexford at the coast. Outside at night for us is amazing, I feel so lucky to see huge, dark skies, stars, constellations, Milky Way at any time. It’s not something I take for granted at all but I feel sad for any of our pupils who haven’t ever seen that or don’t realise what they are missing out on.
Pupils would present their findings to the class in their groups. I think a key aspect to this activity would be for pupils to research potential solutions. As mentioned in the module, light pollution is relatively easy to address and solutions are readily available, e.g. downward facing street lights that avoid light spill. I feel it is important for pupils to feel empowered that they can actively participate in being part of the solution, even with something as simple as turning off an unused light in their own homes.
Hi Michelle,
I agree re the night sky. I grew up in a rural area also and saw the stars on demand really. They were a given. So many people now don’t have that opportunity and, depending on where they live, may not even realise what they are missing out on.
I would choose an activity based on Seeing Stars, Looking at The Plough in two different ways.
I think this would be a fantastic lesson/s for pupils. The opportunities for integration with Maths and Art are super. I learned so much myself from just watching the clip. I never considered before that, a) the stars in a given constellation are different distances from the Earth or, b) that each star in a constellation has its own name! Every day is 100% a school day.
I would aim this activity at senior classes and I would aim for the constellations to hang from the ceilings rather than be presented from the ground/table up as I think the idea of perspective and viewing the constellations from different angles would be more impactful from the ceiling.
I like that this activity lends itself to group as well as individual work. Some pupils would definitely prefer to create their own constellation and would prefer to have ownership of the measuring etc.
Each constellation whether from a group or individual can be displayed in the classroom and/or along a corridor ceiling. They could be accompanied by extra information on The Plough specifically and constellations in general. I would also use ESERO 34 for extra exploration of constellations and the Space week lesson for creation of their own constellations.
Hi Louise,
I agree about the display. It provides a wonderful opportunity to present work and can be very effective in common areas of the school like the corridors or hall.
Gravity/Weight – Assemble an Earth Tube and one other planet tube – decorate in a suitable manner
I would use this activity with 5th or 6th Class. It’s a super lesson for integration also as there is scope for Art as well as the STEM subjects.
I would begin with a brainstorm re the planets and mass/weight/gravity. Compile a bank of the pupils’ prior knowledge. Then I would assign a planet to each group and allow the groups to research further information about their planet.
Following this, each group would use the sand or rice and weigh the specified amount to go into their tube. They would then experience lifting each tube to feel the differences and record their findings.
The tubes would be decorated to the specifications decided by each group, ideally incorporating 2 key pieces of information about their given planet into the decoration.
As an extension, each group would then have the opportunity to present the information they researched on their planets to the other groups.
I think this experiment would be ideal for a school assembly during science week or hopefully during space week which I would love to introduce in our school. Each group could present to the school and open the floor for questions.
Hi Micheál,
Yes, a great idea to use a big, open space for the sundial which we luckily have at our school also. The next challenge is finding a full day of sun!
The activity I have chosen for this assignment is the Rocket Mice. I think this would work well with 1st or 2nd. For infants, we would need to provide some help with the cutting section.
We would start by eliciting prior knowledge about rockets. Maybe some of the pupils would have rocket toys, pictures, drawings on their bags, shoes, etc. We would compile a list of all they know and discuss their opinions on what makes a rocket fly.
I like this experiment in particular as the pupils can be creative with their mice. They can choose to leave them plain or decorate them or even have additions like feathers, beads, etc. which would, a) allow for creativity and b) facilitate a discussion around the weight of the mouse in relation to how far it travels.
Pupils would bring in their own milk cartons. Again this would allow for interesting comparing and contrasting of the height reached by different mice attached to different containers.
Ideally this experiment would take place outside on a calm day against a backdrop of a block wall in our school which could be numbered upwards at each block to allow for a degree of measurement.
In groups, the pupils could experiment with different sizes of cartons, different weights of mice, even noticing different heights when different levels of squeezes are used. They will be encouraged to identify what makes the mice rise and what makes them fall. This lesson will also be integrated with Maths as they count the number of blocks passed by each mouse.
For this assignment, I would use the hands on themed activities in the Animals in the Cold section. I think this lesson would be so enjoyable for junior classes.
As we in Ireland are all experts on talking about the weather, the class discussion at the start of Animals in the Cold would be at full speed! Lists of films etc set in the North or South poles would be ideal. Then the pupils could brainstorm about what animals they would expect to find there. A list with pictures can be compiled at this point.
When thinking about these animals keeping warm, the personal experience of the pupils can be drawn on in terms of how they keep warm themselves, whether it is on yard, at home, going to the supermarket, etc. I would lay coats, jackets, scarves, hats, gloves, etc. on their tables and have a discussion about what makes these items effective against the cold.
Moving to the animals, we can then explore the natural coats and fat they have instead of our manmade ones and that they keep them on all the time. (Some pupils who have cats at home might have noticed that they moult in summer but their coats become thicker and plusher in the Winter to keep as much heat as possible.)
The vaseline is a super idea here. It demonstrates so well the waterproof properties of grease/fat. I would do a before and after at this stage of the lesson so they experience the immediate effect of the vaseline on their hands.
The idea of camouflage will be very well illustrated with the penguin and polar bear. We could also chat briefly about any other animals they are aware of where camouflage is used.
What a great idea to have it as part of Aistear. So many of the resources on this course will be ideal in September.
The activity set I have chosen for this assignment is The Stars.
I think an ideal time of year for this would be around Christmas where there are so many references to stars and the night sky happening for the pupils. Songs like Catch a Falling Star or When you wish upon a Star could be used to introduce the topic. Stories like How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers would also provide a great prompt.
I would use the ESERO lesson, Lots and lots of stars. I think this would be a very effective lesson to illustrate the vast number of stars. If I had another adult in the room, I would aim for group work with this as the different ‘starscapes’ produced would provide a great source of discussion and response for the pupils. If not, individual responses would work very well also.
I would make a conscious decision to give the pupils a mix of equipment so that we don’t have 24 splatterboards or 24 toothbrushes etc. The use of different tools means that the pupils would get to see the effect and results of the different methods and it would make the lesson more interesting for them.
I like the opportunities for integration of maths. The pieces of equipment can be counted as well as the stars on the worksheets at the end.
At the end of the lesson, I would display all of the pieces on the corridor/in the hall as a starry sky from our whole class and allow the opportunity for the pupils to explain their process and share what they have learned about stars at a school assembly or for visiting pupils from another class.
This Twinkl link has lots of great ideas and activities:
https://www.twinkl.ie/blog/astronomy-for-kids-with-star-facts-from-twinkl-kids-tv
Hi Susan,
I love that book by Tom Fletcher. It does a lovely job to promote inclusion and would definitely be an ideal springboard for exploring space and aliens.
I would choose the activity pack based on the moon.
Pupils are always fascinated by the moon, it’s so familiar to them yet so far away and magical. It is mentioned in so many stories, poems, rhymes, songs that could provide lovely prompts at the start of the lesson and provide lots of opportunities for integration. I have used Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Whatever Next by Jill Murphy in classes previously and they have worked really well.
I would explore background information on the moon, facts, figures, etc. first so that prior knowledge could be explored.
I would follow this with the Lunar Landscape experiment on craters which I think any class would really engage with. This could be done as a whole class or in groups. I think I would aim for groups as the different craters created by each group would provide super opportunities for comparing and contrasting the effects of different stones, the force of the throws, the distance from the target, the height from the target, etc.
Creation of a lunar landscape as an Art project would provide opportunities for creative expression as well as consolidation of the exploration of craters in the experiment, as the pupils would be considering how best to shape and mould their craters, thinking about the velocity of the matter that formed them and referring back to images of real craters.
Integration with Literacy, Art, Music, SPHE, Science would provide a really meaningful and impactful exploration of the moon which could take place over a month to tie in with a moon cycle.
