[Carmel Wright]

Hi Karen,

Thanks for your post and comprehensive plan to explore night pollution with your learners. By creating connections with their locality and the light sources, learners will begin to understand the impact of this often unknown pollution source, and can be empowered to think of ways to create change through informing others, and campaigning for change.

By understanding the importance of all creatures, even those we often don’t like the look of, bats and moths, we can come to value and work to protect their dark skies. In farming communities, the role of bats and owls in pest control are especially important to highlight-bats can eat up to 3,000 insects a night saving farmers time and money on other pest control measures.

As a conclusion to this activity, they may reflect on how they can help in their own homes, pulling down blinds, turning off lights that aren’t in use, etc.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Natasha,
Thanks for your post. Perfect timing to cover Space in October with Space week underway and lots of resources and activities to engage learners with! A word wall on iPads is a great way to make use of technology to elicit prior knowledge, that can be added to over time, as the activity unfolds.

Wow, you are very lucky to have such a wonderful inspiration on your doorstep, paying your school a visit! It is so worthwhile seeing if a parent/local/company has a STEM specialisation that aligns with what is being taught and invite them to give a talk-the worst they can say is no!

The Paxi video resources are a worthwhile addition, providing a lot of knowledge in an age-appropriate way with terrific visuals to support learners’ understanding. Best of luck with this activity in the coming academic year!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Sinéad,

Many thanks for your post. You have a wonderfully eclectic mix of suggestions, from Twinkle Twinkle, very suited to the junior classes to the sophisticated and soothing Clar de Lune, a classical masterpiece and great example of the power of music to evoke meaning and create an atmosphere, without any words.

A night sky art collage is a wonderful idea to engage learners in an activity that connects them to the beauty of what our night skies have to offer. As a too often forgotten about feature above us, part of their homework for the night before could be to take a look up at the night sky, perhaps even take a photo or do a sketch in advance of the art collage, to make the piece that reflects their unique night skyscape.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Marcella,
Thanks for your post. Your idea to use an engage literacy moon phase book is a wonderful idea as a prompt for this activity. A KWL chart may prove useful to capture existing knowledge, questions and findings.

Capturing moon images either by making use of technology or art is a great way to develop learners observation skills, and can encourage learners to pay attention to detail-does the Moon’s features look the same in each photo? From Earth we only see one side of the moon.

A log is a wonderful way to consolidate learning at home, encourage learners families to become involved in the process and explore the ever changing night skies together.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Shane,
Thanks for your post and welcome to the course. You are right, this is an important concept for learners to grasp-what is weather, and what is climate? This foundational piece is fundamental to understanding further concepts, including climate change. You have some wonderful ideas for cross-curricular links- I like the idea of visiting a local weather station to bring the career path and real work involved to life for learners, and deepen further their understanding of the topic.

Drama is a fun and novel way to present the findings, and by presenting the findings weekly, it becomes a whole school event and creates further interest in this topic for all learners. Peer learning is also a wonderful extension for this activity, providing older learners with an opportunity to explain the workings of their weather station and how they take measurements to a younger class.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Maura,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the course.
Liston’s paper on unravelling STEM is a great reminder of the importance of joining the dots and avoiding a siloed approach to delivering meaningful STEM classes.

I can see that you have taken the time to reflect on how to apply this with your sixth-class learners, and how to balance the various topics, with math less of a priority. Your plan is an excellent example of how to integrate these topics into a cohesive activity, with a solution-focused emphasis.

Learners will greatly benefit from this holistic approach, which reflects the type of thinking required to address the climate challenges we face. Best of luck with this activity in the coming academic year.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Cathy,

Thanks for your post. This course is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen your STEM confidence, and I hope the resources provide a springboard for STEM activities in your class in the coming academic year.
Your sensory garden sounds like an ideal spot to locate the weather station, and will provide learners with plenty of opportunity to measure and report findings. By giving the learners ownership of these activities and hands-on experiences, they will develop their STEM skills.

As you mentioned, it is an opportunity for learners to do the work of real scientists, and an opportunity to discuss the wealth of career opportunities STEM has to offer, too!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

I really like your points about STEM delivery, and reflections on Liston’s paper, especially “as a teacher you should be more of a facilitator to allow learning to happen rather than taking a traditional lecture style approach.” Being a facilitator is more challenging but comes with greater rewards for your learner’s skills development, and thankfully, we have come a long way from when a science lesson was a quick hands-off demonstration by the teacher only.

You have some great questions to kick-start this activity. I was wondering if perhaps the drawing of the telescope may precede its making. It is often that way in design and make activities, so that learners have a visual plan for what lies ahead and can see when they deviate from design-which can be part of the process and result in an updated drawing after the fact.

Labelling is a great way to consolidate learning of the new terms of this equipment. And I really like how you plan for learners to bring this home, and make use of this as part of a family activity. Some learners may already have a child’s telescope and it could be fun for them to compare their made and bought versions.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Catherine,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the course. What a wonderful resource to have on your doorstep, the beautiful and biodiverse Killarney National Park. Your learners will gain a lot through engaging with the park’s wildlife rangers and participation on a field trip.

I like how your plan simply and effectively joins the dots by discussing human and animal behaviour, adaptive features, and the negative impact of artificial light on their lives. Your senior infant learners will begin to understand the problems of light pollution, which is relatively easy to solve, and I think this needs to be the focus. With some simple changes, we can make much less of an impact with lighting.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Helen,

Thanks for your post. I like how you are truly making this a learner-led experience from start to finish and, in doing so, empowering learners with the autonomy to research and find answers, a skill that is needed for us all, not just those seeking a STEM career! I think it is so important to discuss reliable and factual information sources with learners, like those websites you permit in school.

It sounds like a KWL chart could be helpful for this activity, and help direct the research. If the baseline knowledge is already at a high level, it could prompt groups to deep dive into specific topics like super moons, blood moons, etc.

Great to get the learners drawing their observations, and writing what they have learned. Here’s hoping for clear skies come September for moon observations!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Catriona,

Thanks for your post. You’ve put together a great list for the coming months, with lots of wonderful things to explore and observe, including moon phases.

I see there are a couple of full super moons, and this is a wonderful opportunity to focus on this topic, to understand what this is and why it happens with learners, add to the new terminology like perigee, and come to understand the elliptic orbit of the moon, resulting in super and micro moons.

Modelling this may be helpful for your learners’ understanding, and a Kahoot quiz(or similar) can help consolidate learning on this topic.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your post. I am glad to see your plan to use the Stellarium app come September with your 3rd-class learners, and have plans in place to get it installed on the tablets so all learners can engage with it and enjoy a hands-on experience that develops their ICT skills. It is so important that learners don’t just see, but get to do it themselves too, whether as part of a group of mixed abilities or individually.

I like how you plan to connect the art display from the previous day’s work to the constellations you look for on Stellarium, weaving disciplines seamlessly together to create a holistic experience.

If it’s possible to get the learner’s families to download the app too and star gaze as a family like you mention, it could be the starting point of a wonderful new interest for learners and give the broader school community a greater appreciation for our dark skies.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your post!

It sounds like you already have a good level of awareness of this issue, having observed the robin you mention. This story in itself could make a great prompt to open this topic with your learners. You have some great ideas, especially surrounding flood lights-these have such a massive impact.

By making observations and a plan for better light management, your learners have an opportunity to improve light pollution levels by engaging with local club officials in an area they frequent, making it most relevant.

Its wonderful to make learners aware at a young age of their power to create positive change-we need more Greta’s!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Claire,

Thanks for your post. I really like your thorough, well-rounded plan for this activity. Citizen science is a great way to empower learners and build their confidence as young scientists, making and recording observations for an international network.

I think your plan to simulate the night sky and practice with learners is an important way to clear up any confusion and uncertainty when carrying out this activity. The range of extension activities is wonderful for expanding on this topic, especially campaigning through letter writing. Learners will come to understand how we can all be activists for a better world and the importance of using our voices to instigate change.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Joanne,
Thanks for your post, you have put together a great list. It is only when we start putting together lists like these that we all realise the timeless, inspirational, and evocative nature of our cosmos, which we have taken for granted for so long and now risk losing sight of.

It reminds me of Carl Sagan’s quote from Pale Blue Dot, “Before we invented civilization, our ancestors lived mainly in the open out under the sky. Before we devised artificial lights and atmospheric pollution and modern forms of nocturnal entertainment, we watched the stars. There were practical calendar reasons of course but there was more to it than that. Even today, the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars.”

[Author]

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