Thank you for guiding your students as they explore dark sky issues. After a visit to the PHM planetarium, students in grades 3-8 will gather data both with their eyes and with instruments to quantify the sky glow of our local sky relative to a theoretically pristine sky. We want to know the brightness of the night sky within our school district. While all grade levels will observe the constellation Orion, students in grades 5 and 8 will correlate the sky glow observed by the naked eye with sky glow measured by the meter.
Why Should I Care? As stewards of the night, we are all responsible for the natural resources, animal habitats, and human well-being that is at risk.
At the Planetarium
As part of the regular visit to the planetarium, over 6,000 students in grades 3-8 will attend an interactive program. Under the dome they will experience three side effects (glare, light trespass, and sky glow) from an unshielded light; try solutions that they propose; and practice the outdoor experiment.
Under the Stars
With guidance from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), all students in grades 3-8 will quantify the limiting magnitude of the stars by observing Orion from home at night. They will then compare their backyard observations of Orion with seven star charts that having increasing numbers of visible stars. Small student teams from each of 13 schools will concurrently quantify sky glow throughout the district using hand-held SQMs.
Let There Be Night relates directly to the scientific method. Experimental controls are considered. Observations will coincide with the New Moon so that the moon does not influence the brightness. Observations will occur after astronomical twilight (when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon) so that the sun does not contribute light to the night sky. The teams with the SQMs will always observe from the same locations on school grounds to insure continuity and reproducibility. The main variable in quantifying sky glow across our community is location. For the naked eye observations, over 6,000 students observing from home will be spread across 105 square miles of urban, suburban, and rural areas. The digital readings will come from the thirteen school sites.
Society & Technology: When does our society need outdoor lighting, and what are the trade-offs of lighting technology?
In the Classroom
Each PHM teacher will receive a free Let There Be Night DVD, courtesy of the PHM Educational Foundation. Multiple resources on the DVD complement the planetarium visit, allowing teachers to pick age-appropriate chapters or activities for their respective classes.
In the last two weeks of March 2009, each student will observe the constellation Orion with the unaided eye essentially to make a star count. 
Everyone will then compare his/her view with seven star charts, each of which has a sequential limiting magnitude. These Orion star charts are available at the Globe at Night website and likely in the DVD.
Naked eye observations will allow students to compare the limiting magnitude of stars seen from our school district compared to an exceptional magnitude as seen from a dark sky site. Their Sky Quality Meter (SQM) data will allow them to compare the local sky glow values to the theoretical dark sky limit (21.6 magnitudes per square arcsecond, whatever the heck that is).
In the classroom, a running tally will graphically compare nightly SQM readings (taken whether cloudy or clear) with any visual observations that students took the night before. As soon as students enter their location and star chart number into the Globe at Night website, the students can see their results tallied on a global map.
Each school will have a Let There Be Night DVD, which will have chapters of dark sky content for teacher consideration. Better outcomes are likely if each teacher peruses the DVD and then modifies the material to suit his or her (and the class') needs.
Teachers will guide the students in answering key questions:
- What do you believe an ideal night sky should look like?
- What happens to the night sky if there is a lot of artificial outdoor lighting?
- How do you explain the difference in sky glow across different parts of the school district?
- By how much is our modern sky brighter than a natural sky?
- What is at risk?
- How do we prioritize the tradeoffs of outdoor lighting technology with the benefits?
- What are possible solutions to glare, light trespass, and sky glow?
- Should we as a community change our impact on the night sky, and if so, what should we do?
A representative group of students will present and defend their overall findings and suggest action, if any, for the school district. The proposed student experiment has the support of the PHM Learning Division, PHM school principals, and the PHM School Board of Trustees. However,the motivation and inspiration of the teacher in the classroom are critical for the community's collective success.
Recommended Reading: Sky Lore from Planet Earth: stories from around the world...Orion. Local author/illustrator Dayle Brown shares the lore of Orion from multiple cultures in both hemispheres.
Teacher In-Service Schedule
The Let There Be Night project team of Art Klinger and Chuck Bueter will meet with the staff of each school for two in-service opportuinites in 2008. The first meeting (left) introduces outdoor lighting issues and the Let There Be Night program. The second meeting (right) addresses the nuts and bolts of the program and how teachers can interweave it into their classrooms. Click the date for images of staff meetings that have already happened.
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Coming Soon
- Calendar of events
- Art component
- Lesson plans
-Jenny McCarthy's Orion punchouts
-Paper plate Orion punchouts at http://analyzer.depaul.edu/paperplate/globe.htm.
- Finding Orion and the 3 Belt Stars
- Observing forms
- Poster board(s) and in-school display
- Science fair ideas or other follow-up
Globe at Night: Students will view sky charts at and send their results to www.globe.gov/GaN/.
