Irish language version of Northern Lights

An aurora is the emission of light caused by collisions of highly energetic, charged particles originating from the plasma emitted by the sun (solar wind) with the gases in the part of the Earth’s atmosphere called the Thermosphere. Students will learn about the epic battle between the Sun and the Earth and will be encouraged to create their artwork inspired by what they learn about auroras.

This activity uses science to inspire students’ creativity and artistic expressions. The activity contains multidisciplinary concepts, combines Physics, Chemistry and Geography and uses scientific content as inspiration to make Art. Students start with a creative activity (tribe activity), which is followed by small inquiry activity (chasing auroras). They may also try to create an artificial aurora using a fluorescent lamp and a walkie-talkie. Next, they learn how powerful the Sun is and how the Earth protects itself. They search for artistic works inspired by this phenomenon and finally they create their own artwork inspired by what they have learnt during the activity.

Learning objectives: The student will:
-    Learn what the Northern Lights are, how they are formed 
-    Understand how Sun’s activity is affecting the Earth’s magnetic field
-    Learn how the Earth is protected from the solar flares
-    Learn how auroras fascinated people in ancient times
-    Find out how auroras inspire artists
-    Create their own artwork inspired by auroras

The activity was created within the POLAR STAR project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (2019-1-FI01-KA201-060780).

We would like to thank warmly Polar Advisors, who provided valuable ideas and materials for this particular activity: Stelios Anastassopoulos, Daniela Bunea, Svetla Mavrodieva, Spyros Meleetiadis, Nikolaos Nerantzis and Elena Vladescu.

Find out more: http://polar-star.ea.gr/