light pollution 

It was an ordinary evening at Gülay Kanatlı Secondary School on a cold winter day. When Atakan, Arda and Mahmut Anıl left the class, outside of the school seemed dark. While they are walking to home, their attention were drawn to the wrongly installed lamps on the street. 

Street lamps in Eskişehir were emitting more and more disturbing light day by day. They started to discuss the reason for this situation among themselves. They noticed that the lamps in the street were positioned very closely. The falling angle of the lamps was also remarkable. Their friends Sude and Ada Zehra came with them from school. They also participated in the discussion. They said that they thought the lamps really consumed a lot of electrical energy.

written by Gülay Kanatlı Secondary School- Turkey

They wanted to bring this incident to the media and share it on the internet because it was also disturbing the environment. What could be the concept that explained the reason for this situation? When they went to school the next day, they shared the problem with their Science teacher Funda. 

Funda teacher briefly described this situation as light pollution. Upon this definition, they prepared a poster about the problem they were sure of and shared it on social media. In fact, this problem was one of the most important problems of our day. Could it be one of the problems that perhaps triggered global warming in the world?

written by Gülay Kanatlı Secondary School-Turkey

When teacher Lucinda spoke to her students of AE Gaia Nascente, about light pollution, they were intrigued and asked: 

But what is light pollution?  

We need the Light for our daily activities!,,

She explained Light pollution is the type of pollution caused by excessive or obstructive light created by humans. Light pollution interferes with ecosystems, causes negative health effects, illuminates the atmosphere of cities, reduces star visibility and interferes with astronomical observation.

Students became very curious about the theme and investigated the efects of light pollution on ecosystems, humans, animals and astronomy.

They took some photos by night and made a video about light pollution in the region they live in.

Teachear Lucinda asked her class:

How can we Escape Light Pollution?

About this theme, students found a work that was carried out over almost three years, by Paulo Ferreira, a portuguese astronomer and for this purpose it was necessary to record timelapse plans in places of little light pollution. 

Link to video:

https://youtu.be/k2S3qTWcYWU

The students from AE D. Maria II, Portugal also took some photos from their windows and report the problems identified for the phenomena of Light Polution in their hometown. 

The multimedia presentation is available here https://youtu.be/GLcBkGI81OE

From my window is impossible to see any stars. The effect of just one bulb causes this impossibility. Imagine the effect of all city lights combined!

The street ilumination sends light up, instead of down (where it is needed). 

The effects of light pollution are not a simple issue.

Agrupamento de Escolas de Valongo

Light pollution 

and 

global warming

by 10º CT3 

One day, Leonor was in biology class with her teacher, Maria Celestina, who proposed the students took a photo of the comet that would pass later that night. 

Leonor accepted the challenge, and, at night, she was ready to take the photo of the comet. However, she didn't see it and, disappointed with the situation, she asked herself why that happened. Since she didn't know the answer, she decided to  search on Google.

Agrupamento de Escolas de Valongo

When Leonor ended the search, she was devastated with the results. She learned that, since she lived in the city, the excess of light at night didn't allow her to see the comet. 

During the investigation, Leonor also discovered that this excess of artificial light in each region is called light pollution. Leonor was already so curious about the subject that she decided to investigate more and tell her schoolmates, Ana, Catarina, Rita and Gonçalo.

The following day, the five friends couldn’t focus in class, clearly distraught by what their science teacher had told them. They didn’t know much about light pollution, but it seemed worrying, and they all felt an obligation to somehow help. 

The teacher noticed their behavior and decided to pause the class, to let them ask as many questions as they would like. They all decided on asking about the consequences of light pollution and she answered them. Teacher Celestina then challenged the students to do a research assignment on the topic, forming different groups. Ana, Catarina, Rita, Gonçalo and Leonor were selected as one of the groups.

The next day, they decided to meet at Leonor’s house to better discuss the problem. Luckily for them, the internet had great sources of information and their parents also knew a bit more than them and offered to help. 

They discovered that most of the electricity was used for nighttime street lighting, which lead to substantial energy expenditure. Not only this, this lighting is generated by burning fossil fuels, which lead to a significant increase in greenhouse gases, which are also responsible for global warming.

The group then realized that this was a serious issue that needed more attention and decided to create a blog and several posters. They filmed a few videos explaining what they knew about light pollution and drew a few posters, reaching out to the rest of the class to help them.

Some weeks later, and with the help of their friends, they managed to publish 5 articles and 5 videos on this topic, which were later published on YouTube. The last video they had filmed had gone viral, reaching millions of views across the entire globe. They appeared on national news, bringing more light to this topic and finally being able to help since everyone was more aware of the dangers of this type of pollution now.

The day after they appeared on the news, the friends’ city had a lights-out for an hour in their and the Earth’s honor.

 Their teacher, Ebru İkbal: - Emirhan asked how do you think it affects the economy.

Emirhan: - From a good lighting installation, according to need It is expected to send light. Unused illumination of areas, areas used lighting more than necessary costs by leading to waste will increase. The production cost of the light is high. In outdoor lighting with wrong applications 30% of the light is wasted. Thus the cost increases even more.

Yaser was very upset about the situation:

-He asked how we can draw attention to this issue.

His teacher, Ebru İkbal Uçar:

- You can tell by taking a video. I said.

Realizing that the light pollution has increased, the students realized that the excessively lit lights should be turned off; They decided to make a video about light and energy saving.

https://youtu.be/uvmuv78Hsgs

Abdullah said, "Although light is a very important energy, it can be harmful when used excessively.

I want to inform people about this in order to prevent the damage caused by light pollution because I love animals very much."

These hearing mates decided to investigate the negative effects of light pollution on animals and to inform people in their schools and neighborhoods. At the end of their research, they found the following information:

written by Meliha Ercan Secondary School- Turkey

Battal Ege:

Turtles who use the difference in brightness between sea and land to reach the sea also lose their lives by not returning to the sea thanks to light pollution.

Ecrin:

Migratory birds are affected by light pollution and lose their migration route. Light pollution also negatively affects celestial observations. The use of light in the wrong place, in the wrong amount and at the wrong time causes the energy to be wasted and damages the country's economy.

Mehmet:

The glow of the sky affects frogs and toads in swamps and wetlands. Excessive light confuses and confuses these animals. This causes a decrease in nutrition and survival chances.

written by Meliha Ercan Secondary School- Turkey

Zeynep:

In addition, excessive light changes the spawning period especially in trout and impairs egg quality.

İsmail:

Artificial light disrupts pollination by insects at night and thus causes a decrease in yield as the number of flowers fertilized on the plant will decrease. 

Rengin:

Fireworks especially affect the habitat of birds, the inhabitants of the sky. Even birds that are not in the air during the show can be injured or killed by the effect of fireworks. The birds are forced to leave safe areas they find and spend the night before it gets dark.

written by Meliha Ercan Secondary School- Turkey

After all this information, these sensitive friends produce the following slogan:

"PLEASE DO NOT DECIDE THE LIVES OF THE INNOCENT ANIMALS TO BE MORE LIGHTED"

Migratory birds crash into illuminated buildings

written by Meliha Ercan Secondary School- Turkey

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

Yes .... You have listened to the comments of my teachers Funda, Lucinda, Ebru and Hanife before me about light pollution. Now listen to me, how am I affected by this pollution.

Are you ready, Miss Kader, let's tell

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

We don't just wear the watch on our wrist, we also have a body clock that adjusts itself to the cycle of day and night. The high amount of light in the area we live in makes this clock not work correctly.

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

Heyyy brain !!!! Did you know that I can no longer be seen in many countries of the world? The reason is Light Pollution as Funda teacher explained earlier.Hanife teacher explained how other creatures other than humans affect. Lucinda the teacher talked about the artificial sky that formed. Ebru teacher and her students observed the events. Now is the effect that made your biological clock stop working. Are you ready to listen?

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

Yes you can not sleep. Because of the excess light around the body, the Melatonin hormone is suppressed and you start the day tired and continue tired.

Yes, its effects on people are just like that. Now how about waiting for our other teachers to tell about other effects?

written by Ertuğrulgazi  Secondary School- Turkey

How about listening to the wish teacher talk about his students?

Dilek Teacher: Hello guys, your other friends and teachers talked about the various effects of light pollution. Could light pollution have cultural effects on you in this lesson? Let's try to find an answer to the question. What do you say?

Nehir: Cultural influence? How can light pollution have a cultural impact?

written by Ay College - Turkey

Sertuğ: Why do you say that? Think 

about it, our school even has AY in 

its name. celestial bodies stars, planets, 

moon… .. common values in almost all 

cultures.

                     Ata: Yes, you are right, these                              beauties that appear at night have been a source of inspiration for many poets.

İlkcan: Sure, can we see them 

from the city lights? In addition,

 not only poets, but these 

beauties hidden behind 

the lights caused many

travelers, poets, philosophers,

 painters to find themselves 

in nature and strengthen 

their inspiration for their art

written by Ay College - Turkey

      Derin: But now it's hard to see these beauties in the city lights and feel that feeling. When you go to the village in the summer, it is a very nice feeling to watch the stars in 

the night sky and to 

dream while looking at 

them. Unfortunately, 

city lights hide these 

beauties.

written by Ay College - Turkey

Dilek Teacher: Yes guys, you explained that very well. The subject of Van Gogh's Starry Night, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Hüseyin Rahmi's Comet Marriage, these beauties became the oldest interests of humanity and the basis of legends, prayers and fears.

written by Ay College - Turkey

Ata: Zodiac names were also constellations, right teacher?

Dilek Teacher: Yes you are right. The ancient Mesopotamian peoples, Babylonians and Arabs knew the sky well. They named most of the constellations we use today. They named the bright stars one by one; they developed mythological stories. As in every culture, stars have an important place in our culture, in our songs, folk songs and literature. It has become impossible for today's people, who cannot watch the beauty of the dark sky away from the lights of the city, to contribute to this culture.

written by Ay College - Turkey

Muhammed closes his eyes and dreams. He is at his old home where ıt situates in a village and he looks from his window at night and sees such a beautiful stars and hears only whisle of the wind. He has one favorite star and before he sleeps he always looks at it and says good night.When his family move to the city, he feels so sad about it. Now he is going to new school, meet new friends and new home

Osman Nuri Bakırcı Secondary School-Turkey

When he looks at the sky now, he can not see any star, there is a a lot of light.He feels upset and miss his town.At school his teachers talk about light pollution, effects of our life and types of the light pollution.Now he wants to learn how to prevent it.

Osman Nuri Bakırcı Secondary School-Turkey

At his new school the teacher divided into 5 groups and want them make a research about it. Muhammed's team Elif, Yaren, Fatih and Eda find many solutions. They find reduce the decore lighting,use led light,minimising use of light,use of mention sensors on outdoor light,turn the lights off, stop the use of needless lights.At that moment he has a hope to see his bright star again.If they can spread all the information to the people.

Osman Nuri Bakırcı Secondary School-Turkey

writen by Zübeyde Hanım Secondary School , Turkey

A group of students were talking to their science teacher in Ümraniye, Istanbul, where intense light pollution was experienced.

Teacher: The nighttime environment is a precious natural resource for all life on Earth, but the glow of uncontrolled outdoor lighting has hidden the stars and changed our perception of the night. Do you think the natural night sky contributes to scientific discoveries?

writen by Zübeyde Hanım Secondary School , Turkey

Zeynep: I think it has a positive contribution. Until recently, for all of human history, our ancestors experienced a sky brimming with stars. The night sky inspired to scientists.

Nursena: I agree with Zeynep. Experiencing the night sky provides leads us to reflect on our place in the universe.

Efe : People looking at the night sky wondered about the stars and planets. They built observatories and invented observation tools to examine them more closely.

writen by Zübeyde Hanım Secondary School , Turkey

Gökçe: Unfortunately, nowadays, amateur astronomers and astrophotographers have difficulties in examining and viewing celestial objects due to light pollution.

Nehir: Light pollution has a negative effect on astronomy. To understand the age and structure of the Universe, one must look deep into the Universe, that is, galaxies billions of light years away. It is a pity that the light that has been on the road for 2-3 times the age of our solar system, disappears in the city lights while it will reach us! Observatories face this problem even if they are hundreds of kilometers from cities.

writen by Zübeyde Hanım Secondary School , Turkey

Kayra: According to a news I read; The light emitted by the street lamps in Antalya into the sky negatively affected the work of the TÜBİTAK National Observatory in Beydağları.

Ahmet: Another problem is that the natural night sky is rapidly becoming unknown to the newest generations. Children who cannot see the dark sky lose interest in space. This situation also affects the training of scientists engaged in space research.

writen by Zübeyde Hanım Secondary School , Turkey

Teacher : There are International Dark Sky Parks, the number of which is increasing day by day in the world. It defines it as a public land with an extraordinary starry sky and natural night environment, protected against light pollution. The dark sky is humanity's common cultural heritage. It is a natural beauty. This beauty should be preserved just like nature and nature parks. Just as we strive to preserve a natural or historical beauty, we should make an effort to preserve the darkness of the sky.

writen by Zübeyde Hanım Secondary School , Turkey