Vasco tells his mother about a dream where he and his friend Claudia took a rocket trip through space. During their journey to the moon, Claudia points out light pollution on Earth which obscures the night sky in some areas. Light pollution is harmful to animals like turtles and birds. At school, Vasco's class is working on a project about light pollution called "Dive into the Sky" which aims to reduce artificial light at night to see more stars. Vasco is enjoying learning new things through the project.

1. Comenius "Dive in the Sky"
What people miss with light pollution
Once upon a ...
Almost all the stories begin like this; but this one doesn’t! It doesn’t?!
- Wake up Vasco! It’s time to get ready for school.
Vasco doesn’t move.
The mother became angry:
- Hurry up, son, otherwise you'll be late for school.
- Oh mom! I was sleeping fine! AND I was having a fantastic dream...
The boy got up, washed up and had breakfast . Picked up his backpack and
went out. He usually walks to school with his mom.
During the journey, Vasco was telling about his dream ...
He and his friend Claudia had gone on a trip through Space. They hired a
rocket and went away without saying anything to anyone.
During the trip, the two friends passed by other rockets and spaceships. The
sky was beautiful! AND there were so many people travelling!
They made the first stop: landed on the Moon. They went out of the rocket
and went exploring the planet. They did not find another person. While walking, they
watched the sky and saw the planet Earth. It was night.
- How magnificent Earth looks from Space! - Exclaimed Vasco.
Claudia said:
- Because it is, but you notice that there are areas very bright from artificial
lights and this is not good.
- It is called light pollution - added the boy. - This type of pollution is due to
the artificial lighting of lamps in the street, advertising, cars lights, several
outbreaks of light ...
- That one. In the areas of Earth where the night lights are very intense, it
seems that it’s not even night. People cannot see or admire the stars shinning in the
sky.

2. Comenius "Dive in the Sky"
Vasco continued:
- Light pollution is also harmful to the animals. The turtles, for example,
when they are born out of eggs buried in the sand, instead of going to the sea, they
go into land, attracted by bright lights.
- And some birds die, because they go against the lights.
Vasco and Claudia ended their visit to the Moon. They got into the rocket to
leave and discover other planets. But they did not continue their journey ...
- Wake up Vasco! It’s time to get ready for school.
Therefore, the mother stopped him from going on dreaming.
Mother and son came to school. The boy still took time to tell the mother that
his class, that day, was working on the project that developed the topic: "Dive into
the sky". The motto of this project was "Let's put out the lights to illuminate the
stars! ".
- I like to be involved in this project. I have learned many new things - said
Vasco.
The school bell rang. Boy kissed his mother to the cheek and went straight to
his class.
At class he sat on his chair and started to work with his classmates on the
group work project “Dive into the sky”. They had to write about the most lighted
places on the world. They started to search for the countries. And so they found out
that one of the most lighted countries is Egypt near the river Nile. And there is
nothing to be surprised that the most lighted city is Las Vegas also there is Tokyo
who is not lagging behind Vegas and no one knows which is brighter.
They wrote it on the poster but unluckily school bell rang again meaning the
end of the lesson. Vasco took all his stuff and went home because it was teachers day
so there were only 1 lesson that day.
When he came home he started to talk what would happen if all the
electricity would gone for 24 hours what would the sky look like.
-I think we would see our beautiful sky with all the stars, a piece of our galaxy
and even a bit of the galaxy “Andromeda”. Just think about all the beauty, what
people miss by using so much light - Said Vasco.
EB1 Visconde S. Gião – Torres Novas - Portugal
Kauno “Vyturio” Katalikiška Vidurinė Mokykla - Lithuania

3. Comenius "Dive in the Sky"
O que as pessoas perdem com a poluição luminosa
Era uma vez…
Quase todas as histórias começam assim; mas esta não! Não?!
- Acorda Vasco! São horas de te levantares para ires para a escola.
O Vasco nem se mexeu.
A mãe tornou a chamá-lo:
- Despacha-te, filho. Anda lá, senão vais chegar atrasado à escola.
- Oh mãe! Estava a dormir tão bem! E estava a ter um sonho fantástico…
O menino levantou-se, fez a sua higiene e tomou o pequeno almoço. Pegou na
sua mochila e saiu de casa. Ele costuma ir a pé para a escola e a mãe acompanha-o.
Durante o caminho, o Vasco foi contando o seu sonho…
Ele e a sua amiga Cláudia tinham ido fazer uma viagem pelo Espaço. Alugaram
um foguetão e partiram sem dizer nada a ninguém.
Durante a viagem, os dois amigos passaram por outros foguetões e naves
espaciais. O céu era lindo! E havia tanta gente a viajar!
Fizeram a primeira paragem: aterraram na Lua. Saíram do foguetão e foram
explorar o planeta. Não encontraram vivalma. Enquanto caminhavam, observavam o
céu e viram o planeta Terra. Era de noite.
- Que magnifica é a Terra vista do Espaço! – exclamou o Vasco.
A Cláudia disse:
- Pois é, mas repara que existem zonas muito iluminadas com luzes artificiais
e isso não é bom.
- É a chamada poluição luminosa – acrescentou o rapaz. – Esse tipo de
poluição é devida à iluminação artificial de candeeiros da rua, reclames de
publicidade, faróis de carros, focos diversos de luz…
- Isso mesmo. Nas zonas da Terra onde a iluminação noturna é muito intensa,
parece que nem há noite. As pessoas não podem ver nem admirar as estrelas
brilharem no céu.

4. Comenius "Dive in the Sky"
O Vasco continuou:
- A poluição luminosa também é prejudicial aos animais. As tartarugas por
exemplo, quando nascem dos ovos enterrados na areia, em vez de irem para o mar,
dirigem-se para terra, atraídas pelas luzes fortes.
- E alguns pássaros acabam por morrer , pois vão contra as luzes encandeados.
O Vasco e a Cláudia deram por terminada a sua visita à Lua. Entraram de novo
no foguetão para partirem à descoberta de outros planetas. Mas não continuaram a
sua viagem…
- Acorda Vasco! São horas de te levantares para ires para a escola.
Pois foi, a mãe não deixou que ele tivesse continuado a sonhar.
Mãe e filho chegaram à escola. O menino ainda teve tempo de dizer à mãe
que a sua turma, naquele dia, ia trabalhar no projeto que andava a desenvolver:
“Mergulha no céu”. O lema deste projeto é “Vamos apagar as luzes para acender as
estrelas!”.
- Gosto muito de estar envolvido neste projeto. Tenho aprendido muitas
coisas novas – disse o Vasco.
A campainha da escola tocou.
EB1 Visconde S. Gião – Torres Novas - Portugal