These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Describe constellations of stars in the night sky.
• Describe the planets that can be seen with a telescope.
• Describe evidence that shows the Earth is shaped as a sphere and...

In this logbook resource pupils will learn about a typical week in the life of an astronaut. They will identify how life is different on Earth than it is in space and compare their daily activities, exercise and nutrition to that of ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

This activity pack provides a range of activities that promote cross-curricular learning, so that STEM can be linked to other curriculum subjects and to student's own backgrounds, lives and interests. It has been designed for British Science Week 2024 on the theme of 'time'.

Activities are suitable for...

This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, begins with a video that names and describes some the different layers of the atmosphere, with the aim of explaining where the ...

ESA Climate Detectives is a school project that is open for students from the ages of 8 to 19. Teams of students, supported by their teacher, are called to make a difference by identifying a climate...

Pupils can explore the characteristics of the surface of planet Mars and will learn how to navigate a planetary robotic vehicle on to it. The resource focuses on coding and uses Open Roberta Lab which is an online simulation tool. Pupils will become familiar with the main characteristics of the Martian surface and...

This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, explores magnetism and how it is used in a compass. It is aimed at key stage 2, but the activities would also be suitable for introducing magnetism to key stage 3.

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In this activity, pupils compare Earth and Mars in the context of geography and science. They will begin by comparing the positions of both planets in the solar system, and end by designing their own life forms that could potentially survive on Mars.

‘Your telescope has captured intriguing data that we need you to analyse’

In this chapter students think about the unique signatures that come back from different objects in space, including:

• analysing infrared images and comparing them to visible light
• looking through datasets that...

‘Plan your telescope’s launch carefully, so that it reaches its destination’

In this chapter students think about the programming challenges involved in deploying a space telescope, including:

• coding a series of commands to navigate it
• encrypting and decrypting messages
• ...

‘Get started by learning about the pioneering astronomers of the past’

In this introduction chapter students describe what they would like to be to discover in the universe, and then do a series of related activities including:

• plotting a constellation,
• creating a map our Solar System...

‘Share your amazing discoveries with your fellow Earthlings, through words and images’

In this concluding chapter students are encouraged to summarise their findings from the other five chapters, by writing and illustrating a newspaper article and by creating a visual dictionary of the new scientific...

‘Build a space telescope big enough to capture light from distant stars’

In this chapter, students think about the designs for a space telescope including:

• designing a suitable mirror
• devising a method of keeping the telescope cool
• designing and building a model of a telescope...

‘There’s more to light than meets the eye – find out about the light we cannot see’

In this chapter, students find out all about light including:

• designing an experiment into light rays and shadows,
• building a colour wheel,
• writing about rainbows, and
• creating an...

Begin this activity by introducing the idea of playing football on the Moon and the potential problems that could be faced when doing this. Pupils will then sketch and label their design idea for a football kit that can be used to play football on the Moon. Pupils can self or peer-assess their design work...