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.

In this resource, pupils will create a solar system mobile and learn about the inner and outer planets in our solar system. They will learn that the outer planets are less dense than the inner planets and the planet with the highest density is Earth. Then will then carry out their own density experiment using...

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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The growth of plants in space is a keen area of experimentation, including ongoing work aboard the International Space Station. Successful crops will help astronauts to spend longer in space, boosting their healthy diet while reducing the mass of prepared food that must be transported from Earth.

Using a...

From NASA, this activity helps students see the relative distances from the sun of the planets in our solar system. Astronomers refer to the distance from the sun to the Earth as one 'astronomical unit' or AU. This activity demonstrates an easy way to calculate the distances of the other planets from the sun and...

This was the first National Curriculum for Science in England and Wales. One intention of the National Curriculum was that all students aged 5 to 16 learn science – that there should be ‘Science for All’ – and that this should include both the ‘methods of science’ and the acquisition of ‘knowledge and understanding...

This resource, aimed at primary level, contains three activities relating to the Solar System. In the first activity children create a solar system flip book to show that the four planets closest to the Sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) revolve around the Sun in the...

This diagnostic question is part of a series adapted for primary aged pupils from the Best Evidence Science Teaching project for ages 11 to 14.

It helps students to explain what a...

This activity introduces the idea of remote observation by asking children to match photographs such as lakes, mountains and cities taken from the ground with early astronaut photographs. Children then compare the images from the ground with the astronaut picture of the same place. This activity is also suitable...

This collection of practical activities, investigations and games is all based on current lunar research. It supports many aspects of working scientifically and links to area of the curriculum including: earth and space, light and shadows, forces, materials, changes of state and rocks and soils. Activities are...

For the g-forces activity pupils will be able to discuss how astronauts use forces to simulate the effect of launch and landing on their bodies, when preparing to go into space. The pupils look at the forces on a ball at the end of a piece of elastic and discuss the forces on an Astronaut in a centrifuge. For the...

In this creative writing activity children imagine what it is like to leave Earth on a journey into outer space.  It uses the context of British astronaut Tim Peake’s journey to the International Space Station as a stimulus to develop literacy skills.

This resource is part of the Principia Space Diary,...