Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Royal Observatory Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the World. These resources, designed for students aged from seven years up to post-16, contain astronomy based practical activities linked to the curriculum at each key stage.

  • Key stage 2 activities include moons, the Solar System, magnetism, shadows and the spinning Earth.
  • Key stage 3 activities have students plotting constellations, and learning about orbits, seasons and the formation of the solar system.
  • Key stage 4 activities get students to look at different wavelengths, exoplanets, gravity, the history of the universe, the life cycle of stars and Kepler’s Third Law.
  • At Post-16, topics include Doppler shift, nuclear fusion, the evolution of the universe, the Kármán line and the Hubble constant.

Most activities have some ideas and questions for class discussion to be carried out before the activity, and many include high-quality animated videos. Some activities require access to software or an internet connection.

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Scales of the Universe

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet discusses the scale of the Universe. Included is an online video that puts the age and size of the Universe into context. Concepts such as dark matter and dark energy are also briefly introduced. Questions and answers are included that test a student’s...

Searching for life on extrasolar planets

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet uses the context of life on extrasolar planets to introduce light absorption spectra. Included is an online video that discusses where we might find alien life and how we can search for it. Questions and answers are included that test a student’s...

Star trails and sidereal day

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet introduces the sidereal day and shows how star trials can be used to calculate the length of one sidereal day. Included in the booklet are instructions on how to create a star trial photograph using a DSLR or bridge camera. Supporting documents that help the...

The probability of life in the Milky Way

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet introduces the Drake equation. The Drake equation is used to estimate the number of planets in the Milky Way that have intelligent life. Included is an online video that discusses what is required for life and where and how we might look for it. The terms of...

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