Space for SSR - Top Downloads
This list includes some of the most popular resources from the collection of the European Space Education Resources Office UK (ESERO-UK).
It was written for School Science Review, in 2014.
Feeding Our Future - Nutrition on Earth and in Space
Feeding our Future examines food as a vital part of life on Earth and in space. It shows why we need food in the first place and what it represents in our culture and daily living. The video illustrates how our bodies process food as a source of energy and building materials. It looks at the importance of good nutrition for a healthy life and what can happen without it, whether here on Earth or in space.
Mission 2: Body Space
The video looks at the effects of a weightless environment on the human body: how our sense of balance and direction are affected; how blood pressure changes in different parts of the body; how your height changes in space; and muscular atrophy and changes in bone density. Many of the simple experiments performed in the schools can easily be repeated in the classroom.
Is There Anyone Out There?
Developed by leading educationalists and scientists in the field of space exploration, this resource uses the context of a mission to Mars to introduce an array of practical sessions that focus on working scientifically. The resource also gives the opportunity for the pupils to take on roles of scientists and engineers and to improve their numeracy and literacy skills
We Are Aliens!
The We Are Aliens! teaching resources were produced by lead educators from the National Space Academy to use the context of space to teach physics, chemistry and biology in the curriculum. The resources contain practical activities, worksheets and supporting videos made by the resource authors.
Birth of the Solar System
This very popular video describes how:
• the solar system grew from a ball of gas which formed the Sun
• gravity caused heavy material to cluster together and eventually form planets
• the inner planets, including the Earth, formed with a rocky surface and molten metal core
• the formation of the gas giants, including Jupiter and Saturn.
The Life Cycle of Stars
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, produced by the Institute of Physics, Teachers TV and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), astronomer Tim O'Brien, from Jodrell Bank Observatory, explains how astronomers believe a star is born, lives and dies.
Big Bang Evidence *suitable for home teaching*
Produced by Twig, this animated video looks at evidence for the Big Bang Theory.This includes descriptions of:
• Hubble's observation of a red shift, which is evidence for an expanding universe.
• The distribution of cosmic microwave background radiation.
• The abundance of lighter elements in the Universe.
Conservation of Momentum
These short video clips show Richard Garriott during his mission to the International Space Station, illustrating the conservation of momentum using tennis balls in space.
Rocket Images and Video
These materials show images of rockets, such as the Saturn V which powered the Apollo missions and current Delta and Atlas rockets. There is also a video showing the launch of a Delta rocket.
Redshift
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), shows a simple demonstration that can be used to help students understand red shift and blue shift of waves emitted by a moving object.
Earth and space: space presenters
Produced by the Hamilton Trust, these resources give details of six lessons on space.
The lessons are:
• Earth, Moon and Sun
• Day and night
• Eclipses and seasons
• Moon phases
• Star constellations
• Planets
Defying Gravity
The 2013 Institute of Physics Schools Lecture - Defying Gravity: Laura Thomas, an independent science communicator with a background in astrophysics, talks about the physics of space flight.
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Tim O'Brien and astrophysicist Chris North explain how astronomers use radiation from across the electromagnetic spectrum. They demonstrate how Jodrell Bank and the Herschel Space Observatory use radio waves and infra-red to reveal the hidden secrets of the universe.
Big Bang Theory *suitable for home teaching*
This animated video is an engaging and accessible introduction to the Big Bang and subsequent formation of the Universe.
It describes how, 13.7 billion years ago, the Big Bang produced an expanding Universe. Early on in its expansion, elements of hydrogen and helium were formed as the early Universe started to cool. These elements formed the building blocks of all other elements. As cooling continued, material condensed into nebulae, stars, galaxies and all the other cosmic bodies.
Phases of the Moon
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), illustrates a simple demonstration of the phases of the Moon.
Drinking Straw Rocket
This simple activity from NASA allows classrooms to study rocket stability as students construct and fly small "indoor" paper rockets. The rockets can be used for a range of activities into forces and movement in which students collect data and interpret the results.
Rocket Science Activities
From NASA, these activities look at the scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical foundations of rocketry to provide exciting classroom opportunities for authentic hands-on experimentation.
Tim Peake
This video is a message to ESERO-UK from European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake.
He talks about studying STEM subjects and how he became an astronaut.
Primary School Activity Booklet
This booklet, produced by Dr. Lucie Green, from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, and funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), contains four simple activities to enrich the teaching of Solar system science and beyond.
Fruit Solar System
This activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, helps students grasp the various sizes of planets in our Solar System using mostly fruit, with some other items. The class discussion before the activity encourages students to take an educated guess as to which planet each item represents.
Solar System: Images of Individual Planets
From NASA, these high resolution images show separately the planets of our solar system. Images in this resource include: Sun, Earth, Moon, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto.
Colour and Temperature of Stars
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), shows how it is possible to illustrate how the light emitted by a star is related to the star's temperature.
Light and Optics Teacher Resource and Class Activities
This teacher guidance from NASA describes colour and light activities that can be used with students from Key Stage Two to Four. Using lenses, prisms and mirrors students create telescopes, periscopes, microscopes and kaleidoscopes. Other activities include finding focal length and understanding reflection, refraction and diffraction.
International Space Station (ISS) Education Kit - Primary
The ISS Education Kit, from ESA, is a resource for teachers with ideas on how to use the International Space Station as a thematic frame for teaching a wide variety of topics that are part of European curricula.
The Hammer and the Feather on the Moon
This classic Apollo 15 clip, from Footagevault, demonstrates that the mass of an object does not affect the time it takes to fall when dropped in a vacuum. The clip could be used in Key Stage Three and Four lessons on forces.
Eggnaut
In this resource from ESA, students' mission is to design and build a vehicle that will protect their Eggnaut from the perils of re-entry from space. The objective is to have your Eggnaut survive the fall without a crack.
Saturn V Rocket Lift-off, Showing Staging
This clip demonstrates the need for multiple stages of a rocket to reach the required velocity for orbit, due to the engineering challenge of balancing a rocket motor's power and the launch mass of propellant needed for it to lift off the ground.