Kittinger: First Man in Space

This film, from Twig World, tells the story of Joe Kittinger who made the first journey beyond Earth's atmosphere.

The key points made in the film are:

•Project Excelsior III was the American Air Force’s mission to test high altitude bailouts.

•As part of this mission Colonel Joe Kittinger...

Milky Way's Black Hole

This film, from Twig World, looks at how scientists study black holes. Scientists believe there is a supermassive black hole 26,000 light years away at the centre of our Galaxy. But how do they know, when they can't see it?

The key points made in the film are:

•Black holes are formed when massive...

Sixty Second Science

Aimed at primary level, this pack contains a range of different activities which take sixty seconds and are intended to stretch the imagination. The activities cover a mixture of topics including: materials and their properties, Earth and space, forces, living things and their habitats, mathematical puzzles and...

How Are Mirrors Made?

This film, from Twg World, looks at the process of manufacturing glass into sophisticated mirror systems in the world's largest telescopes.

The key points made in the film are:

•Mirrors are made from glass, which is melted and spread over a base.

•Telescopes use mirrors to focus light onto a...

Scale of the Universe

This film, from Twig World, looks at how big the universe is.

The key points made in the film are:

•The Universe is constantly expanding.

•The Universe is already billions of light years across.

•Our Solar System is part of the Milky Way galaxy.

•Beyond our galaxy lie many more...

Speed of the Earth

This video, from Twig World, explains that the planet earth is constantly moving through space and models the Earth’s orbit as a circle in order to approximate the distance travelled in one year and hence estimate the distance the Earth travels every second. The video is accompanied by a lesson plan and a...

Solar System Puzzle Kit

Produced by NASA, this activity contains information about the planets of the solar system. The main activity allows students to create an eight-cube paper puzzle of the solar system. In assembling the puzzle, students colour images of the Sun, planets and asteroids. In addition to puzzle pieces, the kit contains...

Solar System Scale Model

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...

Solar System Reader

Produced by NASA, this resource contains five activities, teaching tips, fun facts and short narratives in which the sun and each planet introduce themselves. They can be used to help students improve their reading as well as learn about the solar system.

The Sun and Stars

Produced by Teachers TV, as part of the Teaching Astronomy and Space series looks at the Sun before exploring other stars. Solar physicist Lucie Green explains her keen interest in the sun, our nearest star. Modern space telescopes now allow scientists to see it in great detail and recent solar missions have...