Rover and instrument design

This activity will introduce students to instruments and rovers that are designed by scientists and engineers for use in planet exploration. Students are given a range of considerations before they learn more about existing instruments and rovers used in missions to Mars. Students then have the opportunity to...

Analogue mission

This activity gives students the opportunity to navigate a map of Mars looking for regions of interest they will receive ‘mission’ data from to analyse. Students will first work in teams on an interactive activity, navigating terrain as either a rover or mission control. The main part of the activity asks students...

Rover and instrument design

This activity allows pupils to gain an understanding of the different requirements for rover and instrument design. Throughout the session pupils have the opportunity to research different instruments used in space exploration and create a presentation of what they have learned and which instruments they think are...

Move It!

Aimed at primary level, this activity pack contains a range of different activities based on the theme of motion. The activities cover a mixture of topics including: states of matter, the water cycle, Earth and Space, electricity, forces and irreversible reactions.

Designed for use in class or within a...

Explore the Future

This activity pack, aimed at children aged 5-11, contains a range of different activities based on the theme “Explore the future”. The activities cover a mixture of topics including; including: Earth and Space, food, the water cycle, forces, magnets, energy and the environment.

Designed either for use in...

A report from the Leading Space Education Programme

This publication is a report from the Leading Space Education Programme (LSEP). This is a Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funded project that has worked with 30 schools in England with the aim of enhancing science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in secondary schools and using...

Landing sites

Planetary scientists, Dr. Matthew Balme and Dr. Elliot Sefton-Nash, talk about how challenging it is to find a scientifically compelling site to land in, once the engineering considerations in terms of the landing has been taken into account.

This video is part of a series of ten which look at the one of the...

Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror

In August 2012, an unmanned rover touched down on the surface of Mars. NASA's Curiosity Rover was sent to take measurements of the atmosphere and martian terrain in an effort to understand more about the history of Mars and whether the planet ever sustained life. This video shows an animation of the incredible...

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...

Spacecraft Engineer

Simon Meek is a spacecraft engineer, designing, building and tracking satellites. This Department for Education clip shows how studying science and mathematics open the gateway to interesting careers. Simon studied maths, physics and English at A-level and went on to study for a degree in Physics.

...