I would choose to use the Stars activity set there are some fantastic, interesting activities that my class would love to try out. I can see the activities generating more questions that would require further inquiry.
The activity I’m choosing is the Loo Roll Solar System. As an introduction, I would read The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield. This book is inspired by the childhood of real-life astronaut Chris Hadfield, who overcame his fear of the dark by dreaming of space exploration. I think this book would be a great way to introduce the idea of exploring our Space neighbourhood and consider the distances between the planets in our solar system and the challenges involved in reaching them to explore more deeply.
We could consider how long we think it would take and the type of speeds we would need to travel at to travel to different planets in our solar system. I love the fact that if the planets were placed at the correct distances in relation to the sizes of the fruit, we would need more than 2km of loo roll! I think this fact would really capture the imagination of the children.
After the activity, we could revise our predictions and further discuss the challenges of interplanetary exploration. This could open the door to looking at manned flight versus unmanned probes and some of the exploration missions that have taken place and missions that are planned for the future.