Online Resources and Tools
Stellarium-web.org.
This is such a brilliant resource. The students can navigate and view different planets, stars and constellations. For example, I zoomed in on ‘Vega’ and it gives information on Vegas distance from Earth (25 million light years).
Milo and Marvin
Falling Bubble
Fill a bottle with water so it is very nearly full
Put the lid on tightly and throw the bottle in the air. Watch it carefully on the way up and down
The air inside the bottle will form a spherical bubble as it’s falling!
When the bottle is in free-fall, surface tension forces the air into a bubble with the least possible surface area – a sphere. In space, the same effect can be seen with liquid drops in air.
ESA and ESA Kids
Could we live on Mars
In this activity, students compare Earth and Mars in the context of geography and science, while also designing their own life forms that could thrive on Mars.
Astrocrops – Growing plants for future space missions | Teach with space – This is a great lesson ( I saw the film The Martian and the main character who is a Botanist has to grow his own food as he is stuck on Mars). This activity is part of a series that includes “AstroFood”, where students investigate other possible future space foods, and “AstroFarmer”, where students explore growing plants in space and factors that affect plant growth.