What's Going On?

Space engineer

Activity overview

15 mins
Ages 9 – 11

Science topics:

Space , Celebrating scientists

Spark a conversation with this video showing a space scientist talking about her work. This activity is great for describing observations and applying ideas in unfamiliar contexts.

Run the activity

1. You’re going to watch a short video. The aim isn't to find right answers, it's to explore ideas and find out what they know.

  • Do they know what might happen based on the image?

2. After you've watched the video, lead a discussion with your class:

  • Why do you think Maggie Aderin-Pocock is so interested in space?
  • If you could explore space, where would you go and why?
  • What have you learnt about Maggie Aderin-Pocock? What challenges has she overcome to reach her goals?

3. Ask the class to describe what they saw using only one word.

Background science

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist and engineer who has worked on projects including the development of satellites, instruments for the Gemini telescope in Chile, and hand-held devices to detect land mines in former war zones.

She has also presented different TV programmes including CBeebies ‘Stargazing' and 'The Sky at Night' and written many books on space. Her ambition is to go to space one day.

There are many satellites orbiting above Earth, which have many different uses:

  • taking pictures of the Sun, Earth, and other planets
  • looking deep into space at black holes, distant stars and galaxies
  • tracking atmospheric movement to help predict the weather
  • looking for evidence of climate change or deforestation
  • beaming TV signals and phone calls around the world
  • providing our Global Positioning System (GPS) which helps us use ‘satnav’

Satellites are launched into an orbit that is between 200km and 36,000km above the Earth. On this trajectory, the pull of the Earth’s gravity keeps the satellites on a predictable and consistent path around the Earth.

Watch out for...  

Technically, a satellite is anything that orbits something else. The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth, and the Earth is a natural satellite of the Sun. However, people usually think about satellites being devices we make and put into orbit. These artificial satellites include the International Space Station (ISS) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as well as other robots which can relay information to us. This does not need to be corrected during the session, but you can pick it up later.

Take it further

Children could plan a mission to explore the Solar System with this Royal Society activity. Working in groups, the children devise their ideas and present them in the form of a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style pitch.

Children could explore the best material to make a space satellite using this European Space Agency resource. It is possible to borrow a resources box to support this activity from your local STEM Ambassador Hub.

Alternatively, they could build and launch their own rockets or achieve lift off with this team building activity.

Take the learning further by identify the sounds in Prepare for launch or discuss gravity in space with Weight a minute. Meanwhile, Far, far away will inspire a conversation about the recently launched James Webb space telescope. When teaching Earth and Space let Explorify show you how to tackle the tricky bits.

Watch

Watch the Royal Society’s full recording of Maggie Aderin-Pocock. This clip looks at a weather satellite designed by Astrium, recorded in 2012, where Maggie explains how they designed and tested the satellite. What are satellites? Get up to speed with why artificial satellites vary in size and orbit position.

Alternatively, watch CBeebies ‘Star Gazing’.

Image credit: Vicki McIvor via Take3Management