27 Sep 2023 | views: 1674 | Event
This year’s World Space Week takes place from Wednesday 4th to Tuesday 10th October. An initiative started by the United Nations, World Space Week is celebrated through space education, and outreach events from educational institutions and museums to space related organisations. This year’s theme is 'Space and Entrepreneurship,' which underscores the increasing significance of entrepreneurial engagement in the space sector.
At The STEM Hub we are celebrating World Space Week by hosting a series of live space related talks aimed at primary and secondary aged students. Speakers include STEM Space Ambassadors from University College London & the University of Sussex, Spaceport Cornwall, the Civil Aviation Authority and a former UK Space Agency Chief Executive.
Students will learn about everything from the latest telescopes in space, to the UK’s own space industries and the different careers and pathways into this sector.
All live talks will take place using MS Teams Live and include a Q&A session via a fully moderated chat function. The platform has safeguarding built-in to make it a safe online environment, especially for young people including no webcams or microphones.
Further information about the talks and booking links can be found below.
Exploring the Dark Universe with the Euclid Space Telescope
Thursday 5th October | 1.30pm-2.15pm
Benjamin, a Professor of Astrophysics at University College of London, will give a talk on Euclid the name of a new space telescope that has recently started observing millions of faraway galaxies. You will get to know Euclid, explore how it uses small hints in the light that it collects from these galaxies to find signs of the mysterious dark matter. You will also see why astronomers are convinced the universe cannot exist without dark matter.
What’s New in Space?
Friday 6th October | 1.30pm- 2.15pm
STEM Ambassador Katherine, a former Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, Chair of the Global Network on Sustainability in Space, and founder of PrimarySpace.org will talk about new and exciting space businesses – for instance; human habitats, asteroid mines and orbiting solar power planets – and how entrepreneurs and inventors are coming up with new and better ways of taking care of the space environment.
UK Space Special with Spaceport Cornwall
Tuesday 10th October | 9.15am – 10.00am
Hear from Dave at Spaceport Cornwall about the UK’s first ever attempt this January to launch a satellite and rocket into space from UK soil. This is a story of resilience, hard work and optimism, which are important traits to learn whilst going through education. Suitable for KS2/3
Satellites: From Spaceports to Rockets to Space
Wednesday 4th Oct | 8.40am – 9.10am
Join STEM Ambassadors Daniel and Sam from the Civil Aviation Authority to celebrate World Space Week. The CAA licence spaceports, rockets, ranges, and satellites in the UK and you will be given a broad overview of life in the space industry. Have you ever wondered if there is a spaceport in the UK? Does the UK build rockets? I thought it was only NASA? Tune in to find out. Are you interested in a job in the space industry? Find out what opportunities exist and how being an astronaut is certainly not the only space career out there!
A Tale of Two Telescopes: JWST and Euclid
Thursday 5th October | 8.40am – 9.10am
Join STEM Ambassador Dr. Stephen, an associate reader in Astronomy at the University of Sussex for a talk that will excite you with in-depth knowledge about two amazing telescopes. Stephen will guide you through the differences and what information is being captured in space and tell you about his own career path and the routes he took to get there!
UK Space Special with Spaceport Cornwall - Live Schools Talk
Tuesday 10th October | 9.15am – 10am
Hear from Dave at Spaceport Cornwall about the UK’s first ever attempt this January to launch a satellite and rocket into space from UK soil. This is a story of resilience, hard work and optimism, which are important traits to learn whilst going through education. Suitable for KS2/3.
We have a number of space related resources on our website suitable for Primary & Secondary students. These include previous space talks, careers guidance in Space Ambassadors@work and a ‘Future Me’ Space Edition where our STEM Ambassadors have answered questions, including, ‘What they wanted to be at 10 years old’ a fun fact about their job, and their challenges and successes in their career to date.
To access these resources use the following link: https://thestemhub.org.uk/summer-of-space#Talks
Looking for simple space related activities that can be done in the classroom or at home? We have over 40 STEM@home space activities which can be accessed here: https://thestemhub.org.uk/stem-at-home/space
If that is not enough, ESERO UK has an abundance of FREE space related curriculum linked resources and ways to engage young people with space in the classroom. Students can also enter competitions and be involved in small scale space projects, such as building a working satellite with CanSat, or investigating a climate problem using real world data in Climate Detectives.
Use the following link to access these resources, projects and competitions here: https://www.stem.org.uk/esero
