New Teach with Space Debris webpage
In brief
ESA Education is excited to present a brand-new webpage using Space Debris as teaching inspiration! In this new web section primary school teachers will find three new classroom resources and educational videos for their pupils. Early-age and primary teachers and educators will also find resources for the little ones such as Paxi games, animations and quizzes. Let’s learn how to clean up space together!
In-depth
The amount of space debris, or space ‘junk’, surrounding Earth is now at a point that can no longer be ignored, and the situation is only going to get worse if we do not act. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Clean Space programme is attempting not only to minimise the debris produced by future satellites, but to actively reduce the debris already in orbit.
Three brand-new resources are perfect for encouraging students aged 7-11 years to get thinking and get creative.
Why Is There Junk in Space introduces students to space debris with engaging activities requiring not much more than marbles and potato crisps.
Cleaning up Space challenges students to come up with their own solutions using materials readily found in the classroom.
Coming Back to Earth Safely allows students to explore the physics of some solutions that ESA is working on to help the space environment be cleaner in the future, such as drag sails.
These classroom resources are accompanied by four classroom videos with demonstrations of key activities from the resources.
Introduce younger audiences to the concept of space junk with Paxi! From the latest Paxi animation episode on space debris to the Space Cleanup game and easy trivia, ESA Kids hosts entertaining learning resources for your budding space explorer!
In addition, the webpage features inspiring podcasts, articles and images from across the agency, allowing students to explore the work ESA is doing to investigate the challenges and potential solutions to the space debris problem.
