www.spacecentre.co.uk
Have
you ever wanted to send your class to Mars?
Looking
for something a bit different, which your pupils will enjoy whilst
learning all the time?
Welcome
to the National Space Centre – a fantastic family attraction,
educational facility and research centre dedicated to the subject of space
science, which opened in Leicester in June 2001.
Be
wowed by rockets, satellites and other space capsules and learn what
they’re used for and how they work. Have a go at presenting the weather
in 2050, whilst finding out lots of other things we use satellites for.
Experience what it’s like to go for launch in a space shuttle and learn
about the effects that going into space has on your body, or be puzzled by
why we’ve placed Saturn in a bathtub - until you learn about the
planets’ properties, and myths and legends associated with them that is!
With
a whole array of interactive challenges, audio-visual presentations and
real space artefacts, the National Space Centre is unlike any attraction
you’ve visited in the UK before.
It’s
more than a whole lot of fun, however.
The Space Centre also offers a range of educational programmes
designed to help your pupils learn about science, maths and technology.
The
flagship programme is the Challenger Learning Centre, where your class
will work together on a realistic two and a half hour simulation of a
space mission, becoming astronauts aboard a spacecraft and staff in
mission control. As well learning about real applications of science,
maths and technology, they will be developing key skills including
communication, teamwork, problem solving and decision making.
If
you’ve ever tried, and had difficulty, in explaining those tricky space
and astronomy concepts within the confines of the classroom, the Space
Centre’s Space Theatre programmes will come to your rescue!
The
Space Theatre is a unique, hi-tech, interactive environment, where our
educators will take your pupils through realistic recreations of the
phenomena of our skies. The programmes are designed to cover the science
curriculum attainment requirements for “The Earth and Beyond” at each
Key Stage. Each programme is part live, part pre-recorded, with the
educator able to tailor each individual show according to the response of
the audience. Through the use of interactive response buttons on each
seat, the presenter is able to assess how quickly new concepts are being
understood, and alter the programme as necessary. There is always time for
questions and answers – and maybe even a quick tour of tonight’s sky.
All
the Space Centre’s programmes, whether in Challenger, the exhibition or
the Space Theatre, are specially written to link directly to the relevant
parts of the National Curriculum. Whenever you book a visit to the Space
Centre you’ll be provided with activities for the classroom to
complement your visit, as well as trails for use in the exhibition when
you get there. There are also three classrooms within the Space Centre,
which are the venue for occasional special workshops. And of course, we
wouldn’t expect you to book without coming to see what we’ve got to
offer first, so the Space Centre holds regular free teachers’
familiarization visits throughout the year.
Alternatively,
if Leicester is just too far to travel to, why not try one of the Space
Centre’s outreach programmes which will come to you in your own school,
such as their inflatable, silver planetarium, the BT Stardome?
Think
this might be the voyage of discovery your class has been waiting for? The
only limit to their learning is their imagination…
www.spacecentre.co.uk
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