Fuelling Childrens’ Imaginations with Interactive Space Presentation at Pendragon Pre-school 2016

 

On 26th February 2016 Dr Diane Turner (Dr Di) visited Pendragon Pre-school in Papworth Everard, Cambridgeshire to kick-start their project on space. The children (including Diane’s twins) were able to identify Earth, the Moon and Mars and compared rocks from Earth with the lunar and Nakhla meteorites from The Open University outreach meteorite collection.

There were excited discussions on how we can get samples of rocks from other planets which led on to rockets of course! After practicing making rocket fuel from bicarbonate of soda and vinegar, the presentation ended with the successful launch of a rocket in the playground, that flew higher than the school roof!

Diane then moved on to Year 1 of Pendragon Community Primary school with the meteorite collection to conclude their project on space. The entire meteorite collection was intensely examined by the students with the favourites being Barwell L5 ordinary chondrite which destroyed a car engine in 1965, the Waber impact glass beads and Tektite and how they were formed and discussions on how large iron meteorites like Gibeon that could have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Dr Diane Turner presents The Open University’s outreach meteorite collection to an enthusiastic audience at local primary school 2015

Pupils answering space quiz questions during Diane Turner’s assembly presentation at Pendragon School (photo: Carol Shaw)

In February 2015, Anthias Director Diane Turner showcased a collection of meteorites to the pupils of local primary school, Pendragon Community Primary School.

The collection came from The Open University’s outreach programme, made available to engage with members of the public about Planetary and Space Sciences. Highlights of the collection include a Lunar meteorite, a very heavy (8 kg) piece of an iron meteorite called Gibeon, and a piece from Mars called Nakhla.

Diane found there was considerable awareness and interest following the ESA Rosetta mission in November and, as part of her presentation, Diane was able to show the children a show a model of the Philae lander, which houses the Ptolemy, the analytical instrument used on the Philae lander to investigate the comet’s surface and subsurface. Built by The Open University’s flagship interdisciplinary research centre, CEPSAR, the instrument uses gas chromatography / mass spectrometry techniques to analyse the solid samples of the comet’s surface.
 
The visit was very well received by both teachers and pupils and provided a rare opportunity to hold a real meteorite and bring a sense of real-world understanding to a fascinating yet complex topic, particularly relevant to the key stage 2 children, who are currently undertaking a project on space. Read Diane’s full blog post about her visit.

Diane Turner shows the meteorites to pupils at Pendragon School (photo: Carol Shaw)