SPACE
USEFUL WEBSITES
www.nasa.gov/education/resources (For background information on Earth and our solar system)
IDEAS
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY
Try out the Spaceship Earth activity to explore issues around interconnectedness, equity and fairness in
our world today.
IDENTITY AND DIVERSITY
Reimagine the world as a village of 100 people using these notes. Explore the make-up of Earth’s
population and get pupils’ thinking about what it means to be one person in 7.4 billion.
GLOBALISATION AND INTERDEPENDENCE
Use Google Earth to fly around our planet, the Moon, Mars, our sky and our oceans. How does our Earth
compare to other planets?
Look at night-time images of the Earth, which highlight the huge areas of urbanisation.
Compare two famous photos of the Earth: The Blue Marble and The Pale Blue Dot. Consider with pupils
how our understanding of interconnectedness has been influenced by these two images taken from
space.
Use a world map or globe to plot all the places to which your children are connected, whether through
going to the countries themselves or knowing someone who has been there. Then start to add in all the
places where our ‘stuff’ comes from. Very quickly, you will be able to visualise our interconnectedness.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
If everyone in the world lived the way we do in the UK we would need three planets to support us. We
only have one. Try using the One Planet Living calculator to work out you and your pupils’ impact and
see if there are any changes you can make.
As far as we know, our planet is quite unique in the quantity and diversity of life it supports. Watch the
Nature is Speaking videos from Conservation International, then help children write their own letters or
poems about the need to protect our planet.
PEACE AND CONFLICT
Think about what we would need for a peaceful, fair and sustainable society. Put the ideas on to cards
then ask children to and rank them and explain their thinking.
Find out about the cooperation between countries on the International Space Station. Even countries
who have ongoing conflicts on the surface work together on the station. What lessons could we learn
from this?
SPACE
IDEAS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Describe Human Rights to an alien visitor and explain why we have them. Use activities from Amnesty’s
Lift Off resource to help children understand human rights and the principles of empathy, respect,
communication, responsibility, cooperation and conflict resolution.
POWER AND GOVERNANCE
Think about the world in 30 or 50 years’ time. What actions could we and our governments take now to
make our world a fairer and more sustainable place?
Ask the children to pretend that they are in charge and it is up to them to come up with rules and
guidance to protect the Earth all the life it supports. Help the children to understand that we are all
global citizens and all have a role to play in looking after our planet.
Planets have been discovered in distant parts of our universe that could support life. Pretend there is a
mission to inhabit one of these new planets ask the children to think about who should be sent on this
mission and why. Ask them to come up with a set of rules for working together to make the most of
their life and their new home. How do these compare with rules and principles we have on Earth?