Autumn 21 KS2 Kielder Observatory

KS2 had a fabulous day working with Kielder Observatory. We looked at lots of different things including the spectrum of light and how you can see both visible and invisible light. We looked at Space Rocks including rocks from the Moon and Meteorites. We looked at Space Exploration and created our rockets.
When we looked at Investigating Light we found out that Blue stars are hotter than red and they follow an order Red, Orange, Light Orange, Yellow, Yellow Green, White, Blue (In order of temperature). We looked through some glasses that showed us rainbows when we looked at the light. The rainbows are created when the light reflects upon the glasses. The Rainbow is the visible light that bounces off from things and into your eyes. We also looked at Invisible lights such as Radio Waves, Microwaves, Infrared, Ultraviolet, X-Rays and Gamma Rays. We looked at UV Lights using Beads and how when the light was shone on it the beads changed colour. We also found out facts about Space Exploration. They have Microgravity and Astronauts have to do 3 hours of exercise a day.
Tim Peake had completed over 200 experiments whilst on the ISS. Mostly on his own body to see how being in space affects your body.
ISS is about 250 miles above the Earth. We found out that a Parachute is used in descent to slow it down more on re-entry. NASA usually end in the Sea when landing. Russia usually lands in a desert as it is near Russia. We then created our parachutes to drop an egg. The designs were amazing and were all very different. However, all the eggs cracked. In the afternoon we looked at the order of the Planets in our Solar System by creating our Solar System. We then looked at how you can travel in Space by designing and creating rockets. We discussed how Neil Armstrong was the first person to stand on the Moon, followed by Buzz Aldrin. We discussed how Michael Collins was part of the crew to support. We then looked at the latest rocket test flights and how sometimes they didn’t go according to plan.