Rosetta: primary resource book
The Rosetta spacecraft was sent on a mission to comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Part of its mission was to deploy a lander, Philae, on the surface of the comet. The resource contains seven activities themed around the mission: The Planets: Using interactive games, children will learn to recognise the names of the eight planets in the Solar System and they will learn that planets revolve around the Sun. This introductory lesson will give children an understanding of planets in the Solar System, in preparation for further topics on other objects, such as asteroids and comets. Falling Stars: Meteorites are heated on their path through the atmosphere of the Earth.
Using this context, children will learn the difference between a star and a ‘falling star’, and how friction can cause heating effects. The activity suggests the use of meteorite samples, which can be borrowed for short loan periods. Meteorites: In this activity, students learn about craters that can be created by impacts from space. The resource describes an activity to measure the size of craters by varying the mass of balls, or by varying the height dropped into sand. Children can create graphs to present their findings.
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