This month we visited Jodrell Bank as part of our theme lessons 'The Solar System'. Students have been learning about astronauts in art, the Space Race in history, telescopes and gravity in STEM, and the Earth's and the moon's layers in geography.
At Jodrell Bank, we started in the Orrery, which is a moving model of our solar system. Seeing this model moving above our heads helped us to understand the way the planets move around the sun, and we noticed the different speeds the planets move.
The newly built Space Pavilion gave us chance to see examples of what different telescopes can see in comparison to visible light, such as infrared telescopes which is what the Hubble telescope observes, and radio waves, which is what the Lovell telescope observes from Jodrell Bank. As well as this, there were many other amazing activities we enjoyed in the interactive exhibition. We discovered constellations, how stars evolve and how gravity governs the structure of the solar system.
Seeing the huge Lovell telescope was a highlight of the trip. One of our students, who has a special interest in space, stated that Jodrell Bank was 'the best trip out he had ever been on'. Other students agreed that the day was very enjoyable and they learnt a lot.
