Willow explores Mars

Willow Class had a fantastic trip to the Airbus Discovery Space Centre in Stevenage today!

First we heard about the Mars Rover project and how they have built and tested the prototypes in Stevenage. The first rover was called Briget and the last two were Bruno and Bryan. The rover which will be launched into space in 2020 will be called Rosalind Franklin.

We learned that 300 people are working on the project and that it has been going for 10 years. We also found out that the last practise attempt to land the pod failed, with the parachute spinning out of control!! They had to go back to the multi-million Euro drawing board!!

The rover will be looking for signs of life. It will be able to drill down two meters into the ground and test for bacteria and DNA. What will they find?

The class then moved to the activity area where we were able to explore all of the cool science activities which included giving teachers electric shocks! Back in the classroom we made moon phase boxes which demonstrate why the moon looks different during its lunar cycle. 

After lunch we made a model of how the earth orbits the sun and how the moon orbits earth. 

Finally, we were treated to a story from Shell under the projected stars. We heard about Orion and his silly judgement in error whilst trying to impress Diana which left him banished to the sky forever with his bow, arrow and hunting dogs. 

Huge thanks to our helpers and to Shell and Fiona at Airbus. It was a fab day!