Each week in August the National Space Academy is showcasing the programmes and activities of its UK wide team, looking at successes from the spring and summer terms.
Aviation and space are both excellent examples of STEM in action, with common teachable themes which run through all aspects of the curriculum. This is why the National Space Academy was delighted to support a STEM event held at RAF Scampton – home of world famous RAF aerobatic display team The Red Arrows.
The National Space Academy's Head of Teaching and Learning, Andy McMurray, ran sessions throughout the day for the five schools in attendance. Activities included: looking at the scale of the solar system, learning about meteorites and comets, and the students even got to build their own refracting telescope.
The students also had a unique opportunity to speak to the Red Arrows pilots, and to interact with the Academy's Russion Sokol low-pressure survival suit. The suit turned out to be of particular interest to the pilots themselves: in the picture below you can see one pilot discussing with Andy the differences and similarities between the Sokol suit and the RAF suits he uses.
The highlight for all at the STEM event was seeing the Red Arrows amazing flying display – which Andy described as fantastic.