Instructions:

Explain to the children that they will be doing an exercise in which they will be colouring in an astronaut. As well as this, ask the children to fill in the blanks in the boxes with the words provided. Tell the children that they are not only filling in the boxes, but they should be thinking about why these words might be important.

​

The following paragraphs suggest ways in which you can explain each word to the class. Encourage the children to talk about what they are colouring in while they are colouring and filling in the boxes.

​

Explain to the children that the space helmet is important for breathing, but there is something else (i.e. oxygen tank) which is also important for providing oxygen to the astronaut. Ask the children why it’s important that there is oxygen.

The class should understand quite a bit about why we need oxygen from the drama/warm-up. If they struggle, explain that oxygen is the substance in the air which helps our bodies “work”.

​

The children should understand that the space suit is bulky and heavy in order to help keep the astronaut safe and on the ground. Ask them why they feel the space suit needs to be heavy, look for the answer GRAVITY. The space boots are important to keep the astronaut on the ground as they are heavy too and have special grips just like football boots. Ask them why they think the space boots need these special grips. Explain that the grips help provide friction on the moon’s surface making it easier to walk.

 

Ask them to run their hands gently across the table surface and ask was it easy or hard. Then ask them to press their hands really hard against the tabletop and try to run their hand across. Ask them was it harder or easier this time. Explain that there was more friction when they pressed really hard against the table, and this stopped them moving their hands easily. Explain that when we are walking on the earth’s surface, there is friction between our feet and the ground, just like there was with our hands on the tables. This is because of earth’s gravity. As there is a small gravitational force (or less gravity) on the moon, there is less friction between an astronaut’s foot and the moon’s surface. This is why they need special heavy boots with grips to create friction.

​

As with oxygen, the children should understand that gravity is different on the earth than on the moon. These words aim to help them understand that gravity affects the way in which we move, how much we weigh and that we need special help in space. The concept of friction is explained through the hand motions across the table. If the children are struggling to grasp this concept you can explain how friction is the action of one surface rubbing against another. Explain that a toy car would not travel as easy or as fast across carpet as it would across a wooden floor.

​

The earpiece allows the astronauts to communicate with each other. Ask the children to say “space” to each other. Explain to them that this would not sound the same on the moon as sound travels through the air and bounces of physical objects such as our ear drums, walls and floors. In space, the air is not the same and we cannot hear each other the way we do now. Having a microphone and an earpiece inside the special space suit means that we can talk to one another.

​

The aim of this section is to begin to introduce the concept that the moon does not have an atmosphere (or air) and that sound cannot travel through a vacuum i.e. the moon or space. The space suits provide conditions in which sound can travel, but outside these space suits there is no air. Sound needs particles in order to travel across a space. On earth, sound travels through the atmosphere and can “bounce” off surfaces.

​

Encourage the children to explain as much as they know about earth and the moon. Ask what the differences are and why we don’t need these special suits on earth.

​

Key words that should be discussed are oxygen, air, gravity, friction, sound and talking.

​

At the end of this exercise, you should have an open discussion about how the children believe they would live on the moon.

The children should begin to talk about houses, roads, transport, food, light, water etc. and begin asking how they think these would be limited on the moon. Obvious facts which they should understand is the colour difference i.e. the earth is green and blue from the oceans and land, where the moon is all the one colour as the surface is one i.e. no water.