World Space Week takes place 4 to 10 October and running a Space Week is a great thing to do any time of year. The context of space is a good way to engage young people with science and technology as it links to so many aspects of the primary and secondary curriculum for all year groups. 

Top tips for planning your Space Week:

• set a date that works for your school (it doesn’t have to be in October)
• use space as a theme throughout the week to excite your students
• develop a plan for the Space Education Quality Mark (SEQM)
• request help from a Space Ambassador to support your teaching, we have dedicated space ambassadors, request one through our website. 
• task your older students with a space-themed science project like CanSat
• run a space-themed session (a STEM Club) for students and families online (or face-to-face when safe to do so). 

Ten activities for Space Week:

1. Mission X - registration opens 15 September. An exciting international project in which teams or individuals can do activities and learn how to train like astronauts and discover more about the importance of healthy eating and exercise. For all ages.
2. Climate Detectives – launching 17 September, a school project where students can learn about the Earth’s environment and take on different climate challenges. For all ages.
3. Moon Camp Challenge - launching 16 September. Use innovative learning technologies to design your own Moon settlement with a 3D modelling tool. For all ages.
4. Astro Pi - New missions launching 14 September. Conduct amazing scientific experiments in space by writing computer programs that run on Raspberry Pi computers on-board the ISS. For all ages.
5. Exomars activities - using the context of the ExoMars mission, these activities link to areas of the curriculum including: science, D&T and computing. For all ages.
6. Is there anyone out there? - using space as a context by investigating Martian soil or measuring the impact craters of meteorites. For all ages.
7. CanSat - a competition that provides students with the opportunity to have practical experience working on a small-scale space project. For ages 14 to 19.
8. Paxi animations - excite younger learners with these engaging short films showing the alien Paxi exploring the solar system, comets and life on Mars. For ages 5 to 11.
9. Mission to the Moon - create investigations and games based on moon exploration, using this resource which is linked to current lunar research. For ages 5 to 11.
10. Design an Astro Garden - challenge children to design a garden in Space, one that can withstand the challenging Martian environment and enable future astronauts to grow plants on Mars. For ages 5 to 11.

Register your place on our free space-related online CPD:

• Teaching primary science: human spaceflight
• Teaching primary science: exploring space