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Description

The activity covers all the sections of the space badge.

Resources

A4 paper
Colouring Pencils
And Print out

Instructions

Prep for the session

Set up 4 tables

Have the printouts on the tables.

And colouring pencils for the station that need them.

Base 1 - colouring pencils and paper to draw the night sky

Base 2 - Picture of the big dipper and other constellations.

Base 3 - Paper and coloring pencils

Base 4 - You need this print out


Session

5.15 PM - Come and do the word search

5.25 PM - Beaver Call & Register - we are going to learn about space

5.25 PM - Beavers sit in a circle & listen to facts about space. This will be a quiz at the end.

Questions about space – and a quiz at the end.

• Space is Silent
Sound cannot travel in space because there is no air or atmosphere. It’s a vast vacuum where sound waves cannot propagate.

• The Sun is Huge
The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in our Solar System. It’s about 1.3 million times the size of Earth!

• A Day on Venus is Longer than a Year
Venus takes about 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis, but only 225 Earth days to complete an orbit around the Sun.

• Space is Expanding
The universe has been expanding ever since the Big Bang, and galaxies are moving away from each other over time.

• Jupiter Has a Massive Storm
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a giant storm that has been raging for over 300 years and is about twice the size of Earth!

• Earth’s Atmosphere is Unique
Our atmosphere is the only one we know of that can support life, with the perfect mix of nitrogen, oxygen, and other gases.

• The Moon is Slowly Moving Away
The Moon drifts about 3.8 centimeters away from Earth every year. Over millions of years, this will change tides and even day length.

• There are Billions of Galaxies
The observable universe contains over 2 trillion galaxies, each with millions or billions of stars.

• You’d Weigh Less on the Moon
The Moon’s gravity is about 1/6th that of Earth. If you weigh 60 kg on Earth, you’d weigh only 10 kg on the Moon.

• Saturn’s Rings Are Disappearing
Over time, Saturn’s iconic rings are slowly being pulled into the planet due to gravity, and they may disappear in about 100 million years.



5.35 PM - 6.10 PM 10 mins per base.

Base 1 - draw the night sky and include as many things as possible. Suggest beaver of the week for the most items on A4 as an incentive.


Base 2 - If it is a clear night, have the kids pop outside to see if they can find the big dipper in the it in the night sky.

There is a picture of it in hand outs.

If cloudy, have them copy the constellation from the attached sheet.

Some great facts about the big dipper that can be mentioned along the way.

Part of a Larger Constellation
The Big Dipper is not a constellation on its own; it's an asterism (a recognizable pattern of stars) within the constellation Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear.

Easy to Spot
The Big Dipper is one of the most easily recognizable star patterns in the Northern Hemisphere and has been used for centuries as a navigational aid.

A Pointer to the North Star
The two stars at the end of the Big Dipper's "bowl," Dubhe and Merak, are called the "Pointer Stars" because they point directly to Polaris, the North Star.

Cultural Significance
The Big Dipper has been important in many cultures. For example:

In North America, Indigenous peoples often referred to it as a bear being chased by hunters.
In East Asia, it is seen as a celestial ladle or scoop.

Seven Bright Stars
The Big Dipper is formed by seven stars: Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Dubhe, and Merak. These stars are part of a larger group called the Ursa Major Moving Group.

Not a Fixed Shape
While the Big Dipper appears fixed to us, the stars that form it are moving. Over thousands of years, its shape will change due to the motion of the stars.

Binary Star System in Mizar
The star Mizar, in the "handle" of the Big Dipper, is actually part of a binary star system. If you look closely, you can see another star, Alcor, near it, forming a "double star."

Visible Year-Round in Some Locations
The Big Dipper is circumpolar in many northern locations, meaning it never dips below the horizon and is visible all year long.

Part of Navigation
Sailors and travelers historically used the Big Dipper for navigation. By finding Polaris via the Pointer Stars, they could determine the direction of north.

Star Distances
The stars of the Big Dipper are at different distances from Earth. For example, Dubhe is about 123 light-years away, while Alkaid is about 101 light-years away. They appear close to each other only from our perspective.



Base 3 - Name the eight planets in our solar system.

Have each of the children create their own way of remembering the planets, such as a funny poem or anagram.

An example below to get them started.

My Very Excited Monkey Just Served Us Nachos!

Each word corresponds to a planet in order from the Sun:

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune


Base 4 - Find out about a current space mission. We'll look into Space X

Reusable Rockets
SpaceX aims to make space exploration more affordable by developing reusable rockets, such as the Falcon 9 and Starship, that can return to Earth after launch.

Mars Colonization
A key goal is to enable human life on Mars by creating a sustainable transportation system to colonize the Red Planet using the Starship spacecraft.

Satellite Internet (Starlink)
SpaceX is building a global satellite network, Starlink, to provide high-speed, low-latency internet access, especially to remote and underserved areas.

Reduce Space Travel Costs
By innovating and streamlining technology, SpaceX aims to significantly reduce the cost of sending payloads and people to space.

Commercial Spaceflight
The company seeks to make space travel accessible to private citizens and businesses, including space tourism and commercial missions.

Support NASA’s Missions
SpaceX works closely with NASA, providing spacecraft like Dragon and Falcon rockets for resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and crewed spaceflights.

Develop Starship for Deep Space Missions
The fully reusable Starship rocket is designed to carry humans and cargo to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, aiming to support long-term deep space exploration.

Lunar Exploration
SpaceX is part of NASA’s Artemis program, with plans to land humans on the Moon and establish a sustainable presence there.

Interplanetary Transport
The ultimate vision is to create a "multiplanetary species" by building systems capable of transporting people and cargo between planets.

Inspire Innovation
SpaceX strives to push the boundaries of space technology and inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers, and dreamers to think beyond Earth.

What would you call your own space mission, and what would you want it to achieve ? And create a logo for this space mission. This can be a serious, or a fun mission that lets the kids explore


6.00 PM - tidy up (leaders) and do a quiz on the facts at the beginning of the session.
6.10 PM - Beaver call, Beaver of the week & give Beavers the work that they have done this session.
6.15 PM - end ensures kids have all their items, jackets, bottles etc.

Tags

• indoors
• outdoors
• space
• Space Activity Badge

Badge Links

• Space - Constellation
• Space - Identify
• Space - Mission
• Space - Planets