Haydon Wick Primary School Visit
11 May 2012
Angel-Lee Richardson the winner of our Wiltshire wide Holiday Card competition received a visit from UK Space Agency staff at Haydon Wick Primary School in Swindon. Angel and her classmates got to pick up and learn about moon rocks and meteorites in a special presentation.
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Hannah Peachey, Cameron Harding and Angel-Lee Richardson are shown moonrocks by Emma Lord, Director of Policy and Operations, UK SPace Agency.
Credit: Evening Advertiser.
The pupils from years 4 and 5 had studied space the previous year and already had an impressive understanding of space. They were able to gain first hand experience of what meteorite looks and feels like.
The children asked Emma Lord, Director of Policy and Operations and Clair Passelle, head of Digital Communications, some interesting and challenging questions. The Agency team talked to them about UK space missions and answered questions about microgravity and the New Horizon mission past Pluto.
Space rocks provide scientists with valuable insight into the formation of our planet and of the solar system. The children learned that moon rocks are similar to rocks found on earth, supporting the theory that the moon broke off from the earth billions of years ago.
The meteorites in the collection also tell a story about the history of the solar system. The Henbury meteorite, which fell in Australia in the past 5000 years, is made of the same material as the core of the earth. The 8 and 9 years olds got to touch the 4.5 billion year old Imilac meteorite and discover how some of these rocks hold the building blocks of life.
Angels depicted space rocks, aliens and planets in her winning design. The UK Space Agency received hundreds of creative cards for their competition in December last year and are looking forward to open the competition later in the year.
