For Space Week we have a wide array of resources and events specially for teachers. As well as the resources below, we are running a number of events that will help you to further develop your lessons plans and to assist you in using Space as a thematic approach to teaching several subjects. Teacher-friendly events will be added continually during Space Week, so be sure to search the registered events regularly for new opportunities in your area or online.
Gain access to a whole suite of additional unique resources, including early access to several of our most popular video resources, by registering your school’s participation via the form below:
Teacher Resources for Space Week are sponsored by ESERO Ireland. ESERO provides a comprehensive range of resources and supports to help you as a teacher to integrate space as a theme in your classroom. They organise workshops throughout the year for teachers at both primary and post primary. Check ESERO.ie for current and upcoming CPD opportunities.
The Universe in Your Classroom
Bring Space down to Earth with these activities. Choose one or a whole series of activities that can boldly take your class where no class has gone before! (ok – not really, these have all been tested and trialled). Each theme includes a variety of activities, with suggested class levels and a Curious Minds/ESERO Framework for Inquiry overview.
Please Note: Using these resources in your classroom can be used as evidence towards the Science Foundation Ireland Curious Minds Awards.
Sizes and Scales in the Solar System
How big is big and how do all those planets fit into the solar system?
The Solar System is a broad topic that can inspire children and stoke their imaginations on many different levels. As a theme it also provides an opportunity to teach across many areas of the primary school curriculum.
Mars
How can the study of Mars help us understand our own planet?
Investigate the Red Planet with modelling & design and make activities
Engineering in Space
Astronauts and the International Space Station
Work as a Robotic Engineer for a space agency. A resource for teachers with ideas on how to use the International Space Station as a thematic frame for teaching a wide variety of topics, with an emphasis on Design and Make activities.
Sun and Shadows
Learn about our life-giving star
How can a shadow tell the time? How do clouds make it darker? Where is the Sun relative to us?
Light Pollution Toolkit
When does light become a problem?
Artificial Light is a reality of modern life, but what are the costs for us, for wildlife, and for our planet?
Engineering the Moon
The Moon is hostile to life. What will it take to stay there?
Investigate the challenges and solutions to visiting or establishing human settlements on the Moon.
Mission To The Moon
Prepare your students for their very own Space Mission!
This comprehensive resource shows you how to deliver a truly cross-curricular experience using a Moon Mission as a central theme.
Satellites
What do satellites do for us?
Explore the science and technology of Satellites with activities for all ages of children
Space for Telescopes
Why do we put telescopes in space?
What engineering challenges must we overcome to do so? Explore the mathematics of mirror design.
Magnetic Sun & Space Weather
What is space weather?
Explore how magnetism and the Sun are related and learn how they cause space weather
Discovering Life in the Solar System
Would we recognise Life in the Solar System?
This resource from Science Week 2020 looks at microbes and how we know if something is alive.
Humans in Space
Could you design a space capsule?
This resource from Science Week 2021 asks children to Create a Future Spacecraft
Detecting Gravitational Waves
Explore how Gravitational Waves are detected by using our ears and sound waves!
This resource supports Engineers Week 2022
Infrared Astronomy
Have you been wowed by the latest Webb Telescope images?
Find out about infrared light, how it was discovered and how it is used.
Radio Astronomy
What do radio waves tell us about the Universe?
Make your own radio and find out about sources of radio interference.
EIRSAT-1: A Satellite from Ireland
An updated version of the 2018 resource booklet about EIRSAT-1, being built by a team at UCD
EIRSAT-1
Explore the modules aboard EIRSAT-1!
Find out about the science of EIRSAT-1 as you bring gamma ray bursts, SolarBlack & SolarWhite, and magnetism to your classroom.
Heavy Lifting Rockets
How do we get humans back to the Moon?
Design and Make Model Rockets that can carry a heavy load.
Earth in Space
New for 2024!
Explore the Earth in Space with activities for all ages about gravity
Whole School Resources
Bring Space to your Junior Classes with these guides from Irish Teachers.
Space Week for Junior Classes
Space Week for Junior Classes and Aistear
Whole Week Plans for Junior Classes NEW!!
Bring Space into your whole week with this guide from ESERO UK.
Moon Calendar
Watch the phases of the Moon change throughout the year and learn some interesting facts about missions to our nearest celestial neighbour
Download
2nd Level Activities
Space Wants to Kill You! New! 
Space Wants to Kill You! Explore the hazards of space and their effects on the human body.
Webb Telescope 1st Deep Field New! 
Developed by Dr Paddy Kavanagh of DIAS, with ESERO Ireland and JCT (now part of OIDE) for Junior Cycle Science
Solar System Image Making 
Create your own images of Mars or Jupiter from real raw data using GIMP. What can the shapes and lines in these images tell us about these planets?
Space Weather Forecast 
How does the Sun and the space weather it causes affect our planet? Can we predict severe space weather?
ExoWorlds in Focus 
Compare our solar system (sizes and scales) to two other exoplanet systems; what is needed for a planet to be in the ‘habitable zone’?
Science In Society Mars Debate 
Should we send a human mission to Mars? With expert opinions from scientists, artists and lawyers around Ireland this resource presents tools for students to really think about a pressing question in the modern age of space exploration.
Moon Activities 
How and why does the Moon change each month? Practical modelling activities and downloadable images.
Moon Phases Wheel 
Make a Moon Wheel to work out where to look to see each phase of the Moon (2 parts)
Moon Phase Wheel Moon Phase Pocket
Moon Headband
Where can the Moon be seen in the sky? Create your own headband to predict the position of the Moon. Video from the BCO Education Team.
- Solar System Scope
Free online 3D simulation of the Solar System and night sky. - ESERO Ireland
For Irish-curriculum-linked Space and STEM-themed resources. - AstroEdu
Lots of Peer-Reviewed Astronomy Education Activities for all age groups. - Stellarium
Bring the planetarium into your classroom! Explore most known objects in the night sky in any direction, by downloading this free software. - ESA Education: Teach with Space
A large collection of space themed primary and second level resources.
