World Space Week classroom pack, ages 7–9.

For the teacher (read first)

World Space Week is the UN-declared week marking the launch of Sputnik 1 (4 October 1957) and the Outer Space Treaty (10 October 1967). Thousands of UK primaries mark it with space-themed lessons. This pack is a single ready-to-run session for a Year 3–4 class (ages 7–9), and it works just as well in any science week. It links to the KS2 science curriculum:

• Earth and space: the planets of the solar system, day and night, why shadows move.
• Forces: gravity, and air resistance, through a hands-on falling race.
• Working scientifically: predict, test, observe, record.

The activities are drawn from The Adventures of Space and Time, an illustrated STEM chapter book for ages 7–9 in which two friends explore real science through a proper adventure. You do not need the book to run the pack.

The activities (print these for the class)

1. Word hunt

Can you find every space word? Circle them, then read them aloud like a mission checklist.

SPACE · TIME · COMET · GRAVITY · PLANET · ROCKET · ORBIT · SOLAR · STAR · MOON · SCIENCE · GALAXY

2. Order the planets

Put the eight planets in order, closest to the Sun first:

Mercury · Venus · Earth · Mars · Jupiter · Saturn · Uranus · Neptune

Tip for the teacher: a made-up sentence helps them remember, one word per planet.

3. Be a scientist: The Great Falling Race

Gravity pulls on everything, but does it pull heavier things faster? Drop two objects and find out, like a real Faraway School scientist.

You need: a sheet of paper · a small ball or a scrunched-up paper ball · a chair to stand on (ask a grown-up).

1. Hold a flat sheet of paper in one hand and the ball in the other, at the same height.
2. Drop them both at exactly the same time. Which lands first?
3. Now scrunch the paper into a tight ball and race them again.
4. What changed? Write down what you saw.

The science: gravity pulls everything down at the same speed, but AIR gets in the way of the flat sheet and slows it. Scrunch the paper and there is less air to push against, so it falls almost as fast as the ball. Real scientists call this air resistance.

4. How time works: make a shadow clock

Long before phones, people told the time using the Sun. The pupils at the Faraway School would love this one.

1. On a sunny day, push a straight stick into the ground outside (or stand a pencil in some clay).
2. Every hour, mark where its shadow points and write the time next to it.
3. Come back the next day. The shadow tells you the time.

Why does the shadow MOVE during the day? Because the Earth spins. As Earth turns, the Sun looks like it moves across the sky, so the shadow swings around. One full spin equals one day.

5. Imagine and draw

• Write: imagine YOU could travel to any planet OR any moment in history. Where (or when) would you go, and what is the first thing you would do?
• Draw: draw your very own planet. Give it a name, and label one amazing thing about it.

6. Mission quiz

1. Which planet is closest to the Sun? (Mercury)
2. What pulls everything down towards the ground? (Gravity)
3. How long does it take Earth to spin around once? (One day, 24 hours)
4. What do we call a huge group of millions of stars? (A galaxy)

If your class loved it: getting the book

The Adventures of Space and Time by Karl P.J. Hobbes is Book 1 of the series: two best friends at the Faraway School of Discovery explore the solar system, gravity and how time works, all woven through a warm story about friendship and curiosity. Short, fast chapters built for newly independent and reluctant readers, with big friendly illustrations throughout. Illustrated hardback, ages 7–9 / KS2.

Class sets and library sets are available to schools and Schools Library Services on standard trade terms, and you can ask for a reading copy to try it first. There is no obligation: the pack above is yours to keep and reuse whether or not you ever buy the book.

Order a class set or a reading copy More free printables