Inspiring with Astronomy
In brief
Over the month of December 2021, ESA is preparing for the highly anticipated launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the biggest space telescope ever launched. To support educators in using astronomy as an exciting learning context and building on students' natural curiosity for space, ESA has prepared the Teach with Astronomy educational webpage, hosting a variety of engaging STEAM resources.
In-depth
Since ancient times, astronomy has been used in hundreds of cultures as an inspirational context to share knowledge. Curiosity to know more about space has been passed down for generations in many different forms, from illustrations of the sky carefully carved into rock in prehistoric caves, to the dazzling images of galaxies billions of light years away captured by modern telescopes
With a never-before-seen view of the first bursts of starlight in the universe, the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) will look back in time to help uncover the mysteries of early star birth and galaxy formation. When we observe something that is a million light-years away, what we are seeing is actually how it looked a million years ago: we are looking back in time. Webb will unlock the secrets of how stars and galaxies formed in the early universe, discover new Earth-like exoplanets, and give a glimpse of what the Universe is made of.
On the Teach with Astronomy website teachers and educators will find hands-on activities, classroom resources, images, videos, infographics, and animations related to observing the night sky, as well as a collection of short classroom challenges to help students prepare for the ground-breaking Webb mission. Stay tuned!
Teachers and educators can also explore more about current and future ESA Science missions on the Teach with Astronomy page, providing the background knowledge they need to use these inspirational topics in the classroom.
Children with curious minds can learn more about astronomy and space with access to a special Astronomy collection on the ESA Kids website, filled with fun facts, quizzes, games, and animations featuring Paxi, the ESA Education mascot.
Interested in learning more about astronomy and the James Webb Space Telescope? ESA will be hosting an online educational event on 3 February 2022, 15h CET aimed at secondary school students and educators. Called Webb Quest: a mind-blowing mission to the Early Universe, the event will take students on a mission with ESA experts Mark McCaughrean and Giovanna Giardino to learn more about the James Webb Space Telescope and the early Universe. Sign up here to receive exciting updates on the event!
Teach with Astronomy will be frequently updated, so stay tuned for new resources.