In January, we launched our space theme when we received a letter from the National Space Centre inviting us to visit them. The main concepts that we have learnt about so far include:

- the roles of space rovers

- making our own space rovers 

- the first moon landing

- the space race

- the solar system and the order of the planets in relation to the sun and how all the planets orbit the sun

- how we have day and night

- the Moon orbits the Earth

- the phases of the Moon

On our visit to the space centre children had an exciting time finding out about the training that astronauts undergo, what life is like in space, the dangers of life in space and of course more about space rovers.  They enjoyed the interactive exhibits, planetarium show and workshop.

To follow on from this, we designed and created our own space rovers. Next, we will be adding a mechanism to our rovers using a pulley to help it to move independently.

A few weeks ago, we took part in a STEM competition to see who could design a mechanism that could transport a bridge to another location. Children worked together in pairs and a winning pair was chosen to represent Lyppard Grange at the final, which will be held in June at Mazak.  Sarah, from STEM, commented on how advanced the children's construction skills were, adding that some of the designs looked like they had been made by high school students.  We were impressed with the children's excellent teamwork and communication skills.

We have also started a computing unit that will allow us to build space rovers and program them to complete actions like sweeping, driving and moving in different ways.