Space for inspiration in the secondary science curriculum

Space is a topic that engages pupils of all ages and which is often claimed to inspire ongoing interest in STEM subjects at school. Space discovery and exploration stories are popular in the media whilst the growing space industry makes a very large contribution to the UK economy but suffers from significant skills shortages. Given the very small number of opportunities to teach about space explicitly in the current secondary curriculum, we will suggest methods and resources for using space as an inspirational theme to develop understanding of many topics, particularly in physics but also in other areas of STEM. Our approach will be to do this in a supportive way by sharing knowledge of space related science, by providing real world examples of the applications of science in space exploration and exploitation and by providing relevant examples of the wide variety of opportunities available to pupils in the sector. Ultimately, our aim is to develop a platform to allow space themed resources to be used with minimal additional workload in the teaching of all STEM subjects and we would value the opportunity to exchange ideas and further develop our plans through discussion with the audience.