Free materials for space and exploration topics

Tables, checklists and practice questions to copy into an exercise book or a document. Teachers are welcome to use them in class. Answers come at the end of each practice section, so cover them first.

1. Moon diary (four weeks)

Go out at roughly the same time each evening, with an adult, and record what you see. Read the phases of the Moon first so you know the names.

Date Time Visible? (yes / no / cloudy) Sketch of shape Lit side (left / right) Phase name

Tips:

  • Copy at least 28 rows so you cover a whole cycle of about 29.5 days.
  • Some days the Moon will be up only in daylight or after you are asleep. Write "not seen" rather than leaving the row blank.
  • In the Northern Hemisphere, a Moon lit on the right is waxing (growing) and a Moon lit on the left is waning (shrinking).

The eight phases in order: new Moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full Moon, waning gibbous, third quarter (also called last quarter), waning crescent.

2. Stargazing checklist

Tick each line before you go out.

  • [ ] An adult is coming with me, or knows exactly where I am
  • [ ] The weather forecast says clear skies
  • [ ] I know roughly what the Moon is doing tonight (a bright Moon hides faint stars)
  • [ ] Warm coat, hat and gloves, even in summer
  • [ ] Torch covered with red cellophane, or a red-light setting
  • [ ] Phone brightness turned right down
  • [ ] A notebook and pencil
  • [ ] I will allow 20 to 30 minutes for my eyes to adjust

Things to find (Northern Hemisphere):

  • [ ] The Plough (Big Dipper)
  • [ ] Polaris, using the two Pointer stars
  • [ ] Cassiopeia, the W shape
  • [ ] Orion and its belt (November to March evenings)
  • [ ] The Summer Triangle: Vega, Deneb and Altair (summer and early autumn)
  • [ ] A planet (steady light, not part of a pattern)
  • [ ] The International Space Station passing over

The stargazing guide explains how to find each one.

3. Bearings practice

Three-figure bearings are measured clockwise from north and always written with three digits.

Direction Bearing
North 000°
North-east 045°
East 090°
South-east 135°
South 180°
South-west 225°
West 270°
North-west 315°

Practice:

  1. Write the bearing for due west.
  2. You walk on a bearing of 090°, then turn round to come back. What bearing do you follow on the way back?
  3. A church is on a bearing of 300° from you. Is it closer to west or to north-west?
  4. Write a bearing of 5° correctly.

Answers: 1) 270°. 2) 270° (add or subtract 180°). 3) North-west (315° is closer than 270°). 4) 005°.

4. Latitude and longitude practice

Remember: 1 degree = 60 minutes, and the Earth turns 15° of longitude every hour.

  1. Write 51.5° in degrees and minutes.
  2. Write 40° 45′ as a decimal of a degree.
  3. Which line of latitude is 0°?
  4. A ship's navigator sees the Sun at its highest (local noon) when a clock set to Greenwich time shows 14:00. Is the ship east or west of Greenwich, and by how many degrees?
  5. Which comes first when writing a position, latitude or longitude?

Answers: 1) 51° 30′. 2) 40.75°. 3) The equator. 4) West, by 30° (2 hours × 15°). 5) Latitude.

The worked method is in how latitude and longitude work.

5. Planet table to fill in

Copy the table, cover the article, and fill in what you can from memory. Then check against the planets in one table.

Order from Sun Planet Rocky or giant? One fact I remember
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

6. Key word lists

Use these as spelling lists or for a "define it in one sentence" starter. Definitions are in the Glossary.

Space words: orbit, gravity, satellite, axis, hemisphere, eclipse, crescent, gibbous, constellation, nebula, nuclear fusion, supernova, astronomical unit, light year.

Rockets and missions: thrust, weight, resultant force, stage, escape velocity, microgravity, lunar module, splashdown, rover.

Earth words: crust, mantle, outer core, inner core, tectonic plate, convection current, troposphere, stratosphere, ozone layer.

Navigation words: latitude, longitude, equator, prime meridian, bearing, true north, magnetic north, declination, chronometer.

7. Four-week revision plan

A simple plan for an end-of-topic test on Earth and space. Each session takes about 20 minutes. Start each one by writing down everything you remember from the last session before you look at your notes.

Week Session 1 Session 2 Session 3
1 Read phases of the Moon, make flashcards Read seasons, eclipses and tides Worked examples from both articles, without looking at the answers
2 Planet table from memory (section 5) Read life cycle of stars, draw the two paths Mixed quiz: Moon, seasons, planets
3 Read layers of the atmosphere, sketch the layers Read inside the Earth Word lists (section 6): define ten words without notes
4 Redo every question you got wrong Explain one topic aloud to someone at home Final mixed quiz, then check gaps

For a change from reading, the life cycle of stars maze on ModernScholar tests the order of the stages, and there is a short fill-the-gap activity on seasons, eclipses and tides.

Printing your own sheets

To print rather than copy by hand, you can rebuild any table on this page with the EduPrintables worksheet maker, or browse ready-made sheets in the EduPrintables worksheet library.

Useful sources elsewhere

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