Space specifications

You’ll need

Bowls
Pens or pencils
Scrap paper
Access to the internet
Scissors
Miscellaneous objects, such as sports stuff, tools, utensils and fruit

Before you begin

There are lots of terminologies that get used in astronomy to explain what is on our planet and in the universe we live in. Use this game to help everybody learn some basic terms and demonstrate what these mean by using everyday objects that can be found around the meeting place.

This activity requires internet access. Have everyone complete the necessary research at home before the session, if you don’t have internet at your meeting place.
Write the following six terms on a piece of paper and cut them out, fold them up and mix them around in a bowl:

‘Celestial,’ ‘Equator,’ ‘Poles,’ ‘Circumpolar,’ ‘Moons and tides’ and ‘Zodiac.’

Look around the meeting place for odds and ends that can be used to demonstrate the six terms.

For example: using a football and two spoons, demonstrate poles. Place the spoons on opposite sides of the ball to represent the North and South Pole and tilt the ball slightly to represent how the Earth sits in the solar system.

Terminology discovery

Everyone should split into three teams and sit in different parts of the room.
If they haven’t already done the research, a volunteer from each team should take two pieces of paper from the bowl and bring them back to their team. With a device connected to the internet, each team should work together to research the terms on their pieces of paper. They should write down three key facts for each term, including a clear definition.

Here are some basic definitions to check their work against:

Celestial: Describing things that have to do with the heavens, such as angels, spirits, stars, the sun, the moon and planets – also known as ‘celestial bodies.’ Equator: An imaginary line drawn around the middle of the earth, exactly halfway between the poles and forming the line of latitude ‘0°.’ Poles: The two locations on Earth that are the northern and southern ends of the axis around which the planet rotates. Circumpolar: Found near or around one of the Earth's poles. Zodiac: An area of sky about 8° either side of the ‘ecliptic,’ which is the path the sun seems to take across the sky in one year. It includes all positions of the sun, the moon and most familiar planets. Moon and tides: The tides are affected by the moon due to gravity. As our planet rotates around on its axis, the gravitational pull from the moon pulls the water towards it, causing a high tide.

Once everyone has researched their terms, volunteers from each team should choose items from the miscellaneous objects collected. These items need to be used by the team to help demonstrate what the terms they’re explaining mean.

Encourage everyone to look for similar shapes and try to find items that fit the scale of the world they’re creating in their presentations.

Give the teams some time to prepare their presentations, and encourage everyone to share the responsibilities of explaining and demonstrating.
Have each team present about one of their terms at a time, read out their facts and demonstrate processes or likenesses with props. Continue until all of the terms have been discussed.

Reflection

This activity helped everybody learn some basic astronomical terms and then demonstrate what they meant using everyday objects. Understanding this terminology helps us gain a greater understanding of what’s out there. How did your team work together to find out what you needed to know and feed that information back to the rest of the group? You needed to communicate clearly to explain your terms, but someone also had to read and understand the information online. Did your team swap roles for each term you worked on?

Explaining technical terms can be quite difficult. Why is it helpful for those listening to have a demonstration? What methods of communication did groups use to clearly define what they were presenting about?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Active games: The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
Dark: Provide some light, so the environment isn’t completely dark. Everyone must be able to see others and move around the area safely.
Scissors: Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
Online safety: Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.