Asking and Exploring Big Questions in Astronomy

This 18-month project will enable sustained engagement with six primary schools in two nations: Northern Ireland and England. Students will interact with a series of four innovative workshop interventions in school to strengthen connections between schools and STFC science and scientists. Their activity will end with a showcase event where students from the 'wonder audience' present a science project to our partner and STEM networks. 600 students in Years 5 and 6 will carry out a series of accessible hands-on science investigations that build their understanding of Astronomy. The workshop investigations begin with a Discovery Bag of hands-on science activities and resources which have been shown to remove barriers of participation to science and inspire students from primary schools in socioeconomic deprived areas to feel included and get involved.

Collaborating with STEM networks, local charities and our established school partners, we will recruit and build relationships with schools in deprived areas of England and Northern Ireland where there is documented low social mobility and with low levels of education, employment, health, and housing. To develop and test our approach we will work with schools in Belfast, Thanet and Canterbury. One school in the Thanet area will be a peer lead and mentor, supporting other schools with developing their pedagogical approaches, with the aim that all students whatever their ability and background feel included and build their understanding of STFC science.

The methodology we employ begins with hands-on science, resourced via an innovative 'Discovery Bag' of science and Big Questions investigations. As such students engage directly with science activities and ways of thinking that are curiosity-driven and agentic, without the necessity for prior learning. For example, students experiment with making water droplets on a plastic lid to observe the properties and behaviour of water while generating their own follow-up questions such as 'Where does water come from?' and 'Is there water in space?'.

This will provide a case study of how researchers and experienced scientists, can connect with teachers and their students from schools located in areas of socio-economic deprivation in England and Northern Ireland to enhance their understanding of the nature of science whilst increasing awareness of ways to utilise hands on science through Big questions. The case study, together with resources created from successful hands on science activities, will be published and promoted to STEM professionals and teachers via organisations such as the ASE. Teachers and experts will disseminate blogs and articles about the activities and their experiences both in England and Northern Ireland. Research findings will be disseminated to academics, teachers and policy makers via conference presentations, policy reports, journal articles and practitioner publications e.g., School Science Review.