Primary Science Archives - Discovery Diaries

Mental Health Awareness Week

May 18-24 is Mental Health Awareness Week. This is a great opportunity to explore the importance of self-care.

Covid-19: Home Learning with Discovery Diaries

Free primary STEM-literacy resources for at-home learners

Inspired by Space: Engaging Girls in STEM

A guide for educators to empowering girls so they develop a genuine interest in science.

Tim Peake: The Principia Mission

On Tuesday, 15 December 2015, ESA Astronaut Tim Peake launched into space.

Gillian Wright: Director of the UK-ATC

Read our Q&A with Professor Gillian Wright. Gillian is the Director of the UK-ATC and is also the European PI for the James Webb Space Telescope MIRI Instrument.

Chapter Four: Writing Activities

All of the Mars Diary Chapter Four activities can be expanded into writing exercises, making them useful for cross-curricular learning.

Libby Jackson: Human Spaceflight and Microgravity Programme Manager

Read our Q&A with Libby Jackson, Human Spaceflight and Microgravity Programme Engineer at the UK Space Agency. Here she tells us about her career in the space industry and what inspired her as a child.

Vinita Marwaha Madill: Space Operations Engineer

We speak with Vinita Marwaha Madill, contract Space Operations Engineer at the European Space Agency. Here she tells us about her career in the space industry and how Helen Sharman inspired her to follow her dreams.

Star Apprentice Luke: Making great strides

We chose Luke as August’s Star Apprentice after receiving a very heart-warming note from his mother, Laura, when she applied for Luke’s graduation.

An Astronaut Workout auf Deutsch!

You’ve tried the Astronaut Workout, but have you tried it in German?

Tamsin Mather: Volcanologist

We speak with volcanologist, Tamsin Mather. Here she tells us about her career in the STEM sector and how her job isn’t just wearing a silver suit traipsing up a volcano…

Chapter Three: Writing Activities

All of the Chapter Three activities can be expanded into writing exercises, making them useful for cross-curricular learning.

Chapter Two: Writing Activities

All of the Mars Diary Chapter Two activities can be expanded into writing exercises, making them useful for cross-curricular learning.

Sue Horne: Head of Space Exploration, UKSA

Read our Q&A with Sue Horne, Head of Space Exploration at the UK Space Agency. Here she tells us about her career in the space industry and how she kept bees as a child!

Chapter One: Writing Activities

All of the Mars Diary Chapter One activities can be expanded into writing exercises, making them useful for cross-curricular learning.

Cindy Forde: Space Communicator

We speak with Cindy Forde, a Space Communicator with a special interest in inspiring children to see their own STEM potential. Here she tells us about her career in the space industry and what she was like as a child.

Celebrate World Space Week!

October 4-10 is World Space Week and this year’s theme is ‘Space unites the world’!

Star Apprentice Chloe interviewed by Levi

Meet our very first Star Apprentice: Chloe!

Press Coverage

Here is a snapshot of the coverage of the Principia Space Diary during and after Tim Peake’s mission.

Cross-Curricular: STEM & Literacy

The Mars Diary is a primary science programme, but it is also so much more.

Introducing the Pre-Launch Chapter with Lucy Hawking and Dallas Campbell

Get off to a flying start with this video with author Lucy Hawking and science broadcaster Dallas Campbell.

Chapter One: Richard Garriott on Being an Astronaut

To introduce us to Chapter One of the Space Diary we asked private astronaut Richard Garriott to share his experiences of going to space.

Chapter Two: Helen Sharman on how astronauts communicate in space

We interviewed Britain’s first astronaut, Helen Sharman, and asked her to explain everything about communication in space.

Disrupting Stereotypes

Our showcase of STEM experts will help students challenge their ideas of who a scientist is and what he or she does.

Chapter Three: Illustrator Ben Hawkes draws the ISS

Space Diary illustrator, Ben Hawkes, explains how he drew the International Space Station (ISS).

Year of Engineering: 2018

2018 is the UK’s Year of Engineering! Get involved with our Design Your Spacesuit activity.

Chapter Five: Professor Stephen Hawking needs our help

For Chapter Five’s video Professor Stephen Hawking asks some important questions about life on our planet, and life beyond.

Mars Diary at the Library

Download your free Library Pack containing seven activities, perfect for running events with KS1-2 or equivalent.

Keeping Kids Motivated

Keep your students motivated, whether they’re learning at home or in the classroom.

5 minutes with… Lucy Hawking, Author

Lucy is the author of the Principia Mission Space Diary and the Mars Diary.

Collect Your Mission Badges!

Mission Badges are great way to incentivise students as they complete different chapters in our programmes.

Mars’s thin atmosphere

Mars’s atmosphere is about 100 times thinner than our home planet’s. Find out one theory about why it’s so thin.

Run A Spaced-Themed Event: Astronaut Workout

The first activity in the Principia Space Diary is a 5-station Astronaut Workout.

Using Zap Codes to Strengthen Digital Literacy

What exactly is a Zap code and how do you use it?

Mars’s missing oceans

Why did Mars change from blue to red? This video by a National Geographic explorer explains what happened.

How Teacher Feedback Has Improved the Space Diary

Since launching the first edition of the Space Diary in 2015, we have received so many wonderful comments from teachers across the UK.

Teacher Feedback and Testimonials

The second edition of the Principia Space Diary is better than ever, thanks to the feedback and suggestions we have received from teachers over the course of the programme.

Become a Star Apprentice

Each month we’re looking to showcase some Star Apprentices and we want your students to help us find them!

Is Mars’s soil really red?

For World Soil Day we wanted to find out if the soil on Mars was really red and what makes it look that way.

Our Methodology: Create to Learn, Learn to Create

For those interested in pedagogical methodologies, here’s a whistlestop tour of ours.

Developing the Mars Diary

Just like a space mission needs many people with different skills to make it a success, the Mars Diary is a truly collaborative project involving authors, illustrators, designers, project coordinators, teaching experts and, of course, STEM experts.

The Principia Space Diary programme returns in 2017

Principia Space Diary is back, giving thousands of schoolchildren the chance to become space experts as they learn about British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake’s historic space mission.

British Science Week 2018

To celebrate British Science Week 2018, we created a free Daily STEM Challenge for KS1/2 or equivalent!

The Space Diary is back!

Principia Space Diary is back, giving thousands of schoolchildren the chance to become space experts as they learn about British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake’s historic space mission.

Meet our closest neighbour

Mars might be about 225 million kilometres away from Earth but it’s still our closest neighbouring planet.

Principia Schools Conference: Meeting Tim Peake

Imaging meeting Tim Peake! Students from Wellesley did just that at the Principia schools conference.

Teaching It Your Way

We love hearing about teachers who’ve put their own inventive spin on a Mars Diary activity.

5 Minutes with… Sheila Kanani

Astronomer Sheila Kanani is the Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer at the Royal Astronomical Society.

Add Space to your Science Week!

British Science Week 2016 has arrived! To help you celebrate, we’ve put together a list of our favourite space-related experiments for your Space Apprentices. We can’t wait to see how you celebrate Science Week. Don’t forget to use #SpaceDiary on Facebook and Twitter!

Space Apprentices Reach the Halfway Mark!

By the children of the Gardening Club at Hillmead Primary School, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts