Ireland Junior Cycle

Hunt the Asteroids

How do we find asteroids?



An image of a pair of binoculars on the Earth looking out to space showing small asteroids scattered through it.


Distances in Space

Distances to objects in space are very, very large. The nearest star (excluding the Sun), Alpha Centauri, is 41.23 trillion km, or 41,320,000,000,000 km!!



a starry background with a tape measure and the word year


Investigate: Measure the Size of a Galaxy

Have you ever wondered how big a galaxy is? They contain millions to billions of stars but what does that really mean for size?

Reading about sizes in a book is one thing, but what if you could make an observation of a galaxy and then measure its size?



Picture of a galaxy with a ruler next to it and question marks


What is the Solar System?



An illustration of the Solar System


Recreate a Solar Eclipse

A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. The Moon stops the Sun’s



An image of the Moon crossing over the Sun


Planet Facts Posters

Do you know how many planets in our Solar System have rings? Or how many have moons? Learn some interesting facts about the planets in our Solar System with these free printable posters!



Thumbnail of the 8 Planet Facts Posters


Our Sun Quiz

Short Intro Text: 

The Sun is our closest star and the centre of our Solar System. However, it is only one of several billion stars in our galaxy.

Astronomers study and learn about the Sun using observations from telescopes along with data collected by space probes. But how much do you know about our star? Test your knowledge using this quiz!





Measure Mountains on the Moon

Short Intro Text: 

Did you know there are mountains on the Moon? How tall do you think they are? Are they higher than mountains on Earth?

Complete this activity to find out! You will use high resolution images of the Moon and a bit of maths to investigate the answer.





Make a Play-doh Solar System

You may know that Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, but do you know how much larger than the Earth it is?

Find out by creating a scale model of each planet in our Solar System!

 



The 8 planets of the Solar System made out of Play-Doh


Keep a Moon Diary

Have you noticed the Moon is brighter some nights than others? And it looks like the Moon changes shape? We call these changes the phases of the Moon.



A calendar for a month that has been partially filled in to show the phase of the Moon on each day.


Pages