1. Please assign the children to mixed ability groups of four children. There is a form below if you want to use it. The children will work in these groups on various activities during the day, and there will be prizes for some of the activities. Also, within each group of four children should be put into mixed ability pairs. This is so they can help each other to make the globes.

2. Arrange the tables into blocks (probably squares), one for each team. This is necessary so they can share the A1-size mat for the globe activity.

3. The tables should be cleared completely before I arrive, as I will need to set out some materials for the morning activities before we start. Please cover the tables before I arrive, ideally with flat, clean plastic sheets, as we will be using permanent markers in the morning and acrylic paint in the afternoon.

4.Please try to make the room as dark as possible by covering the windows. We will be learning about days and nights, years,  seasons, and phases of the moon by using models for the Earth and Moon, and lanterns and torches for the Sun. The darker the room is, the better this will work, and so the more effort you can make to use blinds or stick lightproof paper/sheets etc. to the windows, the better the experience will be for the children. Alternatively you could arrange to switch with another classroom in which it is easier to make the room dark.

6. I will need your interactive whiteboard and computer for my photos so please have them up and running.

7. Please have the following resources ready to put out (you can put out the items in the first column in advance, but please put them to one side of the table so I can put the A1-size mats on the tables when I arrive):

8. The globe making activity is challenging (especially bending the wires) so it would be extremely helpful to have extra adults in to assist. Ideally we would have 1 adult per team. If you are short of staff you might ask parents to come in – I am sure they will find it interesting!

9. To help children get the most from the day, it is important that they understand a few science/maths concepts, so you may wish to cover some of these in advance:

- big numbers (thousands, millions, billions)

- multiplication and division of big numbers (they will use a calculator to do this)

- scale and scale models

- units of distance (centimetres, metres, kilometres)

- units of time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years)

- temperature (in degrees Celsius)

- states of matter (gas, solid, liquid)

- the basic geography of the Earth (equator, poles, continents, where the UK is)

- materials like rock, metal (especially iron), water, and ice

- angles in degrees, and how to use a protractor

- shapes - especially circles and spheres

Space workshop groups