Education Pack

Support Material for Teachers and Educators

littleangeltheatre.com | 020 7226 1787

Curriculum links

Science: Earth and space, the solar system and planets, the living world and

humans and the environment

The Little Angel Space Agency (L.A.S.A) is having a rare Open Day and you’re invited. This TOP SECRET space exploration and communication centre has been set up by local astronomer and space fanatic Astrid. It is an exciting time at L.A.S.A as Astrid and her friends Mercury and Hub have built a space rocket, and their dream of being astronauts is about to come true.

Come and share their wonder of the universe. Learn about the planets and hear all about their plans to travel to the far reaches of space to explore alien territories and unknown galaxies. If you are very lucky you may even get to meet Zed, and Zed is not like anyone you would have met before!

But there’s a problem – a little planet in the far reaches of our universe has sent out an SOS and desperately needs our help…

This show uses micro-cinema technology to explore distant planets and rocky terrains. It includes audience interaction and a post-show discussion covering earth, outer space and everything in between. A thought provoking and fun experience for children and families where you can have your say on how we can make our planet, galaxy and universe a better place.

Through this new immersive production Little

Angel Theatre celebrates the 50th anniversary

of the first moon landing as well as encouraging

women into space exploration.

Abou

t The

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w a

nd Th

is P

ack

Out of This World is an interactive theatre experience, combining learning, drama and micro cinema technology. Audiences are immersed in the world of L.A.S.A (Little Angel Space Agency), meeting three amazing women who are scientists and engineers. As well as the excitement of a fictional story there is much factual information to learn on a visit to L.A.S.A! This pack is designed to support some of the themes and learning points that are covered in more detail and can be used either before or after a visit to the show to enhance the learning experience.

Mer

cury

13

When you enter L.A.S.A. you will meet Astrid, Mercury and Hub. These are three fictional characters who work at our space station. In Workshop Laboratory One lobby area Mercury and Astrid talk about some of the inspirational women who inspired them to become scientists, inventors or astronauts.

The Mercury 13 Crew

The Mercury 13 were thirteen American women who, as part of a privately funded program, underwent the same physiological screening tests as the male astronauts selected by NASA Project Mercury. However, the Mercury 13 were not part of NASA's astronaut program, never flew in space and never met as a group.

These 13 women, Myrtle Cagle, Jerrie Cobb, Janet Dietrich, Marion Dietrich, Wally Funk, Sarah Gorelick, Jane Hart, Jean Hixson, Rhea Hurrle, Gene Nora Stumbough, Irene Leverton, Jerri Sloan and Bernice Steadman, all passed the same examinations that the Lovelace Foundation had also used on NASA’s original male ‘Mercury 7’ crew, hence the coined name, ‘Mercury 13’.

All of the candidates were accomplished pilots. Over 700 women pilots were considered in order to select candidates, and they did not invite anyone with less than 1,000 hours of flight experience.

Since doctors didn't know what stresses astronauts would experience in space, tests ranged from the typical X-ray and general body physicals to the unusual in which the women had to swallow a rubber tube so their stomach acids could be tested. Doctors tested the reflexes in the nerves of the woman's forearms using electric shock. To induce vertigo (feeling like the world is spinning), ice water was shot into their ears, freezing the inner ear so doctors could time how quickly they recovered. The women were pushed to exhaustion using specially weighted stationary bicycles to test their breathing. They subjected themselves to many more invasive and uncomfortable tests.

NASA found out about the project and further tests were shut down. These women never got the chance to go into space, and they had to watch their male competitors fulfil dreams they knew they could achieve. With the Russians sending their first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, into space in 1963, NASA’s gender discrimination became apparent to many, however it wasn’t until 1978 that Kristen Ride joined NASA and became the first American woman in space in 1983.

Wom

en in

Spa

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Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born 6 March 1937 in Russia. She is the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than 400 applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963.

In order to join the Cosmonaut Corps, Tereshkova was inducted into the Soviet Air Force but because she had not served in the forces beforehand she also became the first civilian (non military person) to fly in space.

Before her recruitment as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile-factory assembly worker and an amateur skydiver.

Her training included weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, rocket theory, spacecraft engineering, 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters.

She spent several months in intensive training, concluding with examinations in November 1962.

Tereshkova began final preparations for her flight. She was 26 at the time. On the morning of 16 June 1963, Tereshkova was dressed in a spacesuit and taken to the launch pad by bus. After completing her communication and life support checks, she was sealed inside the Vostok. After a two-hour countdown, Vostok 6 launched faultlessly, and Tereshkova became the first woman in space.

Having orbited Earth 48 times, Tereshkova remains the only woman ever to have been on a solo space mission. In 2013, she offered to go on a one-way trip to Mars if the opportunity arose.

The U.S. civil space agency did not select any female astronaut

candidates until Astronaut Group 8 in 1978, which selected

astronauts for the operational Space Shuttle program.

Astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in

space in 1983 on STS-7,

After responding to a radio advertisement asking for

applicants to be the first British astronaut, Helen Sharman was

selected for the mission live on ITV, on 25 November 1989,

ahead of nearly 13,000 other applicants. The programme was

known as Project Juno and was a cooperative Soviet Union–

British mission. Helen Sharman

Nam

es o

f the

pla

nets

There are lots of different mnemonics to help you to remember the names of the planets. We use ‘Many Vile Earthlings Munch Jam Sandwiches Under Newspapers’ in the show! Can you make up one of your own?

"How many planets are there?"

Some people might answer "Nine!" to this question, because between 1930, when Pluto was discovered, and 2006, when it was re-designated a dwarf planet, this was the correct answer. Since Pluto’s removal from the list there are now officially eight planets in the suns orbit. When people learn the names of the planets, they usually learn them in order from innermost to outermost, that is, in order of increasing distance from the Sun, so Mercury is the planet closet to the Sun and Neptune is furthest away.

Many (Mercury)

Vile (Venus)

Earthlings (Earth)

Munch (Mars)

Jam (Jupiter)

Sandwiches (Saturn)

Under (Uranus)

Newspapers (Neptune) Write your own mnemonic for remembering the names of the planets in order from the sun. M_______________________________________ V_____________________________________ E________________________________________ M_____________________________________ J________________________________________ S______________________________________ U_______________________________________ N______________________________________

S

pace

Junk

More than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked by NASA as they

orbit the Earth. They all travel at speeds of up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a

relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft.

The rise of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles, but

especially to the International Space Station, space shuttles and other spacecraft

with humans aboard.

Orbital debris is any man-made object in orbit about the Earth which no longer

serves a useful function. Such debris includes non-functional spacecraft,

abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris and fragmentation debris.

Even tiny paint flecks can damage a spacecraft when traveling at high speed. In

fact a number of space shuttle windows have had to be replaced because of

damage caused by material that was analysed and shown to be paint flecks.

In 1996, a French satellite was hit and damaged by debris from a French rocket

that had exploded a decade earlier.

On Feb. 10, 2009, a defunct Russian satellite collided with and destroyed a

functioning U.S. Iridium commercial satellite. The collision added more than 2,000

pieces of trackable debris to the inventory of space junk.

China's 2007 anti-satellite test, which used a missile to destroy an old weather

satellite, added more than 3,000 pieces to the debris problem.

Research methods that have been tested for clearing up space junk.

Design your own method for collecting space junk.

What do you think could be done to prevent any more junk filling space.

Life

on

othe

r pl

anet

s “I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we

spread into space.” Stephen Hawking in conversation with Roger Highfield of The Telegraph (2001)

Astrid has discovered life on a new planet. Zenadora is a planet in the Sunflower

Galaxy, and Zed is an alien lifeform living on Zenadora that Astrid has made

friends with.

The Sunflower Galaxy is real,

but the planet of Zenadora (and

Zed!) are made up.

This is the Sunflower Galaxy.

Messier 63 (M63), also known as the Sunflower Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located in the northern constellation Canes Venatici. It looks a bit like a sunflower!

The Sunflower Galaxy lies roughly 37 million light years from Earth.

The Sunflower Galaxy can be seen in binoculars, but it only appears as a small, hazy patch of light or an out-of-focus star. Small telescopes reveal it to be a galaxy, but do not show the details of its structure.

Create your own planet that might be part of the Sunflower Galaxy!

What is it called?

What is the atmosphere, weather and terrain like?

If a spaceship from Earth landed on the planet what would they see?

Is there life on this planet? What do the inhabitants look like?

Draw a picture of a lifeform from your planet and the surrounding view.

Imagine you are an astronaut who has landed on this planet. Write an email

home to your family describing what you have seen and who you have met.

What was the reaction? Were they friendly or hostile?

If you could take 5 items

from Earth to the new planet

to teach them about Earth

what would you take and

why?

What rules would you

put in place on this new

planet to make sure it’s

environment stayed unspoilt.

Look

ing

Afte

r P

lane

t Ear

th

There isn’t much we can do about space junk —We’ll have to leave that to the experts, but there is a lot we can do to get rid of all the junk on planet Earth.

My Pledge to help get rid of the junk on planet Earth

I will

_________________________________________________

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John Wright, the founder of Little Angel Theatre, was born in South

Africa in 1906. He travelled to England in 1935 and worked as an

assistant stage manager for the Ballet Rambert while studying at the

Central School of Art and Design. During this time he saw a puppet

performance by Podrecca’s Piccoli and became hooked. John made

his very first puppet in 1938.

In 1961 John and his troupe found a derelict temperance hall in

Islington and transformed it into a theatre, designed for the

presentation of marionette shows. It opened on Saturday 24th

November 1961. This was to be the first purpose built puppet theatre

the country had seen for many years and the only one with a

permanent long string marionette bridge constructed backstage. The

bridge was designed for puppeteers to stand on while they manipulate

long stringed puppets who perform on the stage below leaving the

audience unable to see the puppeteers.

The original bridge is used to this day. The theatre has a traditional

‘proscenium arch’ and seats 100 audience members.

John Wright died in 1991 but the work of the theatre continued apace

with family, friends and supporters working tirelessly to continue in

his footsteps to make sure John’s legacy would delight generations to

come.

The

Hist

ory o

f Litt

le A

ngel

Thea

tre

“Over the next 30 years, the Little Angel team created and

performed over 30 full-scale shows”

Link

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About Little Angel Theatre

www.littleangeltheatre.com

BBC Bitesize for more info. Sci-ence Key Stage 2.

The Solar system: https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/topics/zdrrd2p

Everyschool (web learning) Science Key Stage 2

https://www.everyschool.co.uk/science-key-stage-2-earth-and-space-3.html

Space Junk

http://uk.businessinsider.com/space-junk-at-critical-density-2015-9?r=US&IR=T

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/orbital_debris.html https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45565815 http://uk.businessinsider.com/space-junk-at-critical-density-2015-9?r=US&IR=T

New Planets discovered

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/exoplanets-latest-new-infant-planets-found-scientists-astronomy-a8397001.html

Hubble Malfunction

https://www.space.com/42063-hubble-telescope-malfunction-nasa-response.html

Also available: Little Angel Theatre visual stories for children on the autistic spectrum

Puppet Making Workshops

Contact education@littleangeltheatre.com for more information.

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Contact: education@littleangeltheatre.com Education resource pack written by Sarah Schofield