Children try their hand at gardening on the Moon and filming with aliens

The University of Sunderland has partnered with the Aldrin Family Foundation (AFF) to help inspire pupils at two Sunderland schools to pursue a career in STEMM.

- by Echo Reporter

Children explore a Giant Moon Map.

Pupils at Grange Park Primary School and Dame Dorothy Primary School were invited to participate online in an event hosted by the AFF at the British Embassy in Washington DC to help inspire them to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.

Year 5 and 6 pupils took part in an interactive activity where they had to think about their future career and what that might look like if it was done on the Moon, including directing films with aliens, gardening in greenhouse moon craters and driving F1 cars with hoverboards.

This was led by staff from the university using Giant Moon Maps donated to schools around the region as part of the partnership with the AFF.

Later, students in Sunderland got the chance to join other pupils in the US online for a special Q&A session with space industry experts including pioneering aviator Tracey Curtis-Taylor and NASA Astronaut Dr Yvonne Cagle.