Description:

The team split up again for our third day on Islay, with Scott being dropped off at Keills Primary and Chris heading off to Jura. Thankfully a 9:30 am start at both schools allowed plenty of time for driving and ferries. The whole day at Keills was spent with the P3-7 pupils and started with a detailed look at the solar system, after which they were introduced to the ‘Nature of Light’, and in particular, why astronomers use many different types of light to study the Universe. After break, pupils got the laptops out and learnt about why we need robotic telescopes, and indeed, how to conduct investigations using image processing software on images from professional telescopes.

After lunch, we ran the ‘Introduction to Gravity’ module, which introduced pupils to some of the ideas of Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, and explained how the Moon and Sun’s gravity cause the tides on Earth. The final hour was taken up with our ‘Space Exploration’ talk, followed by a 15 minute question and answer session with our astronomer. It was then time for Scott to make his way by car, ferry and bus to Jura for our evening community event.