With the help of Engineering UK, a Big Bang Event was hosted at Southmoor Academy last week! Students across all year groups were involved in some exciting STEM activities based around the theme of space exploration. Y7 students were able to visit Wonderdome, a mobile planetarium, and learn all about the universe and the future missions towards creating a base on the moon. Y8 groups were treated to Sunderland University’s STEM outreach team bringing in some very large maps of mars and creating their own rovers to traverse the planet. Engineering company Equans also paid us a visit, delivering an exciting workshop to 4 of our classes. Students learned about the different roles and responsibilities of the company and how this may link into space exploration. They were then tasked with designing, budgeting and creating a sturdy tetrahedron which would form part of a rocket launch pad. The fun didn’t stop here – in science lessons, space careers were explored, with students becoming an expert in a space career that they may not have previously heard of. They then presented their careers to one another. We hope all of our students had a fantastic day!