STEM Live

Meet The Astronauts

Mission: Spark primary students’ STEM curiosity via a live lesson with the UK’s first astronaut.

“’Amazing’, ‘inspired’ and ‘I want to be an astronaut!’ is how some of Pinwydden5 class felt after watching a live Q&A session with astronaut Helen Sharman about her experience in space! It brought our theme to life.”

Y5 Teacher, Ysgol Hamadryad

Brief Overview

Client Industry: Aerospace

Focus: Space and STEM Education

Challenge: Design an exciting live STEM lesson on the topic of space for primary school students globally to watch live from SaxaVord Space Port.

Solution:

Provided a free, easy-to-access Live Lesson.
Recruited Kelen Sharman, the first Briton in space, as an inspiring and in-demand guest speaker.
Tailored the lesson to align with KS1 and KS2 UK curriculum ensuring all learning material was relevant and effective.
Successfully marketed the lesson to 41 countries to reach a global audience of 120,000 children.
Ensured professionally-lead streaming and production of the live lesson.

Download the Client Story

STEM Live

In January 2023, hi-impact launched STEM Live, an educational initiative with the vision of creating a new generation of students eager to embrace future STEM challenges to help the UK thrive.

It does this through a series of live lessons which take primary school students to places they would never visit on a school trip to ignite curiosity in STEM learning regardless of location. All STEM Live lessons are tailored to the UK Key Stage 1 (KS1) and/or Key Stage 2 (KS2) curriculum.

Meet The Astronauts

The initiative’s inaugural free live lesson was ‘Meet the Astronauts’ broadcasted from SaxaVord SpacePort on the remote Shetland Isles of Scotland and included an engaging live Q&A session with Helen Sharman, Britain’s first astronaut.

‘Meet the Astronauts’ was a resounding success with over 120,000 students from various countries tuning into this live inaugural lesson. To overcome geographical boundaries, our comprehensive marketing strategy spanned multiple platforms and languages, reaching a global audience through social media, email campaigns, and partnerships with educational organisations.

The curriculum-focused content allowed students to explore a rocket shuttle and participate in insightful Q&A sessions with an astronaut in training. We tailored the content to correctly align with KS1 and KS2 curricula. By closely analysing international educational requirements, we ensured relevance to classroom learning in other countries.

Securing inspiring and in-demand guest speakers, like Helen Sharman, was pivotal. Her presence elevated the project’s credibility and made the lesson more engaging, offering first-hand experience and captivating narratives to students.

Ensuring high-quality technical delivery was paramount to enhancing the overall learning experience. We utilised high-quality audio-visual equipment, strong internet connectivity and a dedicated technical support team to minimise disruptions during live sessions.

The lesson can still be accessed here.