Children at The Grange Junior School joined the quest for life on Mars in January as they took part in the European Space Agency backed Tim Peake Primary Project.
Sue Andrews, a space ambassador from ESERO-UK, the European Space Education Resource Office for the UK, visited the school to inspire and lead Year 5 classes as they took on the roles of space scientists looking into the possibility of life on the Red Planet.
After watching an animation of the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars, the children learned about the quest to discover whether planet Mars has, or once had, the conditions required to support life.
The children then worked scientifically in order to decide which of three soil samples was most like Martian soil.
Their investigations involved close observations of the colour and texture of the samples, testing for acidity, timing the filtration rate of water through the soils and finally recovering salt by evaporating.
The Tim Peake Primary Project uses space to increase the engagement of primary school children with science, numeracy and literacy.
