Y8 Royal Observatory Greenwich Trip
Headline: Year 8 Trip to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich
Year 8’s recent study of Earth and Space in their science lessons culminated in a visit to
the Royal Observatory in Greenwich on Friday 24 th May to enrich their knowledge further.
Here are some reviews from students:
On Friday 24th May, Year 8 travelled by coach to Greenwhich to see the Royal Observatory. Our
classes then split up into small groups to explore the buildings and take part in different activities
across the day.
My group first took a tour of the grounds, where we could enjoy the beautiful skyline of London.
There was a small room with dark, thick curtains covering the entrance to block out light. When we
went inside, there was a single table with a live and magnifies projection of the National Maritime
Museum. My science teacher said it was like a reverse periscope.
The next place we visited was Flamsteed House, the previous home of astronomers lived and worked.
It contained many of their revolutionary inventions, and displays of intricate machinery. The oldest
part of the Royal Observatory is the Octagon room, an ancient room preserved since 1676. One of my
favourite inventions in the Flamsteed House is a telescope that depicted a clear and real life image of
the planet Staturn! This was quite popular with a lot of the Year 8's (though some were sceptical as
to whether is was actually Saturn).
Next, we took a workshop about Earth's atmosphere, and different objects that can be found at each
layer. We drew a graph showing how high up some of the objects are. I learnt that something can
only be classified as in space when it is past the Kármán line (100km above sea level.)
After lunch, we learnt about exoplanets in an engaging workshop. My class learnt how common
exoplanets actually are, but it is so hard to discover them as we can't always use the visible light
spectrum to detect them. By using other methods such as the transit method (when an exoplanet
crosses over a star resulting in a slight dimming of the star from Earth) or viewing the exoplanet in
infra-red light.
Once my class had left the classroom, it was time for the final session of the day. We were taken to
the Peter Harrison Planetarium, the only one of its kind in London. In the circular cinema, we gazed
up at projections of planets and stars in our universe. This immersive show was my favourite activity
during the entire trip because I felt like I was really travelling across the galaxy and not lying down
and I found it really informative. One new thing I during the show was there are so many undetected
exoplanets outside our solar system, but we have only identified a miniscule amount of them. My
class also liked this part of our outing the most.
Overall, I found this science trip to be an exciting and fascinating experience because it has helped
me to expand my knowledge about space in a fun and interactive way. Haitu, 8C
We really enjoyed the science greenwich trip, it was educational but also very fun, our class really
enjoyed all the activities, but personally our favourite was the planetarium, this is because it was it
was really unique and it was an amazing experience to be able to look up at all the stars on the
huge screen. We learnt lots about our galaxy and beyond and we got to see all the planet's
features in detail, we also got to ask lots of questions and expand our knowledge on space. During
a workshop with an astrophysicist we learnt lots about exoplanets and how to discover them (e.g
infrared radiation). We also did another workshop where we drew a table to help us learn about
what is beyond our atmosphere. Overall we really enjoyed this amazing trip. Emily and Anabelle 8M
Mr Frisoli & the Science Department
