By Alexander Dutton, Head of Education of Phoenix Space
When I tell people what we teach our refugee students here at Phoenix Space , the answer “Space science” usually elicits a surprised expression, quickly followed by a “Why?”. Understandably, I’ve become adept at explaining the importance and application of our studies, as well as the areas they teach and touch upon. In this article I’d like to explain how and why astronomy, astrophysics, rocket science, astrochemistry, astrobiology, astro-etc. (under the umbrella of space science) are useful for teaching STEM across a wide range of core subjects, and needn’t be as unreachable as outer space.
At Phoenix Space, we aim to give our students, whose STEM education has been abbreviated, disrupted or limited, a grounding in the fundamentals: arithmetic, geometry, algebra, simple programming, data-analysis, estimation, the scientific method along with the simple physics of movement and heat. So why is space science an excellent way of teaching the above and sparking an enduring interest in STEM?
Space is inspirational
The night sky can be wondrous and numinous: it fascinates adults and children alike. The scale, majesty and exotic nature of space mean it’s easier to interest students than it is many other STEM subjects. Hardly anybody needs to be convinced that space is cool or interesting, whereas organic chemistry often takes a little longer to warm to*. From comprehending the scale of space in both extent and duration, to the extremes of temperatures, to the conceptualisation of space and time as whole, space tests students’ imaginations to their limits and can be completely different from any other subject taught at school, even within the other sciences.
The universe is… universal.
We’re all in space, and wherever we are we all live under the same sky, see the same sun and moon. These are the same sun and moon our ancestors saw, and the same that, hopefully, one day our descendants will. This unity through space and time is reflected in the abundance of astronomies and cosmologies present in almost every civilisation that I have read about. Teaching space science allows us to tap into each culture’s history of thought, myth, religion and bring students together through learning. You don’t need any specialist equipment to look up at the sky, to catch a glimpse of a shooting star, or the Orion nebula on a clear night.
The stars are freely available for all of us fortunate enough to live away from major light pollution. A photo of Sirius, Orion and a shooting star that I took with my phone on a night time walk in the Purbecks, Dorset, UK – better than my normal home in Hong Kong!
Space is interdisciplinary
Space agency staff and researchers aren’t just rocket scientists, and rocket scientists themselves aren’t all alike. Biologists speculate on and predict the form of extraterrestrial life, chemists create new fuels and investigate the clouds that form stars, physicists develop new modes of ion propulsion and solar sails, engineers create satellite heat sinks to stop components melting, mathematicians solve complex equations to plot trajectories across the solar system, and statisticians crunch the numbers in all the above. The sheer variety of fields present in space science make it a great vehicle for teaching, or connecting teaching to all sorts of subjects.
Naturally suited for project based learning that simulate space missions
In space almost everything we do currently and historically is unique and bespoke, there is yet to be such a thing as a ‘routine’ space mission or research project. This makes it easy for teachers to find inspiration and backgrounds for realistic and natural projects through which to teach topics. In our syllabus we teach basic geometry while asking students to minimise the amount of material required for a Martian base, or programming through designing a path for a rover to search for water while minimising the amount of time used to drill. The strong constraints on all aspects of engineering make these types of problems an excellent source of non-contrived projects. Though many problems in real space science are solved with complex mathematics or powerful number-crunching machines, a good teacher should be able to distill the essence of many problems into a simple form while avoiding complicated calculus.
Space is expanding (economically as well as physically).
The global space sector is already worth half a trillion dollars, and is expected to double in the next two decades. SpaceX is thought to be on track to being one of the world’s most valuable companies, and many smaller companies are producing cheap satellites which can do the jobs previously reserved for million-dollar satellites at a few percent of the cost. The number of national space agencies is growing, with all major economies in the world having a space policy often in some sort of informal competition with one another. The more exposure students have to the applications of STEM in the space sector, the better placed they are to take advantage of the growth and opportunities it will present.
Furthermore, there have never been so many great resources for teaching about space as right now. NASA, ESA, Airbus, Mars Society and dozens of other organisations create educational material which is readily and freely available, up-to-date and of a high-quality. Teachers might be surprised by how much is on offer once they begin to look.
Who are Phoenix Space?
We are an NGO which is staffed by a global team of volunteers and paid Syrian teachers, with members in Turkey, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Poland, Tunisia and many more. We formed two years ago to help address the crisis in education among the Syrian refugee population in Istanbul, Turkey, and grew through the pandemic teaching students in Lebanon, Syria and further afield in numerous countries as online learning increased our reach.
What do we do?
We provide science and technology education, based around the inspirational theme of space science, to refugee and disadvantaged students in the Middle East to improve their life opportunities and empower them and their communities. We offer a variety of courses to refugees and disadvantaged youth which cover basic high-school STEM programming, problem solving and practical engineering skills through a network of other NGOs, charities and collaborators such as PwC or Codecademy. We are currently looking to sell our education materials to private organisations to fund our work, and also accept donations.
For more information please visit our website and the other links below
https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixSpaceOrg
https://www.instagram.com/PhoenixSpaceOrg
https://www.linkedin.com/company/phoenixspaceorg
info@phoenixspace.org
http://twitter.com/PhoenixSpaceOrg
*I mean no offense to chemists – I studied astrochemistry at university and particularly enjoy teaching organic chemistry!
