Contact the Space Station
Students learn how to hear sounds from the Space Station as it flies overhead
In this STEM activity, students will learn basics of ham radio and hear signals coming from the International Space Station
Basics
- Duration: 1 hour
- Ages: 8+
- Price: $250
- Location: in-person in Montréal, outdoors
Québec Curriculum Connections
Earth and Space
C. Forces and Motion
1. Rotation
- a. Associates the cycle of day and night with the rotation of the Earth
D. Systems and interaction
7. Technologies related to the Earth, the atmosphere and outer space
- a. Recognizes the influence and the impact of technologies related to the Earth, the atmosphere and outer space on people’s way of life and surroundings (e.g. prospecting equipment, meteorological instruments, seismograph, telescope, satellite, space station)
E. Techniques and instrumentation
1. Use of simple observational instruments
- Appropriately uses simple observational instruments (e.g.magnifying glass, binoculars)
Earth and Space
D. Systems and interaction
3. Solar system
- a. Recognizes the main components of the solar system (sun, planets, natural satellites)
- b. Describes the characteristics of the main components of the solar system (e.g. composition, size, orbit, temperature)
7. Technologies related to the Earth, the atmosphere and outer space
- a. Recognizes the influence and the impact of technologies related to the Earth, the atmosphere and outer space on people’s way of life and surroundings (e.g. prospecting equipment, meteorological instruments, seismograph, telescope, satellite, space station)
The Earth and Space
C. Astronomical phenomena
1. Concepts related to astronomy
a. Universal Gravitation
- i. Defines gravitation as a force of mutual attraction between bodies
The Material World
E. Waves
a. Frequency
- i. Defines the frequency of a wave as the number of cycles per second (Hz)
b. Wavelength
- i. Defines wavelength as the distance between two identical points on a wave at a given time (e.g. distance between crests)
- ii. Describes the relationship between wavelength and energy (e.g.X-rays, which are high-energy waves, have a short wavelength)
e. Electromagnetic spectrum
- Locates different areas on the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g. radio waves, visible light, X-rays)
Kinematics
Speed Changes
3. Uniformly accelerated rectilinear motion
- a. Relationship among acceleration, change in velocity and time
- c. Average velocity and instantaneous velocity
- d. Free fall
4. Motion of projectiles
- a. Explains the motion of a projectile (combination of uniform rectilinear motion and uniformly accelerated rectilinear motion)
-
b. Determines the position, displacement or instantaneous velocity of a projectile, or the time elapsed
What Your Class Will Learn
- how amateur radio works
- how to find when the International Space Station will fly overhead
- how to tune a handheld radio to the correct frequency to hear the ISS
- how other radio amateurs are beaming their signal to the ISS for us to hear
- how fast the ISS is flying overhead
Activity
Students will use the free ISS Detector app to find when the International Space Station will fly over their location. They will learn how fast and far away that the Station orbits Earth and which direction we'll have to point our radio as it flies overhead.
Students will then learn the basics of amateur radio, learning how to tune to the correct frequency to hear signals from the Station.
As the ISS flies overhead, students will hear other radio amateurs saying their callsigns! Voices from beyond the horizon!
Afterwards, we'll continue watching the International Space Station in the ISS Detector app, noticing how far it has traveled in the minutes after flying over us.
Book Now
Fill out the form below and let's get in touch! You'll receive an email confirmation, then I'll follow-up to confirm a date and anything special you'd like for your presentation.