Education Today Education Today Magazine
PPG and the National Space Academy will continue their partnership to inspire young people to pursue STEM and space-sector careers through a series of free chemistry masterclasses throughout 2018.
Sponsored by PPG, the Academy masterclasses have been designed to give key stage two and three students a unique look at colour and material in the context of space. They will be delivered by the Academy’s team of leading expert science teachers from across the UK.
Featuring a number of practical experiments, the masterclasses will help students understand why certain colours are used most frequently in space projects, and they will be able to answer questions such as: Why are rockets painted white?’ Through the partnership with PPG, pupils will also get the opportunity to make their own paints and test them to see how different colours absorb heat radiation.
Fully funded sessions are available for schools throughout the whole of the UK & Ireland. Additionally, schools within sixty miles of the National Space Academy’s headquarters at the National Space Centre will be able to attend the masterclass at the centre itself, with PPG sponsorship also covering the travel costs.
Andy McMurray, Head of Teaching and Learning at the National Space Academy, added: “It’s incredible how much of UK industry is involved in the space sector so we want to raise awareness of the diversity of these opportunities for all young people. Partnering with a leading brand like PPG provides great commercial context to the science we are teaching and shows pupils how chemistry works outside the classroom.”
To register your school’s interest in the new PPG sponsored Academy masterclasses, visit: nationalspaceacademy.org/ppg
