The Science department at Mount Carmel were very excited to 'Share the Moon' with pupils across years 7-10.

Pupils were able to get close up to the moon, by viewing actual samples of rock and soil, collected on the moon, in Lunar Disk 227. The moon samples and meteorites were on loan to Mount Carmel from NASA and the UK Research Institute.

The Moon rocks and soil samples were collected from the surface of the moon during Apollo missions 15,16 and 17, in 1970, 1971 and 1972. The meteorites had been collected by researchers from all over the world, including Argentina, Libya, the Sahara, Northern Chile and Germany. Pupils found the samples truly awe inspiring and hopefully an event we will be able to repeat in the future.

Our Moon rock event, was also timed to coincide with the successful completion of the Artemis II mission in April 2026, which saw four American and Canadian Astronauts travel further from Earth than any humans have gone before, reaching a distance of 252,760 miles from Earth, as they travelled around the far side of the moon.

All Year 9 pupils carried out investigations to identify different meteorites, impactites and tektites by careful observation and by determining the density of the different samples. In addition they have experimented with designing parachutes to model those used by the Artemis II re-entry capsule, which safely returned the Astronaut's to Earth. 

Thank you to Mrs Bancroft and Mrs Haworth for leading this project and providing such a wonderful opportunity for our pupils and staff.