Education
Through Esero Sweden and the European Space Agency (ESA) we offer teachers in Sweden to further their education in space-related subjects. The continuing education is free of charge and consists of both one- and two-day courses as well as distance education that gives university credits.
You can read more about the courses at Esero Sweden´s webpage.
The SNSA offers university and college students internships at NASA and summer school in Alpbach, as well as the opportunity to develop and test their own balloon and rocket experiments within the Rexus and Bexus programs. We also disseminate information on various courses that lead to work in the space sector and publish information on vacant space jobs, both international and national.
Through Sweden's commitment to ESA, we offer internships for those who have completed their university education, even for those who have completed their doctorate.
Leia and the Tardigrades Crack the Space Code
Leia and the Tardigrades Crack the Space Code is a study material for Primary school Years 4–6 that focuses on space, mathematics and programming.
About the material
This is a continuation of Leia och björndjuren – en upptäcktsresa i rymden which was published by the Swedish National Space Agency, with material that targets Primary school Years F-3 and is about the planets in our solar system.
Leia and the Tardigrades Crack the Space Code is a story with five chapters and associated missions, in which the pupils solve maths and programming problems and answer questions about space. There is a Teacher’s Guide with suggested lesson plans and links, as well as separate material for pupils with the entire adventure and comic-style illustrations that encourage reading. The material for pupils includes knowledge quizzes, factual information, mathematics and programming tasks.
The pupils accompany three tardigrades, Obi, Wan and Zen, on a journey into space. They are sent on a Swedish satellite called Mats and have to stop the satellite from colliding with space junk before they can continue their journey to Mars, with their friend, Leia. Their task is to build an environmentally friendly filling station. Using this material, pupils find out about current space research. They become acquainted with tardigrades, which have actually – in real life – survived space travel without spacesuits. They learn about the planets and about how satellites help us on Earth, about environmental degradation, weightlessness and much, much more. The main characters in our story are the first beings to walk on the planet Mars, which gives pupils the chance to reason and reflect on how we build societies, the fundamentals of law and justice, and who should make decisions.
Links to the curriculum
The material is aligned with Lgr 11 (revised 2018) and links to the curriculum for Primary school Years 4–6 in mathematics, technology, natural science and civics. It is excellent for use with integrated subjects. Thanks to the combination of adventure in the story and the enjoyable challenge of counting and programming to complete the tasks, we hope that this material will inspire pupils to learn more about space, programming and mathematics. The material is designed so that it can be used as separate parts or as a whole.
The material has been produced in cooperation between the Swedish National Space Agency, Kodcentrum and Mattecentrum.
Kodcentrum
Kodcentrum is a non-profit organisation that introduces children to coding and digital creativity for free. With the help of volunteers, they strengthen digital democracy, expand the image of who program and what can be created using code. Read more about Kodcentrum and find educational material at Kodboken.se.
Mattecentrum
Mattecentrum is a non-profit organisation that offers free mathematics support to children. The organisation works to promote equal opportunities for learning and to increase knowledge of and interest in mathematics. Read more about them at Mattecentrum.se and explore their tutoring tools Mathplanet.com, Matteboken.se, Pluggakuten.se, Formelsamlingen.se, as well as the math labs they hold around Sweden.