Topical Tuesdays: Mysterious Sounds from Outer Space – KS2 News Story and Reading and Writing Activity Sheet from The Week Junior

A team of astronomers led by Dongzi Li at the University of Toronto say they have detected a strange signal in deep space.

This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:

• So, we have detected some signals from a galaxy far, far away. Or not. Why do we even bother? It can’t be cheap to set up these special telescopes and monitor what they pick up. Isn’t there a better way to spend money? Or is it important to listen for messages from beyond our solar system? What do you think? Discuss as a class or in groups
• Write a 200 word piece about the signal being a message from aliens. What are they trying to tell us?
• Why should aliens come to Earth on holiday? Create an advert persuading them to visit our planet that really sells the benefits of coming here
• Look up the nearest star system to ours and create a fact file for it. How far from us is it? How long would it take to get there?

Find the entire series of Topical Tuesday resources to download here.

What is The Week Junior?

The Week Junior magazine looks at current affairs and helps children make sense of the world, provides context and clarity to complex issues, improves general knowledge and encourages discussion and debate.

To find out more about The Week Junior and to download its free resources, please go to schools.theweekjunior.co.uk.

This resource is part of the News Activities Archive collection.
View more from this collection

• news story
• activities sheet