Space Day: Preparing students to discover life beyond Earth

On Space Day, the University of Leeds is proud to help prepare the next generation of chemistry students to transition to university-level study and discover the thrilling world of atmospheric chemistry.

Humans have been exploring outer space for over 80 years. This has provided scientists with an in-depth knowledge of the composition and evolution of other planets’ planetary atmospheres which helps our search for other habitable planets and our understanding of our own atmosphere.

This is the theme of  Atmospheric Chemistry: Planets and Life Beyond Earth,  a short online course developed by the University of Leeds and hosted by FutureLearn. Participants will discover the atmospheric chemistry of planets and celestial bodies from previous space missions and explore the possibility of finding life beyond Earth.

This course is ideal for 16–18-year-olds preparing to go to university. They can join this course for free and can also study at their own pace practising independent learning required for university study.

Teachers can also embed the course into their own teaching and monitor their student’s progress through assignments.  Our specialised resources will help teachers choose a lesson plan and set assignments relating to the course.

Discover our teacher resources for Atmospheric Chemistry: Planets and Life Beyond Earth.

If you’re celebrating Space Day this year, why not share this article with your friends? We love to see your posts, so be sure to use the hashtag #SpaceDay and tag @uoldigital if you are sharing on Twitter!