Earth & Space
Take a journey through our cosmic neighborhood in this Kahoot! about the planets, moons, and fascinating features that make up the Solar System. From the rocky worlds closest to the Sun to the icy giants at its outer reaches, discover what makes each planet unique.
This Kahoot! explores planetary traits, orbits, and the vast scale of the Solar System while uncovering the forces that keep an incredible collection of worlds moving through space.
Watch the Planets of Our Solar System playlist and the related videos linked below, then take the Kahoot! and see how much you know about the planets, moons, and other wonders of our Solar System.
Explore one of the solar system's greatest mysteries in this Kahoot! about Saturn's iconic rings and the discoveries that are changing what scientists thought they knew. From clues about their origins to evidence that they may be much younger than expected, discover why Saturn's rings continue to fascinate scientists.
This Kahoot! explores planetary science, space exploration, and the evidence researchers use to uncover the history of distant worlds while revealing surprising facts about one of the most recognizable features in our solar system.
Watch the BBC videos about Saturn's rings (below), then take the Kahoot! and see how much you know about Saturn's spectacular and ever-changing rings.
Explore the most powerful weather in the solar system in this Kahoot about planetary storms, extreme environments, and the forces that shape other worlds. From Jupiter's Great Red Spot to planet-wide dust storms on Mars, discover how weather behaves in places far different from Earth.
This Kahoot! explores winds, clouds, atmospheres, and storms across the solar system while revealing some of the largest and longest-lasting weather events ever observed.
Watch the Planets of Our Solar System playlist and related videos linked below, then take the Kahoot! and see how much you know about the extreme weather in our cosmic neighborhood.
Ring ring! “Hello? Outer space on the line.”
Students at Wick High School in the far north of Scotland recently had a conversation they won’t forget. They spoke directly to an astronaut on the International Space Station, which orbits about 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth.
They didn’t have to shout. As the space station passed overhead, the students used an amateur radio to make contact with Joshua Kutryk, an astronaut from Canada. Their school is thought to be the most northerly in the UK ever to reach the space station this way.
The space station travels so fast that the students had only about 10 minutes before it moved out of range. They used every second. One student asked what movies always get wrong about space. Kutryk’s answer: Everything is harder than it looks, even brushing your teeth. Another asked about space food. He said it tastes different up there, even his coffee.
That’s a lot to fit into one short phone call!
The Mars Moons Exploration’s mission: grab a piece of one of Mars’s moons and bring it back to Earth. Talk about a big job! No wonder this is the first time anyone’s ever attempted this.
Our inner Solar System has only three moons: one for Earth and two for Mars. Mars may have two moons, but they’re both relatively small. The smaller moon, Deimos, is about 6 miles across. Phobos is around double that, but, at 12 miles across, its diameter is still closer to the distance to your local grocery store than the size of Earth’s Moon (which is over 2,000 miles across).
Scientists want to bring a sample from Phobos back to Earth, which should hopefully help answer the question: How exactly did these Mars moons form? One possibility is that a giant impact on early Mars blasted debris into space that later became the moons. Another is that Phobos and Deimos started as asteroids that were captured by Mars’s gravity.
Until now, the only pieces of Mars that scientists have been able to study fell to Earth as meteorites, but these types of samples become contaminated as they travel through our atmosphere. A piece taken directly from Phobos, however, would be pristine.
The plan is for the spacecraft to fly past Deimos, send a rover onto Phobos, and later land to collect a sample that is expected to return to Earth in 2031. After all this, researchers are expecting a whopping… 10 grams of material. That’s the same as about two nickels! But scientists say that is enough, especially because they would be able to do several studies on each grain of material.
This BBC weather videos collection, featuring unforgettable moments from Blue Planet, Blue Planet II, and other acclaimed series, takes you into hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and other powerful weather events. See what happens when winds intensify, temperatures plunge, and storms transform landscapes in a matter of hours.
Discover the atmospheric conditions that can produce extreme weather and explore how these events affect ecosystems, wildlife, and people. Watch animals respond to rapidly changing conditions, see how powerful storms reshape environments, and uncover the science scientists use to understand and track severe weather.
From swirling winds to driving snow and towering storms, these BBC videos reveal the forces behind some of Earth’s most dramatic weather — and the extraordinary power of our constantly changing atmosphere.
Travel past rocky planets, enormous gas giants, dazzling rings, and distant moons with clips from landmark BBC series including The Planets and Wonders of the Solar System. Explore the forces that shaped our celestial neighborhood, witness extreme planetary weather, uncover clues to the origins of Saturn’s rings, and investigate what Mars can tell us about the possibility of life beyond Earth.
Along the way, discover how planets form and change over billions of years, why neighboring worlds can be dramatically different from one another, and how scientists use spacecraft, telescopes, and other evidence to piece together their histories.
From towering Martian volcanoes to storms raging on distant planets, these BBC planets videos reveal a solar system filled with extremes, mysteries, and discoveries still waiting to be made.
In What Is Outer Space?, learn eight facts about outer space. How many planets are there? Are all stars yellow? Learn that and more in this trip through our Solar System.
In Discovering a Habitable Planet, Professor Stephane Udry and his team use the most powerful planet detection instrument in the world, located deep in the desert of Chile. By observing distant stars and detecting subtle wobbles caused by the gravitational pull of orbiting planets, they discovered Gliese 581c, a potentially habitable planet similar in some ways to Earth.
In The Key to Finding Life on Other Worlds, Dr. Sean Raymond uses computer simulations to search for the potential of water — and, therefore, life — on other planets. These simulations show how planetary systems evolve over millions of years, often resulting in planets in the habitable zone with water. This discovery not only enhances our understanding of the conditions for extraterrestrial life but also highlights the possibility of finding Earth-like planets in distant star systems.
In Studying the 581 Planetary System, researchers explore the potential habitability of the planets in the Gliese 581 system. Gliese 581c is considered too hot to support life due to a runaway greenhouse effect, but Gliese 581d may have a chance. Its distance from the star and the potential for a warming greenhouse effect give it the possibility of sustaining life. Learn about the factors that make a planet habitable, such as atmosphere, temperature, and distance from its star.
Take a journey through our cosmic neighborhood in this Kahoot! about the planets, moons, and fascinating features that make up the Solar System. From the rocky worlds closest to the Sun to the icy giants at its outer reaches, discover what makes each planet unique.
This Kahoot! explores planetary traits, orbits, and the vast scale of the Solar System while uncovering the forces that keep an incredible collection of worlds moving through space.
Watch the Planets of Our Solar System playlist and the related videos linked below, then take the Kahoot! and see how much you know about the planets, moons, and other wonders of our Solar System.
Explore one of the solar system's greatest mysteries in this Kahoot! about Saturn's iconic rings and the discoveries that are changing what scientists thought they knew. From clues about their origins to evidence that they may be much younger than expected, discover why Saturn's rings continue to fascinate scientists.
This Kahoot! explores planetary science, space exploration, and the evidence researchers use to uncover the history of distant worlds while revealing surprising facts about one of the most recognizable features in our solar system.
Watch the BBC videos about Saturn's rings (below), then take the Kahoot! and see how much you know about Saturn's spectacular and ever-changing rings.
Explore the most powerful weather in the solar system in this Kahoot about planetary storms, extreme environments, and the forces that shape other worlds. From Jupiter's Great Red Spot to planet-wide dust storms on Mars, discover how weather behaves in places far different from Earth.
This Kahoot! explores winds, clouds, atmospheres, and storms across the solar system while revealing some of the largest and longest-lasting weather events ever observed.
Watch the Planets of Our Solar System playlist and related videos linked below, then take the Kahoot! and see how much you know about the extreme weather in our cosmic neighborhood.
Ring ring! “Hello? Outer space on the line.”
Students at Wick High School in the far north of Scotland recently had a conversation they won’t forget. They spoke directly to an astronaut on the International Space Station, which orbits about 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth.
They didn’t have to shout. As the space station passed overhead, the students used an amateur radio to make contact with Joshua Kutryk, an astronaut from Canada. Their school is thought to be the most northerly in the UK ever to reach the space station this way.
The space station travels so fast that the students had only about 10 minutes before it moved out of range. They used every second. One student asked what movies always get wrong about space. Kutryk’s answer: Everything is harder than it looks, even brushing your teeth. Another asked about space food. He said it tastes different up there, even his coffee.
That’s a lot to fit into one short phone call!
The Mars Moons Exploration’s mission: grab a piece of one of Mars’s moons and bring it back to Earth. Talk about a big job! No wonder this is the first time anyone’s ever attempted this.
Our inner Solar System has only three moons: one for Earth and two for Mars. Mars may have two moons, but they’re both relatively small. The smaller moon, Deimos, is about 6 miles across. Phobos is around double that, but, at 12 miles across, its diameter is still closer to the distance to your local grocery store than the size of Earth’s Moon (which is over 2,000 miles across).
Scientists want to bring a sample from Phobos back to Earth, which should hopefully help answer the question: How exactly did these Mars moons form? One possibility is that a giant impact on early Mars blasted debris into space that later became the moons. Another is that Phobos and Deimos started as asteroids that were captured by Mars’s gravity.
Until now, the only pieces of Mars that scientists have been able to study fell to Earth as meteorites, but these types of samples become contaminated as they travel through our atmosphere. A piece taken directly from Phobos, however, would be pristine.
The plan is for the spacecraft to fly past Deimos, send a rover onto Phobos, and later land to collect a sample that is expected to return to Earth in 2031. After all this, researchers are expecting a whopping… 10 grams of material. That’s the same as about two nickels! But scientists say that is enough, especially because they would be able to do several studies on each grain of material.
This BBC weather videos collection, featuring unforgettable moments from Blue Planet, Blue Planet II, and other acclaimed series, takes you into hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and other powerful weather events. See what happens when winds intensify, temperatures plunge, and storms transform landscapes in a matter of hours.
Discover the atmospheric conditions that can produce extreme weather and explore how these events affect ecosystems, wildlife, and people. Watch animals respond to rapidly changing conditions, see how powerful storms reshape environments, and uncover the science scientists use to understand and track severe weather.
From swirling winds to driving snow and towering storms, these BBC videos reveal the forces behind some of Earth’s most dramatic weather — and the extraordinary power of our constantly changing atmosphere.
Travel past rocky planets, enormous gas giants, dazzling rings, and distant moons with clips from landmark BBC series including The Planets and Wonders of the Solar System. Explore the forces that shaped our celestial neighborhood, witness extreme planetary weather, uncover clues to the origins of Saturn’s rings, and investigate what Mars can tell us about the possibility of life beyond Earth.
Along the way, discover how planets form and change over billions of years, why neighboring worlds can be dramatically different from one another, and how scientists use spacecraft, telescopes, and other evidence to piece together their histories.
From towering Martian volcanoes to storms raging on distant planets, these BBC planets videos reveal a solar system filled with extremes, mysteries, and discoveries still waiting to be made.
In What Is Outer Space?, learn eight facts about outer space. How many planets are there? Are all stars yellow? Learn that and more in this trip through our Solar System.
In Discovering a Habitable Planet, Professor Stephane Udry and his team use the most powerful planet detection instrument in the world, located deep in the desert of Chile. By observing distant stars and detecting subtle wobbles caused by the gravitational pull of orbiting planets, they discovered Gliese 581c, a potentially habitable planet similar in some ways to Earth.
In The Key to Finding Life on Other Worlds, Dr. Sean Raymond uses computer simulations to search for the potential of water — and, therefore, life — on other planets. These simulations show how planetary systems evolve over millions of years, often resulting in planets in the habitable zone with water. This discovery not only enhances our understanding of the conditions for extraterrestrial life but also highlights the possibility of finding Earth-like planets in distant star systems.
In Studying the 581 Planetary System, researchers explore the potential habitability of the planets in the Gliese 581 system. Gliese 581c is considered too hot to support life due to a runaway greenhouse effect, but Gliese 581d may have a chance. Its distance from the star and the potential for a warming greenhouse effect give it the possibility of sustaining life. Learn about the factors that make a planet habitable, such as atmosphere, temperature, and distance from its star.