To mark British Science Week, the Royal Observatory Greenwich (ROG) has teamed up with us for the second year running to produce three short films to inspire students to think about astronomy and space.

Working with the ROG Learning team, it was our task to take their scripts and bring them to life; explaining difficult concepts in a fun and simple way. Aimed at primary and secondary level students, the videos answer the questions: how the Solar System was formed, where space begins, and how collisions and explosions in the universe have shaped Earth, the moon and the other planets.

Director Katie Steed, who led Slurpy’s team of in-house animators, designers and compositors, said:

This series of films for the Royal Observatory Greenwich have been a lot of fun for all of us at Slurpy, as opportunities to explode stars, destroy planets and kill off the dinosaurs don’t come along as often as one might hope. It has been a pleasure working with the ROG Learning team; they gave us a great deal of creative freedom and confidence to add our visual stamp and sense of humour to bring their scripts to life. We are very pleased with the final films!

British Science Week, run by the British Science Association, is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths, featuring entertaining and engaging events and activities across the UK for people of all ages. It provides a platform to stimulate and support teachers, STEM professionals, science communicators and the general public to produce and participate in STEM events and activities.

Although launched to coincide with British Science Week, which takes place between 9-18^th March 2018, the films form part of a wider collection of learning resources that help teachers develop an interactive learning approach with their students. The videos are accompanied on the ROG website by downloadable curriculum-linked resources that provide more details about the topics covered.

Dhara Patel, the Astronomy Education Officer at ROG, said:

Each year at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the education team develop new animated videos to add to our suite of resources created for teachers and students. We aim to produce curriculum-linked astronomy videos that clarify common questions which also lead to intrigue in the subject. The blend of the visual style, colour palette and music have resulted in three animated films which we’re sure will be enjoyed not only by our schools’ audience but by the wider public too.

The videos, ‘How did the Solar System form?’, ‘Where does space begin?’, and ‘Collisions and Explosions in the Universe’ are available to watch online now at www.vimeo.com/royalobservatory