Making connections

The whole project started as a way to get children to connect with science in a relevant, enjoyable and meaningful way. Then connections started to be made between adults, people joined the team in Exeter, followed by a few in India. It wasn't long before I was receiving emails from Canada and Mexico. As someone who's inner child has the vast majority of the brain, I found this all to be very, very exciting!

On the Sunday evening of Space Apps, the team were talking over Skype - still buzzing from the event and reluctant to get some much needed sleep. We were talking about the story and how it was interesting to see the different interpretations emerging in the different languages. Before the weekend, I had absolutely no idea that there was no word for unicorn in Greek! It wasn't long before the idea of using the beginning of the story as a starting point to compare different cultures came about. The great thing about the ending of the story is that no matter which culture a person is from, they are all united in the human exploration of space. We spend far too long on this planet, dividing and defining ourselves, we sometimes forget that we are all from one species.

Our website invites children (in our trial schools to begin with,) to read the story and interpret it in any way they wish. This could be a form of artwork, creative writing or even a piece of non-fiction work. We are hoping that by allowing children to explore each others' interpretations of the story, they will not only begin to learn about and understand some of the differences in the world, but they will also spot the many similarities between children globally. They all enjoy playing when they get the chance; not to mention they are all fascinated by and inquisitive about the world around them. When given the chance to think about things, they all have dreams - one day perhaps they will be able to help each other fulfil them.

If the trial is successful, we hope to develop the website further, taking note of feedback, to make it more accessible to a wider number of children, whilst being a safe environment for them to share and explore.