www.nasa.gov

James Webb Space Telescope

Webb Telescope Fun Pad

PACKED WITH THINGS TO DO!
For more information on NASA 

and the Webb Telescope, visit 

these web sites:

Note to Parents:

This Fun Pad is designed for ages 5 - 10 years old 

and is divided into sections.

- The front section contains general information 

about Webb Telescope

- The middle section contains activities for younger 

children

- The back section contains more challenging 

activities

EXPLORE

MORE

http://education.nasa.gov

http://nasascience.nasa.gov/

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.stsci.edu/jwst/
1

WEBB TELESCOPE 

Mission logo 

This is the Webb telescope mission patch. The National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European 

Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are 

working together to create and build this new telescope. 
2

JAMES WEBB

A man and his telescope

The Webb telescope was named after the person who 

was the head of NASA in the 1960s. Though he is most 

commonly linked to the Apollo Moon Program, James 

Webb was the one who thought NASA should be 

doing more science. Because he inspired NASA’s 

successful science program, it is only tting that the 

next generation space telescope bears his name.
3

HUBBLE IN SPACE

Connect the dots to see Hubble

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space in 1990. 

After more than 20 years and a few upgrades, Hubble keeps 

sending back beautiful images and helping scientists to learn 

about the universe. The Webb telescope will be the “big 

brother” to Hubble and scientists expect great discoveries and 

wonderful images from the Webb telescope.

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LEARN ABOUT WEBB TELESCOPE 

Fun facts 

The Webb telescope will have the largest mirror ever placed in 

space, so large that for it to t in the rocket, it will have to be 

folded like origami. The ve layer sunshield, the size of a tennis 

court, will protect the telescope from the light and heat of the 

Sun, Earth, and Moon. The sunshield adds protection to the 

telescope that is equivalent to SPF 1,000,000. Webb will be 

such a powerful telescope that it will be able to see a penny 

from 24 miles away.

The Webb will be a giant leap forward in our quest to understand the universe and our origins. The Webb will examine 

every phase of cosmic history: from the bright glows after the 

Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the 

evolution of our own solar system.

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MIRROR... MIRROR 

Count and write in the number of

segments in the Webb mirror

The Webb mirror is very large and will collect 7 times 

more light than Hubble’s mirror. However, a large, solid 

mirror (like Hubble’s) would be too heavy to launch into 

space, Webb’s is made up of 18 mirror segments that will 

act as one. The mirror segments will be folded up and put 

inside the rocket for launch.

Hubble

Primary

Mirror

Webb Mirror

1
6

A NEW IDEA TO SEE BETTER

How microshutters work

One of the science instruments on the Webb telescope has a 

new way of looking at faint, far away galaxies. It uses 

something called microshutters. To get an idea of how this 

works, think about how you would make something far away 

look clearer—just squint! By squinting, your eyelashes block 

out the light closest to you. This is very similar to how 

microshutters work.
7

READY TO LAUNCH

Find out how Webb folds up and fits into

the launch rocket nose cone

The Webb telescope 

is as wide as a tennis 

court and as tall as a 

3-story building.

It is too big to t into 

a rocket, so Webb 

will be folded up like 

origami and tucked 

inside the nose of 

the rocket.

Once in space, the 

telescope will open 

like a transformer.
8

WEBB TELESCOPE IN SPACE

How far away will it be?

The Webb telescope will live 1 million miles from Earth. This is 

nearly 4 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Earth

Sun

Moon

L2 Point

Webb

telescope

Earth/Moon

Orbit Around

the Sun

1.5 Million km

150 Million km

1 Million Miles

93 Million Miles
9

There are three stages in getting the data from Webb to the ground:

 The Webb gathers the data

 The Webb sends the data down to ground stations on Earth

 The data is sent to the Science Center

How does the information get to us?

DOWNLOADING DATA

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How Webb will see objects in space

INFRARED IMAGING

Infrared light can be seen through some materials that 

visible light cannot. Notice that in the visible light 

image, you cannot see the man’s hand in the black bag. 

With an infrared camera, however, we can detect the 

heat from the man’s arm and hand and thus “see” 

through the bag. Similarly, Webb can detect the infrared light from young stars hidden in clouds and dust.

VISIBLE INFRARED
11

SEEING IN A NEW LIGHT

Infrared facts

To make infrared pictures like the ones above, we can 

use special cameras that sense heat. Many things 

besides people and animals give off infrared light — 

the Earth, Sun, and far away things like stars and 

galaxies do also!

Can you tell what animals are in these pictures?

A B

D E F

C

A - Parrot, B - Turtle, C - Horse, D - Giraffe, E - Monkey, F - Chicken

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.
12

FILL IN THE NUMBERS

Write in the missing digits

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MAKE A MATCH 

Draw a line between the matching

pictures and words

Webb

telescope

Earth

Hubble

Telescope

Galaxy
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DRAW A FACE ON THE STAR

Make it sad, mad, or glad!

SAD

MAD

GLAD
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LOOKING DIFFERENT 

Circle the one that is not the same 
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COLOR THE WEBB TELESCOPE

Make this a work of art and space
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MIX AND MATCH

Draw a line from the shape to its shadow
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MOON DOGGIE

Color-by-number space dog

1 - Green

2 - Blue

3 - Light Blue

4 - Brown

5 - Tan

6 - Red

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19

IS IT FREEZING IN SPACE?

Connect the dots to see a cold spot

The snowman’s temperature is around 27° Fahrenheit (-3° Celcius).

The Webb telescope has to stay at -400° F (-240° C) below zero.

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WHAT DOES NOT BELONG?

Circle the one that doesn’t belong

Astronaut, Comet, Earth
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WHAT COMES NEXT?

Draw the picture that comes next in each row
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WHAT ARE ASTRONOMERS? 

Find and circle these shapes 

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such 

as planets, stars, and galaxies. NASA has many astronomers 

who will use the Webb telescope to look at new and 

wondrous things.
23

Draw a line between the pictures and

the words that match

DRAWING THE LINE

Rocket

Hexagon

Webb

telescope

Sun
24

RHYME TIME

What other words rhyme with STAR?

Candy Bar, Guitar, Car, Jar 
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ASTRONAUT COLOR BY NUMBER

Help the astronaut place the flag

3 - Gray

4 - Red

1 - Tan

2 - Blue

5 - Brown

6 - Dark Gray

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ONE MORE WORD

What word replaces the question mark?

?

?

? ?

? ?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Webb

Hubble Space

Ultraviolet

Optical

Radio

X-ray

Telescope
27

Draw your own space telescope 

DRAWING LESSON
28

SPACE STUFF

Unscramble the letters to spell space words

XLAYGA

HRATE

NTEPAL

NUHALC

UNS

RSTA

UDLCO

Galaxy, Earth, Planet, Launch, Sun, Star, Cloud
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ORDER UP!

Alphabetize these space-related words

Asteroid, Comet, Galaxy, Meteor, Microshutters, Mirrors, Nebula, Planet, Star, Sunshield

METEOR

NEBULA

PLANET

GALAXY

ASTEROID

COMET

STAR

MIRRORS

MICROSHUTTERS

SUNSHIELD

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.
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A STRONG ELEMENT 

How many words can you spell using

the letters in BERYLLIUM?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Lime, Mill, Brim, Yell, Bell, Mile, Mule, Lie, Rim, Rule, Rye, Bill 

Beryllium is a steel grey, strong, light-weight metal that is 

used to make the Webb’s mirrors and optics.
31

THE PLANETS AROUND US

Name the planets in our Solar System

J

S

U

N

M

V

E

M

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

HINT: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles
32

CHIP OFF THE OLD UNIVERSE 

Chocolate chips and you 

The universe continues to grow and the galaxies keep 

moving farther apart.

One way to understand this is to look at chocolate chips in 

the dough of unbaked cookies. As the dough bakes and 

rises, the chocolate chips move farther apart making more 

space between the chocolate chips.
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D

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N U A E

FIND SOME SHADE

How many times can you find

the word “sunshade”?

The large sunshield (sunshade) will protect the 

Webb telescope from getting hot by direct sunlight, 

allowing it to cool down to a temperature -400° 

below zero Fahrenheit (or -240° Celcius).

H

4
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CROSSWORDS

Answer the clues to fill in the word

P

L

A

N

E

T

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4

2

3

5

6

CLUES:

1. The fifth planet from the Sun, the largest and most massive in the solar system

2. Our solar system is in the Milky Way

3. Celestial bodies that are seen as points of light in the night sky

4. A scientist who studies planets, stars, and galaxies

5. A small extraterrestrial body that is a frozen mass that travels around the Sun

6. Any small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the Earth's atmosphere

1. Jupiter 2. Galaxy 3. Stars 4. Astronomer 5. Comet 6. Meteor
35

LOOK FOR

WEBB TELESCOPE WORDS

Search and find 

EARTH

ENERGY

GALAXY

HEAT

IMAGE

INFRARED

LAUNCH

LIGHT

NASA

NEBULA

OBSERVATORY

SCAN

SCOPE

SENSOR

SHIELD

SKY

SPACE

SPECTRAL

SUN

TELESCOPE

WAVE

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36

COMPARE THE SIZE

Hubble or Webb: Which is bigger?

The Hubble Space 

Telescope is about 

the size of a large 

tractor trailer truck.

The Webb 

telescope’s 

sunshield is 

almost as

big as a

Boeing 737 

airplane!

Hubble

Space

Telescope

Webb

telescope

Webb Telescope
37

CROSSWORDS

Answer the clues to fill in the word

G

A

L

A

X

Y

1

4

2

3

5

6

CLUES:

1. What the Sun, a lamp, or a beacon gives off

2. The Webb telescope will be launched into outer

3. Webb or Hubble Space

4. Heavenly bodies that look like points of light in the sky

5. The shape of Webb’s eighteen mirrors

6. Equipment that is launched on board the Shuttle or rockets for a mission in space

1. Light 2. Space 3. Telescope 4. Stars 5. Hexagon 6. Payload
38

WAY OUT OF HERE

Get Webb to the launch pad

Start

Here

Launch

The Webb telescope will be launched on an Ariane-5 

rocket in South America.
39

SEARCHING FOR WORDS

Circle the Webb telescope words

NASA

ARRAY

ASTRONOMY

CAMERA

COSMOS

DATA

GAS

HUBBLE

LENS

MICROSHUTTERS

MIRROR

ORBIT

OPTICS

PAYLOAD

PLANET

PRISM

RING

ROCKET

SKY

STAR

SUN

WEBB

C

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S

A
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WEBB HAS EIGHTEEN...

Find the answer by writing the first letter

of each object in the box beside the picture

Moon, Ice Cream, Rabbit, Rocket, Orange, Ring, Saturn = MIRRORS
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S

S

P

E

C

A

P

S

P

E

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C

S

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P

A

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A

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A

C

E

E

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C

E

A

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C

S

SPACE COUNTING

How many times can you find

the word “space”?

7 

SPACE
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DIFFERENT EARTHLINGS

Find and circle 8 different things
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MAZE CRAZE

Help light get from the galaxy

to the Webb telescope

Start

Here

The Webb telescope will be a million miles from Earth, which 

means that it will be much farther away from us than the 

Moon! Webb needs to stay cool so it can see faint, far away 

galaxies. The place where Webb will be will let the telescope 

use its large sunshield to block out infrared light from the Sun, 

Earth, and Moon.
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WEBB TELESCOPE PARTS

Use the code to name the parts

of the spacecraft

A

B

C

D

E

=

=

=

=

=











F

G

H

I

J

=

=

=

=

=

�





*

K

L

M

N

=

=

=

=









O

P

Q

R

=

=

=

=









S

T

U

V

=

=

=

=









W

X

Y

Z

=

=

=

=









  *   

 * 

  *             

 * 

        � 

  *    

  

Primary Mirror, Secondary Mirror, Trim Tab, Spacecraft Bus, Sunshield
45

COUNT THEM UP

How many objects can you find?

How many telescopes?

How many stars?

How many galaxies?

How many planets?

How many radar antenna?

4 Telescopes, 6 Stars, 1 Galaxy, 3 Planets, 1 Radar Antnenna
46

IDENTICAL WEBB

Circle the two telescopes that are the same
47

SCRAMBLE TIME

Trace over the dashed lines and unscramble

the words to name the spacecraft

Hubble Space Telescope, Webb telescope

LEUBHB

CEPSA

LETPOESCE

BEWB

POCLEETSE
48

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

From the first light in the universe to the

birth of planets and the origins of life

The launch of the Webb 

telescope will be a giant step in 

the human quest to understand 

our place in the universe. With 

the largest telescope mirror 

ever placed in space, the Webb 

telescope will examine every 

phase of our history: from 

wisps of gas condensing into 

the first stars and galaxies after 

the Big Bang, to the formation 

of solar systems capable of 

supporting life on planets like 

Earth, and to the evolution of 

our own Solar System.
For more information on NASA 

and the Webb Telescope, visit 

these web sites:

EXPLORE

MORE

http://education.nasa.gov

http://nasascience.nasa.gov/

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.stsci.edu/jwst/
James Webb Space Telescope

Webb Telescope Fun Pad

PACKED WITH THINGS TO DO!