Lift Off to the 

International Space 

Station with Noggin!

Activity Guide for Parents and Caregivers

Developed in 

collaboration with NASA
Ask an 

Astronaut!

Children from across the country had a 

unique opportunity to talk with 

astronauts aboard the International 

Space Station (ISS)! 

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration) astronaut Shannon 

Walker and JAXA (Japan Aerospace 

Exploration Agency) astronaut Soichi 

Noguchi had all of the answers!

View NASA/Noggin Downlink and then 

try some out-of-this- world activities 

with your child!

Learn About Earth Science

Astronaut Shannon 

Walker

Astronaut 

Soichi Noguchi

Why is it important to learn about Space?

● Children are naturally curious about 

space and want to explore it!

● Space makes it easy and fun to learn 

STEM (Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Math).

● Space inspires creativity, critical

thinking and problem solving skills.
Here is some helpful information 

to share with your child before you 

watch Ask an Astronaut! 

What is the International 

Space Station?

The International Space Station (ISS) is a 

large spacecraft that orbits around Earth, 

approximately 250 miles up. Astronauts live

and work there!

The ISS brings together astronauts from 

different countries; they use it as a science

lab to explore space.
Learn Space 

Words!

Astronauts

An astronaut is someone who is 

trained to go into space and learn 

more about it. They have to wear 

special suits to help them breathe. 

They get to space in a rocket. Aboard 

the space station, astronauts do not 

walk on the floor like people on Earth 

do. Insead, they float around inside the 

space station. 

The Moon

The Moon was the first place people 

landed in space. There are lots of 

craters on the Moon. The Moon orbits 

(goes around) the Earth. It sometimes 

looks like a circle and sometimes like 

only part of a circle.

The Sun

The Sun is actually an average-size 

star - it is the closest star to Earth and 

is still 93 million miles away! The Sun is 

over 300,000 times larger than Earth; 

the biggest thing in our Solar System. 

One million Earths could fit inside the 

Sun!

Planets

There are 8 planets that orbit the Sun.

Earth

Earth is the only planet that people have 

lived on. The Earth rotates - when it is day 

here and our part of the Earth faces the 

Sun, it is night on the other side of the 

world, as that part of Earth faces away 

from the Sun.

Orbit

An orbit is a path in space where one 

object travels around another object. The 

Earth orbits, or travels around, the Sun. 

The ISS is also in orbit. It travels around 

the Earth.

Stars

Bright balls of burning gas. There are more 

stars in the universe than grains of sand on 

all the beaches on Earth. That’s at least a 

billion trillion! 

Gravity

A force that makes sure that when we 

jump up in the air, we fall down. The 

space station has gravity too, almost as 

much as on Earth. But because the ISS is 

orbiting around the Earth, it makes it 

seem like there is a lot less gravity. 

That is why astronauts float in the 

space station.
LEARN ABOUT

Visual Arts, Earth Science ACTIVITY

Straw 

Rockets

Astronauts hitch a ride on a rocket to get to the 

International Space Station. Let’s make a straw 

rocket and see how far it can go!

DIRECTIONS

Step 1: Cut a small piece of paper in a rectangle shape, 

about 2 inches long by 4 inches wide. 

Step 2: Fold this in half and tape the top and long side 

opposite the fold. This “rocket” should fit loosely over 

the top of your straw.

Step 3: Decorate your rocket!

Step 4: Place your rocket over the straw and blow. 

Step 5: Explore using your rocket together:

Ask your child, “How far does your rocket fly?”

● Use your feet to count how many steps it flies!

● Try blowing harder and blowing less—does this 

change how far your rocket flies?

● Try pointing your straw up in the air, straight out, 

and down towards the ground, changing the 

angle of your rocket. What happens?

Ask your child, “Why does your rocket fly?”

● When you blow air into the straw, the air goes 

through the straw and pushes out, pushing the 

rocket with it. When you blow harder into the 

straw, the air has more energy and the rocket can 

fly further! 

● Gravity is a force that pulls your straw rocket 

down at the same time that your breath is a force 

pushing the rocket forward. These 2 forces work 

against each other, so the rocket makes a curved 

shape. When a real rocket goes into space, it has 

to push past the force of gravity pulling it down. 

MATERIALS

● Scissors

● A straw

● Paper

● Tape

KEY VOCABULARY

Gravity - A force that makes 

sure that when we jump up in 

the air, we fall down. The space 

station has gravity too, almost 

as much as on Earth. But 

because the ISS is orbiting 

around the Earth, it makes it 

seem like there is a lot less 

gravity. That is why astronauts 

float in the space station.

Rocket - An object shaped like 

a tube that pushes something 

forward into the air, such as 

fireworks or spacecrafts

Force - A push or pull on an 

object
LEARN ABOUT

Visual Arts, Earth Science ACTIVITY

Hidden 

Stars

We can usually spot a star (or many!) in the night sky. 

But where do stars go during the day? 

Stars do glow during the day, but we can't see them 

because of the Sun. During the day, the Sun’s bright 

light gets scattered all over, and outshines the light 

coming from the stars. Therefore, we can’t see stars 

until the sky gets dark at night. 

You can explore this big question together with your 

child by creating the night sky out of crayons and 

watercolor paint! When you draw with white crayons 

on white paper, the white of the paper makes it hard 

to see the white crayon. This is similar to the way 

sunlight makes it difficult to see the bright stars during 

the day. However, when you paint over the stars with 

dark watercolor paint, you can see them again! 

DIRECTIONS

Step 1: Draw stars, the Moon, and other parts of our 

solar system on a white sheet of paper.

Step 2: Observe the paper. Ask your child, “Can you 

see what you drew? Why or why not?” Let them know 

that this is similar to the way stars in the sky look during 

the day. It’s nearly impossible to see them!

Step 3: Use a dark watercolor paint to paint over what 

you drew. Now ask your child, “What changed? Can you 

see your drawing?” Explain that just like in our sky, the 

stars are always there. During the day, the bright light 

from the Sun is so much brighter than the stars, that we 

don’t see them. But when the Sun goes down, the 

darkness of night lets them shine through.

MATERIALS

● White Paper

● White Crayon

● Dark Watercolor Paint

● Paintbrush

KEY VOCABULARY

Star - A bright ball of burning gas.

Sun - An average-size star - it is 

the closest star to Earth and is still 

93 million miles away! 

Solar System - The Sun and 

everything that goes around the 

Sun (like planets)

Constellation - Groups of stars 

that form a pattern when viewed 

from Earth

Keep learning about 

stars together!

Constellations are groups 

of stars that form a pattern 

when viewed from Earth. 

Together, look up some 

famous constellations like 

Aries, Cygnus, and Leo. Try 

drawing them together or 

making them out of things 

you find in your house like 

cotton balls or q tips!
LEARN ABOUT

Healthy Bodies, Earth Science ACTIVITY

Healthy 

Astronauts

Astronauts work hard to take good care of their 

bodies. They exercise regularly so that they stay 

healthy for their space journeys. Do some astronaut 

exercises together!

DIRECTIONS

Step 1: Do 10 jumping jacks. Count backwards from 10 

as if you were counting down to a spaceship’s lift off!

Step 2: When we jump, gravity pulls us back down to 

Earth. But because the ISS is orbiting around the Earth, 

it makes it seem like there is a lot less gravity. That is 

why astronauts float in the space station! Do 10 big 

astronaut jumps and notice the point at which gravity 

starts pulling you back down to Earth.

Step 3: Astronauts need a lot of muscle strength to 

complete their missions. But because their bodies don’t 

have to work as hard when there is less gravity, 

astronauts have to exercise a lot -- two hours each day 

to stay healthy! Train your arm, leg, and core muscles by 

doing a crab walk! Sit on the floor with your feet 

hip-distance apart in front of you and your arms behind 

your back with your fingers facing your hips. Lift your 

hips up and start crab walking forward by moving one 

hand and foot forward at a time. Race your child - who 

can get to the other side of the room first? 

Step 4: Most food astronauts eat is freeze dried or 

vacuum packed. After exercising, snack on some dried 

fruit or a squeezie pouch to fuel up like astronauts!

MATERIALS

● None

KEY VOCABULARY

Astronaut - Someone who is 

trained to go into space and 

learn more about it. 

Gravity - A force that makes 

sure that when we jump up in 

the air, we fall down. The space 

station has gravity too, almost 

as much as on Earth. But 

because the ISS is orbiting 

around the Earth, it makes it 

seem like there is a lot less 

gravity. That is why astronauts 

float in the space station.

Exercise - An activity that 

keeps the body or mind strong.