The popular educational material "The Space Code" is now available in English

Close to 80,000 printed copies of the Swedish educational material ”Leia och björndjuren knäcker rymdkoden” has been ordered by schools all over Sweden since its release in 2019. The exciting space adventure that includes fun math and programming tasks is now available in English – “Leia and the Tardigrades Crack the Space Code.”

The Swedish National Space Agency produced "Leia and the Tardigrades Crack the Space Code" in collaboration with the NGO’s Kodcentrum and Mattecentrum two years ago. Interest for the material which is presented in comic format and aimed at grades 4-6, has been above and beyond expectations. Since the release, 80,000 printed copies have been distributed for free. And, during 2020, the material was downloaded over 50,000 times from the site lektion.se alone. In order to spread the inspiring material further, it has now been translated into English.

– It is extremely gratifying that The Space Code can now be made available on an international scale and that we can contribute further to the Global Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda with inspirational educational material that is free for all, says Karolina Lisslö Gylfe at Mattecentrum.

The aim of the material is to increase knowledge about and spark an interest in science, mathematics and programming in a fun and inspiring way. By accompanying tardigrades on an adventure to Mars, students get to focus on space technology and space research. The satellite Mats, which is scheduled to be launched in the fall, is featured in the adventure facilitating for teachers to tie learning to current developments.

– The Space Code allows children to solve challenges and turn ideas into action in creative ways using programming. Teachers can use the material to work with digital skills across several subjects, not the least English, simultaneously mirroring today’s reality where digitization is part of most everything in our surroundings, states Disa Jernudd, Kodcentrum.

The material includes a teacher's guide to make it as easy as possible for teachers to use the material in their classrooms. It gives teachers an opportunity to work subject-integrated with the space theme and is aligned with the Swedish curriculum. The hope is that the material will contribute to more young people becoming interested in the science subjects, space, technology, programming and mathematics.

– Now that the exciting story about Leia and the tardigrades is available in English, we hope that we spark an interest for science among even more students, and that they discover how exhilarating space can be. We believe that inspirational learning in early years can entice more youth to want to purse studies to become mathematicians, programmers, scientists and civil engineers, says Anna Rathsman, Director General, The Swedish National Space Agency.

The student and teacher material is available on each organization’s website, as well as on lektion.se and gratisiskolan.se.

Rymdstyrelsen.se

Kodboken.se/thespacecode

www.mathplanet.com/spacecode

Contact: 


Mattecentrum:

Karolina Lisslö Gylfe, Secretary General

+46 (0)10-102 22 30

karolina@mattecentrum.se

Kodcentrum:

Disa Jernudd, Secretary General

+46 (0)763-05 65 01

disa@kodcentrum.se

The Swedish National Space Agency:

Perina Stjernlöf, Head of Schools and Education

+46 (0)8-409 077 97

perina.stjernlof@snsa.se