A new educational project on exoplanets thanks to the NovaScience program

Thanks to a grant from the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation‘s NovaScience program, the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) and its partners are developing new educational resources as part of a project titled “Exoplanets: New Worlds to Discover, in Primary and Secondary School”.

Our main partner, Discover the Universe, and other partners: École en réseau, the Association pour l’enseignement de la science de la technologie au Québec and two schools will allow us to reach several stakeholders in the educational community, at the primary and secondary levels, throughout the province. Over the two-year duration of the project, we will work with these partners to create educational resources on exoplanets and the search for life elsewhere in the Universe, subjects in which iREx researchers are world leaders.
These resources will help teachers make these cutting-edge topics accessible to youth in Quebec, stimulating their natural curiosity for questions such as “Are we alone in the Universe?”, “How did life emerge on Earth?” and “Is the Earth unique?”.

Key members of the project team. From left to right, top to bottom: Marie-Eve Naud, Frédérique Baron, and Nathalie Ouellette from iREx, Julie Bolduc-Duval and Lindsay P. Mann from Discover the Universe, and Marie-Claude Nicole from École en réseau.

By exploring these very exciting questions in a dynamic and accessible way, this project promises to stimulate school staff and student interest in astronomy and science in general. It will be rooted in the Quebec educational curriculum, deepen learning, and connect youth to Quebec scientists.

Participate in the development of resources

Are you a primary or secondary school teacher who wants to learn more about exoplanets and the search for life? Do you want to help us create resources tailored to your needs? Sign up here to indicate your interest in the project (no firm commitment needed), and we will contact you soon.

About the Institute for Research on Exoplanets

The Institute for Research on Exoplanets, created in 2014, brings together a team of more than 50 professors, researchers and students from four Quebec universities and the Montreal Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, working on the study of exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the Sun. The Institute is also actively involved in science education and outreach, organising and participating in numerous initiatives aimed at various audiences.

About our partners

• Discover the Universe is an astronomy training program offered by Canadian astronomers. Their goal is to help teachers and educators share this fascinating science with their groups.
• École en réseau contributes to the academic success of thousands of children and teens and the professional development of hundreds of teachers through inter-class collaborative projects throughout Quebec.
• The Association pour l’enseignement de la science et de la technologie au Québec helps improve the quality of science and technology education in Quebec, from preschool to university.

About the NovaScience program

Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation‘s NovaScience program aims to promote a greater understanding of science and technology among youth and the general public, as well as the development of a new generation of scientists.