Beaulieu Village Primary School pupils handle meteorite samples provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council

PUPILS had an out-of-this-world experience when they got the chance to handle genuine moon rocks and meteorites.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) provided packs of samples to students at Beaulieu Village Primary School for a series of science lessons.

They included a 1.2 billion-year-old piece of Mars rock, a 4.3-billion-year-old nickel meteorite and lunar samples gathered by NASA in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Astronauts have brought 382kg of moon rock back to Earth, mainly for use by scientists, but with small quantities going into educational packs like those used by the pupils.

STFC executive chairman Prof. Mark Thomson said: “We are thrilled to be able to offer this unique opportunity to young people. It is not often they will be able to see close-up, and actually touch, such important fragments of science history.

"Samples like these are vital in teaching us more about our solar system, allowing us to confront theory with fact. We hope this experience will encourage the students to take up a career in science.”

The packs have been recently updated to include a new meteorite hunter’s kit, teacher planning, and new web-based resources and online support videos for pupils of all ages.

STFC is the only body in the country licensed to loan space rock samples out for educational purposes.