For Teachers & Reading Groups

Discussion guides, educational resources, and activities to explore the themes of Everything Is Flying in classrooms and reading groups

Using This Guide

Everything Is Flying offers a unique opportunity to explore space technology not as science fiction, but as a practical infrastructure that shapes modern life. This guide provides discussion questions and activities organized by the book's four main sections.

For Educators

Integrate these questions into lesson plans, assign as homework, or use for class discussions

For Reading Groups

Use these prompts to spark meaningful conversations about technology, history, and society

Science Class: History & Foundations

The deep roots of the ideas in the first part of the book—where geometry, observation, and argument began to harden into science.

Lift-Off: Rockets, Spaceflight & Missions

Rockets, missions, and the infrastructure that makes space travel possible, explored from many different angles.

Exploring Space

Modern physics and cosmology explained in accessible language for curious non-specialists.

Additional Teaching Resources

Consider pairing these discussion guides with:

The Further Reading section for deeper exploration of specific topics
The Flight Check quizzes to assess comprehension
Field trips to planetariums, science museums, or space centers
Guest speakers from STEM fields or aerospace industry
Practical activities like tracking satellites or analyzing satellite imagery

For Teachers & Reading Groups

For Educators

For Reading Groups

01Which historical figure in this section felt most 'modern' to you, and why?

02How did your mental picture of 'orbit' change after reading this section?

03How did Ptolemy, Islamic astronomers, Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler, or Galileo change what 'evidence' meant in their time?

04Which analogy (cannonball, motorway on-ramp, falling and missing the ground) helps you most, and what would your own analogy be?

05Where do you see 'everything is flying' in everyday life?

06What surprised you about how long old models lasted, even as new data accumulated?

07Creative Prompt: Imagine writing a one-page 'press release from the past' announcing a major astronomical discovery. What would it say?

08Creative Prompt: Draw or describe your own diagram explaining orbital motion to someone who has never thought about it before.

01What trade-offs appear in where we put launch sites?

02Did the idea of a gravity turn or staging surprise you? What did you previously assume?

03If your country had to pick one new launch site, where would you put it and why?

04Creative Prompt: Design a poster for a fictional rocket launch from your chosen location. What would the mission be called?

01If you had to justify one destination (Moon, Mars, near-Earth asteroids, outer planets) to a non-space-person, what argument would you borrow from the book—or invent?

02What mix of science, symbolism, and economics did you notice in the way missions are planned?

03Creative Prompt: Imagine writing a one-page 'press release from the future' about a mission that doesn't exist yet. What problem did it solve?