Get to Know the Summer Sky
The summer triangle is not a constellation, but an celestial asterism made up of three bright stars, Vega, Danube and Altair. They appear during late spring, but are the most visible in the sky for the summer months.
At-Home STEM Activities: Planetary Structure
We’re spending this week looking at planets, so let’s get to the heart of the matter: planet cores. Although there are common elements in all of the planet cores in our solar system (we think...), there is a lot of variety out there, too. And a planet’s internal structure has a big impact on what happens around the planet, too.
Virtual Storytime: Planes Fly!
This week, our Distance Learning offerings are focusing on different aspects of flight. Join one of our museum educators as she reads Planes Fly! by George Ella Lyon, with illustrations by Mick Wiggins!
Just for Fun: Design a Mars Mission Patch
This week’s focus is life in space—and today, we’re designing our own mission patch. Mission patches are worn by the astronauts and people affiliated with a particular space mission. Each patch has a unique design, which includes a picture relating to the mission and usually the crew members’ names. Since 1965, patches have been created for all NASA manned missions, as well as many crew-less expeditions.
Now that you’ve been accepted to participate in the first-ever crewed mission to Mars, you’ll need to design your own patch for this historic mission! Download & print our patch template, or start from scratch on blank paper. Let your creativity run wild, and share your work when it’s complete!
Virtual Storytime: Go for the Moon
Today’s upcoming SpaceX Dragon-2 rocket launch is momentous for two reasons: it’s the first time NASA has ever launched astronauts into orbit on a private spacecraft, and this is the first launch of astronauts from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.
In the spirit of anticipation and ground-breaking, join one of our museum educators as she reads Go for the Moon: A Rocket, A Boy, and The First Moon Landing, by Chris Gall!
Distance Learning Module: Recycling Water in Space
This week’s Distance Learning theme is “life in space.”
All living organisms—from the tiniest bacteria to the biggest jungle predators, and all the plants on Earth—require water to survive. Of course, people need water, too—even when they are traveling or working in space. Water is dense—so even a little bit of it is heavy. This makes it very expensive to send water from Earth to space—more than $83,000 per gallon to be exact!
For this reason, astronauts—like the ones on the International Space Station (ISS)—need to find ways of reusing the water that they already have. The process of recycling wastewater is also known as water reclamation. Water reclamation is vital to space travel as we know it, and would be a “must” if we ever got to the point of sending people to live for long periods of time on extraterrestrial (outside of Earth) colony.
At-Home STEM Activities: Baking in Space
What are some of the challenges of living in space that astronauts face each time they leave Earth? And what technologies can help make things easier? This week we’re focusing on what it’s like to live in space and some of the problem-solving needed to help us embrace life out there.
You may have heard about astronauts baking cookies in space for the first time earlier this year- that was a very big deal because of the number of challenges those cookies had to overcome. Engineers and scientists worked together to address obstacles related to both zero gravity and living within a confined space.
Bonus Module: Lenses
This week’s Distance Learning theme is optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum.
On Wednesday, we looked at how refraction impacts the way we see an object in water. This module builds on that activity, by using a bowl full of water and a few household props to further explore the properties of lenses.
Stick to just the hands-on activity for younger learners, or bring in the written blog content for middle/high school physics-lovers!
At-Home STEM Activities: Seeing Like a Bee
Last week we talked about the role of pollinators and their importance to plants- now we’ll take a look at how one group of pollinators, bees, sees the world across the spectrum. You can even make your own UV light to help you see what they see!
Virtual Storytime: Color
This week’s Distance Learning offerings are focusing on optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Join one of our museum educators as she reads the Scholastic children’s book COLOR, by Kay Manolis!
At-Home STEM Activities: DIY Spectroscope
This week’s Distance Learning theme is optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum. Today we show you how to split sunlight into all the beautiful colors of the spectrum, with a simple homemade spectroscope! This activity takes just a few minutes, and utilizes common household items. Adult supervision is required—we’ll be cutting cardboard with a craft knife.
Virtual Storytime: A Seed is Sleepy
In honor of National Wildflower Week, this week’s Distance Learning offerings are focusing on the plant world.
Join one of our museum educators as she reads A Seed is Sleepy, by Dianna Hutts Aston, with illustrations by Sylvia Long!
At-Home STEM Activities: How Many Seeds?
In honor of National Wildflower Week, this week’s Distance Learning offerings are focusing on the plant world.
When fruits and other seed plants reproduce (make more of themselves), a tiny new plant embryo forms inside their seeds. The seed protects the embryo and stores food for it. Seeds are released by the parent plant and dispersed (sent to new places) by wind, water, or animal activity. If the seed lands where the conditions are right, the embryo germinates and grows into a new plant.
In this all-ages activity, we’ll practice our estimating, counting, basic math, and motor skills using the seeds from fresh cherry tomatoes! This activity is modified from a lesson developed by National Agriculture in the Classroom.