In case you missed it, check out Yeric’s Gravity Dance steps (plus some fun information about low/no gravity environments)- part of our celebration of Apollo 14’s 50th Anniversary!

We’re spending this week looking at planets! Today, we’ll learn a little about the development of models of the solar system and Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion, and then we’ll simulate how planets move around the Sun by making our own gravity well.

In today’s Distance Learning Module, we explored the idea of microgravity and learned that scientists simulate this environment on Earth to help astronauts train for spacewalks. Follow up to the lesson with this all-ages activity, in which we create a “weightless” freefall with water. (Best performed outdoors—this will be messy!)

This week’s Distance Learning theme is aquatics. For today’s lesson, we’re making connections between deep sea and deep space by exploring the “how” and “why” of underwater astronaut training. Let’s “dive in” and get started!