Planets Aren’t Plain

 

Our knowledge about planets is largely based on the eight (or nine) planets in our solar system. But the universe has many more planets. Explore or neighborhood planets and or distant planet relatives in these online activities. It’s out of this world!

CONNECT:

• Just what exactly constitutes a planet? National Geographic has the answer at https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/space/article/what-is-a-planet
• Discover our solar system’s planets as NASA explains them at its SpacePlace: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/planets/en/
• When is a planet not a planet? When it is beyond our solar system. Then it is called an exoplanet. Get the details at https://sciencetrek.org/topics/exoplanets

 

CREATE:

• Little ones can make a solar system with play-doh; see how at https://onlypassionatecuriosity.com/fun-easy-solar-system-activity/
• Create your own planet by following the guidelines at https://www.starnetlibraries.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Build-A-Planet.pdf
• Expand your solar system knowledge with these hands-on activities at https://www.uaf.edu/museum/education/educators/heliophysics-aurora-outre/activities/solar-system/index.php

 

CARE:

• Become a planet protector; find out how at https://www.epa.gov/students/planet-protectors-activities-kids
• Watch 10 ways to take care of Earth’s environment at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2YgM1Zw4_E
• Earth Day is celebrated on April 2, but you can honor our planet every day. Here are some ways that parents can help raise environmentally-responsible kids: https://www.pbs.org/parents/protecting-our-planet

 

 

CAREERS:

Does thinking about planets put stars in your eyes? You could have a career as an astronomer, an astronaut, a geologist, a teacher or a writer. Here are some possibilities:

• https://sd2.org/exploring-planetary-science-careers-a-guide-for-students/
• https://www.europlanet.org/space-careers/
• Watch a planetary scientist at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUc_9d_HwIk

 

It's PI Day!

 

March 14 (3/14) is Pi Day because the number pi is 3.14159…. What makes this number and day so special? Discover the reason and other facts about pi by exploring these online activities. It’s as easy as pi!

 

CONNECT:

• Watch an explanation of pi and why it’s celebrated at https://youtu.be/mC3Vj1q5rXo
• Read about the history of pi at https://www.homeschoolwithlove.com/2013/03/14/share-a-history-of-pi-with-your-children-for-pi-day/
• Read top 25 interesting facts about pi at https://www.piday.org/pi-facts/

 

CREATE:

• Find out how to find the circumference of a circle – and why it is important -- at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVf9jkQ2QqA&t=177s
• Start with https://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-and-experiments/happy-pi-day and then try some of these  mathtastic Pi Day activities at https://www.weareteachers.com/pi-day-activities/
• Plan your own Pi Day using https://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/guide-celebrating-pi-day

 

CARE:

• See how someone kept others warm and comfy by making a pi-inspired quilt: https://www.snexplores.org/article/math-is-muse-for-these-artists
• Do you care about the universe? Meet Pi: a new earth-sized planet – at https://news.mit.edu/2020/earth-sized-pi-planet-0921
• For parents: Are your kids anxious about pi and other math? Help them manage their math stress at https://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/how-to-help-your-child-with-math-anxiety

 

CAREERS:

Do you want a piece of the career pi? You can be a mathematician, of course, but you can also use pi in building, transportation, communications, medicine, and music.  See its job-related uses here:

• https://amazingarchimedes.weebly.com/real-life-application-of-pi.html
• https://www.universetoday.com/110331/happy-pi-day-5-ways-nasa-uses-pi/#:~:text=In%20basic%20mathematics%2C%20Pi%20is,flight%2C%20to%20name%20a%20few
• https://www.greenworldinvestor.com/2016/06/05/life-is-weird-ten-real-life-applications-of-the-most-famous-number-in-the-world-pi/

MARvelous MARS

 

For centuries, people have imagined what Mars was like.  The space vehicle Perseverance landed on the planet Mars February 18, 2021. Maybe you will help colonize Mars.  In the meantime, explore Mars in the following activities. May they raise your eyes to the skies.

 

CONNECT:

• NASA is a great launching pad to learn about Mars: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/en/
• Do Martians exist? Watch the possibilities at https://www.esa.int/kids/en/Multimedia/Paxi_animations/English/Do_Martians_exist
• See how Mars was viewed in popular culture at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPcRPqvdEog
• Discover how people might colonize Mars at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5D8e71c75U

 

CREATE:

• Explore life on Mars through this variety of activities: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/LifeOnMars/
• Ready Jet Go with these games about Mars: https://pbskids.org/learn/readyjetgo/
• Make a paper Mars helicopter by following the directions at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-paper-mars-helicopter/
• Join the Mission to Mars student challenge at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/mission-to-mars-student-challenge/#education-plan.all.week1

 

CARE:

• How much would you weigh on Mars? Calculate your weight – or any other object – on Mars using this online calculator: http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Weight-on-mars-conversion-calculator.php
• Read about the student-based Mars Metropolis Project at https://www.vivifystem.com/blog/2019/4/30/design-a-colony-on-mars-stem-project. Maybe your school can follow their lead.
• Help scientists imagine Mars by joining the Imagine Mars Project at https://mars.nasa.gov/imagine/leaders/getting_started/The_Imagine_Mars_Project.pdf
• Are you looking for the ultimate project-based STEM challenge? Do you need an engineering or science fair project or summer STEM showcase? Try designing a Mars colony, as detailed at https://www.vivifystem.com/blog/2019/4/30/design-a-colony-on-mars-stem-project

 

CAREERS:

This is a universe of space careers. Explore the opportunities; the sky is NOT the limit.

• https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2016/article/careers-in-space.htm
• https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/careers/index.html
• https://www.space-careers.com/
• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/22/six-space-jobs-you-can-train-for/1638131001/

What a gas!

Gas is everywhere: in vehicles, in homes, in signs, even in your body. And air itself is a gas. Where does it come from, and how does it work? It’s a gas doing these activities to learn about gas.

CONNECT:

• Did you know that sea plants and animals are the source of gas? Read how natural gas is formed, and how we access it at https://www.electricchoice.com/kids/gas/
• What’s a fart? Gas! Read how it happens at https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/fart.html
• The planet Saturn is largely gas. If you could put all of the planets into a pool of water, Saturn is the only one that would float. Read about this gas giant at https://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMJL6WJD1E_OurUniverse_0.html

CREATE:

• Create a trivia game based on these gas facts: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/gas.html and http://www.scienceforkidsclub.com/gas-facts.html
• How do you see gas? Watch this experiment at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDTF6l2WhYo. Then you might try this at home.
• Here are 10 kid-friendly experience on the science of gas: https://www.kiwico.com/blog/2017/02/02/kid-friendly-science-experiments-gas/

CARE:

• Follow these rules for natural gas safety: http://www.alliantenergykids.com/PlayingItSafe/NaturalGasSafety/000557
• Meet the greenhouse gases at https://climatekids.nasa.gov/greenhouse-cards/
• What is the connection between humans and carbon dioxide? Watch the impact at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-causes/

CAREERS:

Working with gas isn’t just hot air. Check out the opportunities below.

https://www.oilandgasiq.com/strategy-management-and-information/articles/oil-gas-industry-an-introduction

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/careers/college-to-career/chemistry-careers/oil-petroleum.html

https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/auto-mechanic

Beam Me Up, Scotty!

Dr. Spock may have died, but there may be extraterrestrials, creatures from outer space, aliens, space beings, little green men. Humans have wondered about life beyond earth for millenia. It’s time to hunt for alien worlds!

CONNECT:

• Start at Project Family ASTRO for fun activities: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/k12-educators/about-family-astro/
• What’s fact and fiction about extraterrestrial life? Test your knowledge at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/system/interactable/6/index.html
• Trace the history of extra-terrestrial quests at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/system/interactable/2/timeline.html
• Do you like atlases: collections of maps? http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/newworldsatlas is an atlas of over a thousand new worlds.
• See how infrared reveals the universe at http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/infrared_universe
• There are some strange alien-looking creatures here on earth; find them at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/system/interactable/3/index.html

CREATE:

• Wake up, space traveler! You've entered your target solar system. Time to begin your mission: Find and photograph the planet known as Jupiter and see if a habitable planet exists in this sector. Start your mission at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worlds/life/
• Are there other planets with life? The Exoplanet Data Explorer is an interactive table and plotter for exploring and displaying data. Explore this database at http://exoplanets.org/
• Plan an interstellar trip using http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/system/interactable/5/index.html
• Search for alien life at http://www.alienearths.org/online/searchforlife/index.php
• Create your own planet at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/system/interactable/1/index.html

CARE:

• Help scientists by classifying data from http://www.planethunters.org/ to discover new worlds.
• Become a member of an astronomy club, or follow them online at  http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm  Bring the universe to you!
• Volunteer to help with Project FIRST, which promotes sports of the mind (which could like to explore alien worlds): http://www.usfirst.org/
• Support the search for life in the universe; become at SETIStar: http://www.seti.org/seti-educators

CAREERS:

What’s it like to have a career hunting for new worlds?

• Follow this scientist’s blog: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/ave/33.
• Read about these SETI scientists: http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/about-seti/scientists
• You might  even become a UFOlogist: http://www.cufos.org/you_want_to_be_a_ufologist.pdf

Look! Up in the Sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's your future!

What do you see in the sky at night? When the main light is the moon, you can oftentimes see stars, some of which might actually be planets. They are the same heavenly bodies that our ancestors saw, although there has been some movement over time.  Are the stars in your future? Explore now!

 CONNECT:

• Start by exploring the history of space at http://news.discovery.com/space/history-of-space
• Find out about lunar landings at http://www.kidport.com/reflib/science/moonlanding/moonlanding.htm (and maybe some of your relatives saw the first moon landing on TV!)
• What size would other planets look like if they were the same distance from earth as is the moon? See this simulation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usYC_Z36rHw
• People have been observing the sky for thousands of years. One famous ancient observatory was Chichen Itza; find out more about that Mayan site at http://www.exploratorium.edu/ancientobs/chichen/flash.html 
• Amazing Space (http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/) uses the Hubble Space Telescope's discoveries to inspire and educate about the wonders of our universe.

CREATE:

• The magazine Sky and Telescope offers several interactive observation tools: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript
• Tour the solar system at http://nineplanets.org/tour. The main site is an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons and other objects in our solar system. Each page has text and NASA's images, and some have sounds and movies.
• Anyone on the Internet can access the Bradford robotic telescope and ask it to look at anything in the northern night sky! The Web doesn't get more hands-on than this! http://www.telescope.org/
• The Solar System Simulator (http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/)  will show you a picture of any planet or moon as it would look if you were standing on another planet or traveling with one of the NASA space probes.
• http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html is a learning center for young astonomers.

CARE:

• Search for and design a habitable planet in this Astro-Venture: http://astroventure.arc.nasa.gov/
• People have been telling stories about stars for even longer than the Mayans. Read some of those star stories, especially as combinations of stars were labelled constellations: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/skywatch/stories/index.htm. Learn some of these stories, and tell them to the kids in your neighborhood; it’s a great babysitting activity!
• Teach others how to be a stargazer by studying this PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worlds/stargazer.html
• NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is collecting information about resources on the moon; all of this information will help humans learn to live and work safely on another planetary body! http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/LRO/ includes activities for children where they work in teams to prioritize environmental and scientific criteria to recommend a lunar landing site. Ultimately, they get to design and build a lunar colony!
• Want to show your love by naming a star after your special someone? It may be a scam. Find out the details at http://www.iau.org/public/buying_star_names/

CAREERS:

• Want a career in space? The first place you might think of is NASA, but its future is in jeopardy. Nevertheless, their website explains about space-related careers:  http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/careers-index.html
• This college teacher gives a realistic picture of astronomy-related careers, and suggess further resources: http://www.astronomynotes.com/careers.htm
• A really reputable source for finding out about physicists and astronomers careers is the U.S. Department of Labor: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm