EDUCATION NEWS
Smithsonian Educational Programs for Early Learners! Smithsonian Magazine recently posted a piece about 13 innovative programs for early learners at downtown DC’s SI Units. There are a number of wonderful opportunities for helping visiting families inspire the children’s learning. I’m personally familiar with the National Air and Space Museum’s “Flights of Fancy Story Time’ (offered at both NASM sites, downtown and the Udvar-Hazy Center) and “Soar Together at Air and Space.” Check out the Magazine’s article here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-education/2024/05/07 ; it contains links to get more information about specific programs. [Congratulations to A and D!]
Follow-Up: Check out NASM’s latest Flights of Fancy Story Time, about “Spacey Science Experiments,” here. The Flights of Fancy Storytime’s playlist is here. NASM also offers “Music Time,” “Craft Time,” and “Looking Closely” (at objects from the NASM collection).
These are wonderful things for (grand)parents to share with their young ones!
Make Your Own Paper Models of Spacecraft: You can download and print pdf files with instructions and templates to produce 3-D models of Chandra, Compton, Fermi, the HST, and even the JWST and more! Learning retention increases with making such things! See: https://www.nasa.gov/stem-content/universe-spacecraft-paper-models. These make great (grand)parent-child projects!
Follow Up: Michael Hulslander, my friend and former colleague at NASM, has written a book, “Smithsonian Book of Paper Air Planes.” And these aren’t just the simple designs we made as kids; Mike’s designs are inspired by actual aircraft! Like NASA’s spacecraft, making them would be a wonderful family activity, both educational and fun. Find out more about the book from his piece in Smithsonian Magazine (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-books/2025/02/13/Now-You-Can-Fold-Planes-from-the-National-Air-and-Space-Museum-and-Watch-them-Fly). Get your own copy from retailers working with Smithsonian Books, here: https://www.smithsonianbooks.com/store/smithsonian/smithsonian-book-of-paper-airplanes.
Student Built CubeSat Scores! Ireland’s first-ever satellite was built by students at the University of Dublin, and launched last December. EIRSAT-1 was designed, built, and tested under the guidance of ESA Education Division’s “Fly Your Satellite” program. EIRSAT-1 carries several instruments, including a gamma ray detector. On August 21, 2024, it detected two gamma ray bursts 80 seconds apart. Other spacecraft and ground-based assets confirmed the observation, and more detailed study determined the likely cause was a merger of two neutron stars over 3 billion light-years away. Now THAT’s a cool student project!
Celebrate the Heliophysics Big Year with Free Heliophysics and Math Webinars from NASA! Find out more at: https://science.nasa.gov/learning-resources/science-activation/celebrate-the-heliophysics-big-year-with-free-heliophysics-and-math-webinars-from-nasa-heat.