Astronomy Adventures

It's been an exciting and fun first week here at Camp Explorations!  This week we learned all about space, from stars and our solar system to the Moon and space explorations.

Creating a "star"

On Monday we learned all about stars.  Campers acted out the life cycle of a star with a parachute, created a supernova, and made a "sunion" to show the layers of stars.  Although it was a bit rainy, we also made sun dials.  Make sure to try them out on a sunny day to read the time!

Red group looking at pictures of stars in different parts of their life cycles

The solar system is stunning!

On Tuesday we blasted off into space to learn about our solar system.  Campers got a special planetarium show from one of our very own counselors to learn about each of the planets in our solar system.  The yellow and green groups took a short walk over to the Diag to create a human orrery while the red and orange groups went on a mission into space to travel to all of the planets.  Campers also made their own mobiles to decorate their homes!

Showing off a beautiful solar system mobile

She's got the whole Mars in her hands.

Wednesday's theme was Earth's moon.  We explored the phases of the moon using some hands-on activities, a fun version of "Yahtzee!" and a moon phase journal to bring home.  Make sure to fill it out throughout the next month to see the whole cycle!

Learning about the moon phases

Making their constellation viewers

We learned all about constellations on Thursday.  Campers went into the planetarium once again for a show all about the stars and constellations that we can see if we were to go outside tonight.  They also made constellation viewers of some of the most famous Northern hemisphere constellations and learned the legends behind them.  Lastly, they used their imaginations to create their own constellations.

Working in space

Our final day was all about space exploration.  We tested our astronaut skills and tried out what it would be like to work outer space and even made space shuttle gliders.  Green and yellow groups also learned about the Drake equation, which scientists use to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations there are in the Milky Way galaxy.  Ask your camper what number they came up with!

Diligently working on their space shuttle gliders

We had a great time and we hope you did too!  Thanks for spending the week with us and learning about space!