The thought of Space Camp conjures up images of simulated missions on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, bulky NASA flight suits, and trying to concentrate while strapped in the multi-axis astronaut training chair, which spins you in all directions at once. It had always been a childhood dream of mine to go to Space Camp, and I finally got to go as an adult. I had been giving a presentation at the Smithsonian Affiliations conference in Washington DC, and afterwards, I met the CEO of the US Space & Rocket Center, who invited me to lead a workshop for their staff about using virtual world technology to engage young people in science. So I decided I just HAD to stay on and go to Space Camp too. That first morning, I saw a group of about 50 adults who were as excited to be there as any kid could ever be. After meeting a real astronaut, Robert “Hoot” Gibson, and dividing into four crews named after the Shuttles, my Challenger crew was assigned to various jobs for our alpha mission. The first thing you learn is how much NASA loves acronyms: At Mission Control, there is CapCom, CATO (Communication and Tracking Officer), EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity), and so on.
Our camp habitat
A huge Space Shuttle
Me, doing an EVA
Having been assigned to an EVA, I was helped into a space suit (it’s a 2 person job), huge boots, a headset to communicate with Mission Control, and a full helmet with face guard. And the best part (and another example of NASA’s genius) – a vest outfitted with pockets all over it filled with ice packs. So despite the bulkiness, you stay cool under all the layers (not to mention the pressure of the mission). I was strapped into a contraption on the end of a robotic arm extending out from the open cargo bay doors of a Space Shuttle (in a place that looks strikingly similar to a real astronaut training facility at Johnson Space Center). Listening to my Mission Control crew through my headset, I followed instructions necessary to make repairs to a satellite. Something unexpected happens to you when you’re put in a space suit on the end of a robotic arm, or sitting at Mission Control in front of a monitor with tons of parameters on it giving instructions to Shuttle commanders… you automatically employ NASA-speak. Sentences like “Be advised that all systems are nominal” and “CATO, this is EVA, I have reached Instrument Panel B and disabled switch R1” start to feel totally natural.
At Mission Control
On a flight simulator
Launching our own rockets
Later on during camp, our crew successfully (for the most part) launched our homemade rockets, and of course had the chance to see if we could handle the multi-axis chair. But learning to pilot the flight simulators was another challenge. One slight move of the joystick, and you were in a tailspin. (A little hint: make sure the landing gear is down before you land). Something else happens at Space Camp – you develop a new appreciation for the sometimes super-human skill, dedication, concentration, knowledge, and practice it take to be an astronaut, pilot, mission specialist, or at Mission Control in charge of keeping everything on track. We did it all for fun, but these people do it when it counts the most and when the stakes could not possibly be any higher. It’s one of the great joys (and ironies) of Space Camp, that you are learning about pushing the boundaries of space travel, while at the same time going back in time, sleeping in bunk beds and eating cafeteria style – not to mention making great new friends. But this is where our next generation of heroes will be inspired to do the prep and take that leap. As a kid, I was always fascinated by the sky and what was out there, outside the blanket of the Earth’s atmosphere. Looking up into the sky, I wondered what was out there, and wanted to become an astronaut to find out – and that never changed as I became an adult. But it’s never too late to fulfill a childhood dream. I still do plan to get to space someday though… - Lindsay B.
A week before children headed back to school, Head Start teachers were already getting re-energized for ECHOS at the first workshop of the year. The Museum’s Early Childhood Hands-On Science (ECHOS) initiative, in collaboration with the University of Miami’s Department of Psychology, is a comprehensive science curriculum and teacher professional development program being tested in 90 Head Start classrooms throughout Miami-Dade County. The project is funded by a grant from the US Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences. In ECHOS, children learn all about rain, birds, bees, plants, shells, blocks, water, air and magnets. And teachers learn effective ways to encourage scientific thinking in children, like wondering, observing, making predictions, doing experiments, and most importantly, asking questions! This ECHOS pre-service workshop focused on the idea of “productive questioning” and how to encourage scientific and creative thinking in young children. During the workshop, teachers experimented with some lessons and received new and updated lesson materials, which even included some “echoes” of their feedback from the previous year of implementation. Three more teacher training workshops are scheduled throughout the school year, in between lots of opportunities to use the science lessons and materials in the classroom.
Teachers explored simple science activities to learn how to engage children in science through productive questioning.
Teachers got picture cards with instructions to mingle and fit all cards into a big picture - just like each teacher is a part of the big ECHOS picture.
Have you ever been to a Museum and wondered how the exhibits are created? How do they decide what the interactive exhibit experiences should be? Who designs them? Do exhibits get tested before they officially open? Young people participating in the Museum’s Environmental Explorers Summer Camp program not only found out the answers, they even gave their opinions on a game prototype for an upcoming hurricane exhibit. These 6th, 7th, and 8th graders tested a Hurricane Preparedness Game that allows players, through interactive touchscreen technology, to choose different hurricane scenarios and try to get all the supplies they need to survive the storm and its aftermath – before time runs out (in other words, before the storm arrives). After the storm passes, players get to see how well they were prepared. When the participants were finished trying out the game, they gave Museum exhibit designers lots of creative ideas for improving the game design and experience, and some of their ideas have even been incorporated into the game! As a thank you for their help, participants were then offered the unique opportunity to visit the Aplysia (Sea Slug) Facility at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. And when these young people come back to the Museum to see the upcoming Hurricane exhibit, they will know that the exhibit would not have been the same without them.
There are only so many hours in the day, but still, students in the second session of Digital WAVE this summer managed to build an entire 3D house in a virtual world in just 2 weeks. The goal was to show all the ways that we can use “green energy” in our houses, schools, and communities, with solar panels, wind turbines, energy-saving appliances, and lots more. During the program, they also went on a field trip to Oleta River State Park with the Museum’s Reclamation Project Director Fernando Bretos, put together electrical circuits powered by water, wind, and solar power, built and tested remotely operated vehicles, and even climbed into a real OceanGate submarine in the Museum. They also met with Mark Spalding, CEO of the Ocean Foundation, from within the virtual world. Mark (through his avatar) talked about the importance of blue carbon, which is the atmospheric carbon absorbed by coastal environments like mangroves and seagrass beds. Students even met with a Museum employee who lives “off-the-grid” without electricity or running water – proving it can still be done! All of these experiences, along with their own research, helped students design our energy efficient virtual house. So instead of reading a lot of words to describe what Digital WAVE students did over their summer vacation, enjoy the slideshow of pictures below. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Testing solar powered circuits in the sunlight outside the Museum
Operating their own ROV design in a tank in the Museum's Sea Lab
Measuring trees at Oleta to determine the carbon they absorb from the air
Climbing into a real OceanGate submarine at the Museum
Designing an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly 3D virtual house
The house has a green roof, solar panels, CFL bulbs, and energy efficient appliances
Solar chimneys provide power by heating air which then rises and powers the turbine
The bathroom has CFL bulbs, a ceiling fan for cooling without AC, and a water efficient toilet
Presenting virtual 3D projects, like this wind turbine, at the Digital WAVE Family Event
What better way to honor the Museum’s S101 submarine exhibit (running from July 28 – August 12 thanks to the OceanGate Foundation), than to have visitors design and operate their own underwater remotely-operated vehicles? ROVs represent a vital aspect of understanding our oceans and other marine environments – they can take measurements of ocean conditions, investigate shipwrecks, take photos of marine life and habitats, and collect specimens for study - and they can do it all in places that are too dangerous for people to go. Over the last two weekends, Museum visitors have built their own ROV frame with supplies from the MATE Center, then with everyday materials like pipe cleaners, mini-butterfly nets, and clothespins, they designed attachments to scoop and gather “specimens” from the bottom of a special tank in the Museum’s Sea Lab. Of course a key part of all scientific endeavors is the experiment, and most learned that driving an ROV is more challenging than it looks, with 3 propellers to operate at the same time. But between seeing the S101 sub, and operating the ROVs, we may have some future submariners in our midst!
This summer, young people from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade are doing all kinds of things at the Miami Science Museum’s Summer Camp. From Kitchen Chemistry and Icky Sticky Goopy Glop, from Amusement Park Physics to Superhero Science, they are designing video games, investigating mysteries, learning about the science behind art, and tons more. But why stay on the ground? Aspiring rocketeers learned all about the laws of motion, aerodynamics and model rocket construction, and launched their own rockets up into the sky. That’s one small step, and more giant leaps to come!
It’s not a sentence you would expect to hear. A submarine dives into the Miami Science Museum! But this summer, from July 28 – August 12, the S101 submarine is on display at the Museum, thanks to a partnership with the OceanGate Foundation. The S101 has had a unique voyage on its way to the Museum. One of the earliest diesel-electric subs ever constructed, it was built in England and tested by the Swedish Navy. But then it received an interesting paint job. An environmental group took ownership and wanted to use it divert whales away from whalers – so they decided to paint it like an orca. (See the orca in the photo below?) But the S101 was not done yet. A private owner then upgraded the mechanics and dove the sub 35 times, exploring under the waters of Lake Washington and Puget Sound. And now the sub has a new purpose – to excite and inspire here at the Museum.
The mission of the OceanGate Foundation is to expand humanity’s understanding of the world’s oceans through exploration, education and outreach, and the S101 will surely do its part to inspire Museum visitors. And for youth participating in Museum programs, including Digital WAVE and select Summer Camp classes, that means special access to the sub and the chance to hear from visiting OceanGate staff and sub pilots about the science and technology of submarines. Mission accomplished!
The S101 Sub at the Miami Science Museum
OceanGate Foundation staff visit the S101 sub at the Museum
The new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, opening in 2015 in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park, will be counted among the world’s most innovative and sustainable science museums. The building itself will harness energy from water, the Sun, wind, and even Museum visitors to power exhibits and conserve resources, and visitors will explore everything from a 600,000 gallon aquarium facility to a full-dome 3D planetarium. Click on the link below to tell us what you want to know!
Underwater exploration is difficult for some obvious reasons, but it’s so important to understand marine environments. How does pollution affect marine life near the shore? What effect does temperature and salt levels have on the growth of seaweed? Does the amount of seaweed in a given area affect the biodiversity in that area? Upward Bound students have lots of questions about the water surrounding south Florida, and since they can’t really go underwater themselves, they are using remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs). Not only are they going to use ROVs to explore underwater, but these 19 students are going to build the ROVs themselves in groups, then use them in the waters around south Florida to collect data for a science project they’ve designed themselves. With ROV components and instructional materials supplied by Erica Moulton and the MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) Center, students have begun to construct some components of their ROVs, including the propellers and all the wiring for the control box. The next steps are building the structure of the ROV itself using PVC pipes and connectors of various shapes and sizes, and then the students will be ready to put the ROVs in the water to explore. Stay tuned to see what the students build and discover!
Students weave wires together
An Upward Bound mentor helps students to solder wires
The Digital WAVE students have learned a lot this summer – building their own circuits powered by wind, water, and the Sun… following through the Energy Tracker exhibits at the Museum… meeting Martin Keeley, Education Director of the Mangrove Action Project via a virtual world… going on a field trip with Fernando Bretos of the Museum’s Reclamation Project to plant mangrove seedlings… researching energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. All of this helped inform student projects, with the big goal to create a 3D virtual exhibit of the “greenest house in Miami.” In the virtual world, students built virtual wind turbines, attenuator buoys to harness wave energy, and solar panels, and they built a virtual house with energy efficient appliances, a green roof, and water recycling abilities. On the last day of the program, students presented their projects to family and friends at the Family Event, held at the Museum. They shared what they had created and what they had learned, and left inspired to suggest or make whatever changes they could in their homes, schools, and lives. Take a tour of our virtual house below!
Digital WAVE house, with green roof
Wind Turbine
Solar panels, compost bins, and recycling containers
CFL light bulbs and ceiling fans
Presenting student projects at the Digital WAVE Family Event
