February is American Heart Month, so we thought we would take a minute to talk about that strong muscle in your chest that keeps you alive.

Your heart is like a pump that pumps blood all around your body.  Blood provides the body with oxygen and nutrients that it needs and carries away waste.  The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs.  The left side of your heart receives blood from your lungs and pumps it out into the body.  Before each beat, your heart fills with blood and then contracts (squeezes) to pump the blood along.

Your heart is made up of four chambers.  The two on top are called atria and the two on bottom are called ventricles.  The atria are the chambers that fill up with blood returning from the body and lungs, and the ventricles are the chambers that pump blood back out to the body and lungs.  Running down the middle of your heart is a thick wall of muscle called the septum.  Its job is to separate the two sides of the heart.

Movement of blood around your body is called circulation.  It takes less than 60 seconds for blood to reach every cell in your body!  Blood travels through your body in arteries and veins.  Arteries take blood away from your heart.  Veins return blood to the heart.

Your heart is a muscle, so if you want to keep it strong, you have to exercise it.  Try to be active in a way that gets your heart rate up for at least 30 minutes every day.  Eating healthy foods and staying away from smoking and vaping also contribute to a healthy heart.

Heart Pump Model Activity
Materials:
Small jar
2 bendy straws
Balloon
Tape/glue
Water
Bowl
Red food coloring (optional)

Directions:
1. Fill your jar or glass halfway with water and add some red food coloring.
2. Take your balloon and cut the neck of it off. Save the neck part.  Take the top part, stretch it out a bit, and put it over the top of the jar so it is taut.
3. Poke a hole in the top of the balloon.  Make a second hole about an inch away from the first.  Try to make the holes as small as you can.
4. Take your straws and push one through each hole with the bendy part sticking out the top.
5. Take the neck of the balloon that you sent aside and use it to cover the opening of one straw.  Place the bowl under the opening of the open straw.
6. Push up and down on the balloon between the two straws.  The water will come up and out through the open straw!

You found us!  Whether you came here because of a social media post or just stumbled across this blog while checking out our website, welcome!  We use this space to give updates on the foundation, share fun STEM activities that can be done at home, highlight cool stuff happening in science, and...well, basically whatever seems awesome and worth sharing!  As an example, check out this photo:

This is a photo from Dec. 11, 1963 of technicians preparing a test subject for studies on the Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator at NASA's Langley Research Center.  The sideways position meant that a person's legs experienced only one sixth of their weight (equivalent to being on the Moon's surface!).  The subject was studied walking, jumping, and running.  The simulator was used to train the Apollo astronauts to complete tasks in the lunar environment, and the effect was apparently quite similar to the actual feeling of walking on the moon.

We just think it's neat!

Feel free to keep scrolling to read more posts or check out our archive, located on the right side of the page.

As a non-profit education organization, our donors are the backbone of our foundation.  They provide the means whereby we can offer our unique brand of STEM education in our community.  The funds provided by our contributors go to various different aspects of our work.  When you become a donor, you can even specify what you want your money to go toward.

This month, as part of our birthday celebration, we have an incentive for new donors.  A donation of $10 a month gets your name entered into our Grand Prize drawing, and any extra $5 a month after that gains you another entry.

Here are a few of the different ways donations are used.  Your donations matter!

Scholarships: The cost of summer camps may, unfortunately, make it difficult for some students to attend.  Scholarships eliminate or reduce this barrier and make it possible for many students to participate.  Due to the generosity of our donors, we have been able to offer scholarships to every single one of our camps!

In-classroom field trips: STAR Camp doesn't take a hiatus during the school year.  Throughout the year, we bring camp to you in the form of in-classroom visits.  With appearances by a cast of colorful (and maybe crazy?) scientists to missions to the moon, we provide a one-of-a-kind field trip from the comfort of your own classroom.  Funds provided by donors make it possible for us to bring these fun STEM experiences to more schools and classrooms.

Supplies: If you're worried that the amount you are able to contribute is too small to make a difference, you are wrong!  Even the smallest contributions make it possible for us to purchase the supplies that spark the imaginations of budding scientists.  Your contributions could go toward anything from the straws and tape we use to teach basic engineering principals to the tablets and headsets used in simulated space missions!

In honor of our launch five years ago, we are having a contest and birthday giveaway!  Here's how it's going to work:
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• Watch our Facebook and Instagram throughout the month of February for different opportunities to get entries into our Grand Prize Drawing.
• The winner of the Grand Prize Drawing will get a $200 voucher that can be used toward any STAR camp or In-Classroom Experience.
• Opportunities to earn smaller prizes (Camp Cash, STAR camp keychains, etc.) will also be available throughout the month.
• Watch for #dssfBirthdayGiveaway on Facebook and Instagram for posts with more instructions for entry!

Don't hesitate to comment or reach out if you have any questions!