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There are some commonly held beliefs about space that simply aren't true! We're here to set the record straight.
Myth: The sun is burning. Fire needs three things: fuel, heat, and oxygen. The sun has plenty of fuel, as it is composed of mostly hydrogen and helium gases. It also generates an enormous amount of heat energy. But it's missing the third necessary factor to create fire: there is no oxygen in space! Instead, the sun produces heat and light through a process called thermonuclear fusion. Inside the star, hydrogen atoms collide at high speeds, allowing their nuclei to fuse together. This creates helium and releases huge amounts of energy in the form of gamma-ray radiation! Myth: The asteroid belt is dangerous. It's true that there is a lot of rock in the area of space known as the asteroid belt. It contains over 3,000 minor planets and more than 750,000 separate asteroids! However, it is relatively easy to navigate a spacecraft through this rocky area. The asteroid belt covers an area that is approximately 140 million miles across. The average amount of space between each object is about 600,000 miles. This all means that, despite how it's depicted in science fiction, the asteroid belt is still relatively empty! Myth: The Great Wall of China can be seen from space. We're actually a little sorry to debunk this one because it's such a fun idea. At 13,171 miles long, the Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure on Earth. It's long, but it is not wide, and it is made of materials that blend well with surrounding terrain. In low-Earth orbit, the wall is easy to pick out using radar, but it is, unfortunately, invisible to the naked eye. Myth: Saturn is the only ringed planet in the solar system. When you think of a planet with rings, Saturn undoubtedly comes to mind. The gas giant has seven main rings, and they are visible from Earth with the aid of a telescope. However, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune also have rings. They are much thinner and less visible from Earth. Their existence was confirmed by the Voyager flyby missions in the 1970s and 1980s. Myth: Meteorites are hot. As meteorites pass through Earth's atmosphere, the outside of them becomes so hot that the surface rock begins to melt. That heat is all on the outside though. Much like searing a steak, the outside gets hot, but the inside remains cool. By the time a meteorite impacts the Earth, it is likely only mildly warm to the touch. And finally, Myth: We would explode in space without a spacesuit. We are adapted to the pressure of Earth's atmosphere, and without this water in our tissue begins to evaporate and the body starts to swell. This doesn't lead to an explosion though, because human skin is super stretchy! What does happen is that after about ten seconds of exposure to space, a person becomes unconscious. What are your favorite space myths? Bust them for us in the comments!
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As we get into the last few weeks before school starts back up again, here are some fun science activities you can do outside to get the learning gears moving again.
See how effective sunscreen is Supplies: Sunscreen spray Sunscreen lotion Black construction paper Paint brush Person-shaped cookie cutter Process: 1. Put the person-shaped cookie cutter on the left side of the construction paper. Spray the paper inside of the cookie cutter with the sunscreen spray. 2. Put the person-shaped cookie cutter on the right side of the construction paper. Apply the sunscreen lotion to the paper inside of the cookie cutter using the paint brush. 3. Leave the construction paper outside in the sun for four hours. 4. Observe what happened to the paper. The space that hasn't been sunscreened will likely have faded in the sun. Which was more effective? The spray or the lotion? Observe plant transpiration Transpiration is the process of water moving through a plant and evaporating from its leaves, stems and flowers. Supplies: 1 clear plastic bag (sandwich or quart sized) 1 rubber band or twist tie A leafy branch on a living tree or shrub Sunny weather Process: 1. Find a healthy, leafy branch on a tree or shrub. The bigger and greener the leaf, the better! 2. Cover the leaf. Put the plastic bag around a leaf or a small group of leaves. Gently gather the bag around the stem or branch and secure it tightly with the rubber band. Make sure it is sealed so no air escapes. 3. Observe. Within a few minutes, you may begin to see fog or tiny droplets forming on the inside of the bag. 4. Leave the bag for a few hours or overnight. When you return, you will likely see visible water droplets on the inside--sometimes even small puddles! Make your own bubble solution Supplies: 1 large cup 1 spoon Bubble wands 1 container with lid (optional) 1/2 cup of dish soap 1 1/2 cups water 2 teaspoons sugar Process: 1. Pour 1/2 cup of dish soap into a large cup. 2. Add 1 1/2 cup of water to the dish soap in the cup. 3. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar. 4. Gently stir the mixture. 5. Go outside and blow bubbles! 6. If you have bubble solution left, store it in a container with a lid. Campers past and present, we want to see your STAR Camp photo memories. If you were a camper when we were still Astro Camp, we want those too! We would love to feature your memories on our social media accounts. If there's a story that goes with your pictures, we want that too! To get the ball rolling, here is a picture of me, DSSF social media manager Faith Alvarez, as a wee camper back in the early 2000s:  I'm the one with the glasses and pigtails.
Now it's your turn! You ask, we answer! And if it's a question about summer camps, chances are, someone else has been wondering the same thing. We do have a section on our camp page to answer frequently asked questions that you can find right under the registration buttons. And, for your convenience, since you have already found your way to this blog post, we will answer them here as well.
Where is camp being held? DSSF has partnered with Utah Military Academy and DaVinci Academy of Science and the Arts. Spring Break camps will be held at the DaVinci Flex campus in Kaysville (858 W 350 N, Kaysville, UT). All summer camps will be held at UMA in Riverdale (5120 S 1050 W, Riverdale, UT). Where do campers sleep? STAR Camp will use 4-5 rooms for camper dorms. These rooms are regular classrooms during the school year. Campers will be sleeping on air mattresses or cots in these rooms, provided by STAR Camp. The number of dorm rooms will depend on enrollment for each camp, with 4-12 campers in each dorm. At registration, campers should select a dorm: Girls, Boys, Mixed Gender. If choosing a gender-specific dorm, we kindly request that you select the dorm of your child's gender assigned at birth. STAR Camp participants should remember that while we invite and encourage you to stay overnight, this aspect of camp is optional. A camper will not miss out on any activities if they choose to go home at night. The decision to stay overnight or be picked up at the end of each day is reversible at any time, through clear communication between parents and the STAR Camp directors. Are there showers? YES. Utah Military Academy has three individual showers in the boys' locker room, and three in the girls'. We arrange a shower schedule at each camp, so every camper has an opportunity to shower most days if they wish. We encourage all campers to shower at least once while at camps that are four days or longer. Where and what do campers eat? Campers will eat in the UMA cafeteria. All meals while at camp are provided (except for Junior Astronauts Day Camp). The menu is subject to change at any time, but will generally follow this schedule:
Will friends and family be put on the same team? Because of the wide variety of students attending camp we cannot guarantee friends and family members will be put on the same team. Our long experience has shown that it is beneficial if a camper gets to know new people. Each camper will have the opportunity to interact with students from across the country and make new friends. Campers will have the opportunity to submit a dorm mate request when camp packets are mailed in May, and requests will be granted to the best of our ability. What if my child has special dietary needs? Each student is required to fill out a simple medical form during registration. Please list any food allergies on this form so we can keep our kitchen and cafeteria safe for all campers. If your child requires special meal accommodations, please contact the camp director at least two weeks ahead of camp. What if my child needs to take medication while at camp? Utah State Law prohibits us from dispensing medication of any type to campers. Any prescribed or over the counter drugs must be sent with the student to camp. You will need to list all medications sent with the student on the medical form along with the dosage information. We can remind the student to take their meds at the parents’ request, but they must self administer them. If medication requires refrigeration, please let us know and we can take care of that. Because our days can sometimes be very long, it is advisable that parents send a small supply of over the counter headache or stomach ache medicine (e.g. Ibuprofen, Pepto Bismol tablets, etc.). How can I contact my child during camp? Campers will have the opportunity to call or text before breakfast and before lights out. If your camper does not have a cell phone, they may borrow a director’s phone during these times for a few minutes to make a phone call (no texting). Cell phones must be stored in suitcases during daytime hours. If you need to contact your child at any other time, you must call or text the camp number: 801-917-4829 How well are the campers supervised? The director, Annika Jensen, and 5-7 other staff members stay on site 24 hours a day while camp is in session. Annika’s husband, Ryan, is on site at night to provide extra security and supervision. We have tried very hard to set up a program that we, being parents ourselves, would feel comfortable sending our own children to. Can my child attend more than one camp in a summer? Absolutely! We have many campers who spend multiple weeks with us each year and we love it! A discount is automatically applied at checkout when you have multiple camps in your cart. Are discounts available? We work very hard to keep tuition as low as possible for all campers, and never want the cost to be the reason a child can't attend STAR Camp. Families who are registering multiple children for overnight camps will receive a 10% discount for each subsequent child. The children do not need to attend the same camps. You must register all children at the same time to receive the discounts. Contact us if you are adding children at a later date. Who can attend the graduation ceremony? We encourage all immediate family and grandparents to attend camp graduations! What should my child pack for camp? Packing lists for camp will be sent with the complete camp packet in May. We hope you're as excited for camp as we are! See you all soon! We did it! We all made it through another school year! As we all know, the end of the school year is for fun and celebration. In that spirit, we've gathered a few fun (and science-y) activities you can do with your class or at home. Enjoy!
Bubble Geometery Materials Four pipe cleaners Strong bubble mix Deep bucket Somewhere you can get wet! Process 1. Make a cube out of your pipe cleaners.
3. Dip the cube into the bucket and carefully withdraw it a few times. Can you make a cube shaped bubble form on the inside of the frame? 4. If you have more pipe cleaners, try again with other 3-D shapes! Fizzy Lemonade Materials Lemons Sugar Baking Soda Water Process 1. Boil a couple of cups of water on the stove. 2. Add two tablespoons of sugar per cup and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture cool. 3. Squeeze lemon juice into cups. It takes about one lemon per glass of lemonade. 4. Add the sugar water to the cups with lemon juice. 5. Add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the lemonade. Enjoy your fizzy lemonade! Homemade Sundial What you need 1 paper plate (or a circle cut out of cardstock or cardboard) 1 straw (or a pencil, chopstick or skewer) 1 pointed object (like a sharpened pencil) Rocks (optional) Sidewalk chalk (optional) Compass (optional) Process 1. Use a pointed object, like a sharpened pencil, to carefully poke a hole through the center of a paper plate. If you don’t have a paper plate, you can cut out an 8-inch-diameter circle on a piece of thick cardstock. 2. Place the straw or pencil in the hole you made. 3. Write the number 12 at the edge of your sundial for 12 p.m. (noon). 4. Take your sundial outside to a sunny spot that doesn't get shady shortly before noon. 5. Rotate your sundial until the straw's shadow aligns with the number 12. Your sundial will now look like a clock! 6. Slightly angle the straw or pencil in the direction of the shadow so it points north. (Use your compass to confirm the direction.) 7. Secure your sundial in place using rocks. 8. Return in an hour and check the position of the shadow. Has it moved? Write the number 1 at the edge of the plate where you see the shadow. 9. Continue to record data on the edge of your plate each hour. As we get closer and closer to summer break (and camps!), enjoy this fun spring themed science projects you can do from home with materials you likely already have on hand!
Make a Miniature Water Cycle Model Materials: Re-sealable snack-size plastic bags (2) Permanent marker Water Liquid measuring cup Tablespoon Strong tape, like duct tape Blue food coloring Area that gets lots of sun and another that gets very little sun during the day Optional: Sand or dirt Optional: Larger pieces of rock that will fit in the bag, at least 2 Process: 1. If you begin this activity in the morning, you can observe the experiment over the course of the day. (This activity works best on a sunny day.) 2. Flatten both plastic bags and decorate them with some elements of the water cycle (clouds, sun, etc.) with a permanent marker. 3. Add one drop of food coloring to about 1/3 cup of water. 4. Keeping the bags upright, add 2 Tbsp. of the colored water to each plastic bag. **Optional: Add 2-3 Tbsp. of sand to one side of each of the plastic bags. Part of the sand should be submerged, and part should be above the water level. If you have a larger pieces of rock, add one each to the other side of the plastic bags, with part of the rock above the water level. 5. Still keeping the bags upright, carefully close both plastic bags and make sure they are fully sealed. 6. Find a sunny place, like a window, that is in the sun for a large part of the day. Tape one of the bags upright in the sunny spot. Use enough tape to keep the bag in place for at least one day. 7. Tape the second bag upright in a place that gets very little sun. 8. Observe both bags over the course of the day. Check them every 1-2 hours. For this activity, you basically made a very miniature water cycle inside a bag. As the water in the bag heated up, it turned into water vapor. As it cooled down, it turned into condensation along the side of the bag. Eventually, those water droplets became large enough that gravity pulled them down the side of the bag--like rain! How Many Colors in a Rainbow Materials: A shallow glass baking pan Water A white piece of paper A red piece of paper A blue piece of paper Sunlight An outdoor table, chair, or helper to hold the pan for you Process: 1. Fill your pan about halfway full with water. 2. Take your pan outside and place it on the table so that one end is sticking out over the edge. Be careful not to let the pan tip over! 3. Place your white paper on the ground where the sun is shining through your pan. What do you notice? Do you see any colors? 4. Slowly angle the paper until a small rainbow forms. Experiment with the angle of the paper until you get the largest rainbow possible. Notice the order of the colors that appear on your paper. 5. While holding your white paper so that you can see the rainbow, place your blue paper gently on top of the white paper. What do you notice about the rainbow on the blue paper? 6. Switch back and forth between the white and blue papers to see how the rainbow changes. 7. Remove the blue paper and repeat the process with the red paper. What do you observe? Measure Photosynthesis with Floating Leaves Materials: Transparent cups, 4 or more Permanent marker Baking soda Measuring cup Water 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon Dish soap Light source (a bright light works best) Single-hole puncher Plant leaves (spinach or ivy leaves work best) Plastic syringe, 10-mL or bigger (without the needle) Aluminum foil Paper towels Timer Lab notebook Pencil or pen Optional: Adult helper Process: 1. Using a workspace that can get a little wet, label two cups with "+ baking soda" and two cups with "- baking soda." 2. Prepare the baking soda solution by filling one of the "+ baking soda" cups with 300 mL room-temperature water. Then add about 1/8 tsp. of baking soda to the water and mix until the baking soda has dissolved. 3. Add one drop of dish soap to the baking soda solution and stir until it has dissolved. Stir gently to avoid creating foam. 4. To one of the "- baking soda" cups, add 300 mL water and one drop of dish soap. 5. Set up your light source so it shines straight down onto your workspace. 6. With the hole puncher, cut 20 leaf disks from the plant leaves. Avoid punching through major leaf veins. 7. In your lab notebook, prepare a data table with three columns. Column 1 is the time in minutes. In columns 2 and 3 you will record the results of your leaf disk assay—the laboratory procedure you are using to investigate photosynthesis—both with baking soda and without baking soda.  Shepard in the Freedom 7 capsule before launch. Image credit: NASA In 1961, the United States was embroiled in a race against the Soviet Union to put the first human being into space. The US launched Project Mercury with the intention of getting people into space. The Soviet Union won the race in April of 1961 when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed an orbit of the Earth. Less than a month later, on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space during a suborbital flight aboard his Mercury Capsule, Freedom 7.
Shepard and the other Mercury astronauts trained for hundreds of hours to prepare for space flight. The first attempted launch, scheduled for May 2, 1961, was scrubbed due to inclement weather. On May 5, the weather was better, and 45 million Americans tuned in to watch Shepard's launch. After more than two hours of delays due to technical issues, liftoff was achieved at 9:34 AM ET. After a 15 minute and 22 second flight, Freedom 7 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. Recovery forces retrieved Shepard from the capsule within 20 minutes of splashdown. Onboard the recovery ship, the U.S.S. Champlain, Shepard received a medical examination and a congratulatory phone call from President John F. Kennedy. Alan Shepard's successful spaceflight inspired the White House to offer more funding to NASA, as well as to set a new goal of reaching the Moon before the end of the decade. When you think of NASA, you probably think of astronauts, satellites, and other things not on this planet. So why does NASA study Earth? Because Earth is a planet!
NASA has actually studied Earth more than any other planet. Not only is Earth a planet, it's the only one we know of that can support life. NASA has been monitoring Earth's weather via satellite since the 1960s. Todays satellites do a lot more. Satellite data is used to observe how Earth is changing and to make predictions of what the future might hold. NASA shares this research with scientists all over the world who use the data to work on some really big problems. This data is being used to help us fight climate change, manage natural resources, and improve our responses to natural disasters! To learn more about our Earth and play some cool games check out Climate Kids. Earth Day is all about caring for each other and our environment. Come celebrate with your community at one of these local Earth Day events!
SLC Earth Day Event April 22 Jordan Park 10 AM-1 PM Help clean up Jordan Park. There will be several projects going on, including refreshing the dog park, bench repair, general cleaning, weeding, and more. This is an outdoor event, so wear sunscreen and bring a water bottle! Click here for more info. Arbor Day Celebration April 25 Red Butte Garden and Arboretum 9 AM-7:30 PM Free Admission  Composting is an easy way that you can help the Earth from home! Compost is a dark, crumbly, loamy material produced by the decomposition of leaves, grass clippings, and other organic materials. Finished compost contains nutrients necessary for plant growth and improves soil structure. The decomposition process happens without human intervention, but composting allows you to expedite the natural process.
Composting reduces the amount of material going to landfills. Approximately 51% of municipal waste is made up of yard waste, food waste, and paper, most of which can be composted. Compost can replace soil amendments used by gardeners, such as peat moss, fertilizer, or vermiculite. Compost even suppresses some soil-borne diseases! What to add to your backyard compost pile: Nitrogen-rich Materials ("Greens")
What do avoid adding to your backyard compost pile:
Steps for backyard composting: 1. Collect and store your fruit and vegetable scraps in a closed container in your kitchen. For browns, set aside an area outside to store leaves and twigs. 2. Choose a space in your yard for your compost pile that is easily accessible year-round and has good drainage. Avoid placing it right up against a fence and ensure that there is a water source nearby. It does not matter if it is in sun or shade. Choose a bin for your pile. They can be constructed from materials like wire, wood or cinder blocks. They can also be includes in barrels or tumblers. 3. Build your compost pile. Start your pile with a four to six inch layer of browns such as twigs or wood chips. This layer absorbs extra liquids and allows air to circulate at the base of the pile. Then layer your greens and browns like a lasagna. When adding browns and greens, add at least two to three times the volume of browns to the volume of greens, and ensure that your food scraps are covered by four to eight inches of dry leaves or other browns. 4. To ensure air circulation, add enough browns, and turn the compost occasionally. To maintain moisture, the pile should have the consistency of a wrung-out sponge. 5. As the materials in your compost pile begin to decompose, the temperature of the pile will rise. A well-maintained backyard pile can reach temperatures of 130 to 160 degrees F. Be sure to turn and mix your pile from time to time to help speed up the decomposition process and aerate the pile. Use a garden fork to turn the outside of the pile inward. 6. Monitor your pile for moisture, odor, and temperature.
8. Screen or sift your finished compost to filter out materials that didn't break down. Pits, eggshells, etc. that you sifted out can be added back to the active pile or to a new pile. Happy composting! |
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