Parent and child (or children) teams can explore science and technology topics in a fun and educational way. Monthly adventures in discovery will be offered at the Environmental Outpost on our Big Oak Road site. They will be two hours in length - 10:00 a.m. until noon – with a fee of $6/person.
The fee for the 6 hour Vacation Exploration is $35 per child.
Pay by exact change or check.
Make check payable to: “DASEF”. To sign up email your name, number of participants, and yourphone number to: Lynne Bloom at dasef.outpost@verizon.net or call (302) 834-1978 or (302) 659-5003 and leave a number where we can reach you.
Exploration: Penguins
January 21, 2012
Ever wish you could journey to the Antarctic world of the Emperor penguins? You and your child will watch a short film about how the next generation of penguins is born into this harshest of environments, hear a read-aloud of a penguin story, construct a snowflake from Lego building pieces, make and take your own igloo model and penguin ruler, and learn how to balance as you compete in the “Walk-Like-a-Penguin” race. Chilling good fun!
Exploration: Snow Flakes
February 25, 2012
Like to catch snowflakes on your tongue or ever wonder what they would look like through a microscope? You and your child will learn about the composition of snowflakes and see them through a microscope, make and project snowflake designs, and find out about the life and photography of “Snowflake Bentley”. Craft your own decorative thermometer. Winterrific!
Exploration: Marbles
March 17, 2012
Want to limber up your thumb and sharpen your shooting skills? You and your child can share the age-old fun of shooting marbles and learn a little science along the way. You will experiment with the physics of collisions between marbles and then enter a shooting competition, see how perfectly you can construct a sphere by hand by baking and testing Sculpy clay marbles, test the strength of magnetic marbles, and help build a marble roller coaster. The fun of science keeps rolling on!
Exploration: Birds
(6 hour exploration for 6 to 10 year-olds)
April 11, 2012
Are your kids looking to fly away from home over a long spring break? Drop them off at our Environmental Outpost for a day of bird science and activities. They’ll take a bird watching hike on our nature trail; gather materials and take the nest building challenge; identify common bird calls and songs; step inside our Star Lab to learn about bird migrations; measure wing spans; discover the shapes and functions of bird beaks and feet; try to camouflage a bird model; and learn about bird bones by studying actual skeletons of a pigeon and a chicken. Making and taking a few simple bird feeders to attract birds to your own yard will complete this exciting day. Make this a soaring spring!
Exploration: Walking the Planets
May 19, 2012
Be among the first to take the “Planetary Walk” - the new scale model Solar System that covers the DASEF property! (The walk is rain or shine, so dress accordingly.) Before the walk you will see a slide show of recent NASA photos of the planets and a short film explaining the declassification of Pluto as one of the nine planets. Do a planetary puzzle, take a video “Field Trip to the Moon”, and try walking with reduced gravity, wearing our “Moon Shoes”. All aboard for the Solar System!
Exploration: Wetland Wonders
June 16, 2012
Want to find out who is living in the wetlands and learn how important wetlands are to clean water? You and your child will hike out to our wetland area to see what life a net can find there; take a water sample back to the Outpost for testing; see slides about how wetlands filter water and a demonstration of water filtration. Finish exploring by working with a model of the water cycle and clean water environments. Make a scientific splash! (Bring waterproof boots if you have them or shoes you are willing to get wet.)
Exploration: Air - Something or Nothing
July 14, 2012
Could your kids (and you) use a break from their winter break? Drop them off at DASEF’s Environmental Outpost for a day of scientific exploration about air. They’ll experiment to test the bubble-making properties of various liquids and use our “Crazy Bubbles” sets to build frameworks for bubbles with fantastic shapes. They’ll take the “Seeds on the Move” design challenge to construct a floating seed. They’ll watch a movie on “Taking Flight” and test our “Kick It – Stick It” hovercraft. And they will make paper gliders to compete in a flight contest, drop miniature helicopters and parachutes from our deck, try their skill at flying a tumble wing glider, make and take a couple of kites, and work with a team to build and test fly a paper hot air balloon. Imagination takes flight!
Exploration: Insects
(6 hour exploration for 6 to 10 year-olds)
July 25, 2012
Are your kids getting bugged at this point in the long summer vacation? It’s time to drop them off at our Environmental Outpost for a day of exciting explorations into the world of insects. Their day will include a look at our specimen collections to study insect wings, eyes, and legs through our high-powered microscopes, some cool movies about insects, a game of “hide and seek” with camouflaged paper insects, and creating an insect model with building pieces and edible insects for snacking at home. They will also brush up their math skills by estimating, studying geometry, and measuring on our butterfly patio, make and take a beautiful paper butterfly and a butterfly kite, and learn about the life cycle and habitats of these fascinating creatures - the largest class of animals on the planet. They’ll be crawling with new information!
