Parent and child (orchildren) teams explore science and technology topics in a fun and educationalway. Monthly adventures in discovery will be offered at the EnvironmentalOutpost on 140 Dinosaur Drive Smyrna, DE19977. Twohours in length - 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 am – with a fee of $6/person. Due to weather and otherconditions beyond our control, we may, in some instances, have to substituteother activities.
The fee for the 6 hourVacation 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 your phone 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: Air - Something or Nothing
September 29, 2012
Ever think about the invisible matter that surrounds us all? You and your child will explore various paper gliders, make model helicopters and parachutes, test the bubble-making properties of various liquids, compete to see who can use air to keep a bubble off the ground the longest, and play a targeting game with our Kick-it Stick-it hovercraft. Imagination takes flight!
Exploration: Bats and Owls
October 27, 2012
Want to grow your knowledge of bats in time for a spooky holiday?You and your child will share NASA’s book, Echo the Bat, to study echolocation, learn the skeletal secrets inside bat wings, and make bat decorations. And whoooo do you think will be learning about an owl’s diet? You will, as you dissect an owl pellet. Come fly through the world of these nocturnal creatures!
Exploration: Art and Science
November 17, 2012
Want to become an artist for a day or ever wonder how scientificprincipalscan release your creativity? You and your child willlearn about absorption of color by cloth, diffusion of color on paper, making paper with nature’s materials, and use geometry in quilt making. How artistic!
Exploration: Winter Wonderland
December 28, 2012 - 6 hour exploration for 6 to 10 year-olds
The environments of the Arctic Circle and Antarctica are like no others on earth. Drop your kids off at the Environmental Outpost so they can learn about them and the animals that make their homes there! Your child will learn about the composition of snowflakes, make models and project snowflake designs, make an aurora borealis art project, assemble a decorative thermometer and a model of an igloo. Your child will learn about penguins by watching a short film about how the next generation of penguins is born, doing an air insulation demonstration, constructing a make and take penguin ruler, and learning how penguins move and incubate their eggs as they try to“walk like a penguin”. Finally, your 
child will learn about the polar bear’s survival with demonstrations of camouflage and body heat retention. And they’ll play with their food as they make edible polar bears and penguins to enjoy after lunch. So much winterrific science!
Exploration: Catapults
January 19, 2013
Are you curious about how engineers of the Middle Ages launched stone and flames over castle walls? You and your child will see slides of how catapults were constructed and used, build and take home your own working catapult, make predictions and test launch objects of varying masses, graph the results, and compete with others in the catapult targeting challenge. Launch some science!
Exploration: Dinosaurs
February 23, 2013
Did you ever wish you worked as a paleontologist for a natural history museum? You and your child will get the chance as you try to assemble our modelof a Protoceratops skeleton and build a 1:10 scale T-Rex skeleton or a model using a set of Dinosaur Duplo blocks. You’ll also search for facts in some cool dinosaur books, study dinosaur body parts, assemble a large dinosaur floor puzzle, and have a chance to be photographed with our 10-foot inflatableT-Rex. Bring your camera along for an exciting morning with the dinosaurs!
Exploration: Telescopes and Periscopes
March 23, 2013
Please Note: Cost: $12.00 ($6.00 regular fee plus $6.00 for the cost of the telescope kit)
They will learn about the history of periscopes and how they work by studyingangles of incidence and angles of reflection that enable us to seearound corners, assembling their own make and take periscope, and spying onsecret messages hidden around the building. They will also view distant objects with a telescope and make and take a simple telescope model. Magnifying, mesmerizing fun!
Exploration: Endangered Animals
April 3, 2013 - 6 hour exploration for 6 to 10 year-olds
Is your child interested in animals and how we canbetter share the world with them? Drop them off for a day of learning and activities about the endangered animals of the world. Our life-sized inflatable panda, baby elephant, baby whale, and 12-foot Komodo dragon will greet them at the Environmental Outpost. After an introduction about how animals become extinct, your child will learn more about each of our endangered species, including habitats, basic needs, and what is threatening their existence.They’ll practice measuring skills by sizing up our four friends, see a DVD about endangered animals, learn the latest information about them from our collection of kids’ science books, try to camouflage animal images, anddo several art projects to learn more about the animals with whom we share the planet. And send your child’s camera along so they can take advantage of a photo-op with our four impressive specimens. Have your child join our scientific safari!
Exploration: Coral Reefs
April 20, 2013
Ever dive below the waves to a coral reef? You and your child will dothe next best thing as you watch a film about ocean environments, assemble a beautiful coral reef puzzle, learn about forces by watching a giant Clown Fish“swim” in the air overhead, and use your imaginations 
to make a coral reef and its inhabitants from Shapescape building pieces.You’ll also color some fish and other life from the coral reef,and make and take a coralreef scene as you learn about this fascinating ecosystem. No SCUBA gear required – just an inquisitive mind!
Exploration: Rocket Science
July 16, 2013 - 6 hour exploration for 6-to-10 year-olds
Let your son or daughter become a rocket scientist for a day. Drop your children off at DASEF’s Environmental Outpost for a day of scientific exploration with rockets, space travel, and the physical science behind space flight. They will learn about the laws of motion and the aerodynamics of space flight, build and launch straw rockets, balloon rockets, canister rockets, bottle rockets, and an Estes model rocket. They will also try the stomp rocket target challenge, watch an animated movie about space travel,and use construction parts to make a model planetary outpost. Calling all future NASA engineers: space is within your grasp! (Bring an empty 2-liter sodabottle.)
Exploration: Amusement Park
July 27, 2013
Have you wondered about the forces at work on you as you scream yourway along the roller coaster track? You and your child will experiment with rolling marbles to learn about Newton’sLaws of Motion, then put what you learned to use by constructing a marble roller coaster. Making a simple pinball machine and target game will let you investigate how the physics of forces and motion affect these games of skill. Science can be very amusing!
