Source: modernhomesteadmama.com
What kid doesn’t love cookies? And oreos make for the perfect little moon replicas. Get a free downloadable phases of the moon worksheet here, and help your kids learn the phases of the moon during snack time.
Beforehand, get kids to study the names and corresponding phases of the moon (at NASA’s Space Place website, for example), and then recreate them from memory with oreo cookies and this handy free downloadable worksheet.
Source: American Museum of Natural History
The night sky is like a giant puzzle. Hidden among the thousands of stars you can find dozens of constellations. You can also search for individual stars and planets. Stargaze when there is little or no moonlight and the sky isn’t cloudy and give your eyes a half hour to adjust to the darkness. Bring some tools, including a sky map to help you identify what you see and binoculars or a telescope to see celestial sights more clearly and closer up. Keep a notebook with you to sketch what you see in the sky and to keep a record of your sightings.
Not all points of light you see at night are stars. Airplanes, satellites, and meteors (or “shooting stars”) move fast, so they’re easy to tell from stars. But what about planets? Planets look a lot like bright stars, so telling stars from planets can be tricky. One clue is that planets don’t twinkle like stars, although it’s sometimes hard to see the difference. To see what planets are currently visible in the night sky, visit Timeanddate.com’s interactive night sky map.
Source: spaceplace.nasa.gov
There’s a whole solar system to explore at NASA’s kid-centred education website, Space Place! Play games and get activity ideas about the planets, the sun, the earth, and much more. There’s colouring pages and a craft archive as well as a science and technology portal and glossary for older kids!
Source: astro-canada.ca
Quebec’s ASTROlab has a fabulous virtual exhibition available to experience on their website, called Canada Under the Stars. The virtual exhibit highlights aspects of the legacy left to us by the stargazers of our country. Canada was in the throes of nationhood at the same time as new astronomy was emerging and participated in its development and discoveries. Did you know that at one time, two of the four largest telescopes in the world were in Canada? Did you know that today Canada is involved in some highly sophisticated projects, and that Canadian astronomers are renowned for being the most efficient in the world?
Learn more about that legacy with Canada Under the Stars, which includes written history, photos, and video clips about Canadian astronomers, observatories, and a timeline of Canadian astronomy discoveries. All of the website information is available in both English and French.
Fizzics Education is an Australian-based organization that focuses on bringing science and technology education to kids in Australia and beyond!
For a wide variety of experiments, check out their resources page with 150 science experiments that can be done at home. Everything from water science activities like shaving cream rain clouds, to kitchen chemistry experiments like making rock candy, there’s sure to be experiments that your kiddos will love.
After your little ones are all done with their experiments, it’s time to sit back and listen to some STEAM-inspired podcasts or TedTalks. Fizzics Education has many wonderful links on their website that bring you to some of the best kid-friendly and educational podcasts and TedTalks out there.
After a long day of STEAM filled fun, it’s time to put your knowledge to the test! Check out these trivia questions that range from everything about the human body and biology, to astronomy and physics.
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
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