It's not easy to explain and understand what lies beyond the night sky. This curated collection of 26 projects from the bestselling Little Learning Labs: Astronomy Lab for Kids introduces children to the basics of outer space through 26 hands-on labs that can be completed with everyday items from around your house. It's the perfect resource for teachers, homeschool families, and community groups.
Mini astronomers will learn about things such as the size and scale of planets using sandwich cookies and tennis balls, how to measure the speed of light with a flat candy bar and a microwave, how to make a simple telescope with magnifying glasses, and so much more. Kids of all ages and experience levels will love completing these hands-on labs with the guidance of adults.
Why wait to introduce children to the expansive wonder of the skies, when Little Learning Labs: Astronomy Lab for Kids can put it within their reach today?
Author Biography:
Michelle Nichols is Master Educator at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL, where she has worked for twenty years. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from National-Louis University. At the Adler Planetarium, Ms. Nichols specializes in informal education (i.e., "out-of-school-time" education). She has developed, facilitated, and evaluated hundreds of astronomy, space exploration, and history of astronomy activities for audiences ranging from early elementary children to adults. She has served on Adler staff teams to create planetarium shows, several of which have been distributed to planetariums internationally, and several dozen exhibits, both large and small. From 2008 to 2014, she was a member of the NASA Interstellar Boundary Explorer Education and Public Outreach team. She currently works with Adlers Far Horizons Space program, bringing the excitement of high altitude ballooning and space exploration to middle and high school students and teachers, and Ms. Nichols coordinates the Adler Planetariums telescope outreach program, Scopes in the City. Ms. Nichols has served as an advisor for several Bearport Publishing childrens books: Superfast Rockets, Space: Surviving in Zero-G, Ellen Ochoa: Reach for the Stars, and The Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion, as well as the Scholastic News Nonfiction Readers series (The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto: Dwarf Planet, and Comets).