It was the first. Orbiting the Earth from 1986 until its re-entry in 2001, MIR was the place where mankind learned how to live in small confined zero-gravity spaces. I chanced upon an MIR model about to be recycled. Hopefully I will figure out how to build it for the Rocks, Mineral and Space event. The box says it does not require gluing so….it should be a snap.
MIR space station building model photo source : Lorie Pierce
I’ll keep you posted on our progress, Houston.
I have found two styles of volcanoes for the next event. Here’s the first to colour, fold and glue.
colour a Pacman shaped flat volcano photo source : Lorie Pierce
fold and glue into shield volcano photo source : Lorie Pierce
Add a flume to the top!
The other style is based on a wood slotted model. It would be made out of card stock paper and would not need to be coloured ahead of time. Maybe I’ll have a couple of these for the kids who don’t like to colour.
wood slotted volcano photo source : Lorie Pierce
This volcano is from a Wild Republic set and includes dinosaurs.
bridal tea photo source : Lorie Pierce
What a gorgeous site….and I got to take one home! An event I am sure to remember.
The next event features Rocks, Minerals and Space…with (no doubt) a few fossils thrown in somewhere. What a better opportunity to highlight the achievements of two notable Canadian astronauts. One who just spoke at our museum, Roberta Bondar, and the other Chris Hadfield, who is orbiting Earth in the ISS as I type this blog.
I found this astronaut papercraft on the UHU.com website.
here’s the original craft from UHU, the glue stick people photo source UHU.com
And the male version of the same craft.
male version photo source : UHU.com
Now just another step to personalize them for the event. Add in the faces.
astronaut cubees photo source : Lorie Pierce
bottom of cubee photo source : Lorie Pierce
Note that if you do this papercraft….the original template needed a bit of revision so that the bottom flap was the correct size to cover the end.
I credit being the child of parents who grew up during the Great Depression for my tendency to save things….although I do know my grandparents were good role models for the same behaviour. Over the last few years I have come across an number of items I scooped and stored away. Now that I am planning the Rock, Mineral and Space event, I’m opening my cupboards to see what I had in storage that might now be used.
portion of DAWN spaceprobe papercraft photo source : Lorie Pierce
Here’s what I found.
All these items were headed for the trash when they crossed my path. Now they get to join us on a spring afternoon as we marvel at the world or rocks and outer space.
When doing programming, time gets eaten up with the nuts and bolts of activities, supplies, event promotion, and venues. Sometimes it is good to sit back and reflect on the process and share experiences with others.
cover page of Proceedings photo source : Lorie Pierce
That’s what I was able to do last year with Barb Magee (who set up the Outreach program I now administer) at the Ontario Museum Association Colloquium on Learning X. The proceedings include our co-authored paper – ‘A mini-museum Outreach program tailored to a unique audience’.
The next event in late May is scheduled to feature rocks, minerals and meteorites. But how?
museum mineralologist with quartz crystal at Tucson Show Feb 2013 photo source : @geokatgirl
That’s what I am struggling with now. Some initial thoughts on activities :
paper volcano photo source : theredstool.blogspot.ca
Being a rock and fossil hound myself, I know I am looking forward to this event.
Ferdinandea seamount off Italy photo source : summitpost.org
Seamounts fascinate me. There are whole mountains beneath the calm surface of the world’s oceans.
Satellite based estimates of the number of seamounts in the world number fall somewhere between 33,000 and 45,000 features, and the combined area of these seamounts is larger than South America. However, unlike beaches or even coral reefs, most people will never see a seamount. source : Aquanautrix Blog
At the end of an Outreach program, materials are quickly stuffed into bags and thrown into the trunk of a car to transport back to the museum. But now comes the time for returning all the items to their home.
washing plastic blocks in the sink photo source : Lorie Pierce
– basic supplies like scissors and glue sticks to the craft cupboard. These are shared with two programs in addition to mine.
– the Edukit to the Education office. I like to follow up with an e-mail that lets them know how many attended the program.
– printed materials like table signs and originals of colouring sheets go in a binder specially for the themed event.
– extra materials left over from the event go in a Program Box (bankers box or empty photocopy paper box) that is marked with the event theme, in this case Medieval Europe.
– anything worn for dress-up or played with like plastic blocks gets washed. If the item is not washable, it is bagged and put in the freezer for 2 to 3 days.
some items go in bags in the freezer photo source : Lorie Pierce
some items can be washed in cold water photo source : Lorie Pierce
Once carefully dried, the washed items will be added to the Program Box to wait until the next Medieval Europe event.
dress up in Toddlers Area photo source :Lorie Pierce
touch table with objects from museum Edukit photo source : Lorie Pierce
make a shield activity photo source : Lorie Pierce
trebuchet and castle wall photo source : Lorie Pierce
touch table armour close-up with slides and viewer photo source : Lorie Pierce
castle sign courtesy of R.B & K.B. photo source : Lorie Pierce
knight sign courtesy of K.B. & R.B. photo source : Lorie Pierce
Some families arrived 30 minutes early to the event so we opened ahead of schedule. While they were waiting, the kids played with activities in the Toddlers Area. Since that area is unstaffed, the activities there did not require our attention.
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