Space Exploration to Wide Open Spaces

Day 7 - October 5

This was the start of World Space Week. What a better way to celebrate space than to go observe students learning about space from the experts at the Space Foundation.

There were students from a local elementary school already engaged in space-related activities. Each of the Space Foundation education staff had a different lesson going on with the groups of students rotated through all of the rooms. 

• One group was learning about the solar system in regards to the distance between Earth and the Moon versus Earth and Mars, all with hands on learning for active engagement. 

• In the Mars Robotic Laboratory, the students worked in groups to maneuver their robot across the terrain of the simulated Mars surface. 

• Another group was working on computers, exploring Google Earth in order to observe various characteristics of different planets.

• A Science on a Sphere® lesson was helping students learn about their own planet in another room. It involved a 6 foot sphere in the middle of the dark room which used computers and video projectors to illustrate different conditions, such as atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperature.

• Former astronaut Leroy Chiao, captivated another group of students as he shared his experiences as a NASA astronaut. He flew on 3 space shuttle missions in addition to being Commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 10.

• Other students were completing a scavenger hunt through the exhibit area of the Discovery Center.

Everyone was engaged and busy learning, excited to see what came next. Bryan, Carah, Elias, Jami, and Leroy were creating learning that will be remembered for a lifetime by these students. They were aided by a large group of dedicated volunteers who regularly help with the educational activities. Of course, Chrys handles all of the logistics and organization so is a very important part of the overall experience. 

Dean and Robin wandered in all of the activities, helping students when needed. We thoroughly enjoyed our morning there. We were worn out by the time we left and we didn't really do anything. For the Education Team, they were just starting. For World Space Week, they were having school groups in the morning and another group in the afternoon, every day during the week. How lucky those 10 school groups will be for what they will experience! Nice job, Space Foundation! Robin feels so lucky to be a Teacher Liaison for this organization!

Here were a few highlights from the Discovery Center that we captured on our exploration. This place was phenomenal.

After saying our goodbyes, we headed out of Colorado Springs. Our destination for the night was Limon, CO. On the way, we saw pronghorns, grazing in the field. We stopped to take pictures because they were pretty close to the road.

As we traveled, we also saw lots of wind turbines in many different locations. It was nice to see alternative energy being embraced in such a large scale.

It was late afternoon when we arrived at our hotel and checked in. We relaxed a little and then headed across the highway to Oscar's Bar & Grill. Limon is not a large town so we didn't have many options. 

The restaurant had a movie theme with lots of interesting pictures, posters, and memorabilia on display. 

We went back to the hotel and just chilled out for the rest of the evening. Of course, we did have dessert that we had brought back from the restaurant. Yum!  We had a long day of driving scheduled for the next day so we turned in early...well, early for us!