Home About Writers Categories Recent Issues Subscribe Contact File Transfer





Marisa Honomichl
Marisa Honomichl is Vice President of Marketing and Development at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. The Cosmosphere houses one of the largest collections of space artifacts in the world including the Apollo 13 space capsule. The mission of the Cosmosphere is “Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future of Space Exploration.” This is accomplished through educational programming such as space exploration camps for students in the summer. Feel free to contact the Cosmosphere for more information on their camps and programming at (800)397-0330 or visit www.cosmo.org.
Science
1969-12-31 18:00:00
A cure for “I’m bored!”
Answer: It’s that Jan-Feb time of year again and the added cold weather we’ve been having lately brought about the phrase I hear from my children EVERY year during the winter. It’s the dreaded words, “I’m bored! What do we do?” As adults we’ve learned to grab a book and hang out in our PJ’s as long as we’re allowed, but children of course haven’t learned to appreciate downtime so what can they do besides drive us crazy? Lots in fact! In addition to this being a great time of year to explore all the great museums in our area it’s also a good time to use the free stuff on-line to spark your child’s interest in science, technology and much more. Do your children like the stars? Try out www.hubblesite.org for a huge variety of astronomy facts and broadcasts that are geared to all different age groups. The sister site, www.amazing-space.stsci.edu even has online games for kids where they can be challenged on a variety of topics while having a lot of fun navigating the game and is a great resource for K-6 teachers. Another great site for games is the NASA Kidsclub at nasa.gov. Lastly is a site called starchild where the concepts of astronomy are explained in terms any of us can understand and it’s perfect for grade school aged children. The nasa.gov web site is also very useful for older students, especially if they need help with homework that relates to NASA activities or if they’re doing research on a project that deals with space. There are research assistance areas and what is called MyNASA where they have homework assistance. There are fun things too, like NASA podcasts and my favorite…the NASA picture of the day. They are amazing and downloadable so you can print your favorites in high resolution for free! Did you know you could have your name included on a microchip that is going to Mars? You can and so can your children; just log onto nasa.gov and sign up! There’s even a site where songs and lyrics are used to explain astronomy called www.astrocappella.com. For those of you who have better recall when the information is put to music…enjoy! Our brains don’t need to be stuck indoors even when the weather isn’t so nice. Explore our universe on the web or come out and enjoy it at your local museums!
 
The Q & A Times Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.Materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Thank you.
 
Wildcard SSL Certificates