Learning about space exploration at an early age may open new worlds of education, engineering, science, and technology to your child. It might even put them on a trajectory for a career in such fields. Even if such careers aren’t in their futures, they can still learn a great deal about Earth, the environment, physics, and the solar system while having fun. Your child’s journey to the final frontier may launch this summer in Northeast Ohio.
Programs through the Great Lakes Science Center and NASA’s Astro Camp Community Partners (ACCP) are offering space camps to bring space exploration and science down to Earth for your youngster.
While much of the camp curriculum is rooted in design and engineering concepts, one of the goals of programs like the Great Lakes Science Center is to show children that there is more to space exploration than being an astronaut and that many other career opportunities are possible. To bring space exploration down to Earth, campers not only have opportunities to meet Northeast Ohio NASA technicians that are developing and testing technologies for the new Orion capsule, but people in other professions including marketing, visualization, and graphic design.
Scott Vollmer, vice president of education and exhibits at the Great Lakes Science Center notes when he was growing up, kids were told that space exploration was largely the realm of astronauts and rocket scientists.
“That seemed so far out of reach,” he says. “We try to hit every career role that is available in Northeast Ohio to inspire the kids that they can do this.”
Kimberly Davis, the director of Helping Youth Succeed NorthEast Ohio STEM, is an ACCP facilitator. Helping Youth Succeed NorthEast Ohio STEM is a youth-service organization that encourages student engagement through collaborations with business and educational partners. The Cleveland Heights-based agency and other ACCP facilitators across the region have begun preliminary planning for their upcoming summer camps. A separate ACCP camp is also being planned at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea.
The NASA ACCP Program, which provides collaborative opportunities for organizations, schools, and universities to present hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) activities within their communities.
The program offers opportunities for students in grades K-12, especially those in underserved communities, to discover NASA’s science missions and to learn about fields such as astrophysics, heliophysics, Earth science, and planetary science.
While camp exercises boost STEM skills, Davis notes that children gain other life skills such as critical thinking, budgeting, and teamwork all while learning self-confidence and self-reliance.
“Just learning the history lessons in space exploration, the career possibilities, meeting new friends, it’s something that I think that a parent wants for their child,” Davis says.
