We currently have the following presentations on Celestia and badge workshops available for your Scouts to view. Recommended ages are also listed. We can tailor the presentations somewhat to younger children if you are interested.
Topic
Description
Grades
Time Required
Trailer
Cub Scout Astronomy Belt Loop
We cover the entire topic, discussing what stars are made of, their life cycle, and our place in the vast universe. If there is good weather we can use a telescope to learn about focusing and how a telescope works.
1+
60-90 minutes
Tour of the Solar System
Covers the 8 major planets and up to their five largest moons. You'll be amazed at what's been discovered!
5+
60 minutes
Mars - An Oceanic Planet
Covers ancient Mars history and whether water once rained on Mars
7+
45 minutes
Mars II - It's Dead, Jim, Or Is It?
Is or was there Life on Mars? The latest information is covered with more evidence to think about.
7+
45 minutes
The Messier Objects
Travel at beyond warp speed to discover the beauty of the Universe as only the camera can capture. A photographic delight
1+
45 minutes
What is a Telescope?
Learn about different types of telescopes, how they work. Learn what to spend your hard-earned dollars on for astronomy equipment
7+
45 minutes
Girl Scout Astronomy Badges
Earn your Space Science Explorer Badge. We cover some the requirements to earn these badges. Please contact us to arrange this and let us know what you need.
ALL
1-4 hours
Navigating the Stars
Learn how to find interesting objects without using expensive computer driven telescopes. You'll learn all about Right Ascension and Declination, using star charts, and how to use a planisphere to locate objects. Afterward you'll go outside and try to find an object using what you've learned
7+
1-2 hour
Light Pollution 101
Learn what light pollution is and how you can help stop it.
K+
1 hour
Light Pollution 201
Learn what light pollution is and how you can help stop it. Learn how to take a light survey and how to fix lighting problems around your school and home.
8+
2-4 hours
Humankind visits Pluto
Learn and see the latest information and pictures coming from the New Horizons flyby of Pluto. The photographs taken in the Summer 2015 have all been downloaded and analysis is ongoing, so this presentation will be changing as new information becomes available.
4+
1 hour
Black Holes and Other Cosmic Absurdities
Discover what happens when you enter a black hole (if you could). Learn about Dark Matter and Dark Energy, how we know they exist, and how much we really do know about the universe. Multiverses anyone? Was there a Big Bang - or Maybe a Bouncing Universe?
4+
1 hour
Constellation Stories of the First Americans
Discover Coyote - a famed First American god that was both a trickster and obnoxious complainer with little self control. Learn how the Holy Ones arranged the stars into deliberate shapes and how Coyote threw randomness into the mix. First American stories are far more gentle than the Greco/Roman stories and are much more suited to this younger age group.
K-4
1 hour
Constellation Stories of the First Americans and Greek/Romans
Learn how the stars were put in the skies by the Holy Ones and Coyote. Contrast the First American stories with the Greco/Roman modern constellations. Learn how to find the North Star and why it is important to night time navigation
5 +
1 hour
Weird Moons, Minor Planets, and Asteroids
Discover moons that are hollow, chock full of organic compounds, the "gasoline" moon, moons filled with liquid water, minor planets with giant ice mountains floating on liquid oceans, and how the asteroid belt was formed and evolved and what the asteroids are made of. Learn how NASA is planning on capturing an asteroid and bringing it back to Earth.
5 +
1 hour
A Very Brief History of NASA
This is a whirlwind tour of some of the NASA missions and accomplishments from it's inception until the near future.
4+
1 hour
Current Nasa Missions
This is a whirlwind tour of some of the 46 current NASA missions. We briefly cover Earth Science, Mars Exploration, Solar Astronomy, Solar System Exploration, and Exo-planet Search missions
4+
1 hour
Mars 2020 Rover/Perseverance
The Mars 2020 rover is designed to search for ancient life. Discover the location where the Mars 2020 rover will land and why it was chosen.
4+
1 hour
Galaxies
Classification, Evolution, motions of Galaxies
6+
1 hour
The Search For Life
What is life? Learn about the chemistry of life, the search for life using biological and electro-magnetic means. This fascinating exploration of mankind's search for life - intelligent or otherwise will astonish you.
6+
1 hour
Optics
Thinking about a telescope? This program will educate you on how telescopes work, the different types of telescopes, and how lenses work and what the different kinds of lenses are and how they help you see various objects in space.
6+
1 hour
Eclipses
We cover solar and lunar eclipses - why they occur and what they look like
2+
30 minutes
Velocity of comets and asteroids
Discover how to use photographs of comets and asteroid to determine their speed and/or distance and size
6+
30
Current and Future US Space Programs
This is a whirlwind tour of some of the current and upcoming NASA missions
4+
1 hour
Astrophotography
This indepth presentation covers astrophotography from using a simple camera on a tripod to sophisticated tracking equipment. We cover Equipment needed for each level of imaging the universe and software for pre and post processing of image. This is a multi-hour program that can be split into individual sessions.
6+
2-3 hours
Lunar Features
Using photographs learn how to determine the size of craters on the moon and the height of crater walls and mountains.
6+
1 hour
Cosmology
In this topic we present current hypotheses and theories concerning the Big Bang, Big Bounce, and the shape of our universe.
6+
1 hour
Heavy Lift Vehicles
Using balloons, participants will build a Heavy Lift Vehicle to lift paper clips to the top of a gantry system. Teams of two to four people will work together to design, build, test, and repeat to achieve the largest number of paper clips reaching the top of the gantry. The gantry is 8 feet tall and requires an indoor room that will accommodate it. This is an indoor only project.
6+
2-3 hours
Celestia is the program we use for our "planeterium". It is free and open source.
If you would like us to cover some other astronomical subject please ask.
