DASEF Community Programs & Outreach
DASEF Community Programs & Outreach
Librarians, Early Childhood, or Other Community Instructors:
To schedule one of our science programs for your library, early childhood center, or other community group, please email your name, number of participants, and your phone number to our scheduling coordinator: Ila Jasinski, at ijasinski@dasef.org. We offer programs at our Outpost in Smyrna, or we can bring our Outreach programs to your site. The cost for a 1-hour program at your site is $200 plus an additional traveling fee of $0.65 per mile based on the traveling distance to and from the DASEF Outpost in Smyrna.
DASEF offers Outreach experiences that bring science to you. All materials for the program are provided (with the exception of basic classroom supplies). Adult help is required for some of the hands-on activities, so parent chaperones can be invited to assist (maximum of 1 adult per 3 children). A classroom space is needed to bring this traveling program to your school or site. Fees for Early Childhood will be calculated at the time of sign-up.
We can work with up to 20 to 25 students at a time. Please see our offerings below.
Kaleidoscope Wonders
Has your little scientist ever taken apart a kaleidoscope? You and your child will explore kaleidoscopes using a tabletop model and make and reflect a geometric design into infinity! Also make and take your own simple kaleidoscope viewer. You can even check out a few dazzling books while you’re there. What fun!
Insects Aren’t As Yucky As You Think
Did your child ever get “bugged” by an insect? Come to the library to study some friendly ones. Your child will learn about the life cycle of a ladybug and the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly, with little hand-sized models. See our collections of dearly departed insects and work with your child to create their own insect model. Take home a picture of an insect to color. Plus you’ll find insect books by Eric Carle – need we say more?
Wee Weather Watchers
Calling all mini-meteorologists – it’s time to learn about the weather. Your child will “be” the liquid in a thermometer, as they learn about temperatures and how to dress for them. Have fun making a take home wind sock and a simple kite to experiment with wind. And just think about all of the wonderful weather books at the library! The forecast is for interesting science with a good chance of fun!
Make a Date With Dinosaurs
Too young for a scary trip through Jurassic Park? Our dinosaurs are much more tame. Complete a dinosaur puzzle, make and take a dinosaur mask, build your own dinosaur with Clics Building Blocks, and learn a little about meat and plant eaters with a bucket of our prehistoric pals. Bring your camera for a photo-op with our interactive Stegosaurus, Sarah. You’ll rooooar for more!
Trees, If You Please
There is more to trees than meets the eye! Learn about all those parts of a tree you don’t see, use a hand lens to take a closer look at leaves, find matches for the ones from the same tree, and make a model of a tree from real parts. Finish your day by “being” a seed as it goes from its hiding place in the soil to a tree with new seeds of its own. You will even find a treeful of books to read. Tree-rific!
Constructing Your Own Fun
Get right down on the floor and build something! Use our pieces to make your own structure, and make a roller coaster that will give a ball a looping thrill ride. Take the challenge to build the tallest tower – quickly, before it falls! And take home a picture of one of the world’s greatest bridges to color. Build a great day with us!
Magnet Tricks for Young Scientists
Calling all “attractive” youngsters with a “magnetic personality”! It’s time to come to the library to learn lots about magnets. You’ll start by seeing and hearing a read-aloud of our Magnets Big Book. Then use special object collections to discover which materials magnets attract, test various magnet shapes to see their magnetic fields, play with attracting and repelling poles of circular magnets, go “fishing” in the magnetic fish pond, and make and take home a refrigerator magnet. This science will stick with you!
Around the Coral Reef
Bring your young undersea explorer to the library for a trip to a coral reef. You and your child will learn about forces, assemble a beautiful coral reef puzzle, use your imaginations to make a coral reef and its inhabitants from Shapescape building pieces, color some fish and other life from the coral reef, and make and take home a coral reef scene as you learn about this fascinating ecosystem. No scuba gear required – just an inquisitive mind!
Butterfly Math
Butterflies can’t really do math, but your young mathematician can! You and your child will play the Butterfly Symmetry Game and decorate a coffee filter butterfly, practice grouping and counting with plastic butterflies, put on our kid-size wings and identify geometric shapes, and make pattern caterpillars. Bookworms aren’t the only insects that can have fun at the library!
How Things Move
Give your young engineer some challenges in design and construction that make things move! You and your child will build a structure with moving gears, assemble and test a model vehicle, build and experiment with magnetic gears, and make and take home your own climbing creature or tumble wing glider. Dust off your thinking caps – you’re going to need them!
Sounds Like Science
Looking for a new way to stimulate your students’ sense of hearing? We’ll bring a batch of materials and activities to let them explore the world of sound. They will play our water glass piano, guess the mystery sound makers in a series of jars, see how water carries sound waves across our Dancing Water Bowl, test the differing pitches of our Boomwhackers, and make and take a rhythm shaker (each child brings an empty plastic soda bottle). Your room will come alive with sounds!
Discovering Fossils
Can’t take your students to a fossil dig site? Bring our fossils to your classroom. Your students will learn how fossils were formed and assemble a floor model of a Protoceratops dinosaur skeleton. They will match fossil imprints to the mammal foot that made them, see real fossils and petrified wood from our collections, and they’ll each make a model of a dinosaur skeleton to take home. Let them explore the world beneath their feet!
Up Up in the Air
It’s time for little pilots to take flight! You and your child will learn about how things move through the air by folding and flying amazing paper airplanes and helicopters, building a simple kite from paper and straws, making a straw glider, and testing our hover craft that can float on a layer of air. As they say, “The sky’s the limit”!
Destination Explorations
Parent and child (or children) teams explore science and technology topics in a fun and educational way. Monthly adventures in discovery will be offered at the Environmental Outpost on 140 Dinosaur Drive, Smyrna, DE 19977. They are two hours in length, run from 9:30 AM until 11:30 AM, and have a fee of $7/person. Due to weather and other conditions beyond our control, we may, in some instances, need to substitute other activities.
Pay by exact change or check.
Make check payable to: “DASEF”. To sign up: Email your name, number of participants, and your phone number to: Lynne Bloom at lynneb@dasef.org or call (302) 834-1978 or (302) 659-5003 and leave a number where we can reach you.
STEM for Scout Merit Badges
Scout Leaders and Chaperones are free of charge unless they are also building or constructing their own project. In that event, they will be charged the price of the kit and materials.
Our STEM programs are designed to aid scouts in meeting requirements for the science merit badges. Some independent research and additional observations by scouts will be necessary to meet all requirements. Length and Fees for programs may vary depending on the scout’s badge requirements. Some programs are overnight or run longer than the standard length of two hours. Length determines the fee per scout. Programs will be adapted to the needs of the scout’s badge requirements.
- Length: 2 hours
- Fee: $7 per scout (minimum 20 / maximum 30)
Example of a 2-Hour Program:
Water Everywhere Badge
Scouts will learn about the many properties and uses of water. They will begin by making a water snooper. Then they’ll take their water snoopers, strainers, and bowls down the nature trail to our pond. From the observation deck they will look below the surface and scoop up some water samples to see what lives there.
Back in the Outpost the scouts will search the ingredients lists on product containers to see where water can be found. They will do the water layers investigation to learn about fresh and saltwater properties.
Scouts will explore the wave and ripple properties of water, and they’ll take the cargo floating challenge.
- Length: Two 2-hour sessions or one 4-hour session on a Saturday, a holiday, or in the summer.
- Fee: $25 for 4 hours per scout (includes cost of rocket and engine)
Example of a 4-Hour Program:
Rocketry
First 2 Hours:
Scouts will learn about the history of United States space exploration and the new technologies it has produced, the International Space Station, and NASA’s plans for a return mission to the moon and a human mission to Mars. They will learn and discuss the requirements for a manned outpost on our moon or another planet and how such a launch and flight to and from are or could be accomplished. Scouts will test their knowledge by designing and building a model of a manned outpost that suits the needs of a particular planet
Second 2 Hours:
Scouts will assemble a model rocket, learning about its parts, functions, and how physical laws apply to their operation, then launch their rockets.
- Length: Overnight, 6:00 pm to 10:00 am
- Fee: $45 per scout (minimum 10 / maximum 15)
Example of Overnight Program:
Overnight programs, beginning at 6:00 PM and ending by 10:00 AM the following morning, can be scheduled at our Environmental Outpost in Smyrna. These have a fee of $45/person with a minimum fee of $450. There will be an extra fee per scout if model kits such as Estes rockets or telescopes are purchased for scouts to build. Leaders and chaperones are free of charge unless they are also building a model kit or telescope.
Evening snacks and cereal and fresh fruit for breakfast are included
Space Explorer Badge
In the StarLab planetarium, scouts will learn about constellations and individual stars and how to locate and identify them in the night sky. This will be followed by a star gazing hike on our nature trail and making constellation pictures.
Through a PowerPoint presentation, scouts will learn about the planets in our solar system and the surface of the moon. They will get to design and construct a model of a lunar rover, see a NASA film to take a simulated “Field Trip to the Moon”, and assemble a planetary puzzle
Scouts will learn about the history and design of telescopes that enable us to see distant space objects and have a safe view of the sun through our sun spotter devices. They will learn about how women have participated in the US space program and about NASAs current and future plans for space exploration. To culminate their visit, scouts will make their mark on the universe by designing a space science postage stamp.
Evening Eyes on the Skies
Like to get a better look at objects you see in the night sky or want to share the excitement of star gazing with your family and friends? Then come to DASEF’s Mountjoy Observatory for one of our evening ‘Eyes on the Skies’ sessions (see schedule below). Weather permitting, for one-and-a-half hours you can explore the universe in our observatory and learn about the moon, the planets, and constellations through family activities, short films, and observation. The fee is $5/person. Limit: 15 – 20 participants.
The Mountjoy Astronomical Observatory is used for observing celestial events. The observatory is attached to the Environmental Outpost, located at 140 Dinosaur Drive in Smyrna, Delaware. The observatory is home to a 16-inch Meade Telescope and 3 Orion Newtonians. DASEF’s amateur astronomer and instructors engage in astronomy education and public outreach. The public and special groups are invited to preregister online for our one-and-a-half hour ‘Eyes on the Skies’ programs on selected evenings throughout the year.
Pay by exact change or check.
Make check payable to: “DASEF”. To sign up: Email your name, number of participants, and your phone number to: Lynne Bloom at lynneb@dasef.org or call (302) 834-1978 or (302) 659-5003 and leave a number where we can reach you.
Birthday Parties
Come to the Environmental Outpost for a Birthday Party!
Your selection of themed parties includes dinosaurs, space, butterflies, or pirates. Enjoy lots of fun activities to make and take with you!
The fee for a 2-hour party is $250 for up to 14 guests; additional guests are $8 each up to maximum of 20. Parties are for ages 4-10. You are welcome to bring food and supplies for your party. Parties are held at the Environmental Outpost at 140 Dinosaur Drive, Smyrna, DE 19977.
To schedule a Birthday Party, please email your name, number of participants, and your phone number to our scheduling coordinator, Ila Jasinski, at ijasinski@dasef.org.
Sounds Like Parties
You and your guests will use Boomwackers plastic tubes to discover changing pitches and make up songs, make and take home a rain stick, watch a movie about fantastic music machines, see a demonstration of vibrations in our Dancing Water Bowl, take the “Mystery Sounds” challenge, and play “Guess What’s Shaking”.
Butterfly Birthday Parties
You and your guests will go on a hunt around the grounds to find model butterflies and learn about protective coloration, assemble a Monarch butterfly puzzle, watch a movie about butterflies, use hand lenses for a close-up look at our butterfly and moth collections, and make a paper butterfly to take home.
Dinosaur Birthday Parties
You and your guests will assemble a dinosaur puzzle, watch a video about dinosaurs, hunt for and assemble the pieces of a life-sized skeleton model of “Protoceratops” (the first horn-faced dinosaur), make a prehistoric dinosaur scene, and make a fossil to take home.
Space Adventure Birthday Parties
You and your guests will watch a video about space, assemble a planetary puzzle, build and launch a film canister/seltzer rocket (ages 5 to 7) or a soda bottle rocket (ages 8 to 10, for which each guest should bring a 2-liter soda bottle), and make a space magnet or picture frame to take home with you.
Pirate Birthday Parties
You and your guests will visit our life-sized model of a sailing scow to hear about local pirates, make a pirate hat and patch, go on a pirate treasure hunt, assemble a pirate puzzle, and see a pirate movie.
Underseas Adventure Parties
You and your guests will make and take home a periscope and use it to decode secret messages hidden around the building, take the “Ship’s Cargo Challenge” – problem-solving for young ship builders, see an animated ocean movie, assemble a puzzle about life under the sea, and make a bead sea creature to hang in your room.
