May 2025
Spark!Lab History Month Theme: Mercury Program
Bulletin Board 1: Mercury Program
Bulletin Board 2: Mercury 7 Astronauts
Spark!Lab Hands on Learning Activities
Location/Times: Spark Lab (Each event is within Spark!Lab hours of operation 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
- (Daily) Parachute design: Design and build your very own parachute. Explore gravity and air resistance by discovering how different shapes and sizes help objects make a gentle landing.
- National Space Days – Celebrating the first American Mercury astronauts and their mission achievements with paper rocket builds and launches!
- May 5: Celebrating Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom.
- May 12: Celebrating John Glenn and Scott Carpenter.
- May 19: Celebrating Wally Schirra and Gordo Cooper.
- May 26: Celebrating Deke Slayton.
- May 11: Astro-Moms: Celebrating out-of-this-world Astro-Moms! Highlighting the achievements of women in spaceflight.
- May 24-26: National Paper Airplane Days: Discover the four forces of flight that make paper airplanes fly.
- May 27-June 1: Able and Baker Days: Celebrating the NASA achievements of the successful Able and Baker May 1959 suborbital mission.
Rocket Park
- May 10: Von Braun Astronomical Society’s (VBAS) Astronomy Day at USSRC! Join the Spring Astronomy Celebrations at USSRC. Look through solar telescopes, touch and feel the oldest rocks of the solar system, and launch rockets in Rocket Park! Explore the Astronomy Van where people can watch live views of the Sun on a big TV screen!
- Specialty Planetarium Show: This will be at 1 PM on the day of Astronomy Day and will replace our typical Space Rocks programming. Show description below!
- Twinkle, twinkle, giant star! Those tiny specks of light in the night sky aren't so tiny up close – they're massive, fiery balls of hot plasma living dramatic lives with explosive beginnings and even bigger endings! Closer to home, our VIP star, the Sun, doesn't just provide us with light; it's our planet's ultimate energy source. In this live, interactive show, we'll dive into what kind of star our Sun is, and how it provides Earth with life-sustaining necessities. We'll blast off to explore dazzling nebulae, witness star-shattering supernovae, spin with pulsars, peek into mysterious black holes, and get star-struck!
May’s Maker Lab Theme: Build to Explore
- Design with purpose: rovers that traverse terrain, creative solutions for a base on Mars, training robots to complete simple tasks
- Strong focus on function-driven design.
- Combine math, physics, and code to make useful tools
Maker Lab Activities
Disclaimer: Because of the technological equipment and the dexterity and skills necessary to safely operate classroom tools, this space and its activities are designed for students aged 12 and older (middle and high school).
Weekly Schedule
Sundays, 12-2
Inventors Club: Mars Design Challenge
Mondays, 11-3
Inventors Club: Mars Design Challenge
Wednesdays
10 am: Mission: Ozobots
11 am: Messages from Mars
1 pm: Mission: Ozobots
Fridays
10:30 am: Teen Maker Hour: Math in Bloom
1:00 pm: Messages from Mars
2:30 pm: Messages from Mars
Saturdays
10:30 am: Teen Maker Hour: Math in Bloom
12:30 - 3:30: Inventors Club: Mars Design Challenge
Schedule* With Class Descriptions
*(Dates at any moment can be adjusted to meet the needs of UFT overflow programming)
Sundays (May 4, 11, 18, 25)
(12:00 - 2:00 pm) Open Lab Time: Inventors Club (free)
Join us for a Mars Design Challenge! Learn about future plans for exploring Mars and sketch your idea for a robotic rover or human habitat to scale using the Engineering Design Process. Combine upcycled materials to prototype your invention for Martian Exploration. Our Maker Staff will help you practice with tools like hammers, hot glue guns, rotary cutters, and LED simple circuits to create an engineering model of your invention to take home. Ages: 12+
Mondays (May 5, 12, 19, 26)
(11:00 - 3:00 pm) Open Lab Time: Inventors Club (free)
Join us for a Mars Design Challenge! Learn about future plans for exploring Mars and sketch your idea for a robotic rover or human habitat to scale using the Engineering Design Process. Combine upcycled materials to prototype your invention for Martian Exploration. Our Maker Staff will help you practice with tools like hammers, hot glue guns, rotary cutters, and LED simple circuits to create an engineering model of your invention to take home. Ages: 12+
Wednesdays (May 7, 21, 28)
Mission: Ozobots ($5)
Learn the basics of robotic coding language by programming Ozobot mini-robots using Blockly web-based software. Bring these robots to life through fun challenges while creatively problem solving. Code your Ozobot to dance, navigate color-coded mazes, complete simple tasks, and explore a mini world. Ages: 12+
(10:00 am - 10:45 am) Session 1
(1:00 - 1:45 pm) Session 2
(11:00 am) Messages from Mars ($5)
Come learn the basics of digital design using Cricut Design Space and explore techniques for creating a custom 2-D artwork of a Mars Rover sending greetings back to Earth. Our Maker Staff will help you design your Mars-themed scene, combining rover parts and satellites to beam a 2-D message home. Bring your design to life using our Cricut Cutting Machines that combine creativity and technology in a unique way. Ages: 12+
Fridays (May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30)
(10:30 - 11:30 am) Math in Bloom: Teen Maker Hour Explores 3D Coding ($10)
This hands-on class allows teens to dive into the world of basic computer programming and discover how mathematical operations can be used to create and manipulate 3D shapes. Using TinkerCAD Codeblocks, we will design a custom 3D model of a flower, watching geometry and logic bloom together! Your student's unique flower design will be adapted for 3D printing and turned into a keychain, which will be available for pick up the following day at the main Ticket Desk. Ages: 12+
Messages from Mars ($5)
Come learn the basics of digital design using Cricut Design Space and explore techniques for creating a custom 2-D artwork of a Mars Rover sending greetings back to Earth. Our Maker Staff will help you design your Mars-themed scene, combining rover parts and satellites to beam a 2-D message home. Bring your design to life using our Cricut Cutting Machines that combine creativity and technology in a unique way. Ages: 12+
(1:00 pm – 2:00 pm) Session 1
(2:30 pm – 3:30 pm) Session 2
Saturdays (May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31)
(10:30 - 11:30 am) Math in Bloom: Teen Maker Hour Explores 3D Coding ($10)
This hands-on class allows teens to dive into the world of basic computer programming and discover how mathematical operations can be used to create and manipulate 3D shapes. Using TinkerCAD Codeblocks, we will design a custom 3D model of a flower, watching geometry and logic bloom together! Your student's unique flower design will be adapted for 3D printing and turned into a keychain, which will be available for pick up the following day at the main Ticket Desk. Ages: 12+
(12:30 – 3:30 pm) Open Lab Time: Inventors Club (free)
Join us for a Mars Design Challenge! Learn about future plans for exploring Mars and sketch your idea for a robotic rover or human habitat to scale using the Engineering Design Process. Combine upcycled materials to prototype your invention for Martian Exploration. Our Maker Staff will help you practice with tools like hammers, hot glue guns, rotary cutters, and LED simple circuits to create an engineering model of your invention to take home. Ages: 12+
April: STEAM Literature Series (Every Thursday at 10 a.m. inside Spark!Lab)
- May 1: Light & Shadow: What are shadows? How are they made? Learn the science behind light and how it creates shadows.
- May 8: Sound and Communication: Learn how sound is created and how we use that in communication technologies
- May 15: Newton’s Laws: Learn how engineers use Newton’s Three Laws to innovate and make us safe
- May 22: Nebulas: Learn about the many shapes in our universe from galaxies to nebulae.
- May 29: Counting & Measuring: Practice counting and measuring while learning how many Earths could fit inside Jupiter (or the Sun!) and work together to create a tiny solar system