November 18, 2009 Day 3

It was a very busy day on earth-and in space! We watched NASA TV for a short time to understand how the shuttle was going to dock with the space station. We tuned in briefly later in the afternoon to see the astronauts on board the International Space Station. We were able to see Nicole at work at her computer and two other astronauts "floating" by!

During storytime today, we used childrens' reference books with eye-catching illustrations and interesting text to understand a little bit more about the ISS. In doing so, we read a little bit about suiting for a spacewalk, working in space, and came across information about using tethers, handholds, and footholds in space so things and people don't float away, including astronauts when they are spacewalking. A few photos led us to consider the differences in how astronauts sleep and eat while in space.



After learning that astronaut food is often prepared with dry ingredients, mixed with water, and slurped with a straw, we endeavored to make a snack that we could slurp through a straw. Thus, the Strawberry-Banana smoothie cooking project unfolded. Kindergartners prepared their own smoothies at the KinderCooks table, slicing chunks of banana and strawberries that were mixed with 6 oz of milk and blended into a flavored froth with a blender and a very patient parent helper! We had a lot of fun slurping our smoothies, astronaut-style.