one of the reasons we go
to space is not just to learn about the
stars and other planets but to look back
down at the earth
in a way your training at camp seahawk
is a lot like the training of astronauts
you're going to build a team
and explore a new planet in a way
because you're going to see spaceship
earth with new lenses
discovering spaceship earth with new
lenses is the main focus of the space
earth ocean center camp
seahawk for short
teacher and space finalist peggy laflin
describes seahawk to the newly arrived
campers
during the introduction the students
begin to realize they are in for an
exciting week-long adventure to learn
about space the earth and the ocean
located at the armond bayou nature
center near houston texas
seahawk operates for six weeks during
the summer
seahawks environmental awareness
curriculum is the basis for the camps
lessons that are taught in the fields
forests and waters of armand bayou
activities are designed to instill a new
appreciation of earth's finite resources
as well as develop a sense of team
spirit among these future scientists
astronauts and even educators
seahawk director steve russell comments
on the camp's formation and goals so
with a consortium of arm and bio nature
center clear creek independent school
district
johnson space center and the university
of houston
uh the four institutions work together
to develop this program
our program involves studying ecology
ocean science weather
space studies
and we try to teach environmental
awareness and hopefully
talk some of these bright youngsters
into careers in environmental science
using the space theme the campers are
divided into groups that parallel the
size of space shuttle crews
each crew designs a patch reflecting
their mission goals at seahawk using
actual mission patches from past space
flights as a guide
look out red lobster here we come
discovering the inhabitants of the local
waters enhances the ocean related
studies taught at the camp and provides
hands-on experience not readily
available in the classroom
i don't think you like it
male has a rocket ship type shape here
see that you can even take one of his
legs here
and start pry it up that's what you do
whenever you're opening them up to get
them ready to eat you just pull that on
down
seahawk counselor rob mcclelland
i think that that learning is most
important when it is hands on
sainting is about as hands-on as it gets
and the sainting net is two long poles
the net
fine mesh net in between
they learn how to use that themselves
they get a little bit of instruction in
this trial and error
it's fascinating the stuff that they
bring up and to watch their faces light
up you get shrimp in there
silver sides every kind of little fish
or organism just about you can imagine
yeah it is a little busy that's an
alligator bar
i can't you can't really tell when
they're that young
oh there's another one
somebody got this
yeah that's a nice side shrimp
discovering the makeup of water is the
purpose of conducting ph comparisons
here the children learn the difference
between swimming and drinking water by
determining the ph content of each
okay slide it into the kit
okay
if it's darker than a mall then we know
that the ph has to be more than what
number what number's on there that's the
last number
this marshy area at armand bayou was
chosen to conduct plankton studies
each group uses a plankton net for
skimming the surface of the water to
collect microorganisms living in the
water
back at the campsite the organisms will
be examined and identified under
microscopes
canoeing on armand bayou is one of the
many highlights during each seahawk
session
the activity builds a sense of team
effort as well as involves the campers
in a new type of water sports
they can look over like a continent like
half the size of africa and they can
tell which parts of it are warm and
which parts of it are not so warm or
colder
the students also see the ocean elements
from the perspective of living in space
seahawk director steve russell ties
together space exploration with earth
exploration during his earth observation
presentation phytoplankton or the
microscopic plants
use to make food
okay
right now the soviets
have a satellite or a space station up
in space in orbit around the earth
and they're tracking
where the phytoplankton is growing
the most and that's where they send
their fishing fleet you don't have to
spend a lot of money running a ship
going out looking for fish you know
exactly where to go and i'm sure that
when the united states when we get our
space station up we'll use it for the
same purposes
other space-related activities include
touring the johnson space center located
nearby
the students observe space technology up
close from past present and future space
endeavors
moreover the campers develop an
understanding of the technology that is
involved in space flight and how the
astronauts work in space to bring back
new data for earth scientists to
practice loading and storage and cooking
on the shuttle now look at this trainer
raised up so that inside the helmet you
no longer scheduled for the end of the
tour is a demonstration of the suits
worn by astronauts during their
spacewalk we allow the astronauts to
turn
their body
is to put a barrier
the kids also get to examine the
different suit parts up close and even
try some on
the material material itself is flexible
enough so that even when it's hot or
cold you can still fit in fairly easily
and the
visors are
made to work even in the cold or hot so
you know everything has to be designed
astronaut lauren shriver shares his
experiences and knowledge of earth
observation from space with the campers
each week a different astronaut visits
seahawk to discuss earth science through
space flight with the kids and get a
very good perspective
of what's happening down on the ground
we spent an awful lot of time
looking back at the earth
and
seeing what the rivers are doing
seeing if there's any changes in the
sizes of lakes
of
forest areas that cover the mountains
and and the jungle areas and things like
that
over there and how beautiful that
setting is there
superman huh
one of the things that we're interesting
interested in finding out is how easy it
is to assemble structures in space
and we've had several experience
experiments that deal with that
this thing came was carried up
exploring the forests and prairies
expands the campers awareness of
different plants and animals living in
the area
staff teacher sue cox describes the
alphabet hunt activity i used it with
these children
was to have them list the alphabet in
their journal and then as we began our
forest activities we stopped along the
way and we identified trees and flowers
and any other objects that they saw that
started with one of the letters of the
alphabet they then listed this name in
their journal
it produces like grapes it makes real
good jelly
i think we can find some other ones a
little bit further down where we can see
them better
now
think about the red man
indians
associate that with red oak
what did the indians
uh use as weapons
uh
arrowheads or spears
where those arrowheads or spears pointed
around
pointed okay look at the tips of the
arrows so he's pointed and rounded
is it a red oak or a white oak
exactly this one belongs to the red oak
family
high enough yeah too tight the hugga
tree activities were designed to
have the students
develop an awareness
of a tree by going over to the tree
blindfolded
after they were led there by a partner
they then were to fill the tree
using any of their senses except a sense
of taste
they could smell it they could feel it
they could listen to it
they could rub the bark they could reach
down and feel the root system or the
leaves or whatever part they wanted to
experience then they were led away
and then unblindfolded the object was
for them to be able to go back and find
their tree
the camper's explorations are not just
above ground
digging for indian and other
archaeological finds native to the area
proves there are many treasures below
the earth's surface
and a little imagination adds a lot to
each successful excavation
okay and where did you find it i found
it
about five centimeters under okay in
what grid square spread 48
and i think it was used after they've
cut the head off and pulled the brain
out
to cut the brain
into small pieces to divide tribes give
each person more knowledge
excellent okay
okay the right side first one
through participation in the challenge
course activities the kids develop
problem solving skills as well as learn
to work effectively as a group and build
trust within the team
so
the object is to keep that bell from
ringing
get everybody from this side
to that side now they are count the
holes one two three four five six seven
eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen
holes
use each hole one time and
you can use one of the holes
watch
okay one second let's take your glasses
off okay
yeah really can you see without him
she didn't need to see the fall
all right closing her eyes anyway
yeah
okay now move a little to the left
there you go
feet together
body stiff
don't go yet everybody's ready
count make your body stiff as a board
does she really trust her crew mates for
the log fall
just bear with me
roasting marshmallows singing songs and
listening to ghost stories are great
campfire activities that everyone enjoys
when i was born in italy if you were
rich following the last campfire the
young explorers receive a visit from a
man whose scientific contributions from
centuries ago
sparked many of man's scientific
achievements
so who am i
right
leonardo of vinci
i'm an inventor a scientist an artist
and a mathematician
i'm the father of botany
i drew pictures of all sorts of plant
life and so as you go through this camp
this week
you have seen everything relating
in all the sciences as they all work
together
after describing his contributions to
science leonardo guides the campers and
molding plaster casts of the face and
hands like his human organ casts he made
for study centuries ago
now if you've got little brothers or
sisters that talk too much
this is what you might want to do
you might want to start with this part
first
you're my guinea pig you have to lie
still they get to giggle if they think
it's funny
two of y'all are sharing here let me get
you something
yeah there you go
up and down like this
okay
good good good good now you can take one
more
don't forget don't do their nostrils
all right
by week's end the campers have not only
earned their seahawk t-shirts but have
gained a greater awareness of their
surroundings
the community sees this program
as an asset to our community seahawk
director steve russell shares his
overall thoughts the environmental
awareness that we're promoting can
can only help the community in the
future
these students that are here at this
program will be the scientists of the
future and they'll be the ones who'll be
making decisions on how we use our
natural resources and
how we hopefully use our all of our
environment rather than abusing it
i'd like for the students to go away
with the knowledge that
there has been space technology
developed by the space program that can
be used to
gather much more information about our
earth system and to use that information
to improve the equality of the
environment
and hopefully to
learn more how the earth works so we
don't continue to make ecological or
environmental mistakes
that moisture becomes clouds
seahawks focus on the environment
through a variety of observation
techniques will serve these explorers in
their travels through life here on
spaceship earth
you