The Reading Public Museum’s summer camp program will feature a very special guest this year during its “Ground Control to ISS” camp week, July 19-23.
In a partnership with NASA, campers will have the opportunity to participate in a private virtual chat with a scientist from NASA’s Artemis Team, which is focused on landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.
The hour-long chat will give students an overview of the Artemis program and participants will be able to ask questions directly to the scientist, as they build on lessons learned during the space-themed camp.
While The Museum’s summer camp program features a different STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) topic each week, the inter-disciplinary camp curricula is designed for students entering grades 1-6 and runs weekdays from June 14 through August 20.
Following a successful 2020 summer camp program which safely implemented COVID protocols, many of the 2021 weeks are sold out, but some spots and a waitlist are available to members of The Museum and the general public.
“Although many people think of The Museum as an art and history center, we were founded in 1904 as a hands-on science and learning center for children” said Director and CEO of The Museum, John Graydon Smith .
“We continue our dedication to that mission through a number of programs in partnership with NASA, the Association of Science and Technology Centers, and other national leaders in informal science education.”
In addition to the summer camp programs offered at The Museum, STEAM-centric exhibitions will be on display beginning in May as Brick City opens May 29. Brick City is a celebration of iconic buildings from cities around the world, carefully recreated in LEGO bricks by artist Warren Elsmore and his team.
The exhibition runs through Labor Day and its engineering lessons are incorporated into many of the summer camp themes, as The Museum will also be hosting a build challenge for guests to try building local landmarks with LEGO bricks.
