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Ellis Abel Learns.

Space & Astronomy Summer Camp in Washington, DC

The Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area has about 6,465,724 residents, ranking 7th in the country. The case for space & astronomy summer camp here is not that the area lacks camps — it is that most of them end without the child being able to explain what they made.

Ages 7-14 · For families · Washington, D.C. · South

Space & Astronomy Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Washington, DC
Space & Astronomy Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Washington, DC

What the week actually is

Space is the best bait in STEM and the easiest to waste. This week uses it properly: orbital mechanics as ratio problems, rocket stability as a physics argument, distance to Mars as an exercise in numbers too big to feel.

Day by day

  1. Scale: how far is far
  2. Build the rocket, predict the flight
  3. Launch and measure the error
  4. Orbits as ratio problems
  5. Showcase: present the flight data

Washington, DC — what applies locally

  • The Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area has about 6,465,724 residents, ranking 7th in the country.
  • Metro area: Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
  • State: Washington, D.C. · Region: South

Questions we get from Washington, DC

Do they launch anything?
Model rockets, yes, with the flight predicted on paper before it leaves the pad.
Is there a telescope night?
Where the camp site allows it. Otherwise the observation work is done with real archived imagery.
What ages get the most out of it?
Nine and up, though seven-year-olds do fine with the building half.

Other camp themes in Washington

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Space Camp elsewhere in Washington, D.C.

District of Columbia, DCCounty

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