Homeschooling

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Friday, 5 April 2013

Science Project--building the Hubble telescope

Since we are studying Astronomy and we had already done a model of the solar system I was looking for a different project that we could do to go with our space unit.  I found this site and directions for building a paper model of the Hubble Telescope.

There are several models but I chose the card stock directions for the kids-- it is marked average to difficult in skill
The directions are pretty straight forward so easy to follow

The only real issue we had was the amount of paper they gave you to glue one to another place was tiny which made it very difficult for the children to deal with, however this can be corrected by adding extra paper and modifying ever so slightly.  In the end I ended up cutting out all the shapes to make it easier for my kids.

We got together with friends and began building--if you plan to do this  remember to only cut out the pieces you need for each step as it is easy to get lost

We started out using glue sticks but later we had to reinforce our model with proper white glue which is a whole lot messier

Some of the pieces were very tricky to get into the right place and while Princess did pretty well, Little Man got frustrated and I had to help him quite a bit.
Our finished telescope

which is now proudly hanging in the school room right next to our solar system that we made 2 years ago.
This was a great activity for kids, however I think older children would have an easier time of it.  Mine are 11 and 8 and they were easily frustrated so I had to help a great deal with the cutting and gluing in order to get things to stay in place.  But once it was completed it looks great and we had some good conversations on what is the Hubble telescope and what is it doing in space:)
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12 comments:

  1. jmommymom5 April 2013 at 09:55

    Next year I'm thinking about a unit on the history of the space program. This project would fit in well. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Mary Prather5 April 2013 at 12:31

    very cool! Thanks for linking with Collage Friday

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  3. Chris 5 April 2013 at 12:39

    Great post....I give you a lot of credit tackling this project...good for you! The finished product is really great!
    Have you ever been to Kennedy Space Ctr in FL? If not, maybe when you come "home." If you ever head south, you might consider the Astronaut's Hall of Fame. We thought it would be a quick in and out museum...We wound up spending almost the entire day there. More time that the actual Space Ctr. It was so informative. History of the space prog, astronaut info.Your family would probably greatly enjoy it.
    Thx for sharing!
    Have a great day.:)

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    Replies
    1. The Adventurer5 April 2013 at 16:16

      Hi Chris,
      we have been to the Kennedy Space Center about 3 years ago with the children. We loved it. I haven't heard of the Astronaut's hall of fame, will look that up. The Uk has a great space center in about an 90 minutes away we are hoping to wrap up our studies with a visit:)

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  4. Coombe Mill - Fiona5 April 2013 at 14:53

    Wow that looks very involved but a great result!

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  5. LeAnn5 April 2013 at 21:33

    You always have such fun activities for your children to learn. I think the picture of the finished project hanging is awesome.
    Blessings!

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  6. Anonymous5 April 2013 at 21:57

    We did a similar project a few years ago (well, Gary did), the children would have been about 7 and 8 and you're right, they would have maybe enjoyed it more at an older age. Fun, none the less!

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  7. Dawn5 April 2013 at 22:51

    Awesome! What a great project.
    Blessings, Dawn

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  8. Maureensk6 April 2013 at 05:04

    Cool! That's a great telescope!

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    ReplyDelete
  10. Ticia14 April 2013 at 01:35

    I like the idea of building the Hubble. I've had the same problem with cutting out pieces too early in things I've built, so I quite agree with only cutting out what you need for each step.

    Thanks for linking up to Science Sunday!

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  11. NicheExpert11 December 2018 at 10:46

    When starting out into the hobby of astronomy, the fundamental question arises as to how to choose a best telescope In this short article, I'm going to start right at the very beginning and give you the main things you need to keep in mind before considering buying your first telescope.

    ReplyDelete