By: Laura Bassein

Explorit Seeks Volunteers for Summer Programs

So science sparks your curiosity, does it? And kids learning science ... now that's exceptionally enticing, right? If you answer these questions with a resounding yes, Explorit Science Center is the place for you to be this summer.

Explorit seeks enthusiastic responsible adults or mature high school students to volunteer as teaching assistants in its Summer Science Classes. As a teaching assistant you can enjoy helping young children learn about science in a fun-filled interactive way. And guess what? You get to learn a lot about science, too.

All Summer Science Class volunteers must commit to working a minimum of two full weeks (need not be consecutive), Monday through Friday, either from 8:30 am to 1 pm or 12 noon to 3:30 pm. Summer Science Classes run from June 21 through August 20.

All potential volunteers must fill out an application and selected applicants will be invited to interview for the teaching assistant positions.

If this sounds too good to pass up, then call Explorit at (530) 756-0191 for more information or stop by to pick up an application.

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This holiday weekend you'll only be able to visit Saturday or Sunday since Explorit will be closed Monday to observe Memorial Day. Just because Explorit is closed doesn't mean you need to stop your scientific explorations. Try some explorations of your own by carefully observing what's happening around you.

Whether at home or on a camping trip to celebrate Memorial Day, on Sunday you'll be able to observe the full moon. But that's not the only thing happening with the moon this weekend. On Saturday, the moon will be at apogee.

What's apogee? Well, the moon travels in an elliptical path. The closest point on the path is called perigee and the farthest point is called apogee. At perigee the moon actually appears larger than the when the moon is at apogee. If you want to see the moon appearing larger you'll have to wait until June 13, the next time of moon perigee.

So maybe around June 13, you can take another camping trip to the coast to observe the affect of perigee. At perigee, the additional increase in lunar gravitational force on the earth can lead to lower low tides and higher high tides than normal.

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If astronomy (or any other area of science) appeals to you, you should know that no matter who you are, you can be a scientist too.

Take astronomy for example, it was Maria Mitchell who in 1847 was the first person in the world to discover a comet. Mitchell grew up in an era when few women had any career at all, let alone a career in science. Mitchell was reported to often say "how much women need exact science." Much later Mitchell reached another conclusion, "how much science needs women."

More recently, Mae Jemison achieved her childhood dreams of space travel. These dreams occurred in the 1960s, a time when space travel was reserved only for male jet pilots.

After attending college, medical school, and practicing medicine in the US and West Africa, Jemison applied for admission to the NASA space program in 1985. The tragic Challenger crash in 1986 stalled the space program temporarily. In late 1986, Jemison once again applied for admission to NASA.

Less than one year later, Jemison became the first African American woman to be admitted to the NASA space program. By 1988, she completed her training and became an astronaut.

On September 12, 1992, the space shuttle Endeavor blasted off its pad at the Kennedy Space Center with none other than Dr. Mae Jemison on board, her mission to study motion sickness, calcium loss in bones, and weightlessness.

Maria Mitchell and Mae Jemison, as well as many other scientists throughout time, inspire us to follow our dreams whether high into space, deep into the earth, or anywhere else they might take us. You never know where your dreams may lead.

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Explorit Science Center is located at 3141 5th Street in East Davis. The current exhibition is A Fly on the Wall and Other Amazing Arthropods. Public hours are Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. Regular admission is $3; members, teachers (with school ID) and children under 4 are free.