Mark your calendars for a special night of moon discovery. ACPS is hoping to host a unique chat with NASA moon geologist Noah Petro as well as a free screening of the Spielberg movie E.T. as part of the All Alexandria Reads event on Tuesday, May 10 at T.C. Williams High School.
To get everyone in the mood, we will be giving away ACPS prizes at the event to anyone who joins our Twitter scavenger hunt. This year’s books are all focused on the Space Race and in particular the race to the moon in the 1950s and 1960s, so we have designed a Twitter scavenger hunt to help you discover a little more about space. When you find the items on the list below, tweet a picture and tag @ACPSk12 with the hashtag #AllAlexReads to win prizes.
Join in the fun! This is how we met Noah Petro – a real-life moon geologist who works at NASA Goddard as a scientist on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is currently orbiting the Moon (and has been since 2009). He joined our scavenger hunt. Now it’s your turn.
Scavenger Hunt List:
- Find a piece of the moon (not so difficult for Noah Petro, who works with it first hand at NASA. But did you know it is also possible for you to find a piece of the moon at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.?)
- Find something that looks like it came from the moon
- Find items that were created as a result of the Space Race (Did you know Velcro, for example, was created for astronauts in space?)
- Record a message to send to astronauts in the International Space Station
- Draw a picture of your favorite Martian
Good luck!
Don’t forget that the authors of our selected books want to hear from you. Send your letters to the ACPS Office of Communications, 1340 Braddock Place, Alexandria VA 22314 and we will send them on to the authors.
Missed the list of All Alexandria Reads books? The books on the list are:
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“The Martian” by Andy Weir (for teens) – The story follows American astronaut, Mark Watney as he becomes stranded alone on Mars in the year 2035 and is required to improvise in order to survive. This science fiction novel was also made into a 2015 movie directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. |
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“George’s Secret Key to the Universe” by physicist Stephen Hawking, author of “A Brief History of Time”, and his daughter Lucy (older elementary school-aged children) – This is a book where the main character, Cosmos, the world’s most powerful computer, can draw windows to look into outer space, as well as doors that act as portals allowing travel into outer space. The children’s book is written like a story and aims to describe aspects of the universe in a manner that is accessible to children. It starts by describing atoms, stars, planets and their moons. It then goes on to describe black holes, which remains the topic of focus in the last part of the book. |
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“Mousetronaut” by astronaut Mark Kelly – Astronaut Mark Kelly flew with “mice-tronauts” on his first spaceflight aboard space shuttle Endeavour in 2001. Mousetronaut tells the story of a mouse that wants nothing more than to travel to outer space. The mouse works as hard as the bigger mice to show readiness for the mission and is chosen for the flight. While in space, the astronauts are busy with their mission when disaster strikes, and only the smallest member of the crew can save the day. |
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“The Astronaut Wives Club” by Lily Koppel –This is the true story of the wives of the first astronauts into space and to land on the moon. Get comfy. You will not be able to put it down once you start reading it! |
See a full list of Alexandria Library events for the month.