Carrot is about to turn 250 Bortronian years old, and the kids have set up a backyard circus to help him celebrate. They all notice that Earth's gravity makes it hard to perform their circus stunts, so they take the whole circus to the Moon, where its 1/6th gravity makes all their stunts much easier! It's Earth Day, and the kids are preparing posters for the big community celebration at the DSA. They decide to research their posters by traveling all around the Earth in Jet's family saucer and observing all the things that make Earth so special.
Carrot is about to turn 250 Bortronian years old, and the kids have set up a backyard circus to help him celebrate. They all notice that Earth's gravity makes it hard to perform their circus stunts, so they take the whole circus to the Moon, where its 1/6th gravity makes all their stunts much easier! It's Earth Day, and the kids are preparing posters for the big community celebration at the DSA. They decide to research their posters by traveling all around the Earth in Jet's family saucer and observing all the things that make Earth so special.
Mindy Pet-sits Sunspot - Sean, Sydney, Jet, and Carrot head out to view the Northern Lights. Mindy, upset she can't go, gets a boost - Sunspot stays back and agrees to let her be his pet-sitter. As the group in the saucer searches for, yet can't find, the Northern Lights, Sunspot and Mindy work on a backyard project - making their own amazing backyard "Northern Lights" display! Curriculum: Northern lights (aka, aurora borealis) are a natural, awesome phenomenon. The origin of the aurora begins when a cloud of gas is ejected from the Sun's surface. When it collides in Earth's atmosphere with oxygen and nitrogen, it produces dazzling auroral light. Treehouse ISS - When the kids realize that they all want to use the treehouse at the same time for different activities, arguments break out. Mindy tries to help by creating a schedule for each kid to use the treehouse alone. In the end, the kids realize they need each other's company and ideas in order to be successful in their own projects. In resolving their problem, the kids learn to think like the scientists on the International Space Station, who have to find a solution to the problem of getting along while doing different projects in a small space. Curriculum: The International Space Station (ISS) program is a great global human achievement in international cooperation. Countries work in partnership to support the experiments of scientists on the ISS, including observing space, growing plants in micro-gravity, and recording observations.
Mindy Pet-sits Sunspot - Sean, Sydney, Jet, and Carrot head out to view the Northern Lights. Mindy, upset she can't go, gets a boost - Sunspot stays back and agrees to let her be his pet-sitter. As the group in the saucer searches for, yet can't find, the Northern Lights, Sunspot and Mindy work on a backyard project - making their own amazing backyard "Northern Lights" display! Curriculum: Northern lights (aka, aurora borealis) are a natural, awesome phenomenon. The origin of the aurora begins when a cloud of gas is ejected from the Sun's surface. When it collides in Earth's atmosphere with oxygen and nitrogen, it produces dazzling auroral light. Treehouse ISS - When the kids realize that they all want to use the treehouse at the same time for different activities, arguments break out. Mindy tries to help by creating a schedule for each kid to use the treehouse alone. In the end, the kids realize they need each other's company and ideas in order to be successful in their own projects. In resolving their problem, the kids learn to think like the scientists on the International Space Station, who have to find a solution to the problem of getting along while doing different projects in a small space. Curriculum: The International Space Station (ISS) program is a great global human achievement in international cooperation. Countries work in partnership to support the experiments of scientists on the ISS, including observing space, growing plants in micro-gravity, and recording observations.
It's evening at the cul-de-sac, and the kids are looking at two asteroids through Sean's telescope - one is light-colored and one is dark. Meanwhile, Mitchell's dog Cody seems to have run away because he doesn't like the black sweater Mitchell put on him. The kids learn about how, just like asteroids, some things are easier to see in the dark than others, like a white card is easier to see than Cody's black sweater. This amount of brightness is called "albedo." The kids go to their local beach to surf, but notice that the beach looks completely different from the last time they stood there. There's way more sand, and the ocean is far away! They decide to be detectives and study what has happened, and learn that the larger and smaller beach is caused by the tides - the rising and falling of the ocean.
It's evening at the cul-de-sac, and the kids are looking at two asteroids through Sean's telescope - one is light-colored and one is dark. Meanwhile, Mitchell's dog Cody seems to have run away because he doesn't like the black sweater Mitchell put on him. The kids learn about how, just like asteroids, some things are easier to see in the dark than others, like a white card is easier to see than Cody's black sweater. This amount of brightness is called "albedo." The kids go to their local beach to surf, but notice that the beach looks completely different from the last time they stood there. There's way more sand, and the ocean is far away! They decide to be detectives and study what has happened, and learn that the larger and smaller beach is caused by the tides - the rising and falling of the ocean.
Sean is planning his first sleepout under the stars with his Space Scouts troop, but the weather is threatening, and it looks like his sleepout will be rained out. The kids get help from Mitchell , building a weather observation station to make a weather prediction, and visit the DSA for further help by tracking the weather with satellites. A total eclipse of the Sun is coming to Boxwood Terrace! The kids prepare a Total Eclipse song and dance to perform at the DSA, where the whole town is gathered for the event. Meanwhile, Sunspot attempts to explain the eclipse to all the local animals so they won't think it's night and sleep through it.
Sean is planning his first sleepout under the stars with his Space Scouts troop, but the weather is threatening, and it looks like his sleepout will be rained out. The kids get help from Mitchell , building a weather observation station to make a weather prediction, and visit the DSA for further help by tracking the weather with satellites. A total eclipse of the Sun is coming to Boxwood Terrace! The kids prepare a Total Eclipse song and dance to perform at the DSA, where the whole town is gathered for the event. Meanwhile, Sunspot attempts to explain the eclipse to all the local animals so they won't think it's night and sleep through it.
The kids observe the full Moon at night and wonder why it seems to have a "face." They research why the light and dark splotches seem to make a face, and ultimately decide to fly to the Moon's surface so they can see for themselves what the light and dark splotches are made of. The kids are digging again down by the Lake, and dig up a part of an old rocket. This leads Sydney to tell another "Lone Star" story, this one about how long ago, when Boxwood Terrace was called "Boxwood Territory," early astronomer Lone Star engineered and built the first rockets. This inspires the kids to engineer and build their own "foot rocket."
The kids observe the full Moon at night and wonder why it seems to have a "face." They research why the light and dark splotches seem to make a face, and ultimately decide to fly to the Moon's surface so they can see for themselves what the light and dark splotches are made of. The kids are digging again down by the Lake, and dig up a part of an old rocket. This leads Sydney to tell another "Lone Star" story, this one about how long ago, when Boxwood Terrace was called "Boxwood Territory," early astronomer Lone Star engineered and built the first rockets. This inspires the kids to engineer and build their own "foot rocket."
Sunspot needs to climb one more mountain to join an elite space climbing club - and the mountain happens to be Mt. Sharp, on Mars! Jet convinces the kids to fly to Mars with Sunspot and join the mountain climbing expedition. With all the Earthie kids away for the day, Jet and Sunspot are left to their own devices. They notice neighbor Mitchell digging for buried treasure in his yard, and decide to make and bury their own treasure, then make a map that Mitchell can find and follow to their homemade treasure!
Sunspot needs to climb one more mountain to join an elite space climbing club - and the mountain happens to be Mt. Sharp, on Mars! Jet convinces the kids to fly to Mars with Sunspot and join the mountain climbing expedition. With all the Earthie kids away for the day, Jet and Sunspot are left to their own devices. They notice neighbor Mitchell digging for buried treasure in his yard, and decide to make and bury their own treasure, then make a map that Mitchell can find and follow to their homemade treasure!
"Diggin' Earth" - The kids try to dig into the Center of the Earth (a la Commander Cressida), but after finding out that the center is much too hot and the layer of Earth leading up to it is solid rock, they re-vamp their plans. They decide to become the kids to dig down the deepest into the Earth. Learning about the layers of the Earth inspires Jet to make an Earth Layer Cake. Curriculum: Earth's structure consists of molten nickel-iron core, magma mantle, and crust. The reason we can't easily dig down through to the core is because the Earth's crust is 10-30 miles thick! And made of really hard rock. Inside of that is the mantle. The core is nickel and iron, the heaviest stuff, which gravity pulls to the center. In fact, it gets so hot in the core that even the nickel and iron melt. "Mindy's Mystery" - Mindy can't sleep one night, having been kept awake by a sweet, strong smell from outside. Sydney, Sean, Jet, and Sunspot become detectives and try to crack the case of the sweet smell. At the same time, Mitchell is investigating what kept him up last night - a very bright "annoying" light. In the end, there's a common source - the sweet smell was from a nocturnal flower, the Moonflower, which only blooms at night, after sundown. And the bright light was from the Moon! Curriculum: Moonflowers are nocturnal bloomers. After sunset as the Moon rises, these huge white flowers bloom, emit a very sweet smell, and glow in the moonlight. In the morning, they close their fragrant blooms. Moonflowers' scent attracts the night moths that feed on their nectar. Moonlight doesn't originate on the Moon. The Moon (like the planets) shines by reflected Sunlight. The Sun, of course, only lights up 1/2 of the Moon - the half that is facing the Sun.
"Diggin' Earth" - The kids try to dig into the Center of the Earth (a la Commander Cressida), but after finding out that the center is much too hot and the layer of Earth leading up to it is solid rock, they re-vamp their plans. They decide to become the kids to dig down the deepest into the Earth. Learning about the layers of the Earth inspires Jet to make an Earth Layer Cake. Curriculum: Earth's structure consists of molten nickel-iron core, magma mantle, and crust. The reason we can't easily dig down through to the core is because the Earth's crust is 10-30 miles thick! And made of really hard rock. Inside of that is the mantle. The core is nickel and iron, the heaviest stuff, which gravity pulls to the center. In fact, it gets so hot in the core that even the nickel and iron melt. "Mindy's Mystery" - Mindy can't sleep one night, having been kept awake by a sweet, strong smell from outside. Sydney, Sean, Jet, and Sunspot become detectives and try to crack the case of the sweet smell. At the same time, Mitchell is investigating what kept him up last night - a very bright "annoying" light. In the end, there's a common source - the sweet smell was from a nocturnal flower, the Moonflower, which only blooms at night, after sundown. And the bright light was from the Moon! Curriculum: Moonflowers are nocturnal bloomers. After sunset as the Moon rises, these huge white flowers bloom, emit a very sweet smell, and glow in the moonlight. In the morning, they close their fragrant blooms. Moonflowers' scent attracts the night moths that feed on their nectar. Moonlight doesn't originate on the Moon. The Moon (like the planets) shines by reflected Sunlight. The Sun, of course, only lights up 1/2 of the Moon - the half that is facing the Sun.
As the kids get ready for Valentines Day by making their own valentines out of paper, Mindy continues to feel sad that little, frozen Pluto is so far out at the edge of the solar system. When Sydney shows Mindy a newly-downloaded, full-color image of Pluto as seen by the New Horizons spacecraft, Mindy is intrigued by Pluto's "heart" of ice. Mindy once again feels that Pluto deserves our love, since it's no longer considered a planet, but is orbiting out there at the edge of our solar system, like a big frozen Valentine. She asks Sydney to bring her own little hand-made Valentine to Pluto on her behalf. Sydney leads an expedition of the kids to Pluto to bring Mindy's Valentine, experience the frozen dwarf planet themselves, and bring back their report to Mindy. / Sydney is directing the kids in a backyard movie, making her version of a Commander Cressida story about the formation of a star. The other kids all have parts, but Sunspot has the lead - as the star! The kids' movie coincides with the celebration of a star being born near (a.k.a. 10 light years away from) Bortron 7!
As the kids get ready for Valentines Day by making their own valentines out of paper, Mindy continues to feel sad that little, frozen Pluto is so far out at the edge of the solar system. When Sydney shows Mindy a newly-downloaded, full-color image of Pluto as seen by the New Horizons spacecraft, Mindy is intrigued by Pluto's "heart" of ice. Mindy once again feels that Pluto deserves our love, since it's no longer considered a planet, but is orbiting out there at the edge of our solar system, like a big frozen Valentine. She asks Sydney to bring her own little hand-made Valentine to Pluto on her behalf. Sydney leads an expedition of the kids to Pluto to bring Mindy's Valentine, experience the frozen dwarf planet themselves, and bring back their report to Mindy. / Sydney is directing the kids in a backyard movie, making her version of a Commander Cressida story about the formation of a star. The other kids all have parts, but Sunspot has the lead - as the star! The kids' movie coincides with the celebration of a star being born near (a.k.a. 10 light years away from) Bortron 7!
As the kids get ready for Valentines Day by making their own valentines out of paper, Mindy continues to feel sad that little, frozen Pluto is so far out at the edge of the solar system. When Sydney shows Mindy a newly-downloaded, full-color image of Pluto as seen by the New Horizons spacecraft, Mindy is intrigued by Pluto's "heart" of ice. Mindy once again feels that Pluto deserves our love, since it's no longer considered a planet, but is orbiting out there at the edge of our solar system, like a big frozen Valentine. She asks Sydney to bring her own little hand-made Valentine to Pluto on her behalf. Sydney leads an expedition of the kids to Pluto to bring Mindy's Valentine, experience the frozen dwarf planet themselves, and bring back their report to Mindy. / Sydney is directing the kids in a backyard movie, making her version of a Commander Cressida story about the formation of a star. The other kids all have parts, but Sunspot has the lead - as the star! The kids' movie coincides with the celebration of a star being born near (a.k.a. 10 light years away from) Bortron 7!
As the kids get ready for Valentines Day by making their own valentines out of paper, Mindy continues to feel sad that little, frozen Pluto is so far out at the edge of the solar system. When Sydney shows Mindy a newly-downloaded, full-color image of Pluto as seen by the New Horizons spacecraft, Mindy is intrigued by Pluto's "heart" of ice. Mindy once again feels that Pluto deserves our love, since it's no longer considered a planet, but is orbiting out there at the edge of our solar system, like a big frozen Valentine. She asks Sydney to bring her own little hand-made Valentine to Pluto on her behalf. Sydney leads an expedition of the kids to Pluto to bring Mindy's Valentine, experience the frozen dwarf planet themselves, and bring back their report to Mindy. / Sydney is directing the kids in a backyard movie, making her version of a Commander Cressida story about the formation of a star. The other kids all have parts, but Sunspot has the lead - as the star! The kids' movie coincides with the celebration of a star being born near (a.k.a. 10 light years away from) Bortron 7!
"Sunspot and the Great Red Spot" - Sunspot is determined to get to Jupiter to meet his fellow pet aliens, other members of the Red Spot Club. The Club is thousands of years old. They meet annually at an exact time to observe and celebrate the Red Spot. But, mechanical problems with the family wagon/saucer may thwart the trip. The kids and Celery do everything they can to get Sunspot to Jupiter and his Red Spot Club meet-up. Curriculum: The Great Red Spot is an enormous, high-pressure storm akin to an Earth hurricane that has been raging on the surface of Jupiter for at least 400 years. "Uncle Zucchini Babysits" - Uncle Zucchini finally gets to Earth for a visit, just as the Propulsion parents are called away on a work assignment. Uncle Zucchini volunteers to watch the kids. In the process of helping the kids coax Sunspot into taking a bath, Uncle Zucchini learns about the three states of water (solid, liquid, and gas). Curriculum: What is water and how does it change from one form to another? Water exists in three different states: solid, liquid, and gas. Clouds, snow, and rain are all made up of some form of water. Temperature and pressure can change water from solid (ice) to liquid (wet) to gas (vapor).
"Sunspot and the Great Red Spot" - Sunspot is determined to get to Jupiter to meet his fellow pet aliens, other members of the Red Spot Club. The Club is thousands of years old. They meet annually at an exact time to observe and celebrate the Red Spot. But, mechanical problems with the family wagon/saucer may thwart the trip. The kids and Celery do everything they can to get Sunspot to Jupiter and his Red Spot Club meet-up. Curriculum: The Great Red Spot is an enormous, high-pressure storm akin to an Earth hurricane that has been raging on the surface of Jupiter for at least 400 years. "Uncle Zucchini Babysits" - Uncle Zucchini finally gets to Earth for a visit, just as the Propulsion parents are called away on a work assignment. Uncle Zucchini volunteers to watch the kids. In the process of helping the kids coax Sunspot into taking a bath, Uncle Zucchini learns about the three states of water (solid, liquid, and gas). Curriculum: What is water and how does it change from one form to another? Water exists in three different states: solid, liquid, and gas. Clouds, snow, and rain are all made up of some form of water. Temperature and pressure can change water from solid (ice) to liquid (wet) to gas (vapor).
It's Mothers Day, and Jet wants to do something special for Celery, who just wants to finish her book. She suggests a day where Jet finds his own missing things. Jet agrees it would be the perfect gift, but first he needs her to fly them to Mars, so he can find his missing robot, Jet 2, that he left there! It's the first windy day of spring at Boxwood Terrace, and the kids are all trying out their new kites - all but Sean, who's stuck in his room with a cold. Sunspot joins Sean and helps him work out engineering problems so he can entertain himself - and even fly a kit from his room!
It's Mothers Day, and Jet wants to do something special for Celery, who just wants to finish her book. She suggests a day where Jet finds his own missing things. Jet agrees it would be the perfect gift, but first he needs her to fly them to Mars, so he can find his missing robot, Jet 2, that he left there! It's the first windy day of spring at Boxwood Terrace, and the kids are all trying out their new kites - all but Sean, who's stuck in his room with a cold. Sunspot joins Sean and helps him work out engineering problems so he can entertain himself - and even fly a kit from his room!
"So Many Moons" - When Mindy is concerned that the possible addition of a younger sibling to her family might be a challenge, Jet says imagine having a family with more than 60 siblings! That's what it's like for the 67 moons of Jupiter. Curriculum: Kids may think that a planet would only have one moon, maybe two. But the larger outer planets, the gas giants, have many moons - Jupiter and Saturn leading the count with more than 60 moons each! What's more, the moons of Jupiter are not all just round, gray rocks - they are extremely varied, from volcanic Io, covered with volcanic activity; to Europa, with an icy surface covering an underground ocean; to Ganymede, a moon so large it's actually bigger than the planet Mercury! "Project Pluto" - When Mindy is excited about presenting her kid model of Pluto for school show and tell, the other kids don't want to disappoint her by breaking the news to her that Pluto is not a planet. Curriculum: Pluto is no longer considered a planet; astronomers in the scientific community re-classified Pluto as a planetoid. It is one of five "planetoids," or "dwarf planets. There are three criteria a celestial body must meet in order to be considered a planet: it must orbit the Sun, have enough mass, and "clear the neighborhood."
"So Many Moons" - When Mindy is concerned that the possible addition of a younger sibling to her family might be a challenge, Jet says imagine having a family with more than 60 siblings! That's what it's like for the 67 moons of Jupiter. Curriculum: Kids may think that a planet would only have one moon, maybe two. But the larger outer planets, the gas giants, have many moons - Jupiter and Saturn leading the count with more than 60 moons each! What's more, the moons of Jupiter are not all just round, gray rocks - they are extremely varied, from volcanic Io, covered with volcanic activity; to Europa, with an icy surface covering an underground ocean; to Ganymede, a moon so large it's actually bigger than the planet Mercury! "Project Pluto" - When Mindy is excited about presenting her kid model of Pluto for school show and tell, the other kids don't want to disappoint her by breaking the news to her that Pluto is not a planet. Curriculum: Pluto is no longer considered a planet; astronomers in the scientific community re-classified Pluto as a planetoid. It is one of five "planetoids," or "dwarf planets. There are three criteria a celestial body must meet in order to be considered a planet: it must orbit the Sun, have enough mass, and "clear the neighborhood."
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