"Which Moon is Best?" - Sean wants to be the first to walk on a moon, like his hero Neil Armstrong. When Sydney points out that 12 astronauts have already walked on our Moon, Sean thinks that rather than be the 13th to walk on OUR moon, why not be the first to walk on ANOTHER moon in our solar system? Sure, but which moon? The kids decide to compare the frozen moons Europa, which orbits Jupiter, and Enceladus, which orbits Saturn. They get help from Carrot and Celery, who fly them to each one, and Sean gets to walk on them. Curriculum: The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn each have around 60 moons - each of them unique. Interestingly, each gas giant has a frozen ice moon that contains a warmer liquid ocean under the surface: Jupiter's moon Europa, and Saturn's moon Enceladus. Each moon has its own similarities and differences. "Detective Mindy" - When Mitchell's mother declares the kitchen counter a "black hole" because she can't find her sunglasses and she's sure she left them there, Mitchell takes up the case of the black hole kitchen counter. As he's investigating, one by one, all the other kids get involved in his process. As they learn about what a black hole really is, Mitchell discovers that science holds enough mysteries to keep him busy for many years. Curriculum: Black holes are strange little holes in space that are like vacuum cleaners that use gravity (instead of suction) to suck things in. A black hole is what remains when a massive star dies. They send out no light and have very strong gravity. Once a planet or star has been sucked into the black hole, it cannot escape, and compresses to a very small size.
Solar System Bake-off! - Mindy and Carrot are entering a cooking competition and are making desserts representing the different planets of the Solar System. But they hit a bump when they can't remember if Saturn is cold on the inside and hot on the outside... or the other way around. Jet, Sydney, and Sean fly with Celery out to Saturn to find out before the competition begins, so Mindy and Carrot can finish their entry in time! Curriculum: The planets in our solar system can be divided into two categories -- terrestrial (inner planets) and gas (outer planets). Saturn is a gas planet that seems to have a hot solid inner core of iron and rocky material surrounded by an outer core probably composed of ammonia, methane, and water. Kid-Kart Derby - Jet builds an electric engine from scratch for the annual soapbox derby competition, but Mitchell, determined to win the derby, is suspicious that Jet is using some alien technology. Curriculum: An ion drive engine is a very fuel-efficient engine for space vehicles. Ion beams are capable of propelling spacecraft at up to 10 times faster than ships propelled by chemical rockets.
Jet, Sydney, Sean, and Sunspot join Celery as she competes against her brother, Uncle Zucchini, in an "Earthie-style race with a winner"! The race is tight until Celery uses the kids' proposed secret "strategy" - a "gravity assist" off of Jupiter, to increase their saucer speed, and win! / Jet uses his Bortronian skills to test his first experimental Time Machine so he and his Earthie friends can go back to an exact time - 3 minutes earlier - in order to see a spectacular moment in a meteor shower that they missed. A mistake happens the first time, so he keeps trying to go back in time to fix the first mistake, but more mistakes keep happening and snowball into hilarity.
Ice Moon Enceladus - Sean sets up a sno-cone stand to help raise money to send a spaceship to Mars. But it's the hottest day of the year and he quickly runs out of ice, and he can't find any nearby. Then Jet has an idea where they can go to get some ice-Saturn's ice moon, Enceladus! Curriculum: Enceladus is a small moon of Saturn that contains a liquid ocean underneath an outer layer of ice. It has "ice volcanoes" that shoot geyser-like jets of water vapor into space. Some of the water vapor falls back as "snow" and the rest escapes, which supplies most of the material making up Saturn's E ring. What Goes Up... - Jet builds a mini-flying saucer in his garage and wants to test it, but to succeed, he has to learn what gravity is and how it works. Curriculum: Gravity is an invisible pulling power that every object has-planets, moons, stars, and YOU. Gravity pulls all objects in the universe toward one another. The bigger and heavier an object is (the more mass it has), the more gravity it has.
"Tiny Blue Dot" - A rollicking, song-filled recap of the Propulsion family's mission to Earth - as intergalactic travel writers, they really know their way around the Milky Way, and know the difference between a lovely, livable "Goldilocks Planet" like Earth, and the other, way less-livable planets! Curriculum: The Earth is a very rare and wonderful planet in the vastness of space, with its ideal size, its distance from its sun, its breathable atmosphere, liquid oceans, and ability to sustain life. "Earth Camping" - Mr. Petersen and Mitchell go camping with Carrot and Jet. The two dads have opposite approaches to setting up tents and preparing food, but when the dads get off track during a hike, the boys help them all find their way back using the compass, and the skills they've learned from their dads (turns out the kids were paying attention all along!). Curriculum: We can find our place outdoors by understanding how to find direction - north, south, east, and west. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. A compass uses the Earth's magnetic field to find which way is north (the small magnet inside the compass is drawn by the Earth's magnetism to point to the north pole).
"Space Junk" - After learning about space junk, the kids are determined to help do their part to clean up their "space neighborhood." They meet up with Uncle Zucchini, a long-time galaxy garbage man! Using Bortronian technology, they start a cleanup. During the course of the day, our kids learn that recycling is necessary both on Earth and in space! Curriculum: The outer space region around Earth swarms with millions of pieces of man-made space junk that create potential hazards. Objects as small as 4 inches can be seen by radar or optical telescopes on Earth. Cleaning the debris is a challenge. Trips to larger objects could remove them from orbit, but that's expensive. Another proposal is using lasers to provide a path-changing push that wouldn't damage the object. "Scientific Sean" - Jet is fascinated by Earth paper airplanes when he watches Sean casually fold one. Jet suggests that the kids challenge each other to build the plane that will fly the farthest, and still carry the payload of a message. Sean wants to use the Scientific Method to solve the distance/size issues. CURRICULUM: The Scientific Method is a simple set of rules that scientists use the world over, to make sure that they are doing their experiments correctly and in a way that they can repeat. But great science comes from both the application of this simple set of rules AND from imagination and inspiration.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Solar System Bake-off! - Mindy and Carrot are entering a cooking competition and are making desserts representing the different planets of the Solar System. But they hit a bump when they can't remember if Saturn is cold on the inside and hot on the outside... or the other way around. Jet, Sydney, and Sean fly with Celery out to Saturn to find out before the competition begins, so Mindy and Carrot can finish their entry in time! Curriculum: The planets in our solar system can be divided into two categories -- terrestrial (inner planets) and gas (outer planets). Saturn is a gas planet that seems to have a hot solid inner core of iron and rocky material surrounded by an outer core probably composed of ammonia, methane, and water. Kid-Kart Derby - Jet builds an electric engine from scratch for the annual soapbox derby competition, but Mitchell, determined to win the derby, is suspicious that Jet is using some alien technology. Curriculum: An ion drive engine is a very fuel-efficient engine for space vehicles. Ion beams are capable of propelling spacecraft at up to 10 times faster than ships propelled by chemical rockets.
Ice Moon Enceladus - Sean sets up a sno-cone stand to help raise money to send a spaceship to Mars. But it's the hottest day of the year and he quickly runs out of ice, and he can't find any nearby. Then Jet has an idea where they can go to get some ice-Saturn's ice moon, Enceladus! Curriculum: Enceladus is a small moon of Saturn that contains a liquid ocean underneath an outer layer of ice. It has "ice volcanoes" that shoot geyser-like jets of water vapor into space. Some of the water vapor falls back as "snow" and the rest escapes, which supplies most of the material making up Saturn's E ring. What Goes Up... - Jet builds a mini-flying saucer in his garage and wants to test it, but to succeed, he has to learn what gravity is and how it works. Curriculum: Gravity is an invisible pulling power that every object has-planets, moons, stars, and YOU. Gravity pulls all objects in the universe toward one another. The bigger and heavier an object is (the more mass it has), the more gravity it has.
"Just the Right Distance From the Sun" - Sean explains to the others that Earth is a "Goldilocks" planet because it's not too hot and not too cold. When Celery takes the kids to space, they observe how the other planets don't have the right attributes to support life, but Earth is "just right"! Curriculum: All life on Earth comes from the energy of the Sun. The Earth happens to be located just the right distance from the Sun: not too far away, and not too close. This makes the Earth what we call a "Goldilocks planet": not too hot, not too cold. "Solar Power Rover" - Jet, Sean, and Sydney visit their Mars Robot Rover friend at the DSA, and discover that the rover seems tired. Through helping the solar powered robot regain its energy, they learn how energy can be captured, used from the Sun, and used anywhere - even on Mars. Curriculum: The Sun creates solar power that is used for energy. Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly or indirectly.
Mission to Mars - When Jet and Sydney interrupt Sean doing some training in his backyard to eventually lead a mission to Mars, Jet suggests they just have his mom fly them out to Mars. Is Sean's concern about Martian dust devils legitimate? Curriculum: The next big frontier for human space flight is Mars. We have long range plans to get humans to Mars, but still have not solved some of the challenges, like what human inhabitants will do about the lack of oxygen and water, and the extreme temperatures. Sounds Abound - Sean is trying to work on a science project for Space Troops, but is interrupted by his friends' constant noise. His search for a quiet place to conduct his experiment leads him to the realization that sound is exactly what his experiments needed all along. Curriculum: Sound travels in waves like light or heat, but unlike them, sound travels through vibration. So, in order for sound to travel, there must be something for sound to travel through. Sound can travel through air, water, and solid objects, but not through space.
"Total Eclipse of the Sunspot" - While Mindy, Jet, Sean, and Sydney are trying to use a solar panel to improve their energy efficiency, they notice that Sunspot is acting strange. It turns out that Sunspot was aware of an impending eclipse and was trying to alert the kids to the fact that the Sun would be darkened for a while. Curriculum: A solar eclipse is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. It's important not to look directly at the Sun during an eclipse, but you can watch it through the use of a box viewer. "Sean's Year in Space" - Sean is excited by NASA's "Year in Space" program on the ISS, and decides to try to live for a year in the tree house without ever coming down. The kids keep interrupting him, and finally, after only a short afternoon of trying, he comes down for dinner. Curriculum: The International Space Station, or ISS, is home to several astronauts at a time, who come and go in small capsules like the Soyuz. At this point, astronauts are even staying for a year at a time to study what happens to humans who live in micro-gravity for extended periods, so we can learn what will happen to us on long space voyages, like a trip to Mars.
"Tiny Blue Dot" - A rollicking, song-filled recap of the Propulsion family's mission to Earth - as intergalactic travel writers, they really know their way around the Milky Way, and know the difference between a lovely, livable "Goldilocks Planet" like Earth, and the other, way less-livable planets! Curriculum: The Earth is a very rare and wonderful planet in the vastness of space, with its ideal size, its distance from its sun, its breathable atmosphere, liquid oceans, and ability to sustain life. "Earth Camping" - Mr. Petersen and Mitchell go camping with Carrot and Jet. The two dads have opposite approaches to setting up tents and preparing food, but when the dads get off track during a hike, the boys help them all find their way back using the compass, and the skills they've learned from their dads (turns out the kids were paying attention all along!). Curriculum: We can find our place outdoors by understanding how to find direction - north, south, east, and west. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. A compass uses the Earth's magnetic field to find which way is north (the small magnet inside the compass is drawn by the Earth's magnetism to point to the north pole).
"Sunday Drive" Parts 1 & 2 - After the Propulsions download their new version of their saucer dashboard operating system, things are out of whack. Their test drive to Mars - usually a simple trip - is complicated by the new dashboard. They zip to Venus and Saturn instead... and then finally land on Mars, so they think. They're actually in an Earth desert, Mars-like at first (hot, red soil, lack of water), but soon they realize where they are. A desert vs. Mars comparison is made. Before heading home, the family decides that the old, dependable saucer operating system works just fine for them. Curriculum: An Earth desert and a Mars desert have some similarities, but are also very different. A comparison is made between the two, including life or lack thereof, temperature, water, and soil.
The kids get information from Dr. Rafferty and then travel to outer space to confirm the amazing fact that there is no sound in outer space... even though Jet is convinced he's heard sounds all over the solar system. / After Mindy laments the fact that she's still only 4 and still can't go to space with the other kids, Sydney, Jet, Sean, and Sunspot plan a full makeshift, cobbled together "Day in Space" right there in Jet's yard. Mindy's day ends on a nearby hilltop where they all watch a real, amazing, actual space event - the Leonid Meteor Showers shooting across the sky!
Jet is amazed to find out that the entire Earth doesn't have the same season at the same time. So he flies with Sydney and Sean from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere to compare and experience holidays in winter and summer...all in one day! Mindy feels bad that she's the smallest kid in the group, so sympathetic Jet and friends use a shrink-ray and become her size. The plan goes awry, and Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Sunspot become the size of mice. Mindy has to follow intricate diagrams to reverse the shrink-ray!
How Come the Moon Changes Shape? - When Jet, Sydney, and Sean have a hard time trying to explain the phases of the Moon to Mindy, Jet's parents, Celery and Carrot, offer to fly them out to space so they can see how the Moon changes shape depending on perspective. Curriculum: The Moon changes shape depending on its position relative to the Earth and Sun. Night of a Bazillion Stars - Jet, Sydney, and Sean decide to have a sleepover in Jet's backyard. They use Sean's telescope to look at the night sky and learn why stars twinkle and planets don't. Curriculum: Star and planet gazing. Stars twinkle because of turbulence in the atmosphere of the Earth. Planets do not twinkle the way stars do.
"Space Junk" - After learning about space junk, the kids are determined to help do their part to clean up their "space neighborhood." They meet up with Uncle Zucchini, a long-time galaxy garbage man! Using Bortronian technology, they start a cleanup. During the course of the day, our kids learn that recycling is necessary both on Earth and in space! Curriculum: The outer space region around Earth swarms with millions of pieces of man-made space junk that create potential hazards. Objects as small as 4 inches can be seen by radar or optical telescopes on Earth. Cleaning the debris is a challenge. Trips to larger objects could remove them from orbit, but that's expensive. Another proposal is using lasers to provide a path-changing push that wouldn't damage the object. "Scientific Sean" - Jet is fascinated by Earth paper airplanes when he watches Sean casually fold one. Jet suggests that the kids challenge each other to build the plane that will fly the farthest, and still carry the payload of a message. Sean wants to use the Scientific Method to solve the distance/size issues. CURRICULUM: The Scientific Method is a simple set of rules that scientists use the world over, to make sure that they are doing their experiments correctly and in a way that they can repeat. But great science comes from both the application of this simple set of rules AND from imagination and inspiration.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
"Tiny Blue Dot" - A rollicking, song-filled recap of the Propulsion family's mission to Earth - as intergalactic travel writers, they really know their way around the Milky Way, and know the difference between a lovely, livable "Goldilocks Planet" like Earth, and the other, way less-livable planets! Curriculum: The Earth is a very rare and wonderful planet in the vastness of space, with its ideal size, its distance from its sun, its breathable atmosphere, liquid oceans, and ability to sustain life. "Earth Camping" - Mr. Petersen and Mitchell go camping with Carrot and Jet. The two dads have opposite approaches to setting up tents and preparing food, but when the dads get off track during a hike, the boys help them all find their way back using the compass, and the skills they've learned from their dads (turns out the kids were paying attention all along!). Curriculum: We can find our place outdoors by understanding how to find direction - north, south, east, and west. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. A compass uses the Earth's magnetic field to find which way is north (the small magnet inside the compass is drawn by the Earth's magnetism to point to the north pole).
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet is amazed to find out that the entire Earth doesn't have the same season at the same time. So he flies with Sydney and Sean from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere to compare and experience holidays in winter and summer...all in one day! Mindy feels bad that she's the smallest kid in the group, so sympathetic Jet and friends use a shrink-ray and become her size. The plan goes awry, and Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Sunspot become the size of mice. Mindy has to follow intricate diagrams to reverse the shrink-ray!
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Celery has souped-up the family saucer, adding new features for the kids to use, including a robot arm. They test drive it with a trip to the Moon. / Jet takes care of Mitchell's dog Cody for the weekend, and attempts to teach him some new tricks.
"What's a Satellite?" - An Earth-orbiting "telecom" communications satellite breaks down, and satellite TV service in Boxwood Terrace stops working. Three people can't watch their favorite shows and consequently get very upset. Jet decides to fly up to space and see what the problem is with the satellite, and hilarity ensues. Curriculum: A satellite is an artificial object that has been intentionally placed into orbit. Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Communications satellites receive signals from Earth and bounce them back to other locations, for everything from GPS to cell phone service to TV shows. Satellites are usually semi-independent computer-controlled systems. "Satellite Selfie" - The kids learn that they can use links to different websites to see a satellite view of their house. Mindy notices that Jet's house is not in the image. That's because these images are from sometime over the past 2 years, and not live images from space. With Dr. Rafferty's help, the kids identify the next time a satellite will pass over their neighborhood, and try to gather for a "space selfie" next to Jet's house. Curriculum: Satellites are objects that humans have placed into orbit around the Earth. Many have cameras in them. Some of these satellite cameras look "up" at the outer areas of space, and some look "down" at the Earth - they can even see our houses and cars!
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
"Beep and Boop's Game" - The kids help Dr. Rafferty and Bergs get Mars Rover BOOP over a ravine on the red planet by simulating actions in the DSA "Mars Yard" using BEEP (Boop's sister)! Trial and error leads to success. Along the way, the kids learn just how scientists communicate with far away rovers - through satellites above Mars. The kids then solve a new mystery set up by Bergs, figuring out that Beep and Boop are communicating about... a game of Mars/Mars Yard tic-tac-toe they're playing! Curriculum: A good amount of communication between Mars and Earth goes through satellites. Rovers send images, along with instrument and status data, back to Earth. Extrapolating from the data, the scientists send commands to the rover, which can take 4-24 minutes to be received due to the distance. Rovers are often on their own, carrying out commands and sending image data to overhead satellites. The rover's commanders may tell it to move toward a new rock, grind a rock, analyze a rock, take photos, or gather other data with other instruments. "Constellation Prize" - When Mindy thinks she's found her own star, the other kids explain how stars are labeled and identified by constellations. Mindy eventually learns that she hasn't found a new star, but that she CAN create her own version of a constellation by connecting patterns in the sky. Curriculum: A constellation is a group of stars that make an imaginary shape in the night sky. In different parts of the world, people have made up different shapes out of the same groups of bright stars, like a game of connect-the-dots. In the past, constellations were useful for navigating at night and for keeping track of the seasons. They are now useful for identifying parts of the sky astronomers are studying. Because all the stars are at different distances, the constellations would look totally different to inhabitants of another planet orbiting another star.
Sydney shows Jet and Sean a cool experiment - dropping different items from the same height to see which reaches the ground first. That reminds Sean of a video he watched of an astronaut on the Moon dropping a hammer and a feather from the same height. They reach the ground at the same time. And the reason is atmosphere - or lack of it - on the Moon. Jet laughs - really? Wait, what's atmosphere? Well, the kids know the best way to find out - into the wagon/saucer! Our kids and Celery fly to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere to learn what it does... and then go to the Moon. Is the atmosphere around the Moon the same as the Earth's? And what happens when our kids do the hammer-feather drop on the lunar surface? / Sydney brings Jet and Sean to the DSA to visit her mom, DR. AMY SKELLEY, and check out her work. Dr. Skelley is a robotics engineer who makes outer space robotic and gadget dreams a reality.
The kids and Sunspot attempt to build the tallest tower ever on the Moon, hoping to beat Jet's cousin's record. While building, the Moon's surface shakes. Huh? The Earth kids are amazed to learn that the Moon has quakes, and Jet is just as amazed to learn that Earthquakes exist. After learning about the causes of moonquakes, the kids attempt to build a Moonquake-proof structure. / Sean and Sydney are planning to take Jet to the DSA Open House the upcoming weekend. The Earth kids are nervous that he will get in front of a crowd of strangers and forget to keep the secret that he's an alien from Bortron 7. After a hilarious outburst from Jet, the kids are motivated to try to "train" him to behave less like an alien from outer space, and more like a "regular Earthie kid." Jet's doing well until he ends up using his Bortronian jet-pack to fly up to rescue the DSA weather balloon when it's about to get away in some bad weather.
Jet is amazed to find out that the entire Earth doesn't have the same season at the same time. So he flies with Sydney and Sean from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere to compare and experience holidays in winter and summer...all in one day! Mindy feels bad that she's the smallest kid in the group, so sympathetic Jet and friends use a shrink-ray and become her size. The plan goes awry, and Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Sunspot become the size of mice. Mindy has to follow intricate diagrams to reverse the shrink-ray!
"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."
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
"Beep and Boop's Game" - The kids help Dr. Rafferty and Bergs get Mars Rover BOOP over a ravine on the red planet by simulating actions in the DSA "Mars Yard" using BEEP (Boop's sister)! Trial and error leads to success. Along the way, the kids learn just how scientists communicate with far away rovers - through satellites above Mars. The kids then solve a new mystery set up by Bergs, figuring out that Beep and Boop are communicating about... a game of Mars/Mars Yard tic-tac-toe they're playing! Curriculum: A good amount of communication between Mars and Earth goes through satellites. Rovers send images, along with instrument and status data, back to Earth. Extrapolating from the data, the scientists send commands to the rover, which can take 4-24 minutes to be received due to the distance. Rovers are often on their own, carrying out commands and sending image data to overhead satellites. The rover's commanders may tell it to move toward a new rock, grind a rock, analyze a rock, take photos, or gather other data with other instruments. "Constellation Prize" - When Mindy thinks she's found her own star, the other kids explain how stars are labeled and identified by constellations. Mindy eventually learns that she hasn't found a new star, but that she CAN create her own version of a constellation by connecting patterns in the sky. Curriculum: A constellation is a group of stars that make an imaginary shape in the night sky. In different parts of the world, people have made up different shapes out of the same groups of bright stars, like a game of connect-the-dots. In the past, constellations were useful for navigating at night and for keeping track of the seasons. They are now useful for identifying parts of the sky astronomers are studying. Because all the stars are at different distances, the constellations would look totally different to inhabitants of another planet orbiting another star.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
How Come the Moon Has Craters - The kids take a trip to the Moon and learn that falling asteroids probably created all the craters on the Moon's surface! Curriculum: Craters on the Moon were probably caused by asteroids hitting the surface. Backyard Moon Base - Led by Sydney, the kids build a moon base in Jet's backyard and use their imaginations to figure out what challenges they would need to overcome in order to live on the Moon. Curriculum: A moon habitat is a structure on the Moon that would provide the right conditions to allow humans to live on the Moon's surface.
The kids get information from Dr. Rafferty and then travel to outer space to confirm the amazing fact that there is no sound in outer space... even though Jet is convinced he's heard sounds all over the solar system. / After Mindy laments the fact that she's still only 4 and still can't go to space with the other kids, Sydney, Jet, Sean, and Sunspot plan a full makeshift, cobbled together "Day in Space" right there in Jet's yard. Mindy's day ends on a nearby hilltop where they all watch a real, amazing, actual space event - the Leonid Meteor Showers shooting across the sky!
Jet is fascinated by the Earthie potatoes that the kids have grown in the backyard garden. Now he wants to try to grow potatoes on Mars! They take several plants to Mars and try, but learn that potatoes need the right air, temperature, water, and even the right soil. Jet is fascinated by his first Earthie rainbow. He wants to know all about them! Sydney tells Jet about the mythical Leprechauns that keep a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and even though they explain that it's only a story, Jet insists on following the rainbow to its end and meeting a magical leprechaun.
Jet is amazed to find out that the entire Earth doesn't have the same season at the same time. So he flies with Sydney and Sean from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere to compare and experience holidays in winter and summer...all in one day! Mindy feels bad that she's the smallest kid in the group, so sympathetic Jet and friends use a shrink-ray and become her size. The plan goes awry, and Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Sunspot become the size of mice. Mindy has to follow intricate diagrams to reverse the shrink-ray!
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet is amazed to find out that the entire Earth doesn't have the same season at the same time. So he flies with Sydney and Sean from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere to compare and experience holidays in winter and summer...all in one day! Mindy feels bad that she's the smallest kid in the group, so sympathetic Jet and friends use a shrink-ray and become her size. The plan goes awry, and Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Sunspot become the size of mice. Mindy has to follow intricate diagrams to reverse the shrink-ray!
When the kids experience an earthquake in Boxwood Terrace, Celery takes them up into space to study the Earth's plates and fault lines from above. / Jet's overactive cousin Zerk comes to Earth for a visit, and the kids show him around the neighborhood.
"Total Eclipse of the Sunspot" - While Mindy, Jet, Sean, and Sydney are trying to use a solar panel to improve their energy efficiency, they notice that Sunspot is acting strange. It turns out that Sunspot was aware of an impending eclipse and was trying to alert the kids to the fact that the Sun would be darkened for a while. Curriculum: A solar eclipse is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. It's important not to look directly at the Sun during an eclipse, but you can watch it through the use of a box viewer. "Sean's Year in Space" - Sean is excited by NASA's "Year in Space" program on the ISS, and decides to try to live for a year in the tree house without ever coming down. The kids keep interrupting him, and finally, after only a short afternoon of trying, he comes down for dinner. Curriculum: The International Space Station, or ISS, is home to several astronauts at a time, who come and go in small capsules like the Soyuz. At this point, astronauts are even staying for a year at a time to study what happens to humans who live in micro-gravity for extended periods, so we can learn what will happen to us on long space voyages, like a trip to Mars.
Jet is amazed to find out that the entire Earth doesn't have the same season at the same time. So he flies with Sydney and Sean from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere to compare and experience holidays in winter and summer...all in one day! Mindy feels bad that she's the smallest kid in the group, so sympathetic Jet and friends use a shrink-ray and become her size. The plan goes awry, and Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Sunspot become the size of mice. Mindy has to follow intricate diagrams to reverse the shrink-ray!
Mindy's mom has gradually been giving Mindy permission to go a little bit farther in the neighborhood on her own, and Mindy is trying to map out exactly what her boundaries are. Sean compares her "Mindyspere" to the helisophere-the boundaries of the Sun's influence. The kids get Celery to fly them out past the heliosphere into true interstellar space. Back on Earth, they make their own Voyager 1 (out of a wagon) and take Mindy to the outermost edges of the Mindysphere! / Sydney knows a lot about Boxwood Terrace's early history, and she tells Jet stories about a local pioneer who went by the nickname "Lone Star." He got that name because he was an early astronomer who liked the hills of Boxwood Terrace for their excellent views of the night sky, and built the first Observatory on the hill that now sits at the center of the Deep Space Array. As Jet imagines Sydney's story of Lone Star, the kids turn the story into a Western-flavored musical.
The kids join Celery in a space race between them, Uncle Zucchini, and Auntie Eggplant and Zerk. The course is all the way around the Asteroid Belt. / Sydney decides that Jet's robot, Jet 2, is lonely. She decides to design and build a robot companion for him, and names it "Sydney 2."
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!
Each kid brings their personal project up to the tree house, and each contributes to a huge mess. Now they can't do anything in the tree house because it's too messy, but none of them want to clean up the other's mess. They have to learn to share the responsibility and clean it together. When Mindy tells Jet that clouds are made of cotton candy, and defends this idea because she heard a friend say so, Sean and Sydney set out to show her how to separate fact from fiction through research! Celery takes them up into the clouds to see for themselves.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet is fascinated by the effects of wind on his saucer. He and the kids study how wind works, ending with Sean going on a wild saucer ride. / Jet is fascinated by Earthie golf, and Sean and Sydney try to teach him the rules. When the DSA builds a new mini-golf course, the kids team up against the grownups, and Jet gets to apply his new knowledge of force.
Jet, Sydney, Sean, and Sunspot join Celery as she competes against her brother, Uncle Zucchini, in an "Earthie-style race with a winner"! The race is tight until Celery uses the kids' proposed secret "strategy" - a "gravity assist" off of Jupiter, to increase their saucer speed, and win! / Jet uses his Bortronian skills to test his first experimental Time Machine so he and his Earthie friends can go back to an exact time - 3 minutes earlier - in order to see a spectacular moment in a meteor shower that they missed. A mistake happens the first time, so he keeps trying to go back in time to fix the first mistake, but more mistakes keep happening and snowball into hilarity.
Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.
Jet, Sydney, Sean, and Sunspot join Celery as she competes against her brother, Uncle Zucchini, in an "Earthie-style race with a winner"! The race is tight until Celery uses the kids' proposed secret "strategy" - a "gravity assist" off of Jupiter, to increase their saucer speed, and win! / Jet uses his Bortronian skills to test his first experimental Time Machine so he and his Earthie friends can go back to an exact time - 3 minutes earlier - in order to see a spectacular moment in a meteor shower that they missed. A mistake happens the first time, so he keeps trying to go back in time to fix the first mistake, but more mistakes keep happening and snowball into hilarity.
Jet takes the kids on a saucer tour all around the Earth to discover all the ways that water can be found. They visit Antarctica to look at the ice, and then compare that extreme to the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. / Sydney wants to enter a Commander Cressida story contest, but can't think up a good enough story. The other kids help, and they come up with a story about lassoing a comet to bring water to Venus, and then Mars.
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.
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!
Sydney shows Jet and Sean a cool experiment - dropping different items from the same height to see which reaches the ground first. That reminds Sean of a video he watched of an astronaut on the Moon dropping a hammer and a feather from the same height. They reach the ground at the same time. And the reason is atmosphere - or lack of it - on the Moon. Jet laughs - really? Wait, what's atmosphere? Well, the kids know the best way to find out - into the wagon/saucer! Our kids and Celery fly to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere to learn what it does... and then go to the Moon. Is the atmosphere around the Moon the same as the Earth's? And what happens when our kids do the hammer-feather drop on the lunar surface? / Sydney brings Jet and Sean to the DSA to visit her mom, DR. AMY SKELLEY, and check out her work. Dr. Skelley is a robotics engineer who makes outer space robotic and gadget dreams a reality.
"Mission to the Moon" - Sean tells Jet, Sydney, and Mindy about the Apollo 11 mission, and the kids decide to do a real-life reenactment of man's first mission landing on the Moon! Curriculum: The first manned mission to the Moon took place on July 20, 1969, and the first two humans on the Moon were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The astronauts were launched from a Saturn V rocket on the Apollo 11 mission. "Mindy's Moon Bounce House" - Jet gives a special birthday gift to Mindy that allows her to defy gravity. She has so much fun hovering above everyone, the others have to convince her to come back to Earth in time for her party. Curriculum: Gravity is a natural phenomenon by which all physical bodies attract one another. Gravity gives weight to physical objects and causes them to fall towards the ground when dropped.
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!
"Beep Has the Blues" - Beep is sad because her sister rover on Mars, Boop, is sick and can't move. Celery flies the kids out to Mars to try to help and discover the problem - that Boop's solar panels have been covered in dust. Curriculum: A planetary rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of a planet or other celestial body. "Chore Day" - Jet learns what chores are, and he and Sean help Sydney turn her chores into science games! Curriculum: Force is any interaction that tends to change the motion of an object. Force can also be explained as a push or pull.
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."
"A Kid's Guide to Mars" - Celery and Carrot need to update their guidebook about Mars, and the kids join them on a trip to see how much things have changed on Mars in the last four billion years. Curriculum: Mars was once (4 billion years ago) a lot like Earth, with oceans, clouds and drinkable water. Something happened 3.7 billion years ago that turned Mars' atmosphere from warm and wet to dry and cold. "Jet 2" - Jet builds a robot version of himself, so that he can be in "two places at once!" But Jet learns what jealousy is when the other kids seem to be having more fun with Jet 2 than they are with him! Curriculum: A robot is an automatic mechanical device often resembling a human or animal. Humans build robots to perform the tasks humans can't do, but people are still in control because they give instructions to the robots.
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.
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!
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 is impatient for winter, because she wants to ice skate. So Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Celery fly to Saturn's icy rings to gather ice from them and return to build a Saturn-ringed skating rink around Jet's house. Jet, Sydney, Sean, Mindy, and Sunspot decide to make a scaled replica of the solar system using found items in their own neighborhood and in doing so learn that an Astronomical Unit is the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
How Come the Moon Has Craters - The kids take a trip to the Moon and learn that falling asteroids probably created all the craters on the Moon's surface! Curriculum: Craters on the Moon were probably caused by asteroids hitting the surface. Backyard Moon Base - Led by Sydney, the kids build a moon base in Jet's backyard and use their imaginations to figure out what challenges they would need to overcome in order to live on the Moon. Curriculum: A moon habitat is a structure on the Moon that would provide the right conditions to allow humans to live on the Moon's surface.
"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 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!
Mindy has finally turned five and is super excited that she is now old enough to go to space. But she's planned a tea party in the back yard. The kids convince Mindy to move her tea party to the Moon! In her first trip to space ever, Mindy gets to board the Propulsion family saucer and experience space travel, rounding out their Moon tea party with a quick trip out to Pluto and back.
The Grandest Canyon - When the Propulsions are forced to watch a slide show of the Petersen's vacation to the Grand Canyon, they're inspired to take their own trip to Mars to explore Valles Marineris-the largest canyon in the Solar System! Curriculum: Mars has deeper canyons than our own Grand Canyon on Earth. The deepest canyon in our solar system exists on Mars, called Valles Marineris. A Visit to the Planetarium - Sean and Sydney take Jet to the DSA to see a show at the Planetarium. But things take a fun turn when Jet decides to upgrade the show with some Bortronian technology and sings a song explaining how to find Earth in the Milky Way galaxy! Curriculum: Our sun is actually a bright star out on a spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is made of billions of other stars, and our galaxy is just one of billions of galaxies.
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!
Jet's robot Jet 2 needs new wheels if he's going to be able to rove over the surface of Mars. Jet and the kids try a bunch of different wheels, without success. In the end, they borrow the wheels from Mitchell's scooter, so Jet 2 can successfully navigate on Mars. The kids enter their karts in the big kid-kart derby, but this year they all have to design solar powered karts. Jet learns how solar panels work, and how batteries save up the energy so you can race even when clouds cover the Sun.
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."
"Mission to the Moon" - Sean tells Jet, Sydney, and Mindy about the Apollo 11 mission, and the kids decide to do a real-life reenactment of man's first mission landing on the Moon! Curriculum: The first manned mission to the Moon took place on July 20, 1969, and the first two humans on the Moon were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The astronauts were launched from a Saturn V rocket on the Apollo 11 mission. "Mindy's Moon Bounce House" - Jet gives a special birthday gift to Mindy that allows her to defy gravity. She has so much fun hovering above everyone, the others have to convince her to come back to Earth in time for her party. Curriculum: Gravity is a natural phenomenon by which all physical bodies attract one another. Gravity gives weight to physical objects and causes them to fall towards the ground when dropped.
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!
Jet's robot Jet 2 needs new wheels if he's going to be able to rove over the surface of Mars. Jet and the kids try a bunch of different wheels, without success. In the end, they borrow the wheels from Mitchell's scooter, so Jet 2 can successfully navigate on Mars. The kids enter their karts in the big kid-kart derby, but this year they all have to design solar powered karts. Jet learns how solar panels work, and how batteries save up the energy so you can race even when clouds cover the Sun.
"What's a Satellite?" - An Earth-orbiting "telecom" communications satellite breaks down, and satellite TV service in Boxwood Terrace stops working. Three people can't watch their favorite shows and consequently get very upset. Jet decides to fly up to space and see what the problem is with the satellite, and hilarity ensues. Curriculum: A satellite is an artificial object that has been intentionally placed into orbit. Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Communications satellites receive signals from Earth and bounce them back to other locations, for everything from GPS to cell phone service to TV shows. Satellites are usually semi-independent computer-controlled systems. "Satellite Selfie" - The kids learn that they can use links to different websites to see a satellite view of their house. Mindy notices that Jet's house is not in the image. That's because these images are from sometime over the past 2 years, and not live images from space. With Dr. Rafferty's help, the kids identify the next time a satellite will pass over their neighborhood, and try to gather for a "space selfie" next to Jet's house. Curriculum: Satellites are objects that humans have placed into orbit around the Earth. Many have cameras in them. Some of these satellite cameras look "up" at the outer areas of space, and some look "down" at the Earth - they can even see our houses and cars!
"Tour of the Solar System" - Jet attempts to play the "Solar System" game with Sean, Sydney, and Mindy, but the kids don't quite understand which planets go where. Celery, Jet's mom, takes them on a tour of the solar system and introduces each of the eight planets. Curriculum: The sun is at the center of our solar system, and everything else revolves around it. The sun, planets, dwarf planets, moons, and different kinds of space rocks like asteroids and comets are all part of our solar system. "Jet Cooks Dinner" - Sydney, Mindy, Sunspot, and Sean help Jet cook a classic meal from Bortron 7 for his parents, Celery and Carrot. After some funny attempts, the kids find that using the Scientific Method works best to get the meal done in time. Curriculum: "Failure is not the opposite of success; failure is a stepping stone to success." This attitude can be applied to cooking as well as scientific discoveries!
"Space Junk" - After learning about space junk, the kids are determined to help do their part to clean up their "space neighborhood." They meet up with Uncle Zucchini, a long-time galaxy garbage man! Using Bortronian technology, they start a cleanup. During the course of the day, our kids learn that recycling is necessary both on Earth and in space! Curriculum: The outer space region around Earth swarms with millions of pieces of man-made space junk that create potential hazards. Objects as small as 4 inches can be seen by radar or optical telescopes on Earth. Cleaning the debris is a challenge. Trips to larger objects could remove them from orbit, but that's expensive. Another proposal is using lasers to provide a path-changing push that wouldn't damage the object. "Scientific Sean" - Jet is fascinated by Earth paper airplanes when he watches Sean casually fold one. Jet suggests that the kids challenge each other to build the plane that will fly the farthest, and still carry the payload of a message. Sean wants to use the Scientific Method to solve the distance/size issues. CURRICULUM: The Scientific Method is a simple set of rules that scientists use the world over, to make sure that they are doing their experiments correctly and in a way that they can repeat. But great science comes from both the application of this simple set of rules AND from imagination and inspiration.
"Round and Round" -The kids learn how all the planets both orbit around the Sun and rotate on their own axes at the same time. Curriculum: The planets both revolve around the sun and rotate on their axis. "The Plant From Bortron 7" - Jet attempts to grow a seed from his home planet, but the light from our Sun is stronger than the light from Bortron 7, and has a surprising effect on the plant! Curriculum: There are different kinds of stars, which emit different kinds of light.
The kids and Sunspot attempt to build the tallest tower ever on the Moon, hoping to beat Jet's cousin's record. While building, the Moon's surface shakes. Huh? The Earth kids are amazed to learn that the Moon has quakes, and Jet is just as amazed to learn that Earthquakes exist. After learning about the causes of moonquakes, the kids attempt to build a Moonquake-proof structure. / Sean and Sydney are planning to take Jet to the DSA Open House the upcoming weekend. The Earth kids are nervous that he will get in front of a crowd of strangers and forget to keep the secret that he's an alien from Bortron 7. After a hilarious outburst from Jet, the kids are motivated to try to "train" him to behave less like an alien from outer space, and more like a "regular Earthie kid." Jet's doing well until he ends up using his Bortronian jet-pack to fly up to rescue the DSA weather balloon when it's about to get away in some bad weather.
"Just the Right Distance From the Sun" - Sean explains to the others that Earth is a "Goldilocks" planet because it's not too hot and not too cold. When Celery takes the kids to space, they observe how the other planets don't have the right attributes to support life, but Earth is "just right"! Curriculum: All life on Earth comes from the energy of the Sun. The Earth happens to be located just the right distance from the Sun: not too far away, and not too close. This makes the Earth what we call a "Goldilocks planet": not too hot, not too cold. "Solar Power Rover" - Jet, Sean, and Sydney visit their Mars Robot Rover friend at the DSA, and discover that the rover seems tired. Through helping the solar powered robot regain its energy, they learn how energy can be captured, used from the Sun, and used anywhere - even on Mars. Curriculum: The Sun creates solar power that is used for energy. Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly or indirectly.
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!
Jet is fascinated by the Earthie potatoes that the kids have grown in the backyard garden. Now he wants to try to grow potatoes on Mars! They take several plants to Mars and try, but learn that potatoes need the right air, temperature, water, and even the right soil. Jet is fascinated by his first Earthie rainbow. He wants to know all about them! Sydney tells Jet about the mythical Leprechauns that keep a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and even though they explain that it's only a story, Jet insists on following the rainbow to its end and meeting a magical leprechaun.
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.
"How We Found Your Sun" - Jet explains how his family, the Propulsions, found Earth by way of the Sun, a star in the Milky Way galaxy. Celery takes the kids out into space and shows them how the Sun looks huge, or small like other stars, depending on your perspective. Curriculum: The sun is a star. Our sun is a star in the Milky Way galaxy, a yellow dwarf. The Propulsion family comes from another star in our galaxy: Bortron, a smaller, cooler red dwarf star. "Treehouse Observatory" - Sydney, Jet, Sunspot, and Sean fix up a treehouse and make it into their own clubhouse/observatory. The kids even build their own telescope so they can all observe the awesome nighttime sky! Curriculum: An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation (such as visible light).
"Round and Round" -The kids learn how all the planets both orbit around the Sun and rotate on their own axes at the same time. Curriculum: The planets both revolve around the sun and rotate on their axis. "The Plant From Bortron 7" - Jet attempts to grow a seed from his home planet, but the light from our Sun is stronger than the light from Bortron 7, and has a surprising effect on the plant! Curriculum: There are different kinds of stars, which emit different kinds of light.
Jet is fascinated by the Earthie potatoes that the kids have grown in the backyard garden. Now he wants to try to grow potatoes on Mars! They take several plants to Mars and try, but learn that potatoes need the right air, temperature, water, and even the right soil. Jet is fascinated by his first Earthie rainbow. He wants to know all about them! Sydney tells Jet about the mythical Leprechauns that keep a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and even though they explain that it's only a story, Jet insists on following the rainbow to its end and meeting a magical leprechaun.
Mindy's mom has gradually been giving Mindy permission to go a little bit farther in the neighborhood on her own, and Mindy is trying to map out exactly what her boundaries are. Sean compares her "Mindyspere" to the helisophere-the boundaries of the Sun's influence. The kids get Celery to fly them out past the heliosphere into true interstellar space. Back on Earth, they make their own Voyager 1 (out of a wagon) and take Mindy to the outermost edges of the Mindysphere! / Sydney knows a lot about Boxwood Terrace's early history, and she tells Jet stories about a local pioneer who went by the nickname "Lone Star." He got that name because he was an early astronomer who liked the hills of Boxwood Terrace for their excellent views of the night sky, and built the first Observatory on the hill that now sits at the center of the Deep Space Array. As Jet imagines Sydney's story of Lone Star, the kids turn the story into a Western-flavored musical.
Mindy has to go to bed when the Sun goes down, but she's having such a fun day with her friends. She asks Jet and the others to help her keep the Sun from going down. The older kids humor Mindy and try to help "slow down the Sun." All their efforts make Mindy so sleepy that she decides to go home and sleep. Sydney and Jet are having a hard time explaining to Mindy that the Sun doesn't move - the Earth is moving around the Sun, so the Sun seems to move. Then Sean comes over dressed as his science hero Galileo, getting ready to do a school report. Mindy asks "Galileo" to explain why the Sun seems to move, and Sean practices for his report by explaining how the planets move, in character as Galileo!
When a strange bird lands in Jet's yard, the kids learn it is a migrating Snow Goose who is using Jet's yard as a temporary stopping-off place. Several more Snow Geese arrive, and the kids set up an "observation station" to make notes about their migrating habits. Sean accidentally drops his beloved Neil Armstrong action figure into a large crack in the ground in the woods behind his house. The kids all work together to engineer some kind of robotic arm to reach down into the crack and rescue Neil!
Each kid brings their personal project up to the tree house, and each contributes to a huge mess. Now they can't do anything in the tree house because it's too messy, but none of them want to clean up the other's mess. They have to learn to share the responsibility and clean it together. When Mindy tells Jet that clouds are made of cotton candy, and defends this idea because she heard a friend say so, Sean and Sydney set out to show her how to separate fact from fiction through research! Celery takes them up into the clouds to see for themselves.
When Astronaut Ellen Ochoa comes to visit the DSA and review an engineering project, she runs into the kids, who are running Sean's lemonade stand to raise money for a rocket to Mars. They end up hanging out with her before her DSA meeting. They solve an engineering problem together, which inspires Ellen to use the same solution with the engineering project at the DSA.
Sunspot begins acting strangely, and Jet fears that he is sick. Carrot and Celery examine him, and decide that he's acting strange because of a large sunspot on the Sun. The only way to cure him is to bring him to the Sun, and get him close to the huge sunspot. Mindy wants to have a sleepover outside with her friend Lillian, but it's winter and too cold to sleep outside under the stars. Sean points out that they are under the light of a star all the time - our Sun! Mindy learns that our Sun is a star, just like the tiny ones we see at night.
Sydney, Sean, and Mindy help Jet experience his first Halloween. They come up with a list of classic Halloween to-dos, including carving Jack-o-lanterns, dressing up in costumes, and collecting candy. Celery takes the kids on a quick trip to space to see what causes a lunar eclipse. Meanwhile, Mitchell Petersen is on the case to figure out what exactly is going on with that strange Propulsion family... / Sydney, Sean, and Mindy take Jet trick-or-treating, and along the way, they learn about the Red Moon effect from some of the neighborhood scientists. Carrot and Celery turn their garage into a haunted house, which is an unexpected hit with the neighborhood. Jet and Sunspot even make Mindy's Halloween wish come true by flying across the Red Moon as a witch and her cat on a broom.
While making a cake, Carrot and Mindy find they are one are short one ingredient, so they head to the store. But Carrot accidentally pushes a wrong button on the wagon's newly-updated control panel, and they take off into outer space! Using a diagram, methodical experimentation, and record keeping, Mindy and Carrot figure out how to properly fly the saucer back home, where they finally finish the cake. Mindy has a problem: now that she's been to space with the bigger kids, she realizes how much there is out there to see! How can she decide where to explore next? Sydney asks her mom, Dr. Skelley, who presents them with the very first edition of Commander Cressida comics! In reading the comic book, Mindy comes to appreciate that she, like Commander Cressida, can explore space "one adventure at a time."
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 can't play shadow tag because the Sun keeps going behind clouds. Mindy wants the sun to be out all the time! Face 9000 tells them about a system with not one, but three suns! That sounds like a place where there would be shadows all the time. Celery takes them to visit in the family saucer. Sean becomes an amateur magician called the Great Seanzo, dazzling the other kids with magnet tricks. Jet becomes fascinated by magnets, and they all explore the various things magnets can do, culminating in a magic magnet show for Carrot.
Sunspot begins acting strangely, and Jet fears that he is sick. Carrot and Celery examine him, and decide that he's acting strange because of a large sunspot on the Sun. The only way to cure him is to bring him to the Sun, and get him close to the huge sunspot. Mindy wants to have a sleepover outside with her friend Lillian, but it's winter and too cold to sleep outside under the stars. Sean points out that they are under the light of a star all the time - our Sun! Mindy learns that our Sun is a star, just like the tiny ones we see at night.
While making a cake, Carrot and Mindy find they are one are short one ingredient, so they head to the store. But Carrot accidentally pushes a wrong button on the wagon's newly-updated control panel, and they take off into outer space! Using a diagram, methodical experimentation, and record keeping, Mindy and Carrot figure out how to properly fly the saucer back home, where they finally finish the cake. Mindy has a problem: now that she's been to space with the bigger kids, she realizes how much there is out there to see! How can she decide where to explore next? Sydney asks her mom, Dr. Skelley, who presents them with the very first edition of Commander Cressida comics! In reading the comic book, Mindy comes to appreciate that she, like Commander Cressida, can explore space "one adventure at a time."
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