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School Field Trip EdVentures

The CMSEC offers A.M. and P.M. Field Trips. Your choices are outlined:
  • A.M. Field Trip: Start at 9:40 A.M. and end at 1:30 P.M. This program includes a space science lesson, the Starlab Inflatable Planetarium, and nearly two hours in one of ourfive simulators. We can take one or two classes per day. Class size may not exceed 37 students.
  • P.M. Field Trip Option 1: Start anytime between 2:00 and 4:30 P.M. Program length - 2 hours. Simulator Only. No class or Starlab.
  • P.M. Field Trip Option 2: Start anytime between 2:00 and 4:30 P.M. Program length - 4 hours. The entire program. This program includes a space science lesson,the Starlab Inflatable Planetarium, and nearly two hours in one of our five simulators. We can take one or two classes per day.

Availability

Please click here to check availability on the Field Trip Calendar.  We suggest you select the "Week" option for viewing the calendar. (If using Internet Explorer, popups must be enabled)

Preparing for your Field Trip

OK, you're wondering what is the minimum preparation needed to bring a class to the Center? Don't worry, we understand the pressure and time limitations Utah teachers deal with daily. You've got two years of state core curriculum to cram into 9 months. So, here is the bare bones minimum preparation required so your students can have an enjoyable educational experience.
  1. Select a mission for your class from the choices listed above. Click on the mission's name to go to its web site. Find the Mission Briefing or Mission Outline and read through the briefing. Your students MUST understand everything you've just read. Please present the briefing to them either in a whole group discussion, or have a few of your top students prepare a presentation and give it to the class. Another option would be to take your students into your computer lab and let them read the Online Briefing themselves - followed by a discussion let by you to ensure they understand the main points and objectives of the mission.
  2. Click on the "Teacher Field Trip Information" link below (Additional Links). Please read it. I know it may take a few minutes but very important as you decided what jobs to assign your students.
  3. Divide your class into their ships. For classes of 9 to 17 please use the Voyager only. For classes of 18 to 26 you need the Voyager and Odyssey. Eight to go to the Odyssey and the rest assigned to the Voyager. For classes of 27 to 32 you'll use the Voyager, Odyssey and Phoenix. Eight students go to the Odyssey, six to the Phoenix and the rest assigned to the Voyager. For classes of 33 - 37 please use the Voyager, Odyssey, Phoenix and Galileo. Fill the Odyssey, Phoenix, and Galileo first. The rest of your students should be assigned to the Voyager.
  4. Assign each student a job based on the difficulty and talent descriptions found in the "Simulator Positions" link below (Additional Links).
  5. Every student must have his or her own Boarding Pass (Additional Links) filled out (photos and finger prints are not required).
  6. Discipline in the classroom and Starlab is very important. Please emphasis to your students that they represent your school at OUR school. Your students should be quiet and respectful in the cafeteria, classroom and Starlab. Discipline is a teacher's responsibility. Our teachers should not have to stop their lesson to discipline your class. Please be prepared to deal with this issue at the school should it arise.
  7. Hang in there, you're almost done. Now you must select the science lesson you'd like for your field trip. Here are your choices.
    • 5th Grade: Galaxies. How Big is Big
    • 6th and 5th Grade: Gravity
    • 6th Grade: The Electromagnetic Spectrum
  8. Finally, send an email with your mission and lesson choice and your class sizes to the Space Center ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Additional links:
Click here for a short informational video on the field trip experience.

Pricing

The CMSEC is part of the Alpine School District and a non-profit organization. Our program, by nature, is labor intensive. Our Field Trip prices are calculated only on the labor costs. After school field trips are slightly more expensive because we lose a portion of our school day subsidy. The Center's budget for repair, improvements, and upgrades comes from our camps and private programs.
  • 4 Hour School Day Field Trip: Starting at 9:30 A.M. ending at 1:30 P.M.
    Class Size - Cost per class
    • 11 to 17 students $90.00
    • 18 to 26 students $120.00
    • 27 to 32 students $145.00
    • 33 to 37 students $182.00
    (An extra teacher is needed for classes this large. Half the class is in the classroom while the other half is in the new Starlab. They switch places halfway through the class session. A much better experience for the kids when classes are this large!)

  • 2 Hour After School Field Trip: Missions Starting at 2:00 P.M. or later (2 Hour Mission only, no Class Session or Starlab).
    Class Size - Cost per class
    • 11 to 17 students $90.00
    • 18 to 26 students $110.00
    • 27 to 32 students $135.00
    • 33 to 37 students $168.00

  • 4 Hour After School Field Trip: Starting at 2:00 P.M. or later (Includes Mission, Class Session and Starlab)
    Class Size - Cost per class
    • 11 to 17 students $110.00
    • 18 to 26 students $140.00
    • 27 to 32 students $164.00
    • 33 to 37 students $203.00
    (An extra teacher is needed for classes this large. Half the class is in the classroom while the other half is in the new Starlab. They switch places halfway through the class session. A much better experience for the kids when classes are this large!)

Education Staff

Field Trip Staff

  • Victor Williamson: Space Center Director
  • Lorraine Houston: Educator
  • Aleta Clegg: Educator / Flight Director
  • Jon Parker: Flight Director
  • Christine Grosland: Flight Director
  • Brittney Vandenboss:  Flight Director
  • Stacy Carrol: Flight Director
  • Megan Warner: Flight Director / Teacher Aide

Evening Education

  • Mark Daymont: Educator
  • Bill Schuler: Educator
  • Aleta Clegg: Educator

Technology

  • Matt Long: Technology Director
  • Matt Ricks: Programming

Digitarium Planetarium

The Digitarium Planetarium is a valuable teaching tool to teach astronomy and space science. The Space Center's portable Digital Planetariums are available for 30 minute customized planetarium shows. Tell our instructors your interests and objectives and they will prepare a show to meet your needs, or you may choose from our prepared school presentations. Call or Email us for available program times and prices.

Evening Education

Join other students in exploration basic concepts of astronomy and physics. You will learn about the International Space Station, rocketry, the Space Shuttle, strange members of our solar system, and deep space astronomy. Other classes include aviation, geology and nuclear science. Many classes fulfill Boy Scout Merit Badge requirements. Please visit the Edventures section of our web site for further information and registration materials. Registration begins every year in the middle of September.

Computer Classes

At the Space Center, we feel that technology is a vital component of education. The Space Center's Programming Classes fulfill this philosophy. Our programming classes have a two-fold mission. The first mission is to provide information to the public in basic Computer Programming. This is fulfilled with our publicly offered computer programming classes. This class focuses primarily on fundamental programming techniques including logic flow, variables, and basic programming mathematics. Combining simple in-class projects (Such as Pac-Man, Battleship, or LightCycle) and Cocoa, the Space Center's official programming language, (The Apple Computer Language). Students move from the beginning steps of product design to the end of the class with deployment and presentation. Many students enter this class with no prior programming knowledge and leave capable of producing simple yet powerful software.

Students interested in taking classes are given the option to join the Space Center's Volunteering Organization and begin working towards membership in the student operated Programming Guild. This group and it's classes fulfill the second mission of our Programming Classes: producing all of the Space Center's video, animation, computer programming, networking, special effects, and other high-tech top-secret projects. If you have ever wanted to get a jump-start in technology, computers, or graphic arts, the Programming Guild is for you. Contact the Space Center for more information on these exciting programs.

A Word from Aleta Clegg, Curriculum Specialist

The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center has one mission, to open eyes to the wonders of space. The five starship simulators at our center usually take center stage. What many teachers and patrons don't realize is that our two planetarium systems and our classroom are just as important to us. It's easy to catch a child's imagination with an alien encounter in a starship, it's much more difficult with a lesson.

As part of Alpine School District, we offer field trips to fifth and sixth grade classes September through May. Each field trip consists of a flight in one of our simulators, a planetarium show, and a multimedia science presentation. Unlike a normal classroom, our objective is to raise as many questions as we can. We want the students to leave unsatisfied, their curiosity aroused. We want them to spend time looking for answers, discovering the wonders of space and physics. Last year our topic was "The Life and Death of a Star (not the Hollywood kind)." Other years we have taught the nature of light (electromagnetic spectrum), gravity, the history of astronomy, and the search for extraterrestrial life. Our planetarium shows focus not just on basic constellations, but on the science of the stars themselves and the mythology of the night sky. Many of the children in our programs have no idea that there are "pictures" in the sky until we point them out. The best feedback we can get is to hear a child whispering, "Can you see that? Right there! That is so cool!"

We also offer five different evening classes for children ages 10-16. The topics include basic astronomy, space exploration, nuclear science, aviation, and planetary geology. Each of these classes doubles as a Boy Scout Merit Badge class, although we don't limit our enrollment to scouts. Each year we teach an average of 120 children in these classes.Our program is run mostly by volunteers. We have a handful of part time staff who are paid, but the majority of our staff are teenage volunteers. Part of our mission is to mentor them, to teach them not just space science but life skills. We have several volunteers who have learned our planetarium system, not because they were required to but because they wanted to learn. Many of our volunteers develop a lifelong love of astronomy. Many of them express a desire to teach, to work with children in their careers. We touch the lives of those who volunteer as well as those who attend.

We average over 500 children a week in our field trip program. We have over 2,200 children attend our summer programs. We see at least one Cub Scout Pack every month for our special Cub Scout planetarium presentation. Last year alone we reached over 18,000 people with our programs.

True to our namesake, Christa McAuliffe, and in honor of her memory, we touch the future; we teach.