Family and Homeschool Activities for Teaching About Mae Jemison

These family and homeschool activities are designed to complement the Mae Jemison topic on BrainPOP Jr.

When I Grow Up, I Want to be…

Ask children what they want to be when they grow up.  What do they find interesting about that job or career? Together with your child, research what people do every day in that job, how they prepare for the job. If possible, get in touch with someone you know who does that job and prepare questions to interview them. Or, research someone famous in that career. Invite your child to draw a picture of themselves, doing their dream job in the future. Pin the picture up near their bed for inspiration!

Planet Exploration

Planetariums are a fun and effective way to show your child how vast our solar system is—and what an achievement space travel is, too! If you live in  a community with a planetarium, plan a day trip. Before the visit, create a journal with a list of all the plants in the inner solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Have your child draw each planet on the list, and after the visit to the planetarium, encourage them to write one fact they learned about each planet. Alternatively, they can bring the journal with them to the planetarium to fill in there. After the visit, ask your child which planet they would most like to visit and why. Which would they least like to visit and why?

If you do not  have access to a planetarium, use an online site such as stellarium.org to view the planets in the night sky in your area. Show your child how to click on a planet or star to learn information about it, then go outside that evening and look at the sky. Can they identify any of the stars or planets they learned about?