Posted on May 22, 2015 by JumpStart
Have you ever noticed that the stars in the sky form different shapes? Many others throughout history have as well! Groups of stars that form different patterns in the sky are known as constellations. As you might have noticed, we at the International Spaceport are huge fans of astronomy, or the study of outer space. When we have the free time, we like to look out some of the big windows that of the ISP and take a look at some of these constellations! Would you care to join us?
If you are looking for a reference to some constellations, you can always refer to your friends’ Star Status charts. As you do more kind gestures for your friends, you can fill up these constellations and get even more ideas for stars to look at in the sky. Today GC and I are on the hunt for the Pegasus shaped constellation. Look closely at how the stars of the constellation match the picture of the Pegasus.
Now we look for a place to observe the stars. This section of the Mutt Training Center would be the PERFECT place for stargazing. Now it is time to relax and focus on the sky…
Oh look! There it is! Thanks to our handy guidebook, we were able to locate constellations that astronomers around earth have observed for hundreds of years! Isn’t that amazing?
Now that you have an understanding of how to stargaze, you should try it on your own when you are away from the ISP. Use your Star Status charts to find constellations on those upcoming warm summer nights and start your real life star adventures.
Filed under: Behind the Scenes | Tagged: Constellations, Outer Space, space, Spaceport | Leave a comment »
Posted on April 24, 2015 by JumpStart
“Max here, signing in to talk about one of my favorite games: Galaxy Grand Prix! While I certainly love cruising through space, nothing beats the feeling of a great day at the SpacePort’s most famous race track. The greatest part of Galaxy Grand Prix is that you get to create your own courses, which lets me build my critical thinking skills for saving the universe.
I am competing in a HUGE race this weekend and wanted to build a brand new track to challenge my friends… Would you care to assist me? I could use a fresh mind and you can learn how to build one crazy and exciting Galaxy Grand Prix race track!
When thinking about how to design your course, think of it like a puzzle. We want it to be challenging and complicated so Blasters do not know what to expect when racing. Use the intersecting tracks to make your course extra tricky!
We finished our course outline! Now it is time to decorate our race tracks with some extra obstacles. We do not want to make the track impossible to race. Keep your barriers spaced out from each other. Also be very careful where you add your boosts! You do not want to place them right when a track is about to curve or before a barrier, find spots where you can really speed down the track.
Excellent idea placing that booster there! It seems like you have the hang of this!
Well, it looks like my racetrack is ready for the weekend! After naming my track, I always take it for one test spin to make sure the course is smooth, yet challenging!”
Filed under: Behind the Scenes, Online Games for Kids | Tagged: Galaxy Grand Prix, Racing | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 26, 2015 by JumpStart
“Greetings, Blasters! Max here. I have been working hard to organize my Pod in the spirit of Spring Cleaning. I realized, however, that I actually gave away too many items! My Pod is a blank canvas and I need to do some shopping to re-decorate it. Unfortunately, I do not have any Credits right now. Oops! Guess I should not have bought all those new outfits! Not to worry! This is a great challenge to earn some extra Credits and use my math skills to make the most of my money.
There are two great ways to earn Credits. The first one you might already know about, which is to play Math Academy games. Try to select a couple games that you are really strong at and can also play a couple times without getting bored. That way, you can rake in some Credits while the time flies past you! The second way to earn some Credits is to help out some of your fellow Blasters clean their Mutt pods! Let us head to my friend Alejandro’s Pod.
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Filed under: Behind the Scenes, decorations | Tagged: Credits, Decorating your Pod, My Pod | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 19, 2015 by JumpStart
“Greetings Blasters! Max, here. Although we may not have seasons in space, we still enjoy pretending like we do. We occasionally get a bit homesick of Earth and just want to have a nice day in the great outdoors. Thankfully, our top scientists and the I.S.P. designed a special place for us just so we can do this. We like to call it The Park. The Park is a simulated environment at Spaceport that is perfect for any craving to hit the outdoors.
Since our sources indicate that it is Spring in the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, we thought we might celebrate by having a nice picnic in the Park. There are so many great activities in the Park for the Blaster that loves exploring the rugged moon rocks and cyber grass that space has to offer! Let us check them all out!
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Filed under: Behind the Scenes, Math games | Tagged: Monster Mutts, Mutts, Snatch It, Springtime, The Park | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 12, 2015 by JumpStart
Greetings Blasters! Max, here. Have you ever wondered what a typical day running the I.S.P. is like? Spaceport is such an enormous ship sailing through the galaxy. That means GC, Monty, and I have a lot of responsibilities to take care of on a daily basis. Since there are so many things going on everyday, I thought I might share my daily routine with you Blasters.
I should mention that on Spaceport we use a 24-hour clock, or “military time”. This means that instead of going back to 1at noon, we continue on to 13. You can convert military time to standard time simply by subtracting all hours after noon by 12. This means that 1300 hours would be 1:00pm. While reading my routine, try to convert the times from military to regular time!
0700 Hours:
Wake up time! My day begins with more rise and less shine, since there is no sunlight in space. Thankfully my handy alarm clock gives me that wake-up call to start my day. I immediate walk over to my Mutt Pod and check on my two adorable Mutts.
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Filed under: Behind the Scenes | Tagged: blasters, GC, Max, Space Port | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 5, 2015 by JumpStart
Hey Blaster! Owen MolecularVoyager here to give you the latest scoop on Shuttle Bay. After putting so much time and care into raising my Mutt, I sure do get lonely now that he is all grown up and released. Thanks to Shuttle Bay though, I never have to wait too long before reuniting with a Blaster’s best friend-Wait, have you never been to Shuttle Bay? Let me tell you all about it! Shuttle Bay is the port on the right-hand side of the Mutt Training Center. Here you can visit all your old Mutts on their new home planets!
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Filed under: Behind the Scenes, Free Online Games, Multiplication | Tagged: Math Blaster, Monster Mutts, Mutts, Planet Avatarus, Planet Blizzard, Releasing your Mutt, Shuttle Bay | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 2, 2015 by JumpStart
Spring is officially less than three weeks away, which means it is time to toss out all those old unwanted items. Re-purposing some of your long-forgotten things can be a great way to take your spring cleaning efforts to the next level. Doing so also allows us to help the environment AND earn some extra cash to add t the family budget. In honor of Old Stuff Day, here are a few ways to turn those tattered old items in your garage into useful new household goods!
Photo by Orin Zebest, ©2010. Some rights reserved. Licensed by Creative Commons Public Works License
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Filed under: Behind the Scenes, Crafts, Family Activities, Family Fun, Spring | Tagged: old stuff day, recycling, Spring, Spring Cleaning | Leave a comment »
