DASEF (Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation) offers early childhood experiences thatcreate an exceptional learning environment that inspires children and their families with a sense of appreciation for the earth and its place in the universe. The DASEF vision is driven by the belief that "Wisdom Begins with Wonder." By linking the classroom experience with real-life experience, it is our hope that learning will contribute measurably to enriching young children in Delaware.
To schedule a field trip to the Environmental Outpost
or a visitation to your site, contact Lynne Bloom, DASEF Scheduling Coordinator, by leaving a message at
(302) 659-5003 or (302) 834-1978 or by emailing: dasef.outpost@verizon.net.
We bring the science to you. All materials for the program are provided (with the exception of basic classroom supplies). Adult help is required for some of the hands-on activities, so parent chaperones can be invited to assist
(3 children/1 adult). The programs are 1 hour in length with a fee of $5.00 per student with a minimum fee of $200.00 per program. A classroom space is needed to bring this traveling program to your school.
We can work with 20 to 25 students at a time. We work with one group of 20 to 25 children, then make the same presentation to the next group of 20 to 25, and so on, until all of your children have had the program that day.
Kaleidoscope Wonders
Have your young scientists ever taken apart a kaleidoscope? You and your students will explore kaleidoscopes using tabletop models and make and reflect a geometric design into infinity. They will also make and take their own simple kaleidoscope viewer. Scientific discovery and fun.
Insects Aren’t As Yucky As You Think
Do your students ever get “bugged” by an insect? We’ll come to your classroom with some friendly ones. Your class will learn about the life cycle of a ladybug and the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly, with little hand-sized models. They will see our collections of dearly departed insects and they’ll build their own insect model from building pieces. We’ll give each student apicture of an insect to color. Your kids will be “buzzing” about this!
Wee Weather Watchers
Calling all mini-meteorologists – it’s time to learn about the weather. Your student will “be” the liquid in a thermometer, as they learn about temperatures and how to dress for them. They will have fun making a take home thermometer and a simple kite to experiment with wind. The forecast is for interesting science with a good chance of fun!
Make a Date With Dinosaurs
Are your students too young for a scary trip through Jurassic Park? Our dinosaurs are much tamer than the real thing. The class will learn about paleontology by assembling a Protoceratops dinosaur skeleton. They will see how the size of their eyes, arms, and teeth (!) match up with those of the dinosaurs in our Life-Size Dinosaurs book, and they will learn a little about meat and plant eaters with small models of our prehistoric pals. Bring your camera to class for a photo-op with our inflatable baby T-rex. Your students will rooooar for more!
Trees, If You Please
There is more to a tree than meets the eye! Your students will learn about those parts of a tree you don’t see. They will also use a hand lens to take a closer look at leaves and match ones from the same tree, and they’ll make a model of a tree from real parts. Your class will have fun “being” a seed as it goes from its hiding place in the soil to a tree with new seeds of its own. Tree-rific science!
Constructing Your Own Fun 
It’s time to get right down on the floor and build something! Your students will use our giantLego © pieces and their own creativity to make a structure, a vehicle, and an animal. They will build a roller coaster model that will give a ball a looping thrill ride. And they can take the challenge to build the tallest tower before it falls! Build a great day with us!
Constructing Your Own Fun
It’s time to get right down on the floor and build something! Your students will use our giant Lego © pieces and their own creativity to make a structure, a vehicle, and an animal. They will build a roller coaster model that will give a ball a looping thrill ride. And they can take the challenge to build the tallest tower before it falls! Build a great day with us!
Sounds Like Science
Looking for a new way to stimulate your students’ sense of hearing? We’ll bring a batch of materials and activities to let them explore the world of sound. They will play our water glass piano, guess the mystery sound makers in a series of jars, see how water carries sound waves across our Dancing Water Bowl, test the differing pitches of our Boomwhackers, and make and take a rhythm shaker (each child brings an empty plastic soda bottle). Your room will come alive with sounds!
Endangered Species: Wilmer the Whale
A whale right in your classroom?? No – a right whale in your classroom. Your students will see a life-sized model of a juvenile right whale, learn about its life in the sea, and practice their measuring skills on him. They will also search a book for hidden sea creatures, hide one in a camouflaged drawing, and make and take a whale that will fit in little hands. Ahoy, young oceanographers!
Attention teachers: enough tabletop space in your room (or an unused hallway outside your room) is required to accommodate the 4’ diameter and 20’ long inflatable right whale, with room around tables for parents and children to walk.
Endangered Species: Ellie the Elephant
Did you see the baby elephant by the bookshelves?? No, that’s not the beginning of an elephant joke – schedule this program for your students and they’ll meet Ellie, a life-sized inflatable baby elephant. They will also practice measurement skills, trace a hand to make a handprint elephant, turn a paper plate into an elephant’s face, assemble a pop-up book of elephant facts, and make a paper bag elephant puppet. Our books about elephants will give you and your young scientist the latest information about the endangered elephant. Join our science safari!
Attention teachers: enough floor space is required to accommodate the 6’ high and 8’ long elephant, with room for parents and children to walk around it.
Discovering Fossils
Can’t take your students to a fossil dig site? Bring our fossils to your classroom. Your students will learn how fossils were formed and assemble a floor model of a Protoceratops dinosaur skeleton. They will match fossil imprints to the mammal foot that made them, see real fossils and petrified wood from our collections. And they’ll each make a model of a dinosaur skeleton to take home. Let them explore the world beneath their feet!
