Blast Off into the Learning Adventure of the “Space Exploration” Corn Maze

 In commemoration of the U.S. Space Program’s 30-year Space Shuttle Program, Marini Farm took great care in creating this year’s educational theme for its corn maze.

A special tribute is warranted here to one particular astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 spaceflight mission in July 1969—which was considered the boldest feat in aviation. As he stepped on the moon, his now famous quote, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” was heard around the world, with an estimated half-billion people listening to the climactic landing and watching a flickering video of the moonwalk. Armstrong passed away just last month (August 25) at the age of 82 in Cincinnati, Ohio of complications from blocked coronary arteries.

Here are some interesting Space Program facts:

• This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the first American in space and the 20^th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescopes’ deployment.
• The space shuttle is not just a mode of transport; it is a laboratory, too. 
• The heaviest space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, weighed 178,000 pounds, roughly the weight of 13 African elephants.
• Some of the peculiar objects flown into orbit during the shuttles include: the Olympic torch, a replica of the golden spike from the First Transcontinental Railroad, and rock from the top of Mount Everest.
• NASA recently completed construction of the International Space Station and will conclude the Space Shuttle Program now that the final shuttle launch and return was successful.

 For fun, this year’s “Space Exploration” Marini Farm corn maze was designed to resemble the outline of an astronaut, a space ship and a map of the US.

The corn maze sponsorship program, introduced for the first time this year, also offered four levels of support, named after NASA space shuttles as follows: BLAST OFF 1-Mission Accomplished (sponsor—Shaw’s Supermarkets); BLAST OFF 2-Discovery (sponsors; Brookwood School, Pomodori Pizza and Ipswich Dairy Queen); BLAST OFF 3-Enterprise (sponsors; Ithaki Restaurant, Ipswich Brewery, Pingree School, The 1646 Hart House Restaurant, Honda North); and ASTRONAUT level (Ipswich Butchery, Winfrey’s Fudge, Stone Soup Restaurant and The First National Bank of Ipswich).

Marini Farm has considered education a big part of its corn maze program since its inception 10 years ago.

Open Sept. 8 through Oct. 31, the maze each week brings thousands of families and numerous school and scouting field trips to the farm to learn more about a variety of agricultural topics, including:

• The way pumpkins and corn grow
• The history of family-owned Marini Farm
• The importance of corn to the farmers, their livestock, and the environment
• The integral role bees play in farming.

In the next blog, “GPS Mapping The Creation of a Corn Maze,” we are going to share more educational inside tips about the design and cutting process of the maze.

Written by Blogger Pros.