Showing posts with label Outreach. Show all posts

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Exploring STEM with Lincoln Elementary

On Friday, May 17th, the UASEDS Microgravity team visited Lincoln Elementary School in Mesa, AZ to talk to all the 6th grade students as well as a 5th grade classroom.

 The students got to learn all about current space problems their generation can solve in the future, and the benefits and opportunities that come with a STEM education.

Many students were surprised to learn that with the knowledge they currently have (such as area of a square/rectangle, volume, unit conversion, proportions) and with the knowledge they will continue to gain as they move on to middle school, they can already begin to solve problems:

New NASA Satellite Takes Picture of Salton Sea
The Remarkable Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 130427A
Click the images to find out how these NASA space math problems were solved!



By the end of the presentation, the students gained a greater interest in space exploration and development, and were left with the message to never stop learning, and that with STEM, the sky is never the limit.

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How Many People Are In Space Right Now?

Visit this site to find out! 

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Reaching Out to Future Explorers

Yesterday, the UASEDS Microgravity team visited Leslie Shepherd's 3rd grade class at Lincoln Elementary School in Mesa, AZ to talk about:

STEM

(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
Many of the students want to be veterinarians, doctors, and military engineers when they grow up, so they were very excited to learn more about the STEM fields.

 A wide range of topics were discussed with the students including size of the universe, star life cycles, black holes, NASA derived technology, robotics, and the Mars rovers.

 However, the students were particularly interested in the physics of space. Thus, star and planetary formation were heavily explored and discussed in great detail.

 The 3rd graders had a great time and were left inspired to keep up with STEM education in their daily lives and to never stop wondering.

The following videos were shown to the class. Enjoy!





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Perform Your Own Science Experiment

Do you have some baking soda and vinegar at home? If so, you can make your own....

What you'll need:
  • Baking soda
  • Vinegar
  • A container
  • Paper towels (for clean up)
Instructions:
  1. Place some baking soda into your container.
  2. Pour in some vinegar.
  3. Watch your volcano erupt!

How does it work?
The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base, while the vinegar (acetic acid) is an acid. When mixed, they react together to form carbonic acid. It instantly breaks apart into water and carbon dioxide, which creates all the fizzing as it escapes the solution.

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Wringing out Water on the ISS!


Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield performs a science experiment designed by grade 10 students. 


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Reaching Out to Amphi Middle School


Two weeks ago, the UASEDS Microgravity team had an outreach event with Mr. Scott Weiler's engineering class at Amphitheater Middle School.  It was a bright and early morning for the team members who attended, getting to the class at 8AM sharp to talk to the 6th-8th graders about the experiment to be flown, as well as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.)
  
When the team members arrived, they were dismayed to discover that the power point presentation prepared by another member had failed to load.  Not to be discouraged, the duo carried on with an impromptu discussion with the students.  First, a substitute video was found shown (found here) to introduce the concept of STEM fields and a few of the many ways STEM plays a role in everyone's lives.  Following the short film, the presenters gave the class a brief outline of the experiment and how microgravity would be reproduced on board the Vomit Comet. The class was already familiar with the basics of microgravity, thanks to the preparation of Mr. Weiler, who had already excited the class for the visit.  Next, to engage in a bit more of a full class discussion, the students were asked how the experiment related to STEM and which parts related to science, technology, engineering, and math.  The class was quick to point out several aspects of the experiment that were STEM related, such as geology being a big science aspect and the technology involved with the airplane.  

After each portion of STEM was explored in relation to the flight, the kids were given an activity where they were tasked with constructing the tallest building possible solely out of a few sheets of paper, four paperclips, and some tape.  While the students were tasked with a similar project earlier in the semester, this reiteration gave them a chance to apply what they had learned from the first time around and construct an even better building.  It was a close contest, but a winner was declared, and it proved to be the team that worked together the best and stayed on task.  With that, the presenters thanked the teacher and his class, and departed.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more updates. The team heads to Houston in just over a month!

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