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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.
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:
- Place some baking soda into your container.
- Pour in some vinegar.
- 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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What is the RGEFP?
RGEFP is NASA's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program.
To learn more look no further, and watch this video!
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Reaching Out to Amphi Middle School
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!