reminiscing . . .

I was required by NASA to do at least two different outreach activities with fellow teachers and students.  It was a great opportunity to share my experiences this past summer.  I spoke at Ella Barnes Elementary and at GP Intermediate School, and . . . well . . . this is what I said.  :)  (Yes, it is a little long, but if you do have the chance to read it all, let me know what you think.  I think I get teary eyed every time I think about the amazing opportunity I had this summer, and the amazing opportunity I have each day as I get to teach my fifth and sixth graders.)  :)

Outreach Opportunity-Motivating the Future

By:  Amber Bright

(I presented the following presentation at Ella Barnes Elementary and Gregory Portland Intermediate School.  Both were done during faculty meetings, GP in September, and Ella Barnes in October.)

On October 4, 1957, Sputnik crossed the night sky.  Here it was the height of the cold war, and if the Russians were able to get a satellite into space, what else were they capable of?  Americans were really nervous and scared at the time.  It was truly a wake-up call for them—they were at a crossroads. 

I feel we are at a similar crossroads in this day and time.  Our economy is poor.  NASA’s goal is unclear.  Our society in general has lost its focus and enthusiasm as far as science, mathematics, and exploration in general are concerned.  The space shuttle program ended.  We are catching rides with the Russian Soyuz.  As a teacher, I feel it is my job to help motivate our students to reach their fullest potential, and truly be prepared for the society in which they will be contributors.

 If we look realistically we see-   

• STEM jobs are expected to grow faster than average for all occupations

• Predicted to grow by 29%, adding about 2.1 million jobs between 2010 and 2020

• STEM occupations earn 26% more than non-STEM occupations

(Statistics acquired from DPE Fact Sheet-AFL-CIO.)

John Engler, Former Governor of Michigan, in U.S. News & World Report said-

“A close look at American unemployment statistics reveals a contradiction: Even with unemployment at historically high levels, large numbers of jobs are going unfilled. Many of these jobs have one thing in common–the need for an educational background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“This is a problem—for young people and for our country. We need STEM-related talent to compete globally, and we will need even more in the future. It is not a matter of choice: For the United States to remain the global innovation leader, we must make the most of all of the potential STEM talent this country has to offer.”

 So, this is the age old question-how do we do that?  How do we motivate our students to enjoy math, pursue science and technology, to truly have that desire to learn and explore?

I know one way NASA tries to help teachers do just that is to give them the opportunity to take goofy pictures. 

 

When my husband watched the video for the first time, he said he knew who the amateurs on board were—we were the ones squealing, screaming, laughing, and pretty much smiling uncontrollably the whole time.  I thought by the 40^th parabola I would get used to it to a certain degree, but I never once didn’t have this goofy look on my face when I was experiencing microgravity.

NASA has taught me the importance of hands-on and engaging activities as a must when I teach.

 

I want you to imagine that you have never tasted or seen a lemon before.  I can describe for you how a lemon looks, it is yellow, it is round, it has a sour taste, but you still don’t know what a lemon is.  I can show you a picture of a lemon, and again describe the taste and texture, but you still wouldn’t know exactly what a lemon is.  I could show you a model of a lemon—a very realistic one, but it still wouldn’t do the job.  The only way for you to know truly what a lemon is, is for you to taste a lemon yourself. 

Whenever possible, this is how I want to teach.  Letting my students see, taste, and touch everything I am trying to communicate and teach them. 

The path that led me to this amazing opportunity began last summer, in 2011, when I was chosen to participate in the Pre-Service Teacher Institute.  While there, I . . . 

·         Got to visit Apollo mission control, space shuttle mission control, and the ISS mission control.

·         I got to grow seeds flown in space.

·         I ate at the Starport Cafe.

 

·         I got to sling myself onto a Velcro wall-testing Newton’s Laws of Motion.

 

·         I got to try on space helmets.

 

·         I got to see the mock-up of the space shuttle that astronauts train on.

 

·         Let me tell you a good way to teach circumference—astronauts look a little puffy in space.  You can mimic the puffy effect by lying down for ten minutes in this position (below).  You will lose a centimeter in your leg circumference, and gain it in your head circumference.  While I was doing my student teaching in first grade, we had the principal come in and sit with her legs in the air for ten minutes—students were learning push/pull.

 

·         I got to visit the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.

 

·         And I got certified to handle moon rock.

 

Because I got to participate in that event, I got an email the first of this year giving me the exciting news that I could apply to have the chance to ride on the Vomit Comet.  I had to answer a few short essay questions, I also had to write a lesson plan about viscosity, and get a letter of commitment from the school district.  Mrs. Villa, my principal, helped with that, I also got Mrs. Czerwinski, the assistant superintendent to write one as well (didn’t think it would hurt).  But truly, I do believe what put my application on the top of the stack that NASA received was the 115 letters I had asked my students to write in my behalf recommending their teacher for such an exciting opportunity.

I found out in May that I had been one of the five teachers chosen, and I was on cloud 9 for about three months after that, well I think I’m still there.  J

The other teachers that joined me were Mrs. Stalker from Wisconsin, Ms. Piepenbrink who works for Mesquite ISD as a fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Koite who teaches sixth grade math in Bryan, TX, and Ms. Isonhood, who teaches fifth/sixth grade math & science in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

We did have preparations to do before we got to Ellington Field—we had to write three more lesson plans and join in video conference calls prior to our arrival.  We had to create a website, a blog, and also create a facebook page.

We had two experiments to perform on board—an experiment in hypergravity with a projectile launcher (30 degrees, 0 degrees-ball bearings of different masses) and an inertial balance (how do you measure mass in microgravity—inertia-amount of force needed to accelerate an object).  A container was placed at the end of a hacksaw blade, and then the hacksaw blade was pulled in a direction (right or left), and then released.  We measured the times it oscillated in a given amount of time.  Half the teachers went on the first flight day, the other half on the second.  One experiment was taken each time.  On my flight day, we experimented with the projectile launcher.

(For the next few minutes of my presentation—the audience viewed the video of my experience.)

One of the first things I learned when arriving at Ellington Field was that there was a difference between the Vomit Comet, Weightless Wonder, and G-Force One.  The Vomit Comet was the first airplane used to train astronauts in simulated microgravity, and was used in the movie Apollo 13.  It is now on display at Ellington Field.  The Weightless Wonder is the NASA owned airplane used, and G-Force One is a contracted airplane used by NASA and other public entities for the purpose of research in microgravity.  I got to fly on G-Force One.

 

Of course, the first thing I asked when I knew I was going to be given this opportunity, was how many people actually do get sick aboard the airplane?!  I was told that one out of three people become “violently ill.”  One person will just be “sick.”  And the last person would be o.k.  Knowing that I have had issues with motion sickness aboard boats, in cars, on ferris wheels, yes, I didn’t like my odds.  So, as we sat through classes, and sought advice-I listened intently as to what to do.  Do not make any sudden moves.  Turn your whole body to look around, not just your head.  Don’t eat foods that might add to the queasiness—no Mexican food of course, no soft drinks, and no fried foods.  I listened intently to every rule, and I made sure to follow those rules before and during flight.  In our pre-flight briefing we got medicine that would reduce the odds of getting sick.  We could get a shot or take a pill.  Since I knew I had issues, I wanted the shot.  It would be the quickest way to get it in my system, and I would know (pain of the shot) that I had taken something that would help me.  The medicine would supposedly reduce your chances of getting sick to one out of ten. (I showed the envelope containing the ‘barf’ bag.)  They gave us . . . um . . . bags-just in case-that we were told to put in both pockets on the front of our flight suits.  We had to blow into the bags, so they were ready to go, and put them in with the opening out and easily accessible.  Fortunately, I did not have to use those bags.  Unfortunately, I saw many people who did.  On my flight day, the teacher group was actually the only group that did not have someone get sick during the flight.

We did 40 parabolas, 4 of which were lunar, and 4 Martian.  Our flight lasted 1 hour 45 minutes.  We had really great weather that day that helped us do a few more parabolas than most people get to do on a similar flight. 

(I had a toy airplane I used to show them how the flight worked.)  The plane would climb to 39,000 feet, and then drop back to 24,000 feet, and we did that 40 times.  As we climbed in the airplane we experienced hypergravity, more gravity than what you feel on Earth.  It was like a 200 lb. man was sitting on me during this time; it was hard, almost impossible to move.  We would experience hypergravity for about 25 seconds and then microgravity for about 25 seconds.  As the airplane fell back towards Earth, this is when we experienced microgravity.  There are really no words that can describe how it felt, the emotions, and adrenaline that kicked in every time my body started to experience microgravity.  I was definitely giddy, it truly felt unreal.  I don’t know if I could ever recreate the emotions of those 25 seconds.  I know, being a science teacher, I can teach gravity like no one else, because I truly know what it is—you learn this when you have the chance to experience a few moments without gravity.

The last three parabolas we were able to experiment with an outreach items.  My fellow teacher brought her mill worms.  I brought a gyro bowl, a jump rope, book (that now sits in my classroom with the label-“flown in zero g”), and a few M&Ms (M&Ms must taste better in flown in microgravity right?!). 

We rocked out the research as well, completing eight pages of measurements.  We would measure how far the projectile would travel in hypergravity, using different size ball bearings and different angles at launch. 

Other researchers on board were—Utah State (heat transfer), University of Colorado (convection), Bryn Mawr College (porosity of Martian soil),  and NASA researchers (CPR in space, eye dilation, athletes—measuring heart rate, etc.) to name a few.  In preparation for my classroom this year, I ordered pendants to most of the colleges that did research with us; they are now hanging in my room.

One of the head honchos of the reduced gravity flight program, Doug Goforth, told us in our pre-flight briefing that he had once been a fireman—and he had once gone to answer a call with his fellow firemen.  Apparently, a house had the smoke detectors go off, but they didn’t see or find a fire.  They had searched the house to be sure, and they were just sitting at the kitchen table with the family filling out paperwork, when it dawned on him, that this house had the exact floor plan that his own house had.  He said that his mind had been so concentrated on finding the fire; he hadn’t seen that obvious similarity between his house and their house.  He told us to not make that same mistake—don’t be so focused on our research that we don’t take a few seconds to just look around and take in this once in a lifetime opportunity.  So, I certainly didn’t let the opportunity pass me by to see, truly see what I was experiencing.  To see people doing research sideways or upside down, see their emotions and reactions—it was an amazing experience!  I do think that too often we get blinded in our own classrooms, quickly trying to teach certain concepts in a given time period, or preparing for a state exam, so I do challenge you to take a moment tomorrow, and just stop-look around, truly see the kids in your classroom, see them learn, this is why we went to college, to be here with them, to be a teacher—a truly once in a lifetime influence on a child’s life—take it in!

 

Well, back in the 1960s, Americans who had been scared as they saw Sputnik cross the night sky were again reinvigorated in the cause of exploration, in the cause of education, especially in STEM.  John F. Kennedy gave Americans the goal to walk on the moon.  We got behind our scientists (those same scientists who had once been students in an intermediate/elementary school, in a classroom just like ours), and we rose to the challenge.  We sent 12 Americans to the lunar surface.

 

I am so excited to be a teacher at this time, where it is my job to again motivate these students to truly love learning, to love math and science, to truly have that desire to make a difference in the world.

NASA gave us Curiosity in August.  I stayed up until 12:30 AM our time to watch that impressive landing, and of course cried and cheered as Curiosity landed, and sent back those first pictures.

At the press conference that same night, John Grozinger, a leading scientist for Curiosity said, "There is no greater inspiration for middle school children that are going to math, science, and engineering than a mission to Mars. The number of hits on the website is unparalleled. The emphasis on the excitement that this generates is what we bestow upon our children."

And, it is what we bestow on our students, our excitement, our enthusiasm that can only be contagious, and our hands-on and engaging lessons.  And maybe it will be one of our students whose footsteps won’t be on the surface of the moon, but on the surface of Mars.