After five amazing days, it is time to say goodbye to Huntsville and my amazing new friends. But not before one more jam-packed day of fun!
We began the morning learning about the Space Camp options for our students. One of the most amazing things is that Dan Coates created a program for blind students that has been going on for 26 years. We got to hear from Dan about the special programming that Space Camp is able to do to allow ALL students a chance to experience this place. I am anxious to share that information with our special education team at home to see what kids might be able to learn from this experience.
We also had some time to stop in the resource center to pick up free materials to take back to our classrooms for lesson planning. I am most excited about a couple of engineering/math challenges that I found in a couple of the resources. There are two "Design Squad Nation" engineering projects (one about the Solar System and one about the moon.) The wheels are already turning in my head about how I might have a monthly engineering day where students use their math knowledge to complete some of the missions from these manuals.
Then it was one last trip to the classroom for one more session of problem solving. This time we learned about the water filtration system in the shuttle. Do you know that astronauts drink their own pee? Of course, it is filtered! They claim that it is cleaner water than you can buy in bottles here on Earth. The real reason NASA was motivated to create such a system is that for every pound of materials sent to space, the cost is $25,000. So sending the 75 gallons of water that are needed for the shuttle and crew to function properly is just not economically feasible. Our job was to create a water filtration system using provided materials. It was really hard to get the desired color, pH level, and conductivity to make our mixture safe for drinking. We also learned what astronauts in space do with the solid waste... I won't gross you out here but I will say it is an ingenious plan, and it does not just simply get left out in space at the dump.
We began the morning learning about the Space Camp options for our students. One of the most amazing things is that Dan Coates created a program for blind students that has been going on for 26 years. We got to hear from Dan about the special programming that Space Camp is able to do to allow ALL students a chance to experience this place. I am anxious to share that information with our special education team at home to see what kids might be able to learn from this experience.
We also had some time to stop in the resource center to pick up free materials to take back to our classrooms for lesson planning. I am most excited about a couple of engineering/math challenges that I found in a couple of the resources. There are two "Design Squad Nation" engineering projects (one about the Solar System and one about the moon.) The wheels are already turning in my head about how I might have a monthly engineering day where students use their math knowledge to complete some of the missions from these manuals.
Then it was one last trip to the classroom for one more session of problem solving. This time we learned about the water filtration system in the shuttle. Do you know that astronauts drink their own pee? Of course, it is filtered! They claim that it is cleaner water than you can buy in bottles here on Earth. The real reason NASA was motivated to create such a system is that for every pound of materials sent to space, the cost is $25,000. So sending the 75 gallons of water that are needed for the shuttle and crew to function properly is just not economically feasible. Our job was to create a water filtration system using provided materials. It was really hard to get the desired color, pH level, and conductivity to make our mixture safe for drinking. We also learned what astronauts in space do with the solid waste... I won't gross you out here but I will say it is an ingenious plan, and it does not just simply get left out in space at the dump.
Our last learning opportunity after lunch was another session with the former Space Camp teachers, Janelle & Martha. Janelle shared information about her programs in her Atlanta schools. Martha let us play with different types of rockets and experiment with mass and distance. I love that I now have ideas on how to bring math to life in my classroom with measurement and angle work through rockets. I see straw rockets in our future in my classroom with lessons related to mass and measurement and trajectory and angle measurements. Hmmmm...
We had a little free time to explore the museum (and gift shop.) A few of us decided to have some fun with photos. We also found the memorial for Miss Baker, the first monkey in space. Apparently people still leave bananas on the memorial for her.
We had a little free time to explore the museum (and gift shop.) A few of us decided to have some fun with photos. We also found the memorial for Miss Baker, the first monkey in space. Apparently people still leave bananas on the memorial for her.
And then it was time for graduation! After a few more pictures and a brief graduation ceremony (where we received our wings and were allowed to turn out nametags right-side up finally!) we ate dinner under the Saturn 5 rocket and dancing on the moon - well a graphic of the moon. Andrew and I found a sign with Alan Bean's name on it. He was part of the Apollo 12 mission to the moon and was the 4th person ever to walk on the moon. Team Harmony danced until the end! What an amazing week with a fabulous group of people!