STEM UPDATE: ROCKETS, ROVERS AND YEAST
Mr. T is always excited about NASA related STEM projects, but lately, he has shared some truly out of this world news with Faculty, Rocket Club and Cubes in Space members that merits sharing with our broader community. There is so much to look forward to this summer and beyond if you are a Mighty Monarch interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math! Check out his recent updates below.
ADVENTURE LOG ENTRY #1: ARC FINALS
“I am always bragging about Catholic education and the things we do. I wear NASA shirts to work here, but I really do wear my St. Mary shirts when I am at NASA or other events!
I was off this past weekend to the national American Rocketry finals. I made great connections and was able to work alongside and learn from some fantastic teachers. We also got to hang out all day and were helped by astronaut, Woody Hoburg. He spent half of last year on the International Space Station and was a finalist in the American Rocketry Challenge when he was in high school. He actually broadcasted a message down from the ISS to the ARC finals last year!”
ENTRY #2: HUMAN EXPLORATION ROVER CHALLENGE EXTENDED
Mr. T could barely contain his glee earlier this month when he realized that NASA extended the HERC project guidelines to include middle school age students, which means that we can expect to see many IBMYP student designed Moon Rovers in the upcoming school year!
The primary objective of HERC is for teams of students to design, develop, build, and test human-powered rovers capable of traversing challenging terrain and a task tool for completion of various mission tasks.
Teams earn points by successful completion of design reviews, designing and assembling a moon rover that meets all challenge criteria, and successfully completing course obstacles and mission tasks. The team with the highest number of points accumulated throughout the project year in each category will be the winner of their respective division (high school and college/university).
ENTRY #3: CiS PARTNERS WITH PERDUE UNIVERSITY
“This week during Cubes in Space, students worked on an email to Purdue University scientists and professors whose idea we are mimicking in our cube experiments. After clicking send on this email, we almost immediately received a response.
They are excited for us to have our experiment go to space and to be using their idea. They have pledged their help so we are now partnering with Purdue University!
Students stayed after school yesterday to complete additional work on our dosimeters for our cube. Let’s go to space!”
