Innovative programs help educators inspire the next generation of scientists. Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy is an intensive educator program for math and science teachers that provides simulated astronaut training focused on space science and exploration.
All lessons taught at Educators @ Space Academy and lesson plans provided to the educators align with National Science and Math Standards and are ready to use in the classroom. Activities are mainly designed for grades 4 through 8 but can be adapted to any grade level.
Math Activities
Martian Math: This highly interactive and energetic session gets everyone up and out of their seats to practice basic skills, factorials, probability, and order of operations. These fun activities help students gain confidence and knowledge in their math skills. These activities are easily adaptable to higher-level math concepts and can also be adapted to other subjects.
NASA’s Engineering Design Challenges: Thermal Design: Marshall Space Flight Center sponsors this exciting opportunity for students and schools to replicate engineering challenges faced by NASA engineers. Working under the supervision of their teachers, students design, build, test, re-design, and re-build models that meet specified design criteria. Students use the same analytical skills as engineers to improve their designs.
Built Environment: Using measurement, graphing, volume, ratio, scale, proportion, and model making, students will build a moon or mars colony out of items while using critical thinking and decision making skills to create an out-of-this-world environment. Numerous activities using math to solve real-world problems are included in this workshop.
Science Activities
Lunar Stations: This multi-station workshop will help educators explore various themes as their students would prepare to inhabit the moon. The stations cover rovers, craters, volcanoes, and soil experiments.
On to Mars: This workshop contains various activities that will be necessary in the exploration of Mars. Designing the perfect Mars Lander, soil activities, and other fun Mars themed activities will get entire classes motivated to be the first explorers to Mars! Activities are provided by the Arizona State University Mars Project.
Space Gardening: Participants will be introduced to the STS 114 Mission that launched in August 2007. A fellow educator, Barbara Morgan, was on board! She had many responsibilities on this flight, one of which was the use of a plant growth chamber with basil seeds. Participants will learn more details about her mission, about using hydroponics in space, and will design their own plant growth chamber. They will receive seeds that were flown to space and ones left on earth to use in experiments in their classroom.
Toys in Space: In 1985 and 1993, toys were taken into space so students on earth could learn about how familiar objects reacted in microgravity. Utilizing various physics principles and common toys, the workshop challenges participants to predict what will happen to these objects in microgravity. A DVD to take back to school is included in this workshop, so students can see exactly how the toys reacted in space.
Both Science & Math
Rocket Construction: Participants will design, select materials, construct, and launch water bottle rockets. Each group will form a “company” and assign tasks to each team member. Groups will complete a scaled drawing of the rocket, test for stability and accuracy, and keep a budget. This activity is based on NASA’s rocketry curriculum.
Rocket engines will also be built utilizing higher-level math and physics. This workshop will also cover ways to bring rocketry across the high school curriculum. It is based on activities developed by Estes and Team America Rocketry Challenge.
Mission Patch: This hands-on activity allows participants to learn about the history and symbolism of space-mission patches. The participants then apply their knowledge in creating a patch that uniquely captures the characteristics of their individual team along with the goals of their simulated mission.
Current Events
Living & Working in Space: Learn about what it is like to live and work in space, including how to eat, exercise, conduct experiments, and…how to go to the bathroom! There are lots of fun demos and hands-on activities for your students in this workshop.
History
History of Space Program – Speaker: Ed Buckbee, founder of Space Academy, recounts the early days of NASA in Huntsville, Alabama. Hear about stories from behind-the-scenes NASA and Space Academy experiences, and receive a copy of his book, The Real Space Cowboys.
Astronaut Presentation: Astronaut to be announced soon!
Guest Presentation: Other professionals within the space community to be announced soon!
Other Activities
Museum: During the week, participants will have time to explore the museum and counselors will lead discussions regarding the following topics:
- History of Space Travel
- Rocket City Legacy
- Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs
- Pathfinder and the Shuttle Program
- Rocket Park
- Davidson Center for Space Exploration (Restored Saturn V)
