Future Astronauts

We had a BLAST at the Challenger Learning Center!  All of the Challenge students had the opportunity to take this field trip.  Each group participated in a space simulation and a rocket building class.

Elementary students (1st-4th grades) mission was "Mystery in Space," and their goal was to discover the mystery object they spotted in space.  By using the visible spectrum, students were able to identify that the mystery object was a comet. 

Middle school students participated in a mission too.  Their mission was to build a probe to land on the moon.  Students had the opportunity to experience what it's like in Mission Control and on a space shuttle.  Jobs ranged from Communication Officer to Life Support.

Houston...We Have Mission Patches!

The following patches were chosen to represent our upcoming missions at the Challenger Learning Center.  Classes first voted on shuttle names. Then each student designed a patch to represent their class and mission.  Congratulations to the following students!

Madi - 1st/2nd Grade Class

Cecilia - 3rd Grade

Mya - 4th Grade

Abby - 5th Grade

Jessica - 6th Grade

Jonah - 7th Grade

Emily - 8th Grade

Sky Lab

We had a great time creating our personal constellations.  Challenge students created their very own constellations wrote legends to tell how their constellations ended up in the sky.  The best part was poking holes in the Sky Lab, then viewing them together as we shared our stories.

Missions to Boost Curriculum

I'm very excited to share the article, "Missions to Boost Curriculum."  The St. Clair Missourian, our local newspaper, recently published and article about my recent trip to Space Camp. I recommend

Honeywell Space Academy for Teachers

I recently had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Honeywell Space Camp for Educators. Over 1,100 teachers applied for Honeywell scholarships, and there were only 200 or so chosen for the two camps. I feel honored to be one of the chosen few, and I'm thankful for Honeywell's generosity.

I participated in two missions. On Atlantis, I was a Mission Specialist. My job was to assist the commander and pilot by opening the payload bay (and making funny faces for mission control...glad you brought your barf bag, Amelia). I also conducted an EVA (Extravehicular Activity) on the Micro G Wall with Amelia, the other Mission Specialist. I assure you that it is not easy working in an astronaut suit, and I didn't even have the gloves on. Plus, my shield was open most the time (so technically I should be dead right now). I had a blast working on the orbiter and I loved working with Nikki, Steve, and Amelia!

On the Discovery Mission, I worked as the CATO (Communications and Tracking) in Mission Control. My job was to provide mission commentary to explain air-to-ground transmissions and flight control operations to news media and the public. Basically, I just reported what and when things happened. I got the giggles (yes me) when I accidentally said "manure" instead of "maneuver." If I was a real CATO, I'm sure that would be floating around on Youtube right now.

I absolutely loved the Aviation Challenges. We had the opportunity to zipline into a lake, drop into the lake in a "dunker," and be lifted from the lake in the "lifter."

When we were not doing mission simulations and aviation challenges, we were listening to speakers, attending classes, and participating in aviation challenges. Our guest speakers included astronaut Hoot Gibson

and the author of The Real Space Cowboys, Ed Buckbee. Some of our classes included: Toys in Space, Thermal Protection, Personal Constellations, Martian Math, and Rocketry.

I'm excited to incorporate the things I learned into my classroom, and I hope I my students will learn to appreciate space exploration as much as I do...time for liftoff!

The last shuttle launches on July 8th.  I will be watching...will you?