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Preparing for the Journey to Space: Energy
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The NASA/NSTA Symposium: Preparing for the Journey to Space: Energy took place at
the Clarion Hotel Anaheim Resort in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, April 7, 2006. Seventy-seven
educators were in attendance, including over fifty NASA Explorer School teachers.
Seven speakers gave presentations to the group: Carla Rosenberg from NASA Headquarters,
Dr. Art Poland from George Mason University, Steven Johnson from NASA Johnson Space
Center, and Elaine Lewis, Troy Cline, Steele Hill, and Don Boonstra from NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center. The presentations focused on human space flight, in particular
on the topic of energy: where it comes from and how it is used to support the activities
of the International Space Station and future missions to the Moon and Mars. NSTA
would like to thank all the participants and presenters for a job well done.
After an introductory administrative session during which Flavio Mendez, Symposia
and Web Seminars Program Manager at NSTA, familiarized participants with the contents
of their folders (including the agenda, college credit forms, talent release form,
and pre-assessment), Carla Rosenberg gave an update on the current status of the
Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS) programs. She displayed
spectacular images and movies of the most recent Space Shuttle mission, STS-114,
as she quizzed the audience about their knowledge of shuttle and ISS systems. Carla
finished her presentation with a look at a future flight to the ISS, STS-115, which
will deliver a new set of solar arrays to the Station.
Dr. Art Poland followed Ms. Rosenberg's talk with a presentation about the Sun.
Dr. Poland was very dynamic in his delivery, and showed fantastic images, including
a few movie clips of the Sun provided by the SOHO spacecraft. Art talked about nuclear
reactions, the different layers of the Sun, and how it takes 1 million years for
a photon to travel from the Sun's core to its surface! It is this solar energy from
our star that it is used to power the systems to support operations on the International
Space Station and to support life on Earth!
Elaine Lewis, Troy Cline and Steele Hill led the next session with an activity about
the Sun called: In the News. Teachers were tasked to read a news article about the
Sun and solar activity, summarize it, and make a news broadcast to share the information
learned. Teachers were given guiding questions to assist in the collection of facts.
A demonstration of the final product was displayed - Troy had a visual communicator
and green screen to simulate a news broadcast. A teacher volunteer served as the
news anchor and read the entire script to the audience. After finishing the activity,
the teachers participated in a discussion about how to adapt the activity to different
age groups. One of the things the teachers liked about the activity was the fact
that it used real information about the Sun.
After a break in the symposium, Steven Johnson led a presentation about America's
manned and unmanned spacecraft power systems. Steven talked about the different
power sources for spacecraft, like solar, nuclear, and chemical energy. He talked
about the pros and cons of these different sources and told participants that the
selection of a power source really depends on the mission, the mission duration,
and the amount of power needed. For example, missions to nearby planets (Mercury,
Venus, and Mars) use solar arrays and batteries. Missions to planets beyond the
asteroid belt use nuclear power. The ISS uses large-size solar panels as well as
batteries. The batteries are needed because as the Station orbits our planet, it
is in the shadow of the Earth for about 45 minutes of each orbit. Steven quizzed
the audience's knowledge and retention abilities using hypothetical scenarios for
missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. He provided a chocolate
to all who answered his questions correctly. This strategy kept the mood light and
increased audience participation.
Elaine Lewis, Troy Cline and Steele Hill followed Steven's presentation with another
set of activities. In one of the activities the teachers had to work in teams to
build a device that would efficiently collect and trap solar energy. Teachers used
two paper cups, a white or black piece of paper, tape, a thermometer (to measure
temperature changes), and a piece of clear plastic wrap to build their device. Each
team built two collectors, one with white paper and one with black paper, and compared
their effectiveness. To put the devices to the test, the teachers went outside and
exposed their collectors to the Sun. Temperature measurements were taken every two
minutes. As expected, the devices with black paper (which absorbs sunlight) worked
better than the ones with white paper (which reflects sunlight). In the second activity
teachers used UV beads to detect ultraviolet rays from the Sun. The UV beads, originally
white in color, turned to different colors in the presence of UV rays. Mr. Cline
talked about extensions to the activities and ways to adapt them to different grade
levels. In the end, the activities demonstrated how solar energy can be detected,
measured, and used for a purpose.
The symposium concluded with a sneak peak at a Learning Module currently in development
titled: Living and Working in Space: Energy. Don Boonstra gave participants a guided
tour through the almost-finished web site and shared with the teachers what to expect
regarding activities and resources. This new learning module is part of the Student
Observation Network available at NASA’s web site.
Want to see more photos taken during the program? Check out the photo gallery below
and feel free to browse the program's agenda.
Steven Johnson's symposium presentation:
PowerPoint presentation
(3.54 MB)
For more information contact symposia@nsta.org
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