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Effects of Space Flight on the Human Body
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Thanks to All for a Great Day!
NSTA wishes to thank Monica Trevathan, Dr. Steven Platts, Dr. Scott Smith, Lisa
Neasbitt, and Julia Bulkowski for delivering an outstanding symposium on The Human
Effects of Space Flight at the national convention in Dallas, Texas, on Friday,
April 1, 2005.
The morning started with an overview of the agenda, learning goals, and a pre-assessment
of the participants' knowledge of learning outcomes for the symposium. From there,
the team launched everyone into singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" which was
an example of approximately how long it takes blood to circulate through the human
body. Participants quickly realized they were in for a thought-provoking and fun-filled
symposium.
TThe day was filled with hands-on activities such as experiencing the effects of
stress (exercise) on the human system and comparing decalcified and normal bone.
These activities led participants to think about and discuss what it's like for
humans to live and work in space. To simulate some of the effects of microgravity
on the human body, participants assumed precarious on the floor and observed effects
similar to those they would experience in space. Using simplistically elegant demonstrations,
the team did a fantastic job of describing how blood flows through the body and
the role gravity plays in its transportation.
Throughout the morning, participants not only learned fantastic hands-on activities
to use in their classrooms but also got to hear Dr. Steven Platts and Dr. Scott
Smith speak about their work with humans in space. Platts is a research scientist
at the Cardiovascular Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. He shared his expertise
in how the cardiovascular system is affected by space travel and what astronauts
can do to mitigate these effects. Smith addressed issues with the skeletal system
in space, such as calcium loss, and what is being looked at to assist in minimizing
bone density loss in long-duration space flights.
All participants received a plethora of materials to take back to the classroom
including posters, copies of the hands-on activities, and CD-ROMs with static versions
of web resources addressing the human effects of space flight and human explorers
in space.
For more information contact symposia@nsta.org
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Underwritten in part by NASA
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