NASA’s Langley Research Center’s Office of STEM Engagement makes its hay bringing science, technology, engineering, and math to students. One school year-long initiative with a local school division has helped create a new generation of students engaged in STEM.
Langley and Virginia Beach City Public Schools took part in the NASA Student Ambassador Program for students participating in the 14th Annual STEM Trifecta initiative. This ongoing initiative includes a 3D-printing Maker Expo, a 3D-printing challenge, a cyber security challenge, and a robotics challenge organized through an after-school club.
The student ambassador program provides an opportunity for students participating in the Maker Expo Challenge, to gain information about the latest NASA missions and activities, to hear presentations from NASA scientists, engineers and educators, to have access to virtual and in-person tours of NASA facilities, and to have opportunities to be fully immersed in current research and technology with NASA.
“Working with NASA has been a really fun addition,” said Mary Warren, technology education teacher at Salem Middle School. “The students enjoyed the information that was shared and were able to come up with some really neat ideas for our competition due to the research that went along with the NASA activities.”
In conjunction with the program, the school system’s STEM Trifecta initiative provided an opportunity for students in grades 5-12 to participate in unique, hands-on STEM activities that expand students’ educational opportunities while also challenging students to develop solutions to some of the problems NASA is facing with human spaceflight. Exactly 170 students and 22 coaches from 18 combined elementary, middle, and high schools participated in the Maker Expo Challenge program.
“I saw students go over and above on research and details — many even looked for additional sites as well as NASA sites to get more information on certain topics,” Warren said. “The students were very interested, engaged, and focused.”
During the previous school year each month (December 2021-May 2022), students were actively engaged in completing a NASA STEM activity and watching a pre-recorded webinar, provided by Langley’s Office of STEM Engagement, during the STEM session, said Langley Education Program Specialist Stephanie Cartwright.
Students took part in a variety of activities with Langley subject matter experts related to landing humans on the Moon via the Artemis mission and modeling a spacecraft docking station.
“The progression made by the students at my school has been no less than astounding,” Warren said. “They started with many small ideas, did research, used the design process, and came up with a fantastic idea that they shaped and worked.”
Students in Warren’s class at Salem Middle were effusive with praise for the program, saying the program subject matter was interesting and they found out things they wanted to know more about like space technologies and STEM-related jobs.
“It was amazing to see how their thought process went and how they were able to utilize the NASA research as well as their own research to come up with their products,” Warren said.
