NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Experiment Overview


Brief Summary

Education Payload Operations-Scientific Principles-Demonstrations (EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos) records video education demonstrations highlighting various fundamental scientific principles performed by crewmembers using hardware already onboard the International Space Station (ISS). EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos enhance existing NASA education resources and programs for educators and students in grades K-12. EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos support the NASA mission to inspire the next generation of explorers.

Principal Investigator(s)

Information Pending

Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

Information Pending

Developer(s)

Johnson Space Center, Teaching From Space Office, Houston, TX, United States

Sponsoring Space Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Sponsoring Organization

NASA Education (EDU)

Research Benefits

Information Pending

ISS Expedition Duration:

April 2003 - March 2011

Expeditions Assigned

7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19/20,21/22,23/24,25/26

Previous ISS Missions

EPO began demonstrations on Expedition 4.

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Experiment Description

Research Overview

• Education Payload Operations-Scientific Principles-Demonstrations (EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos) records video education demonstrations highlighting various fundamental scientific principles performed by crewmembers using hardware already onboard the International Space Station (ISS). EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos enhance existing NASA education resources and programs for educators and students in grades K-12. EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos support the NASA mission to inspire the next generation of explorers.



• EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos products are used for demonstrations and to support curriculum materials that are distributed across the United States and internationally to educators to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and inspire the next generation of space explorers.

Description

Education Payload Operations-Scientific Principles-Demonstrations (EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos) are recorded video education demonstrations performed on the International Space Station (ISS) by crewmembers using hardware already onboard the ISS. EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos are videotaped, edited, and used to enhance existing NASA education resources and programs for educators and students in grades K-12. EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos are designed to support the NASA mission to inspire the next generation of explorers.

EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos products are used for demonstrations and to support curriculum materials that are distributed across the United States and internationally to educators to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and inspire the next generation of space explorers. Each ISS Expedition involves different on-orbit activities and themes, as well as different partners, such as museums, universities, and public school districts.

EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos are as follows:

• Bernoulli's Principle Grades: 5 -12
  This video provides students and educators a stronger understanding of Bernoulli's Principle and how the microgravity environment onboard the ISS affects that principle. Crewmembers use multiple items to demonstrate Bernoulli's Principle in microgravity. (Increments 8, 19/20)



• Center of Mass Grades: 7 - 12 This video provides students with a better understanding of center of mass. (Increment 7)



• Centripetal Force/Acceleration Grades: 7-12
  This video provides students with a better understanding of centripetal acceleration, how and why it arises, and its practical uses onboard the International Space Station. (Increment 21/22)



• Conservation of Angular Momentum Grades: 7-12
  This video provides students with a stringer understanding of the conservation of angular momentum. (Increment 9)



• Earth, Moon, Mars Grades: 5-12
  This video provides a simple visual demonstration of the distance between Earth, the moon, and Mars. (Increments 15, 25/26)



• Floor/Ceiling Grades:K-12
  This video provides students with a stronger understanding of orientation in space with a demonstration of how ISS crewmembers can work in different planes. (Increment 12)



• Linear Momentum Grades: 8-12
  This video provides students and their educators with a stronger understanding of the conservation of linear momentum, and of how the knowledge they are gaining through education can be applied to real world situations. Demonstration include: Conservation of Momentum, Rear-End Collision, Rear-End Collision: Stick Together, Head-On Collision, and Head-On Collision: Stick together. (Increment 19/20)



• Newton's Laws Grades: 5-8 This video provides a simple visual explanation of Newton's Three Laws of Motion and the conservation of angular momentum. (Increments 7, 16))



• Rotation Set Grades: 9-12
  This video provides students and educators with a stronger understanding of center of mass, rotation, and moments of inertia. Demonstrations include: Center of Mass, Stable and Unstable Rotation, and Complex Rotation. (Increment 21/22)



• Speed/Work/Energy Grades: 5-12
  This video provides students with a stronger understanding of the speed of the ISS in orbit compared to the speed of the Earth moving through space. It also considers the energy of crewmembers in orbit and the work that is required to get them there and back. (Increment 21/22)



• Surface Tension Grades: 9-12
  This video provides students and educators with a stronger understanding of the surface tension of water and intermolecular forces. (Increment 19/20)


Vibrations Grades: 5-12
This video provides students and educators with a stronger understanding of how daily activities produce vibrations and how such vibrations affect the International Space Station. (Increment 12)


• Water Droplet Grades: 5-12 This video provides students with a stronger understanding of how a water droplet behaves in microgravity. (Increment 9)



• Wave Motion Grades: 7-12 This video provides students and educators with a stronger understanding of waves, their motion, and interactions. Demonstrations include: traveling pulse wave, changing the speed of a wave, reflection of a wave, wave interference, and standing waves. (Increment 19/20)



• Weight and Mass Grades: 4-12
  This video provides students and educators a stronger understanding of the difference between mass and weight and the effects of microgravity on both. Crewmembers perform five examples to demonstrate Weight vs. Mass in microgravity. (Increments 9, 19/20)

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Applications

Space Applications

These investigations and related activities have strong ties to NASA?s Vision for Space Exploration and are designed to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Earth Applications

EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos is part of NASA's continuing effort to use space as a unique educational tool for K-12 students. Everyday items are given a new twist by combining them with the allure of space flight and the unusual weightless environment to produce educational materials that inspire interest in science and technology and encourage curiosity and creativity.

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Operations

Operational Requirements

EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos does not require power, telemetry, or specialized hardware. However, each demonstration requires several hours from at least two crew members, one of whom operates the video equipment and the other demonstrates the activity.

Operational Protocols

After setting up the demonstration, at least one crew member performs the demonstration while another films it. Each demonstration has its own props (e.g., toys or tools). The demonstration is then dismantled and returned to stowage. After the videos are returned to Earth, they are used to develop teaching guides, project plans, and educational packages focusing on the physical sciences and technology.

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Results/More Information

EPO-Demos has been a successful education program on ISS. By using simple objects and the microgravity environment , NASA is able to produce physical properties, such as force, motion, and energy, that may be obscured by gravity on Earth. Several specific videos demonstrating basic science principles have been created and are available via the NASA Education Project and Central Operations of Resources for Educators (CORE). (Evans et al. 2009)

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Related Websites

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Imagery

Astronauts Koichi Wakata and Frank DeWinne demonstrate Bernoulli?s Principles in the microgravity environment of the ISS. Image courtesy of Teaching From Space Office, NASA Johnson Space Center.
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Astronaut Bob Thirsk demonstrates wave motion with a slinky aboard the ISS. Image courtesy of Teaching From Space Office, NASA Johnson Space Center.
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Astronaut Bob Thirsk demonstrates the surface tension of water in microgravity. Image courtesy of Teaching From Space Office, NASA Johnson Space Center.
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Astronauts Bob Thirsk and Koichi Wakata describe and demonstrate the difference between mass and weight using a drink bag and tape measure. Image courtesy of Teaching From Space Office, NASA Johnson Space Center.
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Teaching From Space Office team members in the Johnson Space Center TeleScience Center supporting an EPO-Demo conducted by astronaut Suni Williams. Image courtesy of Teaching From Space Office, NASA Johnson Space Center.
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