NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Event Focus What research is conducted at NASA Glenn? What opportunites are in your future? Why is school important? Why should students focus on their studies now in order to achieve their career goals? Description

Special Events: For the 2011-12 School year the Digital Learning Network at  the NASA John. H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio is offering a variety  of Special Event connections for you and your students. The events will happen on a monthly basis. Three schools will be chosen to connect for each of the videoconference events listed below. The event grade level targeted for each event is mentioned in the listing. The events may also be webcast, depending on the amount of requests we receive, for all other schools and students who are interested in viewing the programs. Please see the video conference activities section below for information about how to register for this special event. Anyone wishing to register for this program MUST also be a registered user of the DLN! If you are NOT a registered user, please go to our homepage and become a registered user FIRST.

 

Special GRC Event Schedule!

 

November and December

Co-Op opportunities for high school seniors

Presenter: Maria Arredondo, Co-op student, OSSI Center Administrator

Grade Level: High School Seniors/Juniors

Focus Question: How can students apply at NASA?

Description: Have you been interested in working for NASA and asked yourself "How do I get into NASA?" "What is it I need to do?" During this presentation we will provide you with the steps on how students are able to apply for NASA. You will be able to ask questions of Maria Arredondo who has previously completed this process. She will  help you gain  valuable insight on how you can apply to work at NASA.

Topics covered: NASA Websites, Courses of Study

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Space Hereos

Presenter: Jeff Woytach, Aerospace Engineer, NASA Glenn

Grade Level: Any!

Focus Question: What is a Hero? What makes a "space" hero?

Description: The presentation discusses the qualities and attributes we apply to a person(s) whom we see as a hero. Examples of heroes in space exploration are presented with discussion as to how their actions make them heroes.

Topics covered: Space exploration history, sociology/psychology of a hero

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Alternative Fuels 

Presenter: Ana De La Ree, Chemist/Post-Doctoral Researcher - NASA Glenn

Grade Level: Middle School, High School, Colleges 

Focus Question: How will we fuel our transportation in the future?

Description: Today we use gasoline and jet fuel to get from one place to another. These fuels come from petroleum found in the ground. When this supply runs out, what will we do then? Research is being done on making alternative fuels from different sources like plants, plastic waste and gases found in the air and in space. I work on a project where we take two gases (carbon monoxide and hydrogen) put them through a catalytic process and produce crude oil. This oil can be refined to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The goal of this project is to be able to produce this synthetic crude oil in the cheapest way possible without creating any waste.

Topics covered:  Alternative Fuels, Environmental Stewardship of Earth,  How a catalyst works.

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January and February

 

Maneuvering in Space

Presenter: Heather Hickman, Aerospace Engineer, NASA Glenn

Grade Level: Middle School, High School, Colleges

Focus Question: How does a spacecraft move once it is in space?

Description: Most of us have watched rockets launch into space but what happens to a spacecraft once it reaches orbit? How do they get to where they are intended to go? NASA Engineer Heather Hickman will let us know how we maneuver in space and give us an idea of the different propulsion technologies used on spacecraft of today and what the future may be. We will get some insight on how spacecraft stay on course and the research being done at NASA.

Topics covered: Newton’s Laws of Motion, Types of In-Space Propulsion Systems, Examples of Propulsion Systems used on current spacecraft.

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The Human Body in Space

Presenter: David Fuller, Systems and Biomedical Engineer, NASA Glenn

Grade Level: 5-8

Focus Question: What happens to the human body in space?

Description: The human body, like most organisms on Earth, are highly adapted to the Earth’s gravity field. In orbit, where the effects of gravity are reduced to near zero, the human body tries to adapt to this new environment, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. This DLN topic will present some of the changes that the body makes while in microgravity and demonstrate these principles with simple models.

Topics covered: Health, Scientific Research, Space, Exploration, Human Anatomy and Physiology

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Additional topics you may request,

 

Habitat Management

Future Airplanes

Engineering Career Panel 

 

Please check back for more updates!

Instructional Objectives

 

Engage	Students will view various images from an engineering career.
Explore	Students will participate in discussion with an engineer and discuss their career path and necessary academic steps that lead them in that particular direction for their career choice.
Explain	Students will discuss importance of academic choices for their future career paths and how they parallel with the engineer's experiences.
Elaborate	Students will apply what they have learned from their discussions with the engineers to their own future career choices.
Evaluate	Students will express what they  must do in order to achieve their future plans in careers of their choice.

Sequence of Events

Pre-Conference Activities

Students may want to visit the NASA website at www.nasa.gov to become familiar with current NASA missions.

Videoconference Activities

3 schools per event will be allowed to join host, David Mazza, for the NASA Glenn Special Event Series.  Please review the events above, provide the needed information below, then email to David Mazza at david.a.mazza@nasa.gov 

 

• Topic name you wish to be considered for interactive participation
• Your Name
• School Name
• School Contact Email address
• Grade Level of students participating
• Number of students and teachers participating
• Videoconference Equipment Type 
• 1st choice of time you wish to participate
• 2nd choice of  time you wish to participate

Requests will be taken on a first come first serve basis. If we receive numerous requests we may be able to add another date and time for that program. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Dave at the email above.

Post-Conference Activities As a follow-up to this event, students may: 1.)  Write a "career path plan" that illustrates what students intend to do to achieve their career goals.  In order to accomplish this, students will identify their career choice and map out the necessary steps to achieve that career. To support their maps, students will want to do some research online, in their school media centers, or interview adults currently in the careers that they wish to achieve.  Maps can be expressed verbally through written papers or pictorially depending on how a student expresses their learning most comfortably. 2.)  Students may email host David Mazza with one paragraph describing what they learned from their experience during the chosen event and how they feel it impacted their feelings about the importance of school, learning, and their future career choices.  These email responses will be used as support for the effectiveness of special event presentations conducted by the GRC DLN.

Standards

Earth and Space Science Grades 4-8

• Earth in the Solar System

Science and Technology

• Understandings About Science and Technology

History and Nature of Science Grades 4-8

• Science as a Human Endeavor

• History of Science