Audience
Educators, Students
Grade Levels
Grades 5-8, Grades 9-12, Informal Education
Subject
Careers, Spanish
Type
Hands-on Activities, Videos
NASA Role Model: Nicole Pettingill
NASA Center: Langley Research Center
Topic: Advanced Air Mobility
Original Air Date: April 28, 2021
Join an aerospace engineer from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and learn about her pathway to NASA, her day-to-day work as an engineer and how she is helping to develop and validate tools, technologies and concepts to overcome key barriers to the expand the use of vertical lift configurations in the nation’s airspace.
STEM Short Activity: Build Your Own Helicopter
Objective: Explore how propellers create lift and the resulting torque that is also created. Design the body, or fuselage, of a helicopter to minimize the effect of torque.
Duration: 60 minutes
Materials Needed: craft stick, propeller, paper clip, rubber band, piece of cardstock, pair of scissors, ruler, tape.
Difficulty: Moderate
Next Generation Science Standards: 5PS2-1
“NASA STEM Stars” is a webchat series. Each chat introduces a science, technology, engineering or math career, addresses a STEM topic and highlights a NASA mission. The chat includes a STEM activity that students can do at home. After the interviews, experts answer students’ questions.