NASA Looking to Fly Educator’s Experiments

Photo Credit: NASA

NASA is planning on inspiring the next generation of explorers in a way that only the space agency is capable of. NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC), located in Houston, Texas, is seeking out applications from school teachers who wish to fly scientific experiments aboard the agency’s reduced-gravity aircraft in 2013. 

The space agency’s Teaching From Space (TFS) project, based in NASA’s Education office, has created the MicroGravity eXperience (Micro GX) flight program to generate interest in fields relating to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math—more commonly known as “STEM.”

The program is open to kindergarten, elementary, and secondary school teachers and could serve to inspire their students to pursue degrees in STEM-related fields.

From July 12-20, 2013, those educators whose experiments are selected to fly will be provided with a professional development course online. This course will focus on microgravity science and will encompass the months leading up to their flights—as well as after.

Students are encouraged to assist their teachers in developing these reduced-gravity experiments for submission to Micro GX. This should allow educators to share the experience of working with NASA with their pupils.

NASA will select seven teams, each consisting of four or five educators from one school (or school district) for the Micro GX program.

Micro GX includes a range of unique opportunities for teachers who are interested in scientific research. These opportunities are just the tip of the iceberg, however. The flights are inherently invaluable as each will provide educators with experiences that they simply cannot get anywhere else.

For NASA, this program provides another venue in which the space agency can conduct public outreach that maximizes on the agency’s efforts.

Those interested in participating must be a U.S. citizen as well as teacher in grades K-12. All teams must submit a completed application to jsc-rgeducator@mail.nasa.gov no later than 11:59pm Pacific on January 9, 2013. To find out more click here: Micro GX

 

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