CP4SMPVC: Stories From the Field
Lunar Caves Analog Test Sites (LCATS) is a Space-STEM learning curriculum that engages a pipeline of motivated middle and high school students and has them assisting aerospace professionals in solving real-world space exploration technology development challenges through investigations of science experiments, space exploration mission operations, technology development, and habitability system architectures.
Pacific Science Center wanted to engage their many audiences -- the public, school-aged children, teens -- with the topic of remote sensing. It is unfamiliar to many, but the ability to obtain information from a distance has countless direct applications to our daily lives. They especially wanted to encourage interest in the wide field of remote-sensing careers, particularly among groups underrepresented in STEM fields.
For people living in southern and eastern Oregon, visiting the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) means a sixteen-hour road trip. For OMSI then, serving rural communities with STEM content means taking the show on the road.
FLIGHT at Edventure Children's Museum in Columbia, South Carolina incorporates real airplane elements throughout the exhibit - including right through a wall! In addition to "flying" the Boeing 757 emerging from the side of the building, visitors experience a learning theater made from airplane fuselage sides and seats, a child-sized wind tunnel, "Flight School" with Boeing 777 simulators, an airplane manufacturing robot, a paper airplane test flight station, and more.
Boston Children’s Museum is pleased to announce the newest version of its award-winning Beyond the Chalkboard website, which now includes a series of NASA-inspired activities and resources for after-school teachers around the world. Beyond the Chalkboard is filled with hundreds of free activities created specifically for after-school educators, and this new version of the site showcases brand-new earth and space science activities that bring inspiring NASA resources into children’s lives.
In the Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school district, 56% of 4th graders score below proficiency standards in science. Out of school, children can lose up to three months of academic achievement over the summer. Yet teachers facing the transition to Next Generation Science Standards are often unsure how to bring science and engineering into their classrooms; out-of-school time educators and parents without expertise in such topics are also often hesitant to pursue them with children and don’t know where to get resources.
Kids love astronauts. They want to be them, and are curious about what it’s like to live and work in space. And, unlike some things that entrance children, most adults share this interest. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis wanted to build on this shared fascination to create a learning experience for families. But how to bring the reality of living and working in space down to Earth?
Everyone knows you can’t see stars in the city. This common knowledge is actually a common misconception – one the Franklin Institute decided to tackle head on. It’s a tall order, though, to help a city full of people unaware of what they can discover by looking up. The Institute needed to find a way to engage many more people - people who wouldn’t normally be served by astronomy programs.
NASA announced the selection of three proposals from informal learning institutions to the 2015 NASA Research Announcement NNH15ZHA001N CP4SMPVC+. This addition brings the total of organizations helping NASA further its goal of attracting more students to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) via active CP4SMPVC+ projects to 29, across 20 states and the District of Columbia.
Museums inspire dreams - to become an astronaut, an aerospace engineer, an astronomer. But can they also help provide a pathway to those goals?
