NES Professional Development Web Seminar on May 1

Engineering Design: Forces and Motion — The Great Boomerang Challenge
Audience: 6-8 and Informal Educators
Event Date: May 1, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. EDT

Learn about the Boomerang Design Challenge and two extensions featuring free computer simulations that teach students about airflow around airfoils. The activity provides opportunities for incorporating national science, technology and mathematics standards into the curricula and addresses middle school Next Generation Science Standards.

For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES4/webseminar17.aspx.

NASA Now: Engineering Design–Tiltrotors, Aircraft of the Future

NASA Now

Amanda Blough, a NASA Explorer Schools educator from Chambersburg, Penn., introduces NASA Now: Engineering Design: Tilt Rotors, Aircraft of the Future.


Meet Carl Russell, a research aerospace engineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. His team is working on developing aircraft that use tilt rotors as opposed to traditional wings. He discusses how tilt rotors work, including how they demonstrate Bernoulli’s Principle to generate lift. He also shows how this technology could cut down on the time needed for takeoff and landing at the airport.


This NASA Now program is available on the NES Virtual Campus beginning April 17.


NASA Now Minute


Professional Development Web Seminar: Engineering Design: Forces & Motion-The Great Boomerang Challenge

Professional Development Opportunity

NASA Explorer Schools and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a free 90-minute professional development Web seminar on Oct. 11, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Learn how aerodynamic forces and motion are used in boomerang design. Participants will be introduced to the Boomerang Design Challenge and learn how to incorporate this activity into science classes. Two extensions featuring free computer simulations that teach students about airflow around airfoils will also be shared.


Link to the information and registration page.


NASA Now: Model Aircraft

NASA NowIn this episode of NASA Now, Sam James explains why NASA engineers build model aircraft. James talks about how models are tested in wind tunnels and why it’s important to create models that are proportional to full-scale aircraft. He discusses why models are an inexpensive alternative to full-scale aircraft during the redesigning stage of the engineering design process.


This program is available on the Virtual Campus beginning May 30.



Preview of NASA Now: Model Aircraft