Recycling: The New Do-It-Yourself Podcast Module

“One of astronauts’ favorite things to do is breathe.”

A presenter at a recent Marshall Space Flight Center award ceremony pointed out this fact as he introduced an award recipient who had worked on the International Space Station carbon dioxide removal assembly.

Of course, breathing is important. But so is recycling, especially on the space station. You won’t do the first without the second.

With our newest DIY Podcast module, Recycling, you and your students can use NASA content to create a podcast or other multimedia product with NASA video, audio clips and images to show the importance of recycling in a closed system. Space recycling is not the same as recycling aluminum, paper, plastic, etc., on Earth: Instead, this module is about recycling our most vital needs — air and water.

The module includes sound bites from an interview with NASA microbiologist Monsi Roman (pronounced ro-MAHN). She worked on the Environmental Control and Life Support System for the space station from its inception and was able to see the finished product in use by the station crew. She is currently working on life support systems to sustain a crew on missions beyond Earth’s orbit. Roman explains the purpose of ECLSS, how it was tested and why it’s important.

A couple of sound bites from astronaut Mike Fincke explain how the life support system removes carbon dioxide from the air and what happens to other space trash. We have a few clips from 2009 of the Expedition 19 station crew taking the inaugural drinks of recycled water.

The animation clips in this module illustrate the chemical processes that occur as the ECLSS recycles.

In all, we have 23 video clips, 16 audio clips and 16 images to start you on the road to Recycling.

Please Note: If you leave a comment, do not include a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able to approve your comment if you add a URL.

DIY Podcast: Recycling

DIY Podcast Home

NASA RECOMMENDS DISCONTINUATION OF STUDENT ROCKET ACTIVITY

Recently,an air pressurized paper rocket launcher being used by an educator failed. Thislauncher is described in NASA’s Rockets Educator Guide, publicationsEG-2011-11-223-KSC, pp. 86-90 and EG-2008-05-060-KSC, pp. 86-90.


NASAcompleted an engineering investigation into the failure and determined that thelauncher, or design equivalents, should not be used. NASA has removed thelauncher design from its website and its education curriculum. Individuals andorganizations should immediately discontinue use of the launcher published inthe referenced NASA publications.


The point of contact for additionalinformation is James Stofan, Deputy Associate Administrator for EducationIntegration at nasaedpartners@nasa.gov. We request that your organization assist NASA in disseminating thisinformation as widely as possible throughout the education community.

 

PleaseNote: If you leave a comment, do notinclude a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able toapprove your comment if you add a URL.

One of Our Kind, Under Water

What a great time to be a teacher! In our last post, we highlighted
educator-turned-astronaut Joe Acaba, Astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger poses beside a T-38 jet trainerwho is orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station. A teacher-turned-aquanaut just completed a mission under the waters of the Florida Keys. 

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger taught high school science in
Washington state for five years. In 2003, she applied for NASA’s Educator Astronaut Program. NASA selected her to be an astronaut candidate in 2004, and she finished astronaut training in 2006.
She flew on the16-day space shuttle mission STS-131 in 2010. Dottie recently spent 12 days as commander of NEEMO 16 at Aquarius — the world’s only undersea research station.  Aquarius is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, and is located 3.5 miles off Key Largo, 62 feet below the surface next to a deep coral reef.

NASA uses Aquarius for the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project. The NEEMO crew members, called aquanauts, are able to simulate living in a harsh environment such as explorers might encounter on an asteroid, moon or distant planet. As commander of NEEMO 16, Dottie led her crew in accomplishing the mission goals and also performing experiments that students and teachers could follow.

The NEEMO 16 crew's underwater portrait

You and your students can use videos of Dottie from her space shuttle mission to build a podcast about microgravity. The DIY Podcast Micro-g module features Dottie in videos 42-v Micro-g, 44-v Micro-g, and 45-v Micro-g.

NEEMO

DIY Podcast: Micro-g

DIY Podcast Home

Please Note: If you leave a comment, do not include a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able to approve your comment if you add a URL.

One of Our Kind in Space

Teachers dedicate their lives to the next generation. As a middle school teacher, I remember doing just about anything to teach a great lesson.

Astronaut Joe Acaba was/is a middle and high school teacher. (Aren’t we always teachers, even after we step out of the classroom?) Joe taught science and math, but now he’s on the International Space Station. He became an astronaut in 2004. He has visited the station before as a mission specialist on space shuttle mission STS-119. This time he’s going to live and work on the station for several months as a flight engineer for Expeditions 31 and 32.

Alt tag: Astronaut Joe Acaba, ready for a spacewalk, wears a white spacesuit

Because he’s a teacher-turned-astronaut, education is in his blood. Visit the Teach Station website to learn about upcoming education opportunities. Don’t forget to follow Joe on Twitter and read his blog, The Great Outer Space.

Students may want to incorporate Joe’s visit to the space station into their podcast episodes using the Space Station module.

Now is a good time to learn about the International Space Station, while a teacher is on board.

 Expedition 31 crew poster with Robonaut 2   Expedition 32 crew poster

Teach Station

Expedition 31 

DIY Podcast: Space Station

DIY Podcast Home

Please Note: If you leave a comment, do not include a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able to approve your comment if you add a URL.

All Things Station

The International Space Station is massive. And NASA has a massive amount of Web pages about the station. How can you cut through the technical data and focus on the educational aspects of the station so students can benefit from the orbiting science laboratory?

The answer is the Teach Station website. The new site is the place to go for lessons, activities, opportunities, news and other educational resources related to the space station.

The Teach Station logo with a silhouette of the International Space Station

 

The site is one of many websites offered by the Teaching From Space Office. Teaching From Space offers experiences and resources not found anywhere else. Through the Teach Station site you can learn about Inflight Educational Downlinks. These downlinks put you in touch with astronauts aboard the International Space Station to answer questions related to your classroom studies.

Teach Station is the site to find resources for students as they’re building podcasts using the Space Station module. Teach Station has the who, what, when and where of International Space Station news.

DIY Podcast Home

Please Note: If you leave a comment, do not include a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able to approve your comment if you add a URL.

Seeing the Station

Remember in the movie “October Sky” when the family went outside and watched as the Russian Sputnik satellite flew overhead? It looked like a point of light moving across the sky. That had to be a cool and somewhat frightening experience. When the International Space Station flies over, it looks similar to what was shown in the movie. If the conditions are good, you and your students might be able to see the station flying across the night sky. Seeing the station makes it relevant and could make students more enthusiastic when they create a podcast episode using the Space Station DIY Podcast module.

NASA has a website that tells where and when the station will be flying over, the station’s location in the sky at that time, and the amount of time it will be visible. You and your students can figure out when it will be passing over your community.

Another NASA page shows the current location of the station on a world map. This page is fun because you can see when the station is in daylight or darkness.

Screenshot of the space station orbital tracking map

 

The Brain Bites video “How Can I See the Space Station?” shows how that tiny point of light will look as it flies overhead.

One evening as I was leaving work, the space station flew overhead. My co-worker pointed it out. I jumped out of my car and ran into our office through the back door. There were only a few people left in the building so I shouted, “The station is flying over,” and dashed out the front door because the station was flying over the building. My colleagues caught up with me outside. Believe it or not, some of us at NASA are geeks and still love to watch the station fly over.

When I was teaching, I would give my students the “assignment” of watching for the station. Eighth-graders can be as excited about seeing the station as some of us at NASA are.

My most exciting station sighting was in Florida during the launch of STS-131. The shuttle was on the launch pad for a 6:30 a.m. liftoff. It was still dark. At about 6:15 a.m., the station flew over in front of the moon. The experience couldn’t have been better if someone had planned it.

Look up and see the station as soon as you can. And, oh yes, there is an app for that. Search for apps for your smartphone or tablet computer, and you may find several versions of an app that will alert you when the station is flying over.

•    Station Sighting Opportunities
•    Station Tracking Map

DIY Podcast: Space Station

DIY Podcast Home

If I Could Talk to the Astronauts

NASA discovers new worlds, builds better aircraft, sends probes to the end of the solar system, studies Earth, and launches humans into space. On top of all that, NASA has free opportunities for teacher and student involvement.

Another one of those opportunities is coming soon. NASA is accepting proposals from educational institutions that would like to host a videoconference with astronauts who are on board the International Space Station. The event is called an In-flight Education Downlink. During the downlink, students and astronauts have a 20-minute question-and-answer session as the astronauts orbit Earth. I like to call it the ultimate “ask-the-expert” experience.

The proposals, due June 1, 2012, will allow the selected institutions (schools, districts, museums, etc.) to downlink with the space station Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Astronauts Sunita Williams, Kevin Ford and Thomas Marshburn will answer students’ questions. Williams is returning to the station. She lived and worked on the station 195 days during her tour as flight engineer for Expeditions 14 and 15 from December 2006 to June 2007. She is featured in the DIY Podcast: Fitness module.
 

Watch astronauts Dan and Don talk to elementary school students
during a recent downlink.

Even before you submit a proposal, you and your students can participate in an interactive webcast with Williams. On May 2, 2012, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. EDT, Williams will discuss her past experiences with NASA and the science she’ll be performing during her next mission. The webcast is made available by NASA’s Digital Learning Network.

What kind of questions would your students ask if they could talk to the astronauts? Would they be motivated to learn more about science, technology, engineering or math? 

NASA’s Teaching From Space Office makes the In-flight Education Downlinks available. TFS will even help you plan your proposal with informal online sessions to answer your questions. As part of the application, you will need to explain your plan for post-downlink activities. How will you use the downlink experience to continue to motivate your students and the community? Consider including clips from the downlink in your DIY Podcast creations.

Don’t miss these chances to talk to NASA astronauts.

For more information, contact the Teaching From Space Office by email at JSC-Teaching-From-Space@mail.nasa.gov or by phone at 281-244-7608.

Here are a few articles to help and inspire you. Good luck.

     
     DIY Podcast Home

    Please Note: If you leave a comment, do not include a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able to approve your comment if you add a URL.

    Get Involved: Spaced Out Sports

    Space + sports = fun. Yes, I am a former math teacher, and I remember what adds up to engaged learning — start with two subjects that most students enjoy.

    Hypothesis: Combining the wonder of space and NASA with the thrill of sports will motivate students for greater learning success.

    And now the science teacher in me comes out.

    Whether you take the mathematical approach or use the scientific method, NASA’s Spaced Out Sports design challenge can get the ball rolling. Okay, I’ll stop.

    Students design a game for astronauts to play on the space station.

    Students apply Newton’s Laws of Motion to design or redesign a game that astronauts on the International Space Station can play.

    The competition is open to students in grades 5-8. Student teams will submit game demonstrations via a playbook and a video. Submissions will be accepted from schools, home school groups, and after-school or enrichment programs.

    Watch the video of last year’s winners.

    Use the DIY Podcast videos to jump-start students’ ideas and to find background information about Newton’s laws and microgravity.

    •    DIY Podcast: Micro-g
    •    DIY Podcast: Newton’s Laws
    •    DIY Podcast: Sports Demo

    DIY Podcast videos
    •    Tightrope walking in microgravity
    •    Microgravity baseball
    •    Football on the station

    The deadline for Spaced Out Sports submissions is March 16, 2012.
    For details, visit the Spaced Out Sports website.

    Teachers, let the games begin!

    DIY Podcast Home

    Please Note: If you leave a comment, please do not include a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able to approve your comment if you add a URL.

    New DIY Podcast Topic Module: Space Station

    I could go on and on praising the International Space Station. You will probably recognize that when you see our newest DIY Podcast module — Space Station.

    Selecting photos for the image page was like deciding which of your family’s pictures to use in the photo album — you know they’re all cute. Well, maybe it’s not that bad, but I had some tough decisions to make when it came to excluding pictures and videos. They’re all good.

    I probably said this about the last module, but I’m excited about this one. The videos are informative and fun. The possibilities are nearly endless when it comes to ways for students to use the video, audio and images to create a podcast episode. The station is real-world science; it’s off the planet; and things float there. Exciting!

    The International Space Station orbiting Earth

    This module has video and audio clip interviews from two experts. Camille Alleyne is the assistant program scientist for the International Space Station. Mike Fincke currently holds the NASA record for most time in orbit.

    One of the many perks of my job is interviewing experts. I wanted to ask Ms. Alleyne questions all day. The more I listened the more impressed I was about the science taking place on the station. We have a lot of good things going on up there that are benefitting the world. I think I love the space station.

    Interviewing Colonel Fincke was just plain fun. You’ll see what I mean when you watch the clips. Fincke gives us the perspective only someone who has lived on the station could.

    We also have footage of astronaut Garrett Reisman giving a tour of the space station in 2008. This was before the station was finished, but you’ll get a glimpse of life aboard the station.

    We also have extra footage of the station. And because there is so much to learn about the station, we have added an extra page of links that students can use for more research.

    Beware of station overload!

    DIY Podcast: Space Station

    DIY Podcast Home

    Note: If you leave a comment, please do not include a link to your blog or other websites. We typically won’t be able to approve your comment if you add a URL.

    The Laws That Govern NASA

    From launching rockets and flying airplanes to understanding masses and orbits or planets, NASA depends on Newton’s Laws of Motion. We have great resources for those who teach physical science. Three DIY Podcast modules include videos and audio with astronauts and NASA experts explaining the laws of motion.

    Students can combine clips from Newton’s Laws,Sports Demo, and Rocket Science with their own demonstrations to create a podcast episode explaining the laws of motion.

    Below I’ve listed some NASA resources that you can use with your class.

    Newton's first law of motion Lunar Nautics: Newton’s Laws of Motion Activities

    Navigating by Good Gyrations

    Why Do the Planets Go Around the Sun?
    A Short Introduction to Black Holes

    The Spinning World of Spacecraft Reaction Wheels (PDF)

    Fundamental Aeronautics Program: Newton’s Laws for Students

    “From Stargazers to Starships” Site:

    Newton and his Laws

    Mass
    Mass Measurements Aboard Space Station Skylab
    Comparing Masses Without the Use of Gravity

    Newton’s Second Law

    Newton’s Third Law
    Momentum
    Work
    Work Against an Electric Force: The Van de Graaff Generator

    Motion in a Circle

    Newton’s Theory of “Universal Gravitation”

    DIY Podcast Home