Posted 2:08 am Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Imagine Mars Project An Education Initiative
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
The planet Mars may be about 65 million miles away, but with a little help from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in California and some 3-D glasses, Orr Elementary fifth-graders took a quick "field trip" there Tuesday.
A student asks Matt Heverly about Mars exploration live on the Web. Heverly, a Mars rover “driver” and mechanical engineer, builds robots at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif.
In a special presentation, David Delgado, one of two leads for the Imagine Mars Project at the JPL, stretched students' imaginations to think about the exploration of Mars, encouraging their questions and solutions for the challenges the planet presents.
Students whispered, "Cool," as they looked through 3-D glasses at actual images of Mars taken from rovers.
And they clamored with excitement when Delgado connected them via Skype to see and talk live with Matt Heverly, a Mars rover "driver" and mechanical engineer who builds robots back at the JPL in California. The students also got a view of Heverly's lab where he works.
Students peppered him with questions about everything from what would you eat on Mars to whether anyone has ever been to Mars.
"Maybe you can be the first to go Mars," Heverly encouraged students.
As part of the ongoing "Tyler Creates: Imagine Mars Project," fifth-graders at selected elementary schools are integrating arts and creative thinking to learn about science, according to information about the program.
Dave Delgado, one of two educational representatives from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., explains facts about the planet Mars during the Imagine Mars program at Orr Elementary on Tuesday.
They are creating inventions for Mars, comparing the Earth and Mars through arts production and visiting the Hudnall Planetarium.
This project is a pilot for similar ones in other parts of the state. Students at Rice and Caldwell elementary schools also are participating in the program and saw Delgado's presentation this week.
Kelia Quansah, a 10-year-old Orr student, said she walked away Tuesday feeling inspired to pursue a career that could help lead her to travel to Mars one day.
"I want to try and go and find life on Mars, if there is any," she said after the presentation.
Delgado talked to students about the new Mars rover called "Curiosity," which will go up next summer. It will take about seven months for it to get there. The new rover will look for signs of life or any building blocks of life on Mars.
"This is the biggest thing they've ever tried to land on Mars," he said.
"Spirit" and "Opportunity," the two rovers currently there, Delgado said, were looking for signs of water, which they found underground in the form of ice.
Students brainstormed ideas about how the new rover might land on Mars. Delgado showed a video of how they hope to land the rover, which travels at 15,000 miles per hour.
He encouraged students to brainstorm and to have "crazy ideas."
Students threw question after question at Delgado as well as Heverly about Mars and the potential for life on Mars. During the discussion, students learned about its gravity, atmosphere, often subzero temperatures and the timing for launching trips to Mars from Earth.
The JPL representatives also tossed the questions back to the students, making them think of the solutions to challenges, such as the lack of oxygen on Mars, where potential future astronauts would get food and whether plants could grow there.
Delgado told students that the adults in the room are too old to get to go to Mars, but it will be the students who have the opportunity.
"You guys are the ones who have to create the solutions," he said.
'AMAZING OPPORTUNITY'
The Imagine Mars Project is a national arts, sciences and technology education initiative that leads students to work together with scientists, engineers, artists and civics leaders to design and share a futuristic Mars community for 100 people, according to NASA's Web site. Those interested in participating can design their own project or use lesson plans and project ideas from the site to customize it.
Lucinda Presley, director of the Institute where Creativity Empowers Education (ICEE) Success, wrote the curriculum for the Tyler program. This program is teaching the earth science state standards using the Jet Propulsion Lab, Ms. Presley said.
"We are so lucky to be a part of this," she said. "These guys have been incredibly supportive. It's a real treat for Tyler because Imagine Mars isn't in a lot of places. It's incredible that David helped out."
Delgado praised Ms. Presley and her work bringing in robotics and linking the project directly to the state standards.
"It's not a project just of creativity and imaginative thinking," he said. "It's a project about actually learning things that need to be taught in school."
Orr Principal Walter Perez said the program involves all Orr fifth-graders, who will get a chance to build robots as part of the program. Orr's after school science club also is involved with the program, where students will have time to go more in-depth.
Fourth- and fifth-grade science teachers, as well as the art and music teachers and the whole fifth-grade team, are participating in training with Ms. Presley on creative thinking and learning how to integrate and make connections between science and art and music, Perez said.
"We're excited about what this is going to do for the campus academically, but also opening their eyes to this incredible world out there," Perez said, noting the excitement about the presentation Tuesday. "This is what learning is supposed to be. This is an amazing opportunity -- having the Jet Propulsion Lab, the lead person (for Imagine Mars) to come to Tyler and share his wealth of knowledge."
