Social, Cultural and Educational Legacies - ER - NASA

Using documentation on the special site,teachers and their students conductedhands-on activities relating to thisexperiment. Students communicatedwith expert fly researchers, madepredictions about the results, and askedquestions of the scientists.Frogs in Space—How Does theTadpole Change?In the United States and Japan’squest to learn how life responds tothe rigors of the space environment,NASA launched STS-47 (1992)—a Japanese-sponsored life sciencemission. The question to be answeredby this mission was: How wouldspace affect the African clawed frog’slife cycle? The life cycle of thisparticular frog fit nicely into thistime period. Fertilized eggs werepackaged in small grids, each housedin specially designed plastic cases.Some of these samples were allowedto experience microgravity duringthe mission, while others were placedin small centrifuges and kept atvarious simulated gravities betweenmicrogravity and Earth environment.The education portion of theexperiment allowed student groupsand teachers to learn about the frogembryology experiment by studyingthe adaptive development of frogsto the microgravity environment.NASA produced an educationpackage and educational CD-ROMfrom this experiment.Teachers Learn AboutHuman Spaceflight“Reach for your dreams, the sky is nolimit,” exclaimed Educator AstronautBarbara Morgan while encouragingteachers to facilitate their students’discovery, learning, and sharing abouthuman spaceflight.The excitement of spectacularshuttle launches and on-orbit scienceenriched students’ learning. For30 years, the Space Shuttle Programprovided teachers around the nationan unparalleled opportunity toparticipate in professional developmentworkshops—promoting students toget hooked on science, technology,engineering, and mathematics careers.Historically, NASA has focused onteachers because of their profoundimpact on students. The main objectiveof NASA teacher programs wasprofessional development whileproviding numerous classroom andcurriculum resources.Exciting educator workshops withthemes such as “Blastoff into Learning”or “Ready, Set, and Launch” focusedon the Space Shuttle as a classroomin space. Teachers respondedenthusiastically to these initiatives.Damien Simmons, an advancedplacement physics teacher at an Illinoishigh school, said it best after attendinga Network of Educator AstronautTeachers workshop at the NASAGlenn Research Center in Cleveland,Ohio. “I’m taking home lessons andexamples that you can’t find intextbooks. When my students see thereal-world applications of physics,I hope it will lead them to pursuecareers in engineering.”Melanie Brink, another teacherhonored by the Challenger Center, said,“Embracing the fundamentals ofscience has always been at the coreof my curriculum. Preparing studentsto be successful young adults in the ageof technology, math, and science is anexciting challenge.”NASA continues to provide teachersopportunities to use spaceflight in theirclassrooms to promote education.City of Bellflower, California, luncheon “Reaching for the Stars/Growing Together” honored teacherPam Leestma’s second- and third-grade students for their spaceflight learning activities.Back row (left to right): Kaylin Townsend, Jerron Raye, Brendan Mire, Payton Kooi, and Rylee Winters.Front row: Julianne Bassett and teacher Pam Leestma.480Social, Cultural, and Educational Legacies