Microgravity Project by Frances Irby-Fries

1. Microgravity Project by Frances Irby-Fries This summer I worked with Dr. Sathya Gangadharan, a Mechanical Engineering Professor at ERAU and one of his graduate students, Nathan Silvernail. Nate has created a 1/37th working scale model of an on-orbit refueling station. My partner on this project was Jeff Cumber a mechanical engineer and high school engineering teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, FL. This experience has INSPIRED me to create three STEM modules to use with fourth and fifth grade students.

2. Module I: SLOSH Factor Can slosh cause a spacecraft to fall out of its orbit? Student Goals/Activities include: • Defining slosh, and understanding the affect of slosh on a spacecraft • Understanding what spacecraft are • Researching satellites to understand the real-time data they provide • Exploring the center of gravity/mass with hands-on activities

3. Module 1 continued: • Participation in an inquiry: “How will slosh affect the motion of the joined plastic bottles, if they are suspended?” • Write an expository or narrative science-based prompt to build science literacy.

4. Module 2: Robotics Design and build a robot and obstacle course, this will allow students to mimic the tasks a robot might perform in space. Student Goals/Activities include: • Using the design process to create an obstacle course and robot with LEGO Mindstorm kits • Programming a robot to perform tasks on an obstacle course using the NXT software • Building, illustrating and explaining a closed circuit, then applying this understanding to circuitry within the robot.

5. Module 2 continued: • Researching and reporting on different types of robots and their uses • Using observation to determine the causes of a problem and then inferring the solution of a problem in a real-life situation; for example when programming a robot to perform tasks on the obstacle course. • Understanding that the greater the force applied to an object the greater the change in the motion of that object. • Creating a labeled diagram of the flow and forms of energy of the robot performing a task on the obstacle course

6. On Orbit Refueling Station:

7. Module 3: Water Rockets and Payloads How does a water rocket’s payload affect its flight at launch? Student Goals/Activities: • Understanding that scientists use models • Understanding the purpose of a control in an inquiry, why the procedure needs to be written down, and to conduct repeated trials to gather enough data to validate a conclusion • Investigate and report the effects of space research, and exploration on the economy and the culture of Florida

8. Module 3 continued: • Drawing, labeling and explaining forms and transformation of energy that they observe taking place with their paper and water rockets • Applying understanding of the affect of the payload’s center of gravity/mass on the flight of the water rocket • Understanding the force and motion concepts that relate to their paper and water rockets motions

9. THANK YOU ALL • I would like to thank everyone who was involved in organizing and implementing this program this summer. It has truly been an inspiring experience for me. Stepping out of my classroom into a real-life STEM environment at ERAU has allowed me to learn new things which lead to the creation of curricula that has never been written before. WOW! How exciting for the students and teachers that will use these modules in their classrooms. I appreciate the LEGO Robotics kits and inquiry equipment that I received from ERAU and the $1, 0o0 grant from NASA’s Florida Space Consortium. The robotics kits will enable me to facilitate an ad hoc STEM program at South Daytona Elementary School.