With Memorial Day weekend approaching, no one would be surprised to find young minds wandering to thoughts of swimming pools and cookouts. But this coming Wednesday, May 18, 2005, third, fourth and fifth graders at Anne Beers Elementary in Washington, D.C. will instead be focused on the challenges of deep space exploration.
Through the school’s involvement as a NASA Explorer School and working with the Challenger Learning Center located in the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University, students will participate in a program known as “e-Missions: Moon, Mars, and Beyond” which uses the Internet or other distance learning technology to create a link between students and a mission control type operations center.
Before each live simulation mission, students complete studies, hands-on activities, and practice that open doors into science and math discovery. On mission day, they form teams of “experts,” examine real-time data, analyze it, and make their recommendations to Mission Control. The “flight directors” at the Challenger Learning Center guide the students to a successful solution of each crisis situation.
The program at Anne Beers on May 18 will be begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at about 11:30 a.m. EDT. Anne Beers Elementary is located at 3600 Alabama Avenue, SE, Washington, DC.
News media representatives who wish to cover the “e-mission” activities should contact Stephanie Harris at Anne Beers to arrange access and accreditation. She can be reached at 202-645-3240 or via e-mail at microgravity1@yahoo.com
To learn more about NASA’s Explorer School program, The Challenger Learning Center or Wheeling Jesuit University’s “e-mission” program, check the following websites:
