Alexandria, VA On February 19th at 2:30 PM ET, NASA engineer, John Gruener, from the Johnson Space Center, will be talking live with students and teachers, and Challenger Learning Centers around the world, about the challenges of growing plants in space and on a future Moon base. To participate and ask questions of Mr. Gruener, educational organizations, schools and classrooms should pre-register on the Challenger Center website, [ http://www.challenger.org ], and click on web casts. Anyone can log on and listen to the webcast on February 19th, or afterwards, in the web cast archive. All of Challenger Center’s web casts are free and open to the general public.
Someday plants could give us food, oxygen, and clean water for our life support systems on Earth and in space. NASA’s educator astronaut Barbara Morgan brought back 10,000 basil seeds from space to be used in student-designed plant growth chambers in the NASA Engineering Design Challenge. In the challenge, elementary middle and high school students design, build and test chambers using the space-flown basil seeds. Students participate in the engineering design process and learn how to conduct a scientific experiment, and can receive national recognition for their efforts on the Challenger Center website. The Challenger Center on-line showcase highlights student’s engineering solutions submitted by Challenger Learning Centers across the United States. All participating classrooms will receive a set of the NASA space-flown basil seeds for their lunar plant growth chambers.
Student design submissions for the spring showcase are due by March 30th, 2008. Interested teachers should submit designs to their local Challenger Learning Center by or before that date, and can visit the national website to participate in the web cast, find classroom resources, and to check out student designs at [ http://www.challenger.org ]
Challenger Center for Space Science Education is an international education organization that was founded by the families of the astronauts lost during the last flight of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986. Through Challenger Center’s programs and its international network of Challenger Learning Centers, the diversity, spirit, and commitment to education that exemplified the Challenger 51-L mission continues to make an impact on students, teachers, and families today. A network of 50 Challenger Learning Centers across the nation, and around the world, carry on the Challenger STS-51-L mission by providing educational workshops and space simulations to over 25,000 teachers and 400,000 students annually. Over 8 million students have flown a Challenger Center mission since its inception in 1986.
Rita Karl, Director of Educational Programs
Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Alexandria, VA
888-683-9740;
rkarl@challenger.org
