.gif)
SHAPING THE FUTURE
CEF supports CISD classroom trip to NASA
The Columbus Jr. High 6th grade students and 13 teachers/ parents/administrators were able to attend NASA Space Center Houston thanks to the Classroom Grant awarded to them by the Columbus Education Foundation.
While at NASA Space Center Houston the group experienced several amazing things and even touched a piece of the Moon. The lunar touchstone the students could examine was brought back from the Apollo 17 crew in 1972. The sample is approximately 3.8 billion years old.
The students were able to do many other activities such as touching a rock from Mars, viewing lunar soil and real asteroid pieces, exploring many exhibits and galleries and eating space food in the Food Lab.
Students were able to use their creative thoughts to build a model of a lunar space landing and then tested their design with a toy astronaut. They also attended the Destiny Theater that showcased the history of space exploration.
While each exhibit was interesting and informative to the students, one of the impactful memories they created was of the NASA Tram Tour.
The tour included a behind the scenes view of NASA Johnson Space Center where astronauts train and prepare for current missions.
Since 1980, every single astronaut that has been to space has trained there. NASA’s next generation humanoid robot, R5 was seen in the training facility. The students saw Orion, NASA’s next generation for space exploration space vehicle.
The tram tour was a guided tour, so they learned and heard many interesting space and science facts while they were on the tram. They even passed Rocket Park where on display is one of just three Saturn V rockets in the world.
On the ride back in the tram tour, the students passed one of NASA’s buildings which on top flies an American flag. They learned that the flag has been flying every single day that there has been someone in space which has been for the past 23 straight years.
Amanda Oppermann, the grant recipient teacher that organized this road trip to NASA, told Columbus Education Foundation, “We really had such a fun and exciting hands-on learning experience. We thank you so very much!”
Will Columbus have a future astronaut as a result of this experience at NASA? Only time will tell but perhaps a seed has been planted.
Columbus Education Foundation would like to thank the community for their strong show of support for our mission to not only provide scholarships for postsecondary education but classroom grants to allow students of CISD to have educational experiences such as this trip to NASA.
The CISD 6th graders along with 13 chaperones took a field trip to Space Center Houston to learn more about NASA and space exploration.
