Mojave Desert News - 08/28/2008
BY SUSAN WIGGINS
TEHACHAPI - The very successful Intermediate Space Challenge Launch program of Mojave Unified School District and the East Kern Airport District is ready to take it on the road and they are working hard to do just that.
Marie Walker, CEO of Fiberset, a Mojave Spaceport business, who helped create and design the original program, met with various Kern representatives last week to begin the creation of curriculum that could be used by teachers in other districts as well as Mojave Unified to help students become enthralled with the concept of a career in engineering.
"We want a program that teachers could go to the cupboard and grab and use ‘right out of the box,’" Walker said. She added that the program which has been utilized in Mojave for the past four years is perfect for teachers to use during the afternoons of the STAR testing period. Testing is done in the mornings and students need something to work on in the afternoons during that time that would be fun and challenging.
The rocket program uses students in the Mojave High School Aerospace Engineering Academy to work with students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade assisting them in building rockets. Student teams also design banners for the event and write essays about the launch program.
Rocket launching
The students are then bussed to Mojave Spaceport where EKAD employees launch
their rockets for them and they compete to see whose rocket flies the
highest at each grade level.
Students are also judged on their banners and essays.
The program not only teaches the students math, science, and engineering, but teaches them English/Language Arts skills and about teamwork.
It is also aimed at exposing them to the creative potentials of careers in engineering.
Walker and her committee want other school districts to be able to do the same thing for their students and the group began at their first meeting to develop a unit that teachers could use for students, even if they have never done such a thing before.
Teachers would be able to align the unit with state standards for Math, Science, and English/Language Arts.
Industry sponsors sought
Walker wants to obtain industry sponsors for programs such as the Space
Challenge, but she and the group don't want to stop there. They want to
develop other units that could teach students about renewable energy,
mining, careers in medicine, and other interests.
The unit would give teachers materials for everything from building the rockets and writing essays to safety concerns and how to launch the rockets on the day of the event.
Working on the unit curriculum were Walker, Bob Rice of EKAD, Robin Fleming and Richard Chapman from Kern Economic Development Corporation, Mick Bowen, Flight Test Outreach Lead from Edwards AFB; Rex Moen, representing State Senator Roy Ashburn; Mojave High School Teacher Christy Boyd, consultant Michael Hardee, Mojave High School graduate Travis Para, and Susan Wiggins, Mojave Unified School District.
The group will continue to meet until the unit curriculum is complete and ready for teachers in Kern County, the Antelope Valley and beyond to use.