STEM Exploration Day

The Boise State University Microgravity Research Team had a blast hosting activities at the 2014 Boise State University STEM Exploration Day! STEM Exploration is put on by the Boise State University College of Engineering in partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences, local companies, and government agencies. At this all day event, K-12 students and their families explore science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through hands-on learning activities.

 

Our team had its own room with several fun experiments and activities.

 

The "Foyer" of Our Team's Station

 

Information About our Experiment and Parabolic Flight

Information on Past Research Projects

Along with the Foyer, we had five stations set-up based on NASA's Toys in Space program. Each of these activities used toys to show the participants how the effects of gravity on everyday life is taken for granted.

 

Our last and most popular station was the Pop! Rockets. At this station kids could build and launch paper rockets.

 

Below are images of our activity stations with a reflection about how the activity went from each team member who supervised the activity. 

  

WHAT IS MICROGRAVITY AND THE TEAM'S CURRENT PROJECT

 

"Looking back on my experience, at the 2014 STEM Exploration Day event, makes me feel really proud of not only myself, but my team. It is so important to show and teach the younger generation that all they need is to have an idea, and then that an idea can be brought to life using things like Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). At my station, I started by quizzing students on the definition of gravity and microgravity. It was great hearing all the different definitions and hearing people verbally communicate about such complex topics. Even the youngest individuals could formulate an educational answer to my questions. Other questions I asked, depending on the age of the individual, were in regard to what they believe happens to astronauts during space travel, and what they thought an increase in intracranial pressure might be. For all individuals, I presented a home-made prototype of our proposed research device. It contained three layers of containment, which were used to help explain more about the Microgravity University Program and its research project requirements. The 2012-2013 research apparatus base to plane floor mounts were also present at this event. These were used to help give individuals an idea about the actually size of experiments used during parabolic fight testing." - Roxanne

 

PAST PROJECTS

 

"Our room’s theme, Toys in Space, lent itself to spurring the imagination of the participants. I saw several children and parents coming out of the room and it was clear that they were thinking and hypothesizing about what everyday objects would do in a microgravity environment. I think we might have met a few future engineers, biologists, and or astronauts in the making… Here's to many more successful outreach events to come!" -Tara

 

 POP! ROCKETS

"STEM exploration day was a blast! I helped with the pop rocket station. It was fun to help the kids engineer a rocket that they thought would travel the farthest. Helping the kids understand that their rocket wouldn't fly without a top to block the air from escaping was really neat. Some kids understood this right away, others needed to test it out on the rocket launcher to fully understand. This station was really busy and a bit tiring from having to blow up the bottles before each launch, but overall it was a great experience. The best thing was seeing the looks on the kids faces when their rockets took flight." - Libby 

 

POP! ROCKETS

 "STEM Exploration Day was a hit! The 2014 Boise State University Microgravity Research Team had an entire room to fill, and boy was that room crowded for most of the day. It was filled with young, eager, and curious kids, teens, and parents. Everyone was ready to learn about our project and how they could incorporate fun STEM educational activities into their lives. I am currently doing student teaching and my mentor teacher showed up with his two young daughters. They had fun learning, shooting off rockets, and playing with toys that behave differently in space! I had so much fun with them, and all the kiddos. It was great to watch them discover why the rockets need a top to launch, and to see which hockey puck would shoot the farthest." - Kaytlin

WATER DROP RACE

 

"My favorite part of the STEM Exploration day was running the "Water in Space" activity. I got to walk through a small scientific test with some really excited kids. I enjoyed tailoring my activities for different age groups. I would just ask younger kids to tell me the differences between tests, but I would ask the older ones to form hypotheses and examine variables." - Mac

 

HOCKEY

 

"During our STEM outreach event with Microgravity this Saturday I was reminded of the honesty and curiosity of children. They were not afraid to make predictions about what would happen next. They are also not afraid to take in new ideas. Kids had an easier time than adults at grasping the new ideas that were presented during our activities. I could see that the children were curious and bright, but I do not think that most of them thought they could be scientists. The girls in groups of children were especially withdrawn, barring the occasional precocious one. The kids who pulled back and did not want to participate were the ones that I tried to engage the most. During our experience I would always look them in the eye and try to transfer my love of learning to them through my enthusiasm. I was rarely disappointed in the involvement that this approach encouraged. My goal for all of them, girls, boys, young, and old was to encourage a love of science and a love of learning that would continue on with them for the rest of their lives. Based on this goal, I believe that our STEM outreach event was a successful endeavor that should be repeated in the future." - Jared

 

 WATER DROP RACE/POP! ROCKETS

 

"Participating in STEM Exploration day was a very rewarding experience. I was able to assist in building and launching paper rockets, demonstrating how liquids react in a microgravity environment, and showing why it is easier to spin a toy car around a track in space. The paper rocket event was by far the most popular event. My favorite part about the experience was showing the younger generation that STEM fields can be fun and especially all of the smiles that the event brought. This event positively influences the community and is a rewarding experience for all involved." - Scott

 

GYROSCOPES

 

"I ran the Gyroscope station for most of the day, and then later swapped to the Hockey.  It was great seeing the kids faces light up when they held a spinning gyroscope and could feel the momentum, and how it resisted them altering it.  Although, it seemed most of the kids just wanted to watch it spin like a top.  They got very excited when I showed them it could spin nearly on its side or on a string." -Janos 

 

SWIMMING FISH

 

"This was an amazing event! The children were very skeptical about my station at first. Out of all the stations, I can see how 'Fish' doesn't sound too appealing. However, after they came to my table and saw the demonstration, they were fascinated with the physics that they just learned. The fish station covered some basic fluid mechanics. This was not always easy to explain to everyone, including some parents, but these kids surprised me time and time again." -Carl

 

CARS ON A TRACK

 

"I was working with the toy cars in space exhibit during STEM Exploration day. The toy cars in space was just a small demonstration to show and teach kids about how the effects of centrifugal force on earth versus space. It was rather interesting to hear some of the hypothesis they would develop as to what they thought would happen to the car if the same experiment was performed in space. Some of the children would become easily discouraged and not give a hypothesis right away, since I think they were worried about being wrong. After helping them understand that science is not always about getting the right answer from the beginning and that it was more about trial and error they were more willing to give their best guess. STEM Exploration day was a fun experience for both the kids and myself as well." -Jordan 

 

 

 

Our team is proud of the fact that almost half of the current team members are female including our team lead, Roxanne Stone.

 

Tara, Kaytlin, Roxanne, Libby

 

It was estimated that over 500 people came through our activity center, and some left a big impression!

 

Crazy Cool STEM Kids!