WE ARE ON A MSSION!

We had a wonderful time in Starbase 1.5 class this past week!  It is so interesting to me that even though I only meet with my 3rd graders once a week, that they remember so much vocabulary and can pull it out from deep in their growing brains so quickly.  We had so much to do this past week.  Our focus was on taking what we had learned about aerospace engineers and use it to design a spacecraft that can explore another destination in our Solar System.  Our focus was on the "ASK" and "IMAGINE" steps of the Engineering Design Process.  We had a mini-lesson on the different aspects of our Solar System, and what kinds of features that aerospace engineers (AE) need to think about when designing and testing models of their spacecrafts that will travel on missions.  Students worked in partner groups to come up with a mission that their spacecrafts would go on. Boy, were they creative!  Some students are using rovers, others are using robots to do the work, still some are sending lunar modules type vehicles down to the surface of a planet.  Then, I gave each group a destination.  Partner groups had to think about (ASK) and plan for the different atmospheres, temperatures, location, and size of their planet when designing (IMAGINE) their spacecrafts.
The students had so much fun coming up with wild and crazy ideas for missions and the designs of their spacecrafts.  That is one of the great things that AE's are known for.  The more outlandish and impossible the design, the more incentive they have to figure out a way to make their dreams a reality.  This is the point that I wanted to get across to students as well.  Not only did we learn that there are several features that AE's have to think about when designing, but it is also FUN to think of creative ways to get the job done.

After we IMAGINE what our spacecrafts would look like and everyone labeled the different parts, students were ready to build their models!  It was truly magical watching the students use their creativity to use the materials provided to construct models of their spacecrafts!  From a teacher's perspective, this is the most rewarding part of my job.  Not only do I get to teach something that I am passionate about, but I get to watch students get excited and develop a love for learning about something as unique as aerospace engineering and applying it to real-world situations.

We did not get absolutely finished with building last Friday, so we will have to continue it this week for a couple of minutes.  The groups will be using their spacecraft models later when we create, design, and build parachutes that will get our spacecrafts back to Earth after they carry out their missions on the other planets.

I can't wait to see what they think of next!  I am so proud of what they have accomplished so far!

P.S.- I am including some photos of the actual Starbase facility at Dobbins Air Force base in Marietta, along with photos of our classroom as well!  Enjoy!

P.P.S- I also was able to get Mableton Starbase 1.5 Club t-shirts designed by the same printer that the Dobbins Starbase facility uses!  THE STUDENTS ARE GOING TO LOVE THEM!  They will get their t-shirts at the graduation ceremony in the spring!

 The Starbase Classroom at Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia.

 The computer lab in the Starbase facility where students learn how to design in a 3D Design software program.  We were given 12 of their computers for our students to use!  WAHOO!

 Their computers also have flight control consoles at each station so that students can participate in flight simulation.

 The Starbase classroom view from the back!

 Objects printed with the Starbase facility's 3D printer!  We are getting one of those, too!!!!!  Amazing!

MABLETON'S STARBASE 1.5 CLUB: AEROSPACE ENGINEERS CLASSROOM

 Mission Objective Board for each lesson

(similar to a Common Core Curriculum standards and essential questions board in a regular classroom)

 Student thinking about spacecraft design during our lesson today.

 My favorite part of my club classroom!  My Aeropsace Educator certificate, and my "You're never too old to go to SPACE CAMP" poster.  My dream is to go to Space Camp!  I will get there soon, hopefully!

 Our vocabulary and anchor charts

 A partner group hard at work designing their spacecraft.

 Our AE career board!  Students had no idea that there were so many aspects of aerospace engineering!

 The students were excited about building their spacecraft models!  In fact, we lost track of time because we were having so much FUN!  

Pictures from the Blast Off! aka The First Day

Blast Off!!!! 3rd Graders are welcomed to Mableton's Starbase Lab!

On Friday, January 16th, 2015, Mableton Elementary's Starbase 1.5 Club blasted off with its first class for lucky 3rd graders!  I (Mrs. Davis) am super excited to share this experience with everyone.  After many months of planning and getting ready, it is FINALLY here!  I picked up the members and headed to the Starbase Lab for a quick meet and greet before jumping right into the day's lesson.  The introductory lesson with students dove into the wonderful world of aerospace engineering, and how it relates to the world around us!  The students and I read a book about a boy named Paulo who is from Brazil.  His parents are aerospace engineers who are working on creating and testing a parachute that will help land a rover safely on another planet for exploration and testing.  Pretty cool stuff for parents to do, if I say so myself!  Paulo is not happy about his new digs, but he meets a new friend Lucas who convinces him that the new place might not be that bad.  Paulo and Lucas decide to pick melons off a tree one day, but they run into a problem.  They can't figure out a way to send the melons down without breaking them.  So....they get Pualo's parachute that his parents gave him out and figure out a way to rig the parachute so that they can fling the melons down the tree without breaking them on impact.  
While reading, the students and I discussed what was happening with the parachute.  (drag and gravity)  Students were able to simulate air resistance with plastic grocery store bags.  I demonstrated for the students by turning around in a circle with my plastic bag and filling the bag with air!  Students then took turns dong the same so that they could FEEL the drag when the atmosphere was pushed out of the way of the bag.

After that, we returned to discussing how parachutes work and how Paulo's parents have to think about the atmosphere (air) of the different planets as they work on the design of their models.  It was unbelievable how engaged the students were using the vocabulary, and discussing the different aspects of aerospace engineering.  

I was sad to see that time was up for our first meeting, and the students did not want to go!  I am amazed at what imaginative and intrigued 3rd graders that I am working with, and I can't wait to see what they get into next time!

This week's preview: 
Designing a spacecraft to explore another planet