Mission 6 is Community’s First SSEP Flight Opportunity: Yellow
Mission 6 is Community’s at Least Second SSEP Flight Opportunity: Green
View SSEP Mission 6 to ISS Communities on a larger map
SSEP Mission 6 to ISS
Experiment Design Competition and Selection of Flight Experiments: Winter/Spring 2014
Flight to ISS: launched October 28, 2014, on Orbital Sciences 3 (Orb-3; Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft), rocket exploded on launch with all experiments lost; re-launched January 10, 2015, on SpaceX-5 (Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft); returned to Earth February 10, 2015, on SpaceX-5 (see Flight Profile page)
The 18 communities profiled below are providing the opportunity for 16,300 grade 5-15 students to design and propose real microgravity experiments for flight aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of SSEP Mission 6 to ISS – the eighth SSEP flight opportunity. Three of the Mission 6 communities participated in at least one of the seven earlier SSEP flight opportunities. Of special note – Mission 6 to ISS is the third flight opportunity for San Marino, California, and with Mission 6, Kamloops/Thompson, British Columbia becomes the second Canadian community to participate. The Mission 6 effort led by the NASA District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium at American University is the first SSEP community to specifically engage 4-year college and university students in SSEP.
Each community conducts a local Flight Experiment Design Competition with student teams designing microgravity experiments across multiple disciplines. Each team submits a formal research proposal, vying for an experiment slot reserved just for their community in a real research mini-laboratory scheduled to fly on the International Space Station. The Mission 6 to ISS community leadership project that across the network of 19 communities a minimum of 7,620 students will be fully engaged in experiment design, and a minimum of 1,530 flight experiment proposals from student teams will be received.
A total of 51,600 grade preK-15 students are being given the opportunity to participate in SSEP Mission 6 to ISS community-wide programming, which includes the design of Mission Patches to fly aboard ISS. Through community engagement activities, together with microgravity experiment design, a total of 142 schools in 9 States, the District of Columbia, and British Columbia, Canada, are taking part in Mission 6 to ISS.
For 9 of the 18 communities, Mission 6 is made possible in part by a grant from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) to the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education. CASIS is a National Partner on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. For 4 of the 18 communities, Mission 6 is made possible in part by a grant from Subaru of America, also a National Partner on SSEP.
More generally, Mission 6 to ISS is made possible through the involvement of 116 Local Partner institutions, including school districts, corporate foundations, universities, community foundations, and companies, and which are providing both underwriting and material and human resources. This includes support from 6 NASA Space Grant Consortia at lead universities, including: NASA District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium at American University; Louisiana Space Grant Consortium at Louisiana State University; New York Space Grant Consortium at Cornell University; South Carolina Space Grant Consortium at the College of Charleston; Tennessee Space Grant Consortium at Vanderbilt University; and Texas Space Grant Consortium at University of Texas at Austin.
The level of partnership is remarkable, and speaks to what a team of partners at the local, state, and national levels can do together in STEM education.
Visit the SSEP In the News page and the In Our Own Words page to gain an understanding of program impact over all SSEP missions conducted to date.
1. Kamloops/Thompson, British Columbia, Canada
Noteworthy: this is the second community in Canada to participate in SSEP
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 2,654 grade 5-7 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 375
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 75
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 14,727 grade K-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 12; experiment design and mission patches: Bert Edwards Science & Technology School, Ecole Lloyd George Elementary School, Pacific Way Elementary School, Juniper Ridge Elementary School, Kay Bingham Elementary School, Aberdeen Elementary School, Dallas Elementary School, McGowan Park Elementary School, Haldane Elementary School, Sun Peaks Elementary School, Rayleigh Elementary School; mission patches only: Logan Lake Elementary School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
There is currently an emphasis in BC schools on Personalized/Individualized Education and the implementation of Inquiry-based and Project-based learning models into classroom instruction (ref: http://bcedplan.ca/). The ultimate goal of utilizing these models is to make education more hands-on, relevant, and engaging for our students to not only improve their achievement of learning of outcomes (including those pertaining to science & technology), but to also improve real-world, cross-curricular skills of our students as they enter post-secondary education and eventually the workforce.
Inquiry-based learning is centred on the idea that students learn by asking questions, developing and testing hypotheses, and analyzing the data which results from their own experiments in order to answer their questions, or “inquiries”. These processes define Inquiry-based instruction. The SSEP initiative is the perfect fit to this learning strategy with students. It provides learner-centred, interdisciplinary, authentic learning opportunities for students in the form of a project based on their own question, or inquiry, about a microgravity environment. It teaches students about how science is done, the real-world constraints on scientific experimental design and proposal development, and allows students to work competitively in teams in very much the same way they will be expected to as real scientists later in life. The opportunity to authentically engage students in their own learning, when the “prize” in this case is to fly their experiment on the International Space Station, is a phenomenal one.
Partner Institutions
School District No. 73 (Kamloops/Thompson)
Telus
Kinder Morgan Foundation
Boeing Canada – Aeroinfo
Community Futures – Thompson Country
KGHM International AJAX PROJECT
Domtar
Magellan Aerospace
Scorpion Technologies
MDA Aero
Kamloops Aurora Rotary Club
Herff-Jones Yearbook
West Manufacturing
Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp
Cascade Aerospace
Flavours of India Restaurant
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Director
Paul Hembling
Principal, Bert Edwards Science & Technology School
hembling@sd73.bc.ca
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 300 grade 6-8 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 300
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 70
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 300 grade 6-8 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 1; experiment design and mission patches: Urban Promise Academy
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The mission of Urban Promise Academy is to prepare a diverse, 6th-8th grade student population for success in college by equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind to become self-motivated, competent, responsible community members and lifelong learners. Throughout the Oakland Unified School District, we are transitioning to the Next Generation Science Standards which move the focus of learning science away from discrete facts, towards practices that are fundamental to true scientific and engineering work.
The Student Spaceflight Experiment Program will give us an opportunity to engage our learners in genuine scientific inquiry while also developing the skills to support the Scientific and Engineering Practices set forth in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Our students will be engaged in asking their own questions, learning through the microgravity unit so that their questions can be more focused and testable. Using models to understand microgravity, their experiments, and their anticipated results will be critical, particularly for our English Language Learners and students with special needs. In addition to planning their own investigation, students will learn about microgravity through the SSEP provided case studies, allowing them to learn through previous experiments and analysis of their results. We anticipate that these results can be analyzed mathematically as well. The SSEP will give our students a powerful opportunity to see that a hypothesis is not a guess, but a carefully constructed prediction based on evidence. The proposal writing and review process will develop their argumentation skills and develop their ability to communicate both within their teams, with the review panel through their writing, and for the winning team when they present in Washington, DC.
Partner Institutions
Urban Promise Academy
Oakland Unified School District
East Bay Community Foundation
Oakland Schools Foundation
Rogers Family Foundation
Philanthropic Ventures Foundation
Dr. Gary Yee, Superintendent, Oakland Unified School District
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
Subaru of America, Inc., SSEP National Partner
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Alison Ball
7th Grade Science Teacher & Department Chair, Urban Promise Academy
miss.alison.ball@gmail.com
Julia Lehman
6th Grade Math/Science Teacher Department Chair, Urban Promise Academy
Julia.m.lehman@gmail.com
Noteworthy: this is the third SSEP flight for San Marino
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 1,100 grade 9-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 300
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 50
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 3,000 grade K-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 4; experiment design and mission patches: San Marino High School; mission patches only: Huntington Middle School, Valentine Elementary School, Carver Elementary School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The San Marino Unified School district consistently earns the distinction of being one of the top school districts in California for the past several years. The District is committed to providing the students of San Marino with the best STEM education possible through access to unique resources and experiences, such as partnerships that allow our students to participate in regional and national programs. The FIRST Robotics Competition allows students to partner with Boeing and JPL and provides real-world engineering experience. The Solar Energy Activity Laboratory (SEAL) and the Solar Hydrogen Activity research Kit (SHArK) projects focus on learning chemistry through actual research to solve the global energy problems. Our school’s science courses, Earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics, emphasize the use of computer technology to further learning and discovery in the laboratory setting. Advanced Placement (AP) courses use even more complex computer technology for data input and analysis.
The community has participated in several SSEP missions. Mission 1, Mission 2 re-flight, and Mission 3 have provided students the opportunity to engage in real discovery science. SSEP allows students to work collaboratively with peers and industry professionals, research, problem-solve, and communicate their findings. Along with the inspiration in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, encompassing the entire San Marino community, students have presented their proposals and findings at the 2012 and 2013 National Conference. The Districts involvement in Mission 6 will further challenge our students and community. Several groups anticipate presenting in the 2014 National Conference.
Partner Institutions
San Marino High School
San Marino Unified School District
San Marino Unified School District PTSA
Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
Subaru of America, Inc., SSEP National Partner
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
Mission 3 to ISS
(see Mission 3 community profile, flight and honorable mention experiments, and flight mission patches)
Mission 1 to ISS
(see Mission 1 community profile, flight and honorable mention experiments, and flight mission patches)
SSEP Community Program Director
Wyeth Collo
Science Teacher/Department Chair, San Marino High School
wcollo@smusd.us
4. Washington, DC – DC Space Grant University Community
Noteworthy: this is the first SSEP community dedicated to 4-year colleges and universities
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: university juniors majoring in science education across 7 universities and colleges given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 28
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 7
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): not participating
Number of participating schools: 7; experiment design and mission patches: American University, Catholic University, Howard University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, University of Maryland, Montgomery College
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium (DCSGC) is helping NASA reach its goal of increasing the number of K-12 STEM educators over the next decade, and giving them the skills and confidence they will need to effectively teach K-12 STEM in the classroom after they graduate with their education and science degrees. The DCSGC has goals of supporting diverse students including female and minority students, providing faculty mentorship to students, providing support for students in interdisciplinary STEM and education fields, and providing hands-on activities and experiences for students.
The SSEP program is phase one of a six phase suite of programs our students are participating in. SSEP is helping us reach our goals by enabling our 28 students from various STEM and education fields to experience and participate in authentic scientific experimentation while developing team-building skills. This opportunity is a real world space research experience that breaks from the model of traditional teaching and creates great excitement for our students. It is also helping to increase our students’ knowledge of STEM, and the processes by which real research is conducted, as they are learning how to conduct hands-on biological experiments in microgravity. We are supporting female and minority students in this program.
The students have broken up into seven groups of four, and all teams have their own faculty mentors who are acting as advisors to help guide the students as they work on their specific research projects. The community engagement phase of SSEP is bolstering the students’ confidence and giving them the tools they will need to effectively teach K-12 STEM after graduation.
Partner Institutions
District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium (DCSGC), on behalf of the NASA K-12 STEM Educator Program
American University
Catholic University
Howard University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
University of Maryland
Montgomery College
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Eric Day
Program Manager, DCSGC
day@spacegrant.org
Megan Kemble
Assistant Director, DCSGC
mkemble@american.edu
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 300 grade 5-8 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 300
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 60
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 1,000 grade K-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 1; experiment design and mission patches: Iberville Math, Science, and Arts Academy-West
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
Nestled only minutes away from the large capitol city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, lies the small, rural community of Iberville Parish. Iberville is distinctive in so many ways: its quaint infusion of country towns and stores, large plantation homes, a bayou that slumbers along the northeastern portion of the district while the Mighty Mississippi divides the parish into an east and west, and its beautiful landscape filled with the vegetation for abundant wildlife. Iberville Parish faces many challenges in its quest for excellence.
Research clearly indicates that the socio-economic status of a family, the educational level of a child’s mother, and the degree of urbanization of a community are important factors that affect our children’s learning. Yet these are the factors that are limited in the district. In response to this challenge, the Iberville Mathematics, Science, and Arts Academy-West was created. The mission of the Mathematics, Science, and Arts Academy-West is to challenge the community of learners to reach global standards through unique and engaging experience in a safe and nurturing environment. Teachers strive to present non-traditional, inquiry-based learning experiences for students because evidence proves that traditional educational pathways are not conducive to producing a STEM-literate public. In regards to STEM education in Iberville Parish, the main goal is to enhance students’ engagement in STEM disciplines and inspire and equip more students to excel in STEM.
The goals of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP) are directly aligned with the goal of Iberville Parish. Through SSEP, students are granted to opportunity to engage in “real science,” meaning the program provides seamless integration across STEM disciplines through an authentic, high visibility research experience, completely embracing the Next Generation Science Standards while integrating Louisiana Grade Level Expectations. Students “do” science and become scientists and engineers. Most importantly, SSEP engages the entire community, reaching far beyond the student spaceflight teams and mission patch designers. Ultimately, in conjunction with Iberville Parish and SSEP, the long-term benefits of this project are quite simple: to engage, inspire, encourage, and develop future scientists that will positively impact our local community and our world.
Partner Institutions
Iberville Mathematics, Science, and Arts Academy-West
Iberville Parish Public School System
Louisiana Space Grant Consortium at Louisiana State University
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Loren McIntyre
ARTE Lab Director
lorenmcintyre@ipsb.net
Scott Stephenson
Teacher, Gifted and Talented, Iberville Math, Science, and Arts Academy-West
josephstephenson@ipsb.net
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 1,191 grade 5-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 406
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 75
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 792 grade K-8 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 4; experiment design and mission patches: St. Monica Catholic School, St. Augustine Cathedral School, St. Joseph Middle School, St. Stanislaus Catholic School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan oversees 24 schools that offer educational programs to 2,946 students ranging in age from early childhood through grade 12. While the math, science and technology coursework within our Diocesan schools has always been rigorous, we wanted to push the envelope and open our classrooms to the kind of cutting-edge, hands-on, student-directed coursework offered by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programming, such as the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) that was offered to us, this spring.
During the course of the nine-week SSEP classroom experience, our students reached some major objectives. They were able to build teams that functioned well together; They were able to take ownership and responsibility for their own creativity, deadlines and research outcomes; and – most importantly – they came to understand what is foundational to all STEM-based learning: that all education is interactive and cross-curricular. Knowledge cannot be compartmentalized. It is organic. One discipline flows over into another to create whole new worlds of experimentation, learning and understanding.
Introducing our Diocesan students to STEM learning has also given them an important glimpse into their futures. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology warns that the U.S. must produce 1 million more STEM-degree graduates over the next decade to meet the demands of our high-tech economy. STEM-based jobs are critical to the nation’s future. Students with STEM skills have a bright future ahead of them; and SSEP has given our Diocesan students a glimpse of how to embrace that future for themselves. Our efforts to keep STEM programs alive in our Diocesan schools will continue this summer, as we send six teachers and two administrators to a STREAM Symposium in Dayton, Ohio in order to build a STEM-based platform for the 2014-15 academic year.
Partner Institutions
Catholic Schools of Greater Kalamazoo
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Becky Reits
Principal, St. Monica Catholic School
BReits@stmonicakzoo.org
Katie Gilbert
Advancement Director, Catholic Schools of Greater Kalamazoo
kgilbert@csgk.org
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 1,100 grade 5-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 300
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 60
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 300 grade 6-8 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 1; experiment design and mission patches: Wilkinson Middle School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
Madison District Public Schools’ vision of a centralized school campus for grades K-12 is only exceeded by the kind of progressive, hands-on, student-directed coursework supported by the SSEP initiative. Students will literally take project-based learning to new heights, exploring the effects of microgravity in space using inquiry-based learning as the scientific method guiding their collaborative investigations. The SSEP experience for students will involve using community-based local resources to critically review student proposals and provide valuable feedback that students will utilize to expand their depth of knowledge. Additional scientific reviews will be provided by SSEP supporting students in their continued pursuit to review, reflect, and refine their self-selected experiments.
The interdisciplinary experience with STEM will afford students the opportunity to expand problem-solving skills, increase communication of ideas, and build technology literacy for STEM field career opportunities. This international project, involving Nanoracks, SSEP, and NASA, will allow students to connect globally as they increase their preparedness for STEM vocations in the 21st century.
Representing Madison District Public School with a designed experiment, approved by both SSEP and NanoRacks will be a historic feat. Being chosen for Mission 6 flight to the International Space Station will be one of the many highlights of this school year. Though Mission 6 will eventually come to an end, the benefits and learning experiences of the students, the staff, and the community will be forever lasting.
Partner Institutions
Madison District Public Schools
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Randy Speck
Superintendent, Madison District Public Schools
rspeck@madisonschools.k12.mi.us
Angel M. Abdulahad
Lead Enrichment Teacher, Wilkinson Middle School
aabdulahad@madisonschools.k12.mi.us
Noteworthy: this is the second SSEP flight for Kansas City
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 830 grade 5-8 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 750
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 130
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 710 grade 3-8 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 13; experiment design and mission patches: Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Technology, St. Peter’s School, Academie Lafayette Charter School, Della Lamb Elementary Charter School, Hogan Preparatory Academy Middle School, Gemini Gentlemen Home School Group, Arrowhead Middle School, Rosedale Middle School, Eisenhower Middle School, Argentine Middle School, Boys and Girls Club of the Ozarks, St. Teresa’s Academy; mission patches only: Notre Dame de Sion
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
aSTEAM Village is a community-wide collaborative effort of schools, families, and the private sector of the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri. The partners of aSTEAM Village share a unified vision of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education in our urban schools that will inspire our students, families, and educators to embrace and own the creative and critical thinking that is required to become inventors and innovators in our society today and more importantly, participants in the 21st Century global economy.
As our second mission, we expect that SSEP Mission 6 participation will enable us to witness not only the growth in number of participating students, schools, and organizations but also the personal growth of the students who will be participating in the program for a second time. SSEP has allowed the students’ learning experience to focus on a collaborative, project-based, problem-solving model of exploration and inquiry. The SSEP program allows our students the opportunity to learn how to think on their own, set personal goals, find information, think analytically, work in teams, and communicate clearly.
The SSEP community engagement approach to STEAM education is a remarkable real world fit to our strategic objectives in STEAM education. SSEP immerses the students in an authentic, multifaceted very real science research program with the students as microgravity researchers. The experiment design process provides ownership in learning, and nurtures skills in critical thinking, problem solving, navigation of interdisciplinary content, and teamwork. Communication skills will be addressed in the formal proposal writing and review process, and art engagement will be accomplished through the mission patch design competition.
Finally, SSEP will provide an all-inclusive, inspirational environment for STEAM education. We anticipate that SSEP will prove that engagement of underserved populations of female and minority students in STEAM is attainable when they are exposed to the right programs. SSEP has already proven itself as a well-tested programmatic vehicle to put our strategic needs in STEAM education into practice, as well as providing high media visibility for our aSTEAM Village community initiative in Kansas City, Missouri.
Partner Institutions
Lead: Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Technology
aSTEAM Village Alliance
St. Peter’s School
Academie Lafayette Charter School
Della Lamb Elementary Charter School
Hogan Preparatory Academy Middle School
Gemini Gentlemen Home School Group
Notre Dame de Sion
Arrowhead Middle School
Rosedale Middle School
Eisenhower Middle School
Argentine Middle School
Boys and Girls Club of the Ozarks
St. Teresa’s Academy
Distribution by Air
Microsoft Oak Park Mall Store
University of Kansas School of Education GEAR UP
St. Peter’s School PTA
University of Central Missouri
Cardelia Walker Real Estate
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
Mission 5 to ISS
(see Mission 5 community profile, flight and honorable mention experiments, and flight mission patches)
SSEP Community Program Director
William Wells
Network Administrator, Robotics and STEM Coordinator Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Technology
wwells@bbchartertech.org
9. Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 600 grade 6-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 600
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 120
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 1,600 grade K-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 7; experiment design and mission patches: Governor Livingston High School, Columbia Middle School; mission patches only: Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Learning Center, Mountain Park Elementary School, Thomas P. Hughes Elementary School, William Woodruff Elementary School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The Berkeley Heights Public Schools’ vision for STEM Education is to inspire, engage and prepare our next generations to be the inventors, explorers and innovators who will lead the United States achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. To this end, the BHPS is committed to providing high quality, relevant, and embedded STEM learning experiences to all students in all grade levels with the goal of STEM literacy for all. We seek to identify and provide intensive learning opportunities to students at all grade levels that have a particular interest or talent within STEM.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program will provide students a real-world scientific work experience as they compete for the opportunity to have their experiment chosen for the flight. This competition mimics the process of scientists responding to a call for proposals and provides two very unique educational opportunities. The students must first pose an interesting scientific question regarding the nature of the physical, chemical or biological system they are studying. Then the students, through collaboration, must engineer an experiment that can answer that question within the stated experiment specifications and operational constraints. Students develop important skills such as problem solving, persistence, communications, teamwork and scientific inquiry. The skills required for our next generation workforce.
Partner Institutions
Governor Livingston High School
Columbia Middle School
Berkeley Heights Public Schools
Summit Medical Group
Johnson and Johnson
The Linde Group
KPMG
Berkeley Heights Public Schools PTO
Berkeley Heights Education Foundation
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Jim Flakker
Physics Teacher, Governor Livingston High School
jflakker@bhpsnj.org
James Finley
Supervisor of Science, Art, and Computers, Berkeley Heights Public Schools
jfinley@bhpsnj.org
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 900 grade 5-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 545
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 90
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 1,500 grade K-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 8; experiment design and mission patches: Long Branch High School, Long Branch Middle School, Long Branch Alternative Academy, Amerigo A. Anastasia Elementary, Gregory Elementary, West End Elementary, Audrey W. Clark Elementary; mission patches only: Morris Ave Elementary
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The Long Branch School District vision for STEM education is to graduate STEM proficient and be prepared for post-secondary study and the 21st Century workforce. To this end, the Long Branch Public School is committed to providing high quality, relevant and embedded STEM learning experiences to all students in all grade levels with a goal of STEM literacy for all. The Long Branch School District is further committed to providing intensive learning opportunities to students at all grade levels that have a particular interest or talent within STEM. These enhance opportunities may occur within a class or in an afterschool program such as SSEP.
SSEP will provide a structure for students to observe their environment, question it, to create hypotheses to explain their observations, and to develop experiments to prove or disprove their hypotheses. In addition SSEP will address important aspects of real science that scientists are not working in a void, but rather work in a community of people, scientists and nonscientists, and that there is both necessary cooperation and competition for resources in the real world. The students will work effectively with each other in their experimental design teams, and as important, they will need to communicate their work and proposal effectively as well. As a culminating activity one of the developed experiments will actually be sent up to the International Space Station. The Long Branch community as a whole has been involved in the SSEP process to improve the STEM education throughout Long Branch School District.
Partner Institutions
Long Branch Public School District
Monmouth Medical Center Barnabas Center
T & M Engineering Associates
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Director
Jena Carpenter
Science Department Head Teacher, Long Branch High School
jcarpenter@longbranch.k12.nj.us
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 1,500 grade 7-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 105
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 15
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 2,700 grade preK-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 4; experiment design and mission patches: Ocean City High School, Ocean City Intermediate School, Upper Township Middle School; mission patches only: Ocean City Primary School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
Ocean City Public School District is Committed to Excellence. We believe that the scientific disciplines are not distinct, independent sets of knowledge, but rather that all science arises from the same process of organized curiosity. We also believe that all science is fundamentally interrelated. Furthermore, we believe that mathematics, engineering, technical writing and higher order thinking are all skills that are vital in our modern world, and therefore must be integrated into every science curriculum. Perhaps most importantly, we believe that a good STEM education develops the natural curiosity of individuals, and gives them the tools to focus their curiosity into productive scientific research. The Ocean City Public School District STEM program affords students a rigorous program that includes courses in science, mathematics and provides opportunities for engineering and TV Media.
Ocean City School District believes that the SSEP fits naturally into our vision of STEM education, as it seamlessly incorporates all of the scientific disciplines, and allows students to utilize the mathematics, engineering, technical writing and critical thinking skills they’ve developed throughout our curriculum. SSEP reinforces the concept that STEM fields are not applied in isolation. Through collaboration, a group must coordinate all knowledge and apply their ideas to a unique problem. This program will help our students understand how to participate as a team on a long-term project with focused deadlines and requirements. Additionally, we hope that the press generated by such a program will galvanize our community, getting students not involved in the program as well as adults of all ages interested in and talking about science, technology, and space exploration. Most importantly, the SSEP encourages the natural curiosity within our students through real, student-generated scientific questioning and research.
Partner Institutions
Ocean City School District
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Daniel Weaver
Physics Teacher
dweaver@ocsdnj.org
Matthew Oster
Science Team Leader and Biology Teacher
moster@ocsdnj.org
Mikenzie Helphenstine
Director of Curriculum, STEM, Ocean City Schools
mhelphenstine@ocsdnj.org
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 300 grade 6-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 300
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 100
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 600 grade K-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 1; experiment design and mission patches: World Journalism Preparatory School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The journalist, Ann Curry, has said, “Journalism is an act of faith in the future.” World Journalism Preparatory School is committed to preparing young people for their futures. Journalism instruction permeates the WJPS curriculum, and students participate in primary research and long-term investigations across the curriculum that engage them in and out of the classroom as they construct deep understandings and skills, and then publish their results. Reading and writing skills are key elements to the future of STEM instruction – the world needs scientists, technology experts, engineers and mathematicians who can communicate their stories to a waiting world.
STEM instruction is the cornerstone of a new program at World Journalism Preparatory School, The Franklin Center at WJPS. The Franklin Center was created to enhance research and writing skills in science, technology, engineering and math. Colleges crave students who can write and publish outside the ELA classroom, and WJPS has aligned its STEM curriculum to meet that need. SSEP has opened the door for students at WJPS to engage critical thinking skills in researching the microgravity environment and problem solving for their experiments. Our commitment to the SSEP program allowed us to engage students of all abilities and interest levels as they applied the scientific method hand-in-hand with the who, what, when, where, why and how methodology of journalism. We pulled in not just STEM teachers, but ELA and journalism instructors to scaffold the efforts of learners all the way from grade 6 to grade 12. Guided social media was used to encourage students to engage with the universal STEM community.
The patch design contest further opened up the SSEP experience as students who were not directly involved in designing an experiment were included in the competition to submit their artwork for a patch. Virtually a school-wide endeavor, SSEP has met our goal of positively impacting our learning environment, and raising awareness of STEM opportunities for our students, teachers, parents, guardians, and traditionally under represented populations such as girls and special education students.
Partner Institutions
World Journalism Preparatory School
New York City Department of Education, District 25
Children First Network 406, New York City Department of Education
WJPS PTA
New York Space Grant Consortium at Cornell University
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Nancy Poulos
Assistant Principal, World Journalism Preparatory School
NPoulos@schools.nyc.gov
Dr. Mark Baribault
AP Chemistry Teacher
mark.baribault@wjps.org
Helen Reed
Parent Coordinator
Helen.reed@wjps.org
13. Colleton County, South Carolina
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 300 grade 6 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 300
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 60
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 2,000 grade 4-8 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 6; experiment design and mission patches: Tuskegee Airmen Learning Community at Colleton County Middle School; mission patches only: Lowcountry School of the Arts at Colleton County Middle School, ACE Basin School of Natural Resources at Colleton County Middle School, Bells Elementary School, Cottageville Elementary School, Forest Hills Elementary School, Hendersonville Elementary School, Northside Elementary School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
Colleton County Middle School is now the largest middle school serving students in grades 6-8 in South Carolina. In 2011, the district consolidated three middle schools with a vision from the district superintendent of education to transition into an inclusive STEM school to prepare all students as STEM literate citizens and to ensure STEM advanced students are challenged and prepared to become the next generation of STEM professionals. To meet the needs of over 1,500 students, the school has had several STEM initiatives underway. The middle school administrative team has established a culture of teacher collaboration, flexible professional development, and willingness to try innovative ideas during the school’s first 2 ½ years of operation. Within each house/grade level, teachers work in teams to design cross-curricular units based on a trans-disciplinary STEM big idea. Each STEM unit incorporates the school’s STEM design cycle and teachers in all subject areas infuse STEM best practices into lessons on a routine basis.
SSEP provides rigor and motivation that will positively impact the learning of the hundreds of participating students and translate into higher levels of performance on state tests. SSEP provides students with an authentic experience in science research that is fully aligned to the science/engineering practices and the engineering/technology core ideas of the framework. Further, the most remarkable reward is one of the experiments designed by a CCMS team of students will be performed by working astronauts in space. What better way to fulfill the school mission of “providing meaningful learning experiences for all students” than SSEP, which is real, more engaging, and thus more meaningful than traditional approaches. SSEP is an amazing opportunity for CCMS students as 21st century learners to master their state standards in an inquiry-based environment while putting the common core science literacy standards into practice. This program will help us further walk out our vision for STEM and will rally our community to be engaged in and excited about our efforts to promote STEM education.
Partner Institutions
Colleton County Middle School
Colleton County School District
South Carolina Coalition for Mathematics and Science
The Intertech Group
Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
Subaru of America, Inc., SSEP National Partner
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Patti R. Drawdy
STEM Coach for Professional Development and Curriculum Redesign, Colleton County Middle School
pdrawdy@mail.colleton.k12.sc.us
Senaca Baines
Principal, Colleton County Middle School
sbaines@mail.colleton.k12.sc.us
14. North Charleston, South Carolina
Noteworthy: this is the second SSEP flight for North Charleston
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 330 grade 6-11 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 314
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 65
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 330 grade 6-11 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 1; experiment design and mission patches: Palmetto Scholars Academy
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
Palmetto Scholars Academy is a charter school serving a gifted and talented population in grades 6-11. Our mission is to serve our student population through a research-based curriculum that provides authentic research experiences. The SSEP gives the school the chance to fulfill its mission statement to the greatest degree in all areas of the curriculum, but particularly in the area of science. The STEM-based approach is in keeping with the mission of the school and can meet the needs of the exceptional child. There is strong commitment from PSA to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and provide them with many opportunities in the Charleston area. The research-based curriculum is working to foster that commitment, but the SSEP allows full expression of that commitment. With Google, Boeing, Bosch, ISHPI, and SPAWAR expanding and/or developing in the Charleston area, it is important to expose our students to opportunities that could make an impact on our community. This partnership with STEM leaders in our community enriches the learning environment of our students and energizes these corporations to continue their efforts to make an impact on students’ engagement in STEM.
Partner Institutions
Palmetto Scholars Academy
ISHPI
South Carolina Space Grant Consortium at the College of Charleston
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR)
College of Charleston
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Citadel University
University of South Carolina
Dupont
Google – Berkeley County, South Carolina
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
Mission 4 to ISS
(see Mission 4 community profile, flight and honorable mention experiments, and flight mission patches)
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Marty Hale
Principal, Palmetto Scholars Academy
Martha.Hale@palmettoscholarsacademy.org
Timothy Gott
Rising Principal, Palmetto Scholars Academy, 2014-15 school year
Tim.Gott@wku.edu
Kellye Voigt
Science & Research Teacher
kellye.voigt@palmettoscholarsacademy.org
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 1,500 grade 5-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 1,500
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 300
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 3,000 grade 1-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 23; experiment design and mission patches: Green STEAM Magnet School; experiment design only: Adrian Burnett Elementary,
A.L. Lotts Elementary, Bearden Elementary, Bearden High, Bearden Middle, Cedar Bluff Middle, Central High, Farragut High, Farragut Intermediate, Farragut Middle, Fountain City Elementary, Gresham Middle, Halls High, Halls Middle, Hardin Valley Academy, Hardin Valley Elementary, L&N STEM Academy, Northshore Elementary, Northwest Middle, Vine STEAM Magnet, West Valley Middle, Whittle Springs Middle
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
Being located in the east TN Innovation Valley between the state’s flagship research university campus and a national lab, the vision of Knox County Schools (KCS) STEM is to be recognized as a national leader in engaging public-private partnerships to offer best practices in transdisciplinary instruction for students PK-12. To this end, the KCS system is committed to providing high quality, relevant, and embedded STEM learning experiences to all students in all grade levels with the goal of STEM literacy for all.
Knox County Schools see SSEP as a vehicle to inspire our community and help capture imagination, which drives innovation and is not secluded to those groups who traditionally achieve at the highest levels on standardized performance measures. The authentic experience of designing for a purpose and audience will engage students’ dreams and provide a hook for their classroom teachers to build schema and understanding of topics, skills, and concepts included in the Common Core State Standards (which TN has adopted for English Language Arts and Math). Contrary to current science fair participation in KCS, the SSEP provides authentic immersion in a multi-faceted research experience, with students being asked to truly be part of America’s Space Program.
Partner Institutions
Knox County Schools
UT (University of Tennessee) Space Grant Consortium
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Becky Ashe
STEM Coordinator
becky.ashe@knoxschools.org
Dr. Jon Rysewyk
Director of Innovation and School Improvement
jon.rysewyk@knoxschools.org
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 336 grade 5-12 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 336
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 80
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 710 grade preK-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 1; experiment design and mission patches: Fayette Academy
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
One of Fayette Academy’s goals in science education is to raise our ACT college readiness scores. In science, the benchmark scores for college readiness are 20, 21, and 24, for ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders, respectively. For Fayette Academy, the 2013 ACT indicated an average composite of 22.1, with 39% meeting the science benchmark, compared to 88% in English. The skills required to achieve these scores center around the development, analysis, and interpretation of experimental designs, including predicting how modification of the design of an experiment will affect results, and determining whether complex data supports a given hypothesis or conclusion.
In support of these skills, SSEP will provide our students the opportunity to participate in a real-world experimental design that will bring science to life. Students will be able to use real scientific processes including pondering their research question, conducting background research, citing sources, developing hypotheses, consulting professional scientists and experts, writing methods, identifying controls, and developing analytical skills as they ponder variables that could impact the microgravity environment. This project provides students the opportunity to establish experimental controls, conduct experiments, collect data, form statistical analysis and to present their findings by forming conclusions based on sound reasoning and error analysis. This is higher order thinking skills in action. This process involves the possibility of their experimental design being selected to be sent to the International Space Station where their experiment will be processed by actual astronauts. It will create an excitement for science that our school has never before experienced.
Partner Institutions
Fayette Academy
Tennessee Space Grant Consortium at Vanderbilt University
Fayette County Education Association
Memphis Astronomical Society
West Tennessee STEM Hub
Department of Pathology, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital
Eads Animal Hospital
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Donna Burrus
Biology Lab Instructor
dlburrus@fayetteacademy.com
Melissa Norwood
Algebra and Physical Science Teacher
mnorwood@fayetteacademy.com
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 634 grade 7-8 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 500
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 100
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 14,723 grade K-12 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 14; experiment design and mission patches: Herman E. Utley Middle School, Maureen Cain Middle School, J.W. Williams Middle School; mission patches only: Amanda Rochell Elementary School, Amy Parks-Heath Elementary, Billie Stevenson Elementary, Celia Hays Elementary School, Doris Cullins-Lake Pointe Elementary, Dorothy Smith Pullen Elementary, Dorris A. Jones Elementary, Nebbie Williams Elementary, Ouida Springer Elementary, Virginia Reinhardt Elementary, Rockwall-Heath High School
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
Rockwall Independent School District (RISD) is dedicated to integrating the real world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) into student-centered education. Our STEM Leadership Team is committed to providing highly engaging, rigorous and relevant STEM activities for all students using the 5-E model of instruction and authentic learning experiences using inquiry-based learning and project-based learning. Students are engaged in Engineering, Robotics, and Aerospace career pathways as well as Health Science with a microbiology emphasis. Extracurricular STEM programs include FIRST Lego League, FIRST Robotics Competition, VEX Robotics Competition, National and International Rocketry Competition and CyberPatriot Team Competition. With an active business community that supports our efforts, RISD is a leader in STEM education.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) aligns with RISD District goals of providing opportunities for our students to become passionate and authentic learners. With a District emphasis on embracing and promoting STEM education, the SSEP Program enhances and elevates the District’s overall STEM goals. SSEP provides authentic immersion in a multi-faceted research experience, with students actively engaged in America’s Space Program. Through the mission patch design competition, grade K-12 engagement provided for broad community-wide awareness and participation. An interdisciplinary team of teachers facilitated an authentic project-based student research experience, mentored by area scientists and physicians. Two hundred twenty-five teams designed real microgravity experiments with real world constraints imposed by the operation of a flight certified microgravity mini-laboratory, and flight operations to and from low Earth orbit. Teams designed and wrote authentic research proposals and experienced a formal proposal review and selection process. The effort required 21st Century learning skills such as self-directed learning, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and teamwork. Through the SSEP experience, students were motivated to develop a greater understanding of science and many were inspired to engage in further exploration of a STEM career. Overall, the program has created a greater emphasis on RISD STEM and arts programs, generated new STEM mentors, and developed exciting new partnerships with business and industry.
Partner Institutions
Rockwall Independent School District
Texas Space Grant Consortium at University of Texas at Austin
North East Texas Chapter 416 – Air Force Association
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
Subaru of America, Inc., SSEP National Partner
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Jean Laswell
Career Technical Education Coordinator
jean.laswell@rockwallisd.org
Joey Belgard
Secondary Science Coordinator
Joey.belgard@rockwallisd.org
18. San Antonio, Texas – Northside ISD
Program Scope
Experiment Design Competition: 2,400 grade 5-6 students given opportunity to participate
Expected Minimum Number of Students Fully Engaged in Experiment Design: 360
Expected Minimum Number of Student Team Proposals: 70
SSEP Community-wide Engagement Program (includes mission patch design): 3,600 grade 5-6 students given opportunity to participate
Number of participating schools: 35; experiment design and mission patches: Jefferson Middle School, Pat Neff Middle School, Garcia Middle School, Zachry Middle School, Rayburn Middle School, Allen Elementary; experiment design only: Briscoe Middle School, Hobby Middle School, Pease Middle School, Ross Middle School, Rudder Middle School, Vale Middle School, Hoffmann Elementary, Beard Elementary, Helotes Elementary, Howsman Elementary, Ward Elementary, Oak Hills Terrace Elementary, Glass Elementary, Hatchett Elementary, Esparza Elementary, Thornton Elementary, Forester Elementary, Knowlton Elementary; mission patches only: Marshall High School, Clark High School, Kuentz Elementary, Colonies North Elementary, Steubing Elementary, Driggers Elementary, Linton Elementary, Elrod Elementary, Timberwilde Elementary, Murnin Elementary, Fisher Elementary
Community Statement on SSEP and Strategic Alignment to Local STEM Education Need
The mission of Northside Independent School District is to work with our community to provide innovative, high-quality, diverse learning experiences for all students in an ever-changing world. We believe that meaningful relationships among parents, educators, and the community foster student success and that schools create conditions that prepare students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers.
The NISD Science Department strives to engage students in Science, Technology, Mathematics, and Engineering (STEM) opportunities in core classes and as after school activities. Students may participate in several STEM activities such as robotics clubs, Solar Cars, and Young Astronauts programs along with their regular course work. As an after school program, the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) provides a unique opportunity for our students to experience the real-life proposal work that scientists undergo as they collaborate on projects that result in authentic scientific research.
SSEP embodies the principles laid out in NISD’s Strategic Plan by providing an opportunity to be involved in a program that allows students to be active participants in their own learning, be critical thinkers and problem solvers, experience the real-world proposal and competition process, and connect with productive members of society who can guide the students in STEM careers.
Partner Institutions
Northside Independent School District
Texas Space Grant Consortium at University of Texas at Austin
Northside Education Foundation
University of Texas at San Antonio
Southwest Research Institute
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Rey Saldana, San Antonio City Councilman District 4
National Defense Education Program/Cryptologic and Cyber Systems Division
City of San Antonio
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
SSEP Mission Participation
Mission 6 to ISS
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Nancy Kreth
Instructional Specialist, Elementary Science
nancy.kreth@nisd.net
Amanda Ewenson
Instructional Support Teacher, Elementary Science
amanda.ewenson@nisd.net