D-2 teachers going weightless to inspire students
Some teachers would do almost anything to help their students understand math and science.
But defy gravity? Perform experiments while floating around like a balloon?
Fox Meadow Middle School teachers Matt Allner and Emily Silvester are more than willing to give it a try.
Allner, a space science instructor, and Silvester, who teaches physical education, are among four teachers from Colorado chosen to attend the Weightless Flights of Discovery program sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation.
Blast-off day is Sept. 22 in Albuquerque, when they and 26 other teachers from New Mexico, Texas and Arizona will hop aboard a modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft. It’s set up for maneuvers that create temporary weightlessness, similar to how astronauts train for space, Allner said.
As suggested, the teachers are bringing motion sickness medication so they don’t . . .well, you know . . .while they float around.
The Harrison School District 2 teachers recently attended a Northrop Grumman preparation workshop and got a start on a half dozen experiments to test laws of physics in lunar, Martian and zero gravity.
In one experiment, the teachers will monitor their heart rates to see how gravity affects them. They’ll also take along water, vegetable oil, molasses and syrup to see how they act in weightlessness. In another experiment, they will use small steel balls attached to strings to test Newton’s law that for every action there is an opposite and equal action.
Allner and Silvester will tell their students about the experiments and have them hypothesize the outcomes. When they return, they’ll show their classes the results and see which students were correct.
“The kids are like ‘oohh, can we go, too?’” Silvester said. “We are excited that they are excited about learning.”
The program, in its fourth year, was created to inspire students to pursue science and math careers, said Northrup Grumman spokesman Gus Gulmert.
“Our lifeblood is engineering and technical talent, and there is a shortage in the U.S.,” he said.
One of Allner’s students, 11-year-old Preston Bolyard, is already inspired. He has been interested in space since second grade, and he wishes he could go along on his teacher’s trip.
“I’d probably be nervous. It’s a new experience,” he said. “But I’d like to go into space someday.”
Fox Meadow Middle School teachers Matt Allner and Emily Silvester said they were chosen to travel to Albuquerque Sept 22 to participate in the Flight of Discovery, where they will perform experiments while weightless. Some of the components they hoped to Photo by Staff photographer