Billy & Cameron = Youngest NASA Scientists
Fifth graders Billy Shannon and Cameron Wade got to attend the NASA rocket launch which had their own experiments aboard, thanks in a very teensy part to my financial contribution on bablog. Today most experiments involve Menthos and Diet Coke, but here is what the elementary school students did:
The students placed nuts and bolts screwed together in tiny bottles to see whether the vibrations from the rocket will break them apart. They also sent up plant seeds, which they will plant this summer along with seeds that haven’t been airborne to see whether there is a difference in growth.
As a former seventh grade Bronx county Science Fair winner for my project “How does a Photoelectric Cell Convert Light Energy into Electrical Energy” – which provided me the opportunity to participate in the (alas discontinued) Florida Science Study Program – I know personally how important such an experience can be to a young student/scientist.