The computer lab was packed with ISAS
students today. They were sprawled out on the floor, cutting and
gluing paper to tri-fold boards. Others were on the edges of their
chairs, reading last minute research online, and others had
powerpoint pulled up on their screens adding and writing slides, all
for tomorrow's final presentation. These presentations, occurring
tomorrow, is a demonstration of how much they have learned through
out the week. Each team will be presenting their aspect of the
mission to Mars. The
teams hurried around, discussing technical information with one
another, debating different rocket designs and the best methods to
cut costs. With Mars practically in their crosshairs, the students
began to rush back and forth, attempting to create the best attempt
possible for this Mars mission. However, despite the Mars mission
being an important component; it has not been the focus of this
Academy. The best thing these students can take from this Academy is
an opportunity to become immersed within many different scientific
fields and witness the real-world applications of STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) careers. The Mars mission
allows the students to experiment with the necessary combination of
the many different scientific, economic, and political processes
required to instigate a realistic scientific endeavor.
This idea was established stronger today when after breakfast, Pat Pyke, director of Boise State's STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Station and Kristine Barney, BSU student success coordinator, shook up the focus on the present and project with a presentation about choosing and preparing for college.
“You've made it to ISAS”, one
said, “now what's next?” However, with the best-of-the-best
students that attended ISAS, the basics didn't need to be covered.
They all nodded when standardized tests and grade point average were
mentioned. After all, many conversations between students this week
have focused on their college plans. Regardless, there was still more
than enough information that could be garnered from the discussion.
Being some of the few students that
seem to readily admit to loving math and science so passionately that
they would give up a week of their summer to come enjoy it, not to
mention take an extra class their previous semester in high school,
along with various other summer work, it was helpful to have a
college discussion for once, primarily focused on entering a STEM
career.
“How do you prepare for a future
that hasn't even been invented yet?'' Pat ask the students. “What
things didn't exist when you were kids?” They listed iPhones,
lasers, and touch screens, amongst others. “Now imagine what's
still going to happen your lifetime”. It was one of many
affirmations the students have received this week that did declare to
them that they can do anything: from working at NASA Ames, to being a
Micron chemist, and even beyond.
This morning, as well, the students
were able to see a presentation
from Boise State University’s own Microgravity
University Team.
The students were fascinated with the stories from the Microgravity
Team about their rides and experiments in the Zero G plane,
affectionately known as the “Vomit Comet”. The Microgravity Team
is held in high prestige at Boise State. Acclaimed Idaho astronaut
Barbra Morgan said about them late last year, ““Our
students continue to shine for Boise State as this program helps the
university evolve as a metropolitan research university of
distinction.” This presentation helped lead into a conversation
about their upcoming senior year and nearing college experiences.
The final activity before lunch, was a
video conference with BSU graduate, Boise native, and NASA electric
engineer, Dan
Isla. Isla has been working as an engineer at the Jet Propulsion
Lab ever since graduating Boise State in 2009. Students sat in awe
watching the video NASA put out a few weeks ago entitled Seven
Minutes of Terror, showing the Mars rover mission he is helping
work on called Curiosity and the seven minutes of no communication
between it and NASA as Curiosity lands on Martian soil for the first
time.
After chowing down on their choice of
fajitas and other food, the
students were able to go to elective-like classes taught by
professionals in each of their respective fields. The students, prior
to this week, were able to rate their preferences of classes. The
first class option was robotics taught by Discovery Center Idaho
Woody Sobey. There was chemistry by Doctor Henry Charlier. The
Biology of Reduced Gravit by Doctor Cheryl Jorcyk was taught in the
science building. The biomechanics of human joints was taught by Dr.
Michelle Sabick and Paleontology was taught by Doctor Sam Matson and
Doctor Karen Viskupic. As for the
activities performed, in paleontology students learned how to tell
the speed of dinosaurs by the footprints they left. They even learned
about mass spectrometers, and in robotics, students assembled and
programed robots that could identify colors and avoid running into
walls.
Everyone then headed to dinner,
followed by even more work on their projects.
The night ended with doing a dress
rehearsal for tomorrow's presentations. After six days of
back-to-back activities, the students all fell asleep quickly.
These blogs will continue to be uploaded daily, once the students have completed their final activities each night. A more "live" version of the days' events are being uploaded onto the ISAS Summer Academy Facebook group and page, as well as to Twitterat ISAS_Academy. Tomorrow will be the students' last day of the program. All of the staff at ISAS wish them good luck and are proud of all the work they have done.
--Jaime Guevara, Heidi Hughes--
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