Classroom Training...

In the late 1970's, Ed Buckbee and Dr. von Braun were walking through the U.S. Space & Rocket Center when they came across a group of school kids and their teacher on a fieldtrip. That is when the idea was born to turn this center into a place where kids from all over could come and experience a little taste of what it would be like to be an astronaut. And in 1982, Space Camp was born.

Twenty-two years later it was decided to have a special program specifically designed for teachers so they would be able to bring lessons and passion for the space program back to their classrooms all over the world and so the Educator Space Academy started up in 2004. Besides all the guest speakers and astronaut training, we spent several hours in classrooms doing actual hands-on activities that we can recreate for our students. We came home with an unbelievable amount of lesson plans and projects.



Throughout the week we learned about the symbolism of creating mission patches, understanding the impact of geography on society, we developed a water filtration system, we learned how to build air balloons, we designed and tested water, air and model rockets, we learned innovative and interactive math activities and we also learned the secrets of hydroponics. All of these classes were taught by real teachers who work at Space Camp so they know the types of obstacles we face in the classroom which is very helpful.



By using space as an exciting anchor, we can hopefully inspire more mathematicians and scientists. As was mentioned several times, it is today's 7th and 8th graders who will be the ones actually walking on Mars. And whereas more than likely we will never get out into space, as teachers we at least have the ability to inspire the future stars of the space program.