Community Involvement: Encouraging a Fascination with Science
Here at APL, we share our time, talents, and resources to inspire future scientists and engineers and support educators. Through the efforts of our Community Relations Office as well as individual APL staffers, students have the opportunity to learn something new in their own classroom environment or by visiting our campus. APL staffers serve on educational and other local advisory boards and often present APL programs or science subjects to the general public. Some of our recent education outreach efforts are highlighted below.
Exploring STEM Careers
Girl Power
APL hosted Girl Power, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) expo sponsored by The Women's Giving Circle of Howard County with support from APL, MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement), and the Maryland Space Business Roundtable. The event featured hands-on activities, cool demonstrations, and take-home material for middle school and high school girls to encourage interest in STEM careers. Girls attending the event could talk to professional women in STEM careers such as aerospace, computer science, electrical engineering, geology, information technology, and space mission engineering.
Howard County Elementary School STEM Day
When Howard County elementary schools sponsored a STEM Day, they invited people in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields to come in as guest speakers. APL's Dawn Turney talked to a fifth-grade class and a third-grade class at West Friendship Elementary School about her work in the Space Department. She told the students about progress on an upcoming space mission, Radiation Belt Storm Probes. As part of the presentations, Turney had some of the children dress up in clean room suits to show how staff members working on actual spacecraft and equipment for experiments dress to avoid contaminating any parts.
Groovy Science
Physicist Marc Clayton's love for science led him to a second career—growing potential engineers and scientists. He developed a series of science shows, called Clayton's Groovy Science, which he presents at elementary schools. In these lively, interactive programs, Clayton illustrates simple scientific concepts with the flair of a magician. The presentation shows kids the relevance of science in their everyday lives. His goal is to use these fun experiments to make a lasting impression.
Developing Future Talent
APL's Mentor Program, in cooperation with the Howard County Public School System and other nearby public and private high schools, allows students to work one-on-one with an APL staff member on a science project for the school year. These projects fulfill credit requirements toward graduation.
The Laboratory also participates in the Science, Mathematics, and Technology Research Program, which allows students to collaborate with technical staff members on individual science research projects. The projects are for high school credit, and some are tailored for competitions such as the Intel Science Talent Search.
Students in Project Lead The Way (PLTW), an engineering curriculum in many schools, can request participation in the program at APL through their school PLTW teachers.
High School Student Plays "Real World" Games in National Security Analysis
Anxious to move on to a world with more challenges than high school—and without homework—Travis Stright was fortunate enough to find a great opportunity. As part of an APL mentoring program for select high school students from the local area, Stright began spending after-school hours with an analyst in the Joint Advanced Systems and Concepts Group of the National Security Analysis Department (NSAD). What he found was more challenging than he had imagined. This is his account of working in “the real world.” Learn more »
Tours and Conferences
Conferences held at APL and tours of select facilities provide opportunities for high school and college students, as well as educators, to learn more about real-life science and technology careers, drawn from examples of the Laboratory's work.
MESA Students Tour APL
APL hosted tours for 56 Maryland MESA high school students and eight coordinators from six different schools in four different Maryland counties. During this event, the Applied Information Sciences Department showcased its scalable network monitoring and digital video forensics, the Air and Missile Defense Department showed its Actuator Test Facility and Environmental Systems Integration Lab, and the Global Engagement Department highlighted interactive simulations in the Augmented Reality Environment at APL (ARENA) Lab.
MESA students also got a chance to check out the Milton Eisenhower Research Center's Robotics Lab, the National Security Technology Department's Prosthetics Lab, and the Space Department's Simulation and Vibration Labs.
Gifted and Talented Students Gather at APL
The Mentor Student Learning Conference, which is sponsored by the Howard County Public Schools Office of Gifted and Talented Education and held annually at APL, is an opportunity for participating students who have engaged in college-level academic research to showcase their work through scholarly presentations. Students attended a variety of sessions to hear their peers present papers, exhibit projects, and discuss their year of learning and the contributions they made to their various fields of study.
Space Resources and NASA Educational Support
Through its own Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Office, APL's Space Department strives to excite and inspire the next generation of explorers by creating hands-on, minds-on learning experiences for students, educators, and the general public. Visit APL's Space Department Education and Outreach Programs website for more information.
Space Academy
During the Spring 2009 Space Academy, Middle school students from Howard, Harford, and Calvert counties listened and watched as the Space Department's Tony Scarpati had fun with liquid nitrogen and other materials in the Space Simulation Lab. More than 100 students attended the event, helping celebrate APL's 50 years of space research. The students also held a press conference with members of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), New Horizons, and Solar Probe Plus mission teams; learned about clean room suits; and took part in a Groovy Science show. For more information on the Space Academy series, visit www.spaceacademy.jhuapl.edu.
Other Educational Resources
What's it like to write for a newspaper? APL has an exciting, real-life writing course called Let's Write a Newspaper Story! that lets students find out.