Rebecca George | Fairbanks Daily News - Miner March 7, 2009
FAIRBANKS — Imagine traveling all the way to outer space without ever having to leave the classroom.
That’s exactly what students at Ladd Elementary school did this week with the help of Commander Dan Spencer, flight director with the Challenger Space Learning Center.
In the School Bus to Space program, students received expert training on how to eat, sleep and exercise like an astronaut as they learned about space suits, special cuisine and even table manners at zero gravity.
“Even astronauts play with their food,” he told a classroom full of wide-eyed fifth-graders.
As Spencer showed a video of astronauts in orbit spinning bananas like torpedoes into their mouths and chasing after a scattered hand full of jelly beans, the children ran their fingers over light-weight dehydrated space food like Mexican scrambled eggs, green beans and even old-fashioned grits.
“It costs $10,000 for every pound of material that goes into space,” Spencer said.
An echo of awes spanned the classroom but didn’t seem to impress the young students nearly as much as his next topic.
“Potty training for astronauts is very high tech,” he said.
Between giggles and flushed faces, Spencer explained that in zero gravity, trying to sit still (or stand) was difficult for astronauts, so they are forced to wear a seat belt while using the bathroom in outer space .All of the waste in the space craft is then freeze dried and released into the atmosphere where it burns almost instantly.
“The next time I see a shooting star, I don’t know if I can look at it the same,” Morgan Foy said after the class.
Fifth-graders learned more than just the ins and outs of life in outer space.
Each day of the week was an adventure in physics that covered light, energy, robots and space exploration.
“We got to destroy robots in an extreme robot fight,” Paris Wall, 12, said. “It was fun and much better than just boring old math. We actually used math for something cool.”
With classmates Britt Owens, Nick Dvorak, Joseph Stevens and Kaitlan Spencer, Paris constructed a robot with arms, which they called “the awesome.”
“I built it with four wheels and two engines, and we broke the arm off the other robot in the war,” Spencer explained.
Students built the other robot in the shape of a jukebox using a kit from the Challenger Learning Center.
By Friday students were practically rocket scientists as they crafted their own rockets using scotch tape, construction paper and plastic pipes.
With a loud “3-2-1 and Blast off!” students saw their rockets launch almost a hundred feet into the air.
“Whoa! This is the coolest project I ever did,” Nick Dvorak, age 11, said. “I never knew construction paper could be so useful.”
His classmate, Kaitlan Spencer, watched as her rocket flew over the heads of classmates and into the nearby playground where another class was at recess.
At just 11 years old, Kaitlan said she is almost ready to become an astronaut.
“I think being in outer space is fun and just like being in school because you’re always learning more, and it’s actually fun to learn,” she said.
And that’s exactly what Principal Kathie Cook wanted to hear.
“It was an absolute success,” Cook said. “Every time we have an artist or expert come into our school it’s such a wonderful experience. If it can touch just one child and make a difference, then it’s absolutely worth it.”
According to Cook, Dan Spencer was great with the kids.
In his blue flight suit, Commander Dan, as the kids called him, brought a new energy to difficult science.
Cook was amazed at the impact Spencer had on one student in particular who has continually struggled in school.
“Dan brought out the best in some of these students,” Cook said.
This particular student is typically not engaged in classroom work, but sat in the front row of Spencer’s presentations and was the model student during the week, according to Cook.
Dan Spencer brought the mission of the Challenger Center to life at Ladd Elementary.
The program was formed as a living memorial to the infamous Challenger expedition crash in 1986, with the idea to have every school in Alaska experiencing the wonders of outer space with hands-on projects.
Rather than build a statue memorializing the victims, the Challenger Center founders wanted to encourage students to pursue higher education in science, technology, engineering and math so that they might be better prepared for future exploration.
“We’re really lucky to have the Challenger Center in Alaska,” he said. “We’re really starting to branch out and take advantage of new technology by helping teachers bring this into their classroom.”
There are about 50 centers located around the United States, with one on the Kenai Peninsula for Alaska students.
“Seeing kids’ eyes light up when they launch the rockets that they build is what drives this program,” Spencer said. “It’s a great job — who else can say they get to build robots and launch rockets for a living?”
As the fifth-graders at Ladd Elementary packed up their rockets and backpacks to head into Spring Break, Spencer packed up his space gear and prepared for his flight home.
A little girl gathered her rocket out of the snow and got ready to head home.
“Mission complete,” she said.