The last space shuttle mission has landed and Discovery is neatly tucked away in Washington D.C., but that has not dismayed a contingent of five teachers within the Shamong Township District, who have joined with the Shamong Education Foundation to work with the NASA on an experiment requiring a zero-gravity environment.
Teachers Steve Shultz, Dan Giordano, Brian Davis, Linda Newman and Jen Wilson are using their wide and varied talents to conduct an experiment on fluid dynamics at various heights and G-force levels. The goal is to better understand the relationship between fluids and gravity, according to Torricelli’s Law.
This law states the height of a flowing fluid is directly proportional to the velocity at which the fluid will flow. This is something you cannot do in your backyard or even a fully functional laboratory because there is no way to realistically replicate a condition of zero and partial gravity.
The only logical option is to exploit the tools available at NASA and get into a zero-gravity environment to conduct the experiments. But, how do you make that happen? Up stepped the Shamong Education Foundation, providing $17,000 in funding and establishing a relationship with NASA that made the difference and allowing the dreams of five teachers to become reality.
Pressed for details, Steve Shultz, the seventh-grade science teacher, outlined a robust experiment in a weightless environment provided by NASA at its training facility in Houston.
Dan Giordano, the eighth-grade special education teacher, further explained that the team intends to establish a live blog via the Internet, allowing students in Shamong an opportunity to become major participants and promote scientific inquiry. Linda Newman added that it would provide all students a chance to get away from the daily rituals over the summer, which tend to become monotonous by the end of July, and step into something new, exciting, and educational from their home, the beach, or anywhere an Internet connection can be made.
While the team will arrive in Houston and conduct the experiments in mid-July, this will carry on during the school year in September. An enthusiastic Jen Walker beamed at the prospects of sharing technologies and visual footage to engage her fourth-grade students in the many wonders of science and to promote inquisition and the application of an actual scientific experiment that impact their lives.
Davis offered that, for his math students, it brings with it the answer to that ageless question, “When will I ever use math for anything in life?”
The Shamong School District and Shamong Foundation already see the benefits. This project will promote the key ingredients to scholastic excellence by developing learning outside the walls and encourage a newfound lifelong love of learning. The team cannot wait, and neither can their students. It is going to be a special summer for all.
Please address questions or responses of interest to John F. Rudman, Shamong Township Public School District’s publicity coordinator at (609) 268–0440, ext. 1210 or jrudman@ims.k12.nj.us.
