Saturday, October 03, 2009, Dulles
ZERO-G Education Programs provide a first-hand experience of what space travel is like by putting educators, students and researchers in weightless environments using parabolic flight. The overall goals are to improve student performance, inspire teachers’ careers and advance scientific knowledge.
v Pre-flight instruction including:
o Science, Technology, Engine
o Suggestions for integrating the experience into the classroom
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v Flight gear for successful mission
v Access to ZERO-G’s in-flight experiment materials
v Flight images and video to share with students, colleagues and community
v Registration code to ZERO-G’s “Floating Teachers Lounge” – a blog site for Educators to share ideas, classroom strategies and ongoing activities
The benefits for the participant teacher, and the students they teach, are well-documented. Here are a few:
v Teachers report that students are far more engaged in learning after they integrate ZERO-G materials into the classroom;
v Teacher’s experience renewed passion for teaching and greater pride in their careers;
v First hand experience of the STEM concepts cements teachers’ understanding and raises their confidence level instructing others;
v Weight vs. Mass
v The ZERO-G experience is aligned to National Standards. Teachers may receive professional development credit for participating;
v Students report greater interest in attending college and seeking careers in STEM related fields;
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o Classroom application ideas
o New teaching strategies
o Improved content knowledge/understanding
Quick Education Statistics:
1. Since 2006, more than 1,000 teachers have participated in ZERO-G education programs.
2. Participating teachers report using their ZERO-G lessons annually with at least 150 students every year. It is estimated that, since 2006, more than 400,000 students have received STEM instruction using the ZERO-G weightless experience.
3. ZERO-G commissioned two independent reviews of its education programs. Both reviews provide evidence that ZERO-G programs directly benefit teachers and students.
What is weightlessness and how do we do it?
ZERO-G uses parabolic flight on our Boeing 727-200 aircraft, named G-FORCE ONE, to create the same gravities you would find on Mars, the Moon and in space. It is the same method that NASA has used for more than 50 years to train its astronauts.
In parabolic flight, specially trained pilots maneuver the plane in a manner similar to a series of gently rolling hills to create a weightless environment in the cabin of the aircraft – everything and everyone floats.
The microgravity environment created on the aircraft is exactly the same as what the astronauts experience on the International Space Station, on the Shuttle and in outer space.
Each parabola lasts about 1 minute. Approximately 30 seconds of the parabola is in reduced gravity (Martian, Lunar or microgravity) and approximately 30 seconds of the parabola is 1.8 gravity – or twice that of your weight on Earth.
