After a busy Saturday move-in, the second class of Virginia Earth System Science Scholars Summer Academy were eager to begin their program in earnest. Despite the doldrums of Saturday morning traffic, and the daunting challenge of a week without Pokémon Go, the scholars brimmed with energy. With their parents meeting with Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC) STEM Education Program Specialist Joyce Corriere and VSGC Education Programs Manager Rudo Kashiri, the dormitory lobby was alive with conversation. After a short walk to Forbes Hall, the students listened to opening remarks from Corriere and Kashiri. The two educators explained that the projects the students were about to undertake not only emphasized environmental system science and engineering, but also the ability to communicate with a diverse audience. As student intern Alan Booth explained, “Science, now, is dictated not by the pursuit of knowledge itself, but by what it means to the public. Looking back to the 1940s, the consensus among the scientific community was that it would take two hundred years to put a man on the moon. But we did, not even two decades later, and a large part of how we did that lies in the social factors at play and what the public wanted.”
With encouragement to explore how science, engineering, and communication intersect, Kashiri challenged the students to transport a small ball 10 meters by creating a channel from plastic tubing. The scholars separated into four teams for the week, and began developing their solutions to Kashiri’s problem. |
The scholars communicated surprisingly well for their first challenge of the week, accomplishing the challenge so quickly that the interns decided to test the students with a more difficult challenge. The Atmosphere and Hydrosphere teams partnered up, and tasked with transporting the ball down and then back up a flight of stairs, while the Biosphere and Lithosphere teams partnered to transport two balls at once. With boundless enthusiasm, the students exceeded expectations and proved that with teamwork and communication, no challenge is too hard.
Tonight the scholars will work on their individual mission presentations. They will present these to their fellow group members tomorrow to better understand previous and existing NASA projects, and find new ways to expand our knowledge of Earth systems. We look forward to these presentations tomorrow, and are excited to take our first steps towards the scholars’ missions.