Rockwall ISD is participating in a very special project this spring. Seventh and eighth grade students from Cain Middle School, Utley Middle School and Williams Middle School have been competing as teams for a chance to fly an experiment on the International Space Station as part of a project developed by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education. Over 600 Rockwall ISD students have been participating in 225 teams for a chance to be a part of a real space project mission. Each team researched, designed, and proposed a science experiment.
Last week, each middle school campus selected three team proposals to submit to the District judging panel. The District panel selected three of those proposals to send to the National SSEP Panel for review. One of the following experiments will be selected for the Mission 6 flight to the International Space Station in the fall.
The three finalist teams where from Williams Middle School and Utley Middle School. Utley Middle School’s team included the following students: Nathaniel Butler and Joseph Yeh. Their team proposed the experiment titled “Escherichia Coli Reactions to Microgravity.” One of Williams Middle School’s teams included the following students: Ryan Figert, Harrison Smith, Will Brown, Brooks Helmer, and Chase Howerton with collaboration from James Matthews. Their team proposed the experiment titled “How Microgravity Effects Yeast Cell Division and How it Relates to Human Cancer Cells.” Another team from Williams Middle School included the following students: Parker Basett, Elijah Freeney, Nick Laudermilk, James Matthews and Riley Stewart. Their team proposed the experiment titled “The Effects of Microgravity on Antibiotics.”
Six middle school teachers participated as facilitators of the Rockwall ISD Student Spaceflight Experiments Program: Mark Berglund and Katie Morris at Cain Middle School; Marcus Edwards and Charline Hoevers at Utley Middle School; and Mike Stone and Andrew Mertens at Williams Middle School.
Participation in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program is part of a STEM initiative implemented by the Career Education, Science and Math Curriculum Coordinators at Rockwall ISD. Funding was supported by generous donations from local and national organizations, including:
- Texas NASA Space Grant – University of Texas at Austin
- Rockwall Independent School District
- Air Force Association, Chapter 416
- Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS)
- Subaru of America
The Student Space Flight Experiments Program (http://ssep.ncesse.org) is undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE; http://ncesse.org) in partnership with Nanoracks, LLC.
This on-orbit educational research opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks, LLC, which is working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.
For more information about the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program and future missions, see the NCESSE website at: www.ncesse.org
