HIF sponsors West Lincoln-Broadwell students Mars Mission at Challenger Learning Center

 

[December 12, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

The West Lincoln-Broadwell School sixth grade science class traveled to the Challenger Learning Center on the campus of Heartland Community College in Normal Thursday morning. The twenty students were accompanied by their science teacher Barbara Bowlby and mathematics teacher Val Mammen.

Heritage-in-Flight Museum at the Logan County Airport donated the tuition for the class to attend the program as part of its community outreach.

The Challenger Learning Center is a unique space oriented environment that immerses students in a task based educational experience. In this case, the students were asked to pilot a Mars Transport Vehicle from Martian moon Phoebus to the surface of the planet.

The class was divided into two teams, one to take the trip to the surface of the Red Planet, and the other to staff mission control to insure safe flight for crew members.

Before all of this space travel could occur, teachers and students had to prepare for the day.

Mrs. Bowlby and Mrs. Mammen attended training sessions at the Challenger Learning Center. The teachers had a chance to actually fly the mission themselves, to become oriented with all of the hardware and technology that their students would use during the actual mission. In addition, after the initial orientation the teachers attended annual workshops. “The annual workshops allow us to keep up with all of the new technology that is introduced at the CLC,” said Barbara Bowlby.

Mrs. Bowlby and Mrs. Mammen then conducted classroom training for their students for approximately a month before the big day. Science and math were focused on the skills that the students would need for their day at the CLC, such as what to look for to find life on another planet.
 

Just as with an actual mission to space, the Challenger Learning Center assigns a mission commander and flight director who guide the students through the task of landing on Mars and conducting scientific exploration. On Thursday, the big day of the mission, when everyone arrived at the Challenger Learning Center, the Mission Commander and Flight Director took over.

The students participated in multi-tasking, followed detailed instructions, and practiced teamwork over the course of the mission.

The space module looks just like a small version of a space station with different spaces for scientific exploration and a control station for the pilot. The mission control room looks just like the real room in Houston where space exploration is conducted from earth.

Each student sat at a specific work station with a computer where they conducted research on biology, medicine, engineering, and support of the flight crew. The two crews were able to communicate with each other between the two rooms through radio and computer. Half-way into the mission the two crews exchanged places so each could learn what their counterparts had been doing.

By the end of the session, the two crews were smoothly going through their tasks with minimal help from the flight director and mission commander. “The task of landing on Mars to look for water and life allowed our students to concentrate on their strengths. It was especially relevant since the Mars probe InSight just landed on the planet to do just that,” said Barb Bowlby.

Following the mission and lunch, Professor Jay Ansher from Illinois State University conducted a physics lesson through the “Physics on the Road” program at ISU. Ansher travels throughout central Illinois bringing his engaging physics lectures to schools.

“We plan a trip to the Challenger Learning Center at least once a year. It is a great learning experience for the West Lincoln Broadwell science students. Dr. Ansher’s lecture after the mission is a wonderful benefit,” said Barbara Bowlby.

“We really want to thank Heritage-in-Flight for donating the tuition for this year’s trip,” added Val Mammen.

Both teachers remarked that having the Challenger Learning Center on the campus of Heartland Community College had the added benefit of exposing their students to a college atmosphere, giving them the idea that an institution of higher learning after high school is available to them.

Several students on the trip to the CLC were also on the state championship girl’s basketball team, so they had a big day. They traveled to the Challenger Learning Center in the morning, and then to their game in the late afternoon. The term student athlete really means something to this very talented group.

Information on the Challenger Learning Center is available on their website.

Heritage-in-Flight is all over social media these days with a website, Face Book, and Instagram. Tours of the museum and the outside displays can be arranged in advance by contacting the museum.

[Curtis Fox]