My favorite tour at Space Center Houston was the NBL. What is the NBL you ask? No, I am not referring to the men's National Basketball League. Nor am I talking about football, despite the fact that the Super Bowl was played in Houston this year. It's the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory! Based on the name, some of you may have been able to figure out that it's a place where you don't sink or float. Where on Earth would you be able to do that and what does it have to do with space? Well, the short answer is a giant pool in Houston, Texas. Astronauts train here to prepare them for the microgravity environment they experience aboard the International Space Station. I also have to say that it is the COOLEST THING EVER!! Note: Check out my slideshow at the end of the post. I could spend a whole post dedicated to it and plan to in the future. What makes me say that besides my strong personal opinion on the subject? Well, it kept my class of fifth graders excited on a Friday morning in May. As any teacher knows, as summer approaches this task becomes more and more difficult. They were intrigued by the information I was able to share from the tour, asking questions, answering questions and demanding more pictures. I decided to share the images with my students because we just reached the point in Hidden Figures where the switch from NACA to NASA occurs. This switch changes the focus of the administration (and the book) from flight to space flight. I may have introduced it as the moment they had been waiting for. This is also the point that the movie focuses on, so my students who have seen it are more familiar with it. We have 7 chapters left in the book and we're learning something new every day. This past week, we discussed Brown v. Board of Education, Little Rock, Arkansas and Ruby Bridges. I love the multi-dimensional aspects of the book and the ability to incorporate so many subjects and topics with it. Flocabulary, Brainpop and Newsela have all been great resources to incorporate not only technology, but also multimedia. Next week's plan is to discuss The Cold War and it's impact on the Space Race and well as JFK's We Choose the Moon Speech. Students are beginning to work on their Performance Assessment, using creativity to prove that they can answer the two central questions: What does it mean to be a Hidden Figure? How am I/can I be a Hidden Figure? #HiddenFigures #SpaceCenterHou #JSC #NeutralBuoyancyLab #myyearinspace #tranquilitycrew #EDUExpeditionCrew
4 Comments
Lisa Jones
5/7/2017 02:18:31 pm
I am so impressed that you delving into such deep topics in May! I also love the thought provoking questions! #superteacher :)
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Katie Conrad
5/31/2017 01:47:19 pm
I learned from the best! It helped that I planned it all out over Spring Break. I didn't have a lot of planning in May, just implementation. It definitely kept them busy and more focused!!
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Andrea Mangold
5/8/2017 03:26:25 pm
I am so excited to know that you are using HF in your curriculum! I'll be checking your blog to see how it goes, and plan on using the book in our classroom in 17-18. Very nicely done!
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Katie Conrad
5/31/2017 01:50:31 pm
Hope you found the information useful! It's a great book to use in the classroom, but I may be biased :) What grade(s) do you teach? I'm trying to delve into TeachersPayTeachers and have the whole unit available there eventually
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AuthorApollo 13 fan. Educator. Lifelong Learner. Third generation Boilermaker. Space Exploration Enthusiast. Collaborator. Click Subscribe to stay updated!Archives
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