McCall Idaho Headline News

Teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan sees lessons everywhere. When she operates the shuttle's robot arm during the space shuttle Endeavour's mission, it will be geometry in motion.
When the International Space Station's new support beam gets snapped into place during the STS-118 mission, it will be engineering alive.

"As teachers, we're always looking for those real-world examples," said Cindy McArthur, a former teacher who heads a NASA educational outreach program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"That's why I think spaceflight translates so perfectly into a classroom setting," McArthur said. "These are things that we do on Earth. Children can imagine themselves doing exactly the same thing. It's a good lesson."

NASA hopes to spark children's interest in math, science and engineering with programs tied to Morgan's upcoming flight on the space shuttle, set to launch Aug. 7.

The projects include designing plant growth chambers that could work aboard spaceships, the moon or Mars; a fitness challenge; and a pennant design competition. Teachers, parents and students can learn more about NASAs educational programs by following the links on the STS-118 mission page at wwwnasa.gov.

The projects include:

• Humans in Space with STS-118: A site for K-12 teachers that has classroom activities tying into human space exploration. Topics include life sciences, physical sciences, science process skills and science, technology and society. Live teacher training sessions begin Monday. Website: http://www.us-satellite.net/sts118.

• International Technology Education Association: Workshops for teachers who want to learn about the STS-118 Design Challenges. Website: http://www.iteaconnect.org.

• Sally Ride Science: Educator institutes for elementary and middle-school teachers wanting to learn how to use Morgan's mission to foster science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Website: http://www.sallyrideeducators.com.
  
  Additional resources are available at the
  Teacher in Space Website:http://www.teacherinspace.org, and the
  Challenger Learning Centers' Website:http://www.challenger.org.