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Final Presentation Video

I was really nervous when we were recording the lesson plan presentation in a distance learning studio. I had never taught to a camera before. We had to completely redo our presentation the day before it was due, because the prezi file didn't show up well through the distance learning camera, and some of our other work didn't either.

After the presentation, we talked to the teachers and NASA people we were working for. The NASA people liked the lesson plan so everything worked out. Lots of people wanted to download the phone app, and the teachers had lots of nice comments.

After the program

After the NASA program ended on Friday, I ate dinner and went to sleep. When I woke up Saturday, I had pretty much the whole day free. My flight didn't leave until 8:40PM on Saturday so I had pretty much a whole day with nothing to do. I decided to check out Harry Potter land, at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. I ate lunch at the three broomsticks cafe, and and looked at the candy store, gift shop and toy store at Harry Potter land. I think all of the merchandise is available online or at other gift shops. I bought a screaming yo-yo at Zonko's. After lunch, I went to see the rest of islands of adventure. I made it through most of the park, except for the dinosaur area and drove to the airport in the evening. Thanks to everyone who recommended it. I had a great time. After getting back home, we tried Mandy's recipe for non-alcoholic butterbeer--everyone loved it. It was delicious.

Graduation

On Friday at 5 PM the NASA Simulation Internship program officially ended. We still have to submit final paperwork on our projects by August 5th and by the end of August we should know who won the $2500 prize. Our final project included measuring the height of the kite using math, dropping an object from the kite using a release mechanism and timing the fall to calculate the height. Another day we used the cell phone to do kite bombing. Students can either mount the phone on the kite and look for the target or put the phone on the ground at the target, looking upward to see the kite. Then they try to hit the target. Students would use an app like Qik to send video from one phone to another, so one phone is on the ground looking for the kite, and another phone is watching until the kite comes over the target. We bought some kites and tried the activities to make sure it would actually work. I had lots of fun flying kites outside the hotel and building the release mechanism from double sided tape. I said in our final video that I wanted to try out our lesson first so we were giving teachers a good lesson plan and good advice about a lesson that actually works, that won't strain their budget, and will not take away classroom time they need. We had lots of other great ideas from dad, ourselves, and our mentor, which we listed as extension activities. We didn't want to overwhelm the teachers with a 2-week lesson plan, so we kept it to 2-4 days..

Back In Michigan

I flew to Michigan late last night. I have some more pictures which I didn't post yet, and I hope to have those done in the next day or two.

Space Plants

NASA has done lots of experiments about growing plants in space. It's pretty much the same thing you see at EPCOT. One person in our group made a joke about medical marijuana after we were out of the building. We also visited a chemistry area. One person developed an emulsified iron product that gets rid of PBCs. It is the most licensed NASA product of anything they have created and is used in most of the United States. This environmental engineer also created another chemical last year for environmental cleanup that is becoming very popular. They're also working on chemicals for mars missions.

The NASA workshop has been everything I hoped for. It's go go go all the time and we don't just sit around. This week we leave the hotel at 7:20 AM every day and sometimes don't get back from everything until 6 PM or so. Then we eat dinner. Then we work on lesson plans and blogs.

Final Presentation

Today we gave our final presentation. All the teachers had nice things to say, and so did the NASA people. Everyone liked the phone app, and a number of people wanted to download it. I was very nervous, but Mr. Lewis and I practiced a lot and that helped. We delivered the lesson plan in a distance learning studio, where it was recorded. I believe I will be receiving a copy soon. The lesson was also broadcoast live to the NASA people and other teachers who were watching.

Our group has really bonded together and been nice to each other. There is a $2500 prize for the 2 best lessons, and apparently things at the other NASA centers may have gotten a bit cutthroat and competitive. By contrast, our group has had a great time. We've gone on tons of fun tours all over NASA. For the last 3 nights, everyone has eaten dinner together and usually most people in the group eat breakfast together. Technically the program ended at 5 PM today, but everyone still wanted to have dinner together right after. It wasn't a weird feel good experience. It was just people being nice. I attribute this to the director, the NASA people who were so charming, smooth and hard-working, and a few people in our group who went out of their way to befriend everyone.

Today we also had a graduation ceremony. It was a lot better than a high school graduation. First, all the mentors received awards, and they earned it. They were all incredibly intelligent and had great people skills. These people were hand-picked from all the NASA engineers. Second, all the teachers received a plaque. Then they gave us some small gifts which were very cool. Les was inspired by my kite presentation, and handed out a great kite lesson plan to everyone on how to make kites you can walk around with inside a building. (they generate enough lift to fly just by walking). The education director spoke for not too long and served cake and pop to everyone. Everyone mingled and ate refreshments for a few minutes, shook hands and said goodbye. Lisa Valencia, the director, asked questions about my presentation, our family, and our family's trip to Disney World. These people geniunely want to help teachers. I am very happy that I came and sad to leave. I miss Elizabeth and the children though, so it will be nice to fly home tomorrow. Coming to NASA was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. I bought some gifts for immediate family so you may be getting something from NASA for your birthday.