Day 2:

On day 2 of the trip (Friday 23rd October 2015) we had the chance to visit Pearl Hall Elementary. This was really interesting because it showed us how different America schooling is to England. In the music department (where we were based) it was strange to see that they didn't believe in children sitting at desks and, instead had them situated on one large blue carpet in the middle of the room. This was really useful as it meant we had plenty of space to help the students built their rockets.

 

We started the day with 4th graders where we helped them build 2 stage water rockets. They were tasked with building a rocket and parachute that would protect the little egg astronaut inside. The kids were really creative and original with their idea which was good to see. My group decided to cover the egg astronaut in a suit of cotton wool (which ultimately prevented the egg from cracking). All of the children were really excited to launch their rockets and, whether they won or lost, enjoyed the occasion. We also met one of the teaching staff at the school called Jamie (who had previously been nominated for a teacher of the year award) was clearly passionate about space and children's education. She explained to us how the education system in America was, again, just put the major educational differences into perspective.

 

Next, we had an opportunity to speak to 2nd graders about our school and life in Britain. This was a surprisingly unnerving experience primarily because we were told we were doing the presentation only that morning. This was, nevertheless a valuable experience because, as our trip leader Mike said, we will never forget the worry that comes from presenting unprepared. This helped to show us the value of preparing for such presentations in the future (which will only benefit our preparations for future job and university interviews). Furthermore, given that some of the students struggled with understanding English, we had to really work on the way we communicated with them. This helped us as we are now better at adapting the way spoke to fit the audience. The kids were also given a chance to ask us their questions. It was very funny that they all assumed we lived in places like those in Downton Abbey.

 

After this we were taken to the Savannah cafe where we all got a Panini and a slice of pie. The servings were absolutely huge and no one was even the slightest bit hungry by the time we had finished.

 

From there, we returned to the school; this time working with 3rd graders to build air rockets. In addition, we had larger groups of around 5 to 6 children and, thus, had to make sure every child was included. The kids loved being able to design their own rockets and chose what colour and style they were. All of the rockets flew really far; and Jordan’s group came third overall (much to the delight of the students).

 

For dinner we went to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet where we met Dustin, an aeronautical engineering currently working on the Orion project. It was just amazing to think we were sat opposite someone at the forefront of America space travel (and the ultimate goal of landing on Mars). He gave us background into how he got into the field and what projects he did for his Masters. He also provided us with his opinion on recent discoveries by NASA; the most particular of which being the discovery of liquid water on Mars and its implications (both biological and on future missions). He also enlightened us the cancellation of Project Constellation and how its cancellation led to the Orion project as it is today. This showed us how volatile the space industry really is and that space projects can be cancelled at the drop of a hat (showing how valuable projects such as Orion are to the future of space travel).