Fourth graders practiced their problem solving skills in a STEM Challenge. After discovering there could be as many as 100 million pieces of space junk orbiting Earth, students were challenged to build a product that could potentially help save spacecraft from a collision. The collision shield criteria was:
- make use of at least two different materials
- form a protective cover around the entire object
- keep an object from cracking when it hits the ground from a height of 1 meter, 3 meters, and 6 meters.
Using limited supplies, students worked in groups to produce a device to protect an egg being dropped from the various heights. They tested their devices before other students on our beautiful Friday afternoon. Each group of students were successful in their design with all eggs surviving the collisions. Congratulations to these NASA Engineers!