"National Association of Rocketry EDU e-news"The NAR Rocketry Educator Newsletter is published bi-monthly during the school year. Every issue contains tips for using rocketry in the classroom, website recommendations and contact information to connect you to other rocketry education resources. We hope this email newsletter will offer you interesting and useful ideas for using rocketry in your classrooms, open opportunities to share ideas and tips, and provide a means for you to have rocketry questions answered. To suscribe please visit http://www.nar.org/newsletter.html Here is an example of the NAR EDU e-newsletter. On behalf of the members of the NAR, welcome to our inaugural issue of the NAR Educator Newsletter. We know your job of teaching our young people is tougher than ever. We also know that you've seen the inspirational and educational value of rocketry in your classes. We want to help make rocketry work for you and your class, both to inspire and hopefully to make your teaching job easier. Many of you received Version 1.0 of our Educator CD-ROM. We're hard at work on Version 2.0. If you have suggestions for material we should add, please let us know at education@nar.org. Or, better yet, you have resources you'd like to share with others via this Educator CD-ROM, let us know about those resources. Finally, I hope I'll be able to meet at least some of you at our Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) final competition, May 22, 2004 at Great Meadow, The Plains, VA. Teams from all over the US will gather to compete for $50,000 in prizes. We expect many NASA officials and industry representatives to attend to share in the excitement of educational rocketry. The NAR wants to become a trusted partner with you, the teaching community. This newsletter is but one of several steps we're taking to build that long term partnership with you. We're looking forward to a productive journey with you, educating young people to the challenge and excitement of rocketry. Mark B. Bundick, President National Association of Rocketry Contents 1. Would you like money for rockets? 2. Educators forum now online 3. TARC School tells of Success 4. Horizon elementary celebrates Centennial of flight 5. Rockets for Schools 6. Cool NAR section site 7. Useful resources 8. Share your stories 1. Would you like money for rockets? Back to "Contents" The NAR offers financial support to teachers who use rocketry in their classrooms via our Robert L. Cannon Education Award program. The NAR also has a limited number of scholarships available annually to students planning to attend, or is currently enrolled in a college, university or technical school. Information on both of these scholarships can be found at: http://www.nar.org/canon.html 2. Educators forum now online Back to "Contents" Welcome to the Model Rocketry Educator's Forum! This forum is sponsored by the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) and it's purpose it to provide information and tools to anyone taking a role in education. Model rocketry can be used to teach students about any subject (i.e. math, science, art, history, etc.). The advantages of using model rocketry in education: fun, safe and keeps student's attention. If you are looking for a way to help students learn and understand concepts that may seem too difficult for them to grasp; you've come to the right place. This forum is for you to ask questions that our team of model rocketry experts will answer, perhaps even provide you with classroom plans that are easy to use, or help direct you where you can find more information. It's your turn! How can we help you put some excitement and fun in your classroom? Your forum moderator, Kathleen Williams. Join the NAR educator's forum today! NAR_Edu_Services@yahoogroups.com 3. TARC School tells of Success Back to "Contents" Goshen High School did very well finishing in eighth place in the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), which is a national model rocket competition for U.S. high school and middle school students. Read more about their successful TARC project at: http://www.goshenhs.org/dept/science/rockets.html 4. Horizon elementary celebrates Centennial of flight Back to "Contents" Horizon Elementary school in Madison, Alabama celebrated the centennial of flight with helicopters, skydivers and rocket launches. Beth Boro, the schools' enrichment specialist, worked with a parent committee to produce a week long study of flight with special events. The students made paper helicopter blades one day and saw a parachutist land in their school yard the next. Kindergarten kids made rockets from film containers and 'fired' them with a seltzer tablet. See how they did it at: http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/en/kids/rocket.shtml 5. Rockets for Schools Back to "Contents" Each year, over 300 students from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan have participated in successful launches in the 'Rockets for Schools' program at 'Spaceport Sheboygan'. From 2001 through the present, students from Sheboygan County have also been involved in an elementary-level rocket launch. Besides constructing their rocket, students design a payload experiment to fly on their rocket. In addition, students give an oral presentation and prepare a visual display of their experiment to exhibit at the event. Read more about it at: http://www.rockets4schools.org/about.html 6. Cool NAR section site Back to "Contents" At the Dallas Area Rocket Society (DARS,) flying rockets is their primary activity, but their presence reaches out to the community. They have many volunteers who donate a great deal of time to teach classes about rocketry and space exploration or run demonstration launches. Check out their reports of working with scouts at their website: http://www.dars.org/Outreach 7. Useful resources Back to "Contents" Are you building and flying rockets as a class activity? These guidelines cover the key points to organizing a successful launch. Go to our web site and select Scout/Youth Group Guide. http://nar.org/teacher.html 8. Share your stories Back to "Contents" Have you used rocketry in your class? If you have a lesson, activity or story about rockets and schools that you'd like to contribute, please send it to us at: education@nar.org We accept most formats including regular email. Email us at: education@nar.org |