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our stories: SMALL SCIENTISTS
BY MELISSA MOORMAN
SEPTEMBER 2015
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
W
hat began as a Skype call in February between
students at Tarleton University and kids at
WISD’s Curtis Elementary culminated in more
than a dozen rockets blasting off behind the school on
a warm cloudless day this spring. The rockets were
designed by Curtis Elementary kids in the 5th and 6th
grades along with the after school Robotics and Coding
Club led by librarian Shawna Ford in partnership with the
Tarleton Aeronautical Team. The team was introduced
to the Curtis kids by a Curtis parent. Keith Emmert’s
daughter attends Curtis and he has been assisting with
activities in the library’s Makers Space. Emmert is an
Associate Professor of Mathematics at Tarleton University
and offices across the hall from the Tarleton Rocket
Team.
The Tarleton team was chosen by NASA to participate
in its University Student Launch Initiative (USLI), a
competition that challenges university students to design,
build and launch a reusable rocket with a scientific or
engineering payload to one mile above ground level.
There are less than 40 teams from throughout the United
States that are chosen to participate in the competition.
Tarleton’s competition comes from some of the most
prestigious universities in the country like Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), Northwestern, and
Vanderbilt. As part of the competition, NASA requires
an outreach effort by the teams at local schools. Curtis
Elementary is the recipient of one of the outreach efforts
and it has left an indelible mark on their futures and
helped to further their interest in math and science.
After their initial call, the Tarleton students helped
each team design their own rocket. The rockets were
then printed in a 3-dimensional printer supplied by
Tarleton. The designs are simple, two-piece rockets each
packed with a parachute that would bring it safely down
110
“A rocket won’t fly unless
somebody lights the fuse.
Homer Hickam,
Rocket Boys: A Memoir
to earth after the rocket pieces separated in mid-air. The
kids were able to do some customization on their rocket
with each two person team choosing their own color
combination, the shape of the fins on the base, and the
shape of the nose cone. After the rockets were printed,
the kids assembled the pieces and packed the parachutes
into the nose cones.
“This is such a great way to get kids excited about
math and science. I never thought it would make me
change my major. I’ve changed to secondary education
and want to create a TARC (Team America Rocketry
Challenge) competition team for students to get a chance
to use applied learning experiences in their education.
It’s so very important to allow students access to STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning
opportunities. Opportunities I have been given inspired
me to change direction and begin a lifelong journey
educating middle school students,” said Michael
Daigrepont the team leader. Andrew Olbrich was the
other Tarleton team member who came to help with
the launches and really enjoyed working with the Curtis
students. Ford is currently working on a grant application
that would purchase a 3-D printer for Curtis to continue
the project.
Rocket after rocket was successfully launched from
the hillside that day with fifteen two member teams of
students launching their rockets. Some went straight up
in the cloudless sky, others were examples of the pull of
gravity and went straight into the ground. A few looked
like they were spinning tops upon liftoff, while others
launched, separated and floated back to earth exactly
as planned. Ford expressed some trepidation before the
launches started. She said that she hoped that the launch
would live up to the hype. Looking around at the smiles
of the kids on the hillside holding their spent rockets, and