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|  | | | | Sixth Grade Experiment in Reduced Gravity - STiMG (2004) | |  | | Our project |
2004 - As part of our NASA Explorer School partnership, Crossroads was able to apply to conduct an experiment aboard NASA's specially equipped KC-135 Reduced Gravity Aircraft.
Sixth Grade Scientists wanted to study models and designs so we decided to conduct an experiment on the effect of spinning tops in 1g versus 0g(microgravity). The name of the project is STiMG (Spinning Tops in Microgravity).
Dr.Lindquist and Ms. Kuseske leave Wednesday April 14, 2004 for Houston, TX, to meet up with NASA Glenn Mentor, Ms.Hall, and our AESP, Mr. Huth. Together we will all prepare to fly April 19-23 aboard NASA's KC-135!!!
During a typical mission the KC-135 will between 2 and 3 hours consisting of 30 -40 parabolic arcs. During each arc there will be 20 to 25 seconds of weightlessness when everyone inside the KC-135 will experience how it feels for astronauts to be in outer space! The KC-135 is used to understand the role of gravity on humans and experiments in space.
Read our journals and look at our photo gallery!
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 NASA's Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program
Describes the program and includes a downloadable video of the flight.
Zero Gravity Experiments!
Experiments, images, and aircraft operations!
This is what we learned from STiMG...
STiMG was a huge experiment for our 6th grade class! We liked the work. We liked learning about tops in 1g and the tops in 0g. This was the biggest experiment ever in the history of student learning. This is the biggest experiment our sixth grade class has ever done. It felt good. It was satisfying to work like scientists and researchers for NASA.
Read more about what we learned in our "Abstract". |
Results of STiMG
We have collected and analyzed all the data from 1g and 0g! WE are so excited to share our news with the world! |
How do things spin?
Students were asked to find things that spin from home. Each student brought the items from home that spin to share with the class. We found spoons, CDs, homemade tops, balls of all kinds, and this activity lead us into a couple of questions..."What is the definition of spinning? How do we know something is spinning?"
Students conducted experiments with the items they found at home. We wondered how long do our items spin? Why does something spin better than something else? How might we change the item so it is able to spin longer or better? Students also wondered if an item isn't balanced will it still spin? They wondered if balance matters in microgravity. Students then worked with other tops within groups to test over 30 different questions each with multiple hypotheses. Students will compare results of 1g to experiments microgravity aboard the KC-135!
How cool is this? Very. |
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