We are part of the
Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC),
a state-wide organization of 13 colleges, universities, and institutions
dedicated to space-related projects and activities that are completely
student-run. We are headquartered at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
To get a feel for what we strive to do every
day at the Outreach office, please read the following story from our Associate
Director:
We were working with 28 fifth graders from
Loma Linda Elementary. During our
rocket fuel experiment, students were asked to hypothesize which "fuel"
combination would work most efficiently. I worked with a group of 4 girls. One
of the girls noted that she thought the final test they did went the highest
because their rocket had fallen off the canister, so they launched just the
canister. She said she thought that the missing rocket made the canister
lighter, so that was one reason it went higher. I assured her that she was right
and congratulated her on noting that in her data report. She got very quiet as
if she were considering something and then looked at me and said very seriously,
"I didn't know my brain worked." She broke into a huge grin - very pleased with
herself and her experiments.
At Space Grant, we work with K-12 kids in
hopes of encouraging them to consider science and engineering as a possible
future. It was clear to me after yesterday that we are doing something more than
that. For some we are encouraging them to simply see themselves as thinkers, and
learners.
-Bernadette Garcia, Oct. 26, 2005
