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February 2000 
Jefferson students explore the solar system By Sheldon J. Reber, Director of School and Community Relations | |
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W hen Jefferson third–grader Andrew Tuttle tried on a NASA space suit he didn’t have to try very hard to imagine himself as the first Jefferson student to travel in space. Even though the suit was a little big, Andrew and other Jefferson students received an exciting presentation on aeronautics and space exploration from Minot Parker, NASA’s aerospace education specialist. The NASA educator’s October 28 visit was the result of a two–year effort by Jefferson third–grade teacher Diana Muñoz. Parker captivated the Jefferson students with his inspiring and humorous presentation. His slide show included photos taken from the Hubble space telescope, pictures of large Moon craters, and new pictures of the Mars rocks Yogi and the Couch taken by the Mars Pathfinder. He engaged the students and encouraged them to stay in school. “If you want to be an astronaut, how many years do you have to go to school?,” asked Parker. “17 years,” shouted back the Jefferson students. “That’s right,” continued Parker. “Stay in school, study science, aeronautics, and space, and you may be traveling the solar system to places like Mars someday.” “How many of you have seen the planet Venus?,” Parker asked as he projected a slide of the planet. A few hands went up in the mostly quiet audience. He explained that Venus is second in order from the Sun and its orbit is closest to the Earth. Parker then told the elementary students, “Tell your mom and dad to take you outside tomorrow morning and show you Venus. Right now, it’s visible in the sky when you’re getting ready for school.” He went on to explain that the Earth and Venus have some similarities, like size, but that Venus is “hot enough to melt lead, has an atmosphere of carbon dioxide with 350 mph winds, and much of its surface is covered by lava flows.” These facts prompted many inquisitive questions from the young audience. The students left the assembly listening to the recognizable strains of the Star Wars Theme. A former math and science teacher and 34–year veteran of NASA’s school presentations, Parker travels from his Moffett Field office with an aerospace demonstration unit to schools in 11 western states. The unit includes a full–size space suit worn by astronauts, a NASA sleep–suit, and various models of aircraft, rockets, and spacecraft. By using authentic scale models of rockets and spacecraft, Parker explains the current and future projects of NASA to students of all ages. The educational demonstrations are free to schools. Parker also made hands–on presentations about the solar system and astronomy in Diana Muñoz’s class and fifth/sixth–grade teacher Lisa Waite’s class. Jefferson teachers also received NASA curriculum training from Parker after school.
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