Exploration Academy
Exploration Academy is a 8-week STEM learning experience for underrepresented, underserved fifth-grade students in Title 1 schools. Our immersive environment and rigorous curriculum inspires and engages students to consider careers in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Exploration Academy provides authentic learning experiences that support what students are learning at their school.
Authentic STEM Learning
All activities are directly aligned to current NASA missions and the fifth-grade science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Our students use innovative robotics and technology to work through real-world problems, including:
- Programming and coding a variety of robotics platforms to simulate the challenges of space exploration.
- Using sensors to accurately predict weather conditions in order to successfully launch Estes rockets.
- Demonstrating the flow of electricity in order to produce heat, light and sound.
- Solving engineering design challenges that teach about the transfer of thermal energy.
- Identifying changes in the physical properties of solutions and mixtures through the same experiments conducted on the International Space Station.
- Analyzing satellite images to determine how land features are formed on Earth and other bodies in the solar system.
International collaboration
Learning with and from students from other cultures and countries is an integral part of Exploration Academy’s program. Our information and communications technology brings the world into the classroom.
Exploration Academy participants use teleconferencing software to connect and collaborate with students from Centro De Educacion Bilingue in Hermosillo , Mexico and Pierre and Marie Curie School in Managua, Nicaragua throughout the duration of the program.
To learn more contact Demetres Boyd-Thompson, Space Center Houston School and Community Engagement Director at dboydthompson@spacecenter.org.
Exploration Academy is presented by
