Middle Schoolers practice space skills in Astronaut Training

Sixth-graders put their skills to the test in Astronaut Training.
Mr. BySura's sixth-graders were astronauts for a day when they had training in the OC Skinner Natatorium!

In a final challenge in a unit called “Think Like NASA”, Rabun Gap sixth graders recently had the opportunity to put their skills to the test in Astronaut Training. The students donned masks, snorkels, and fins and were challenged to work as a team, using nonverbal communication, to build and repair a “satellite” in a zero gravity environment - the pool.  

For the past six weeks, sixth graders at the Rabun Gap Middle School have been hard at work on the “Think Like NASA” unit, led by Middle School science teacher and experiential education coordinator Mr. Johnathan BySura. At the beginning of the unit, the students went through two design thinking challenges by launching and building rockets to leave Earth’s atmosphere and landing on a planet, then building space probe containers.

“This takes planning, coordination, communication,  teamwork, and all the essential ingredients that makes NASA astronauts so unique,” Mr. BySura said. “The students are eager, but challenged, and also learn essential skills of planning, designing, testing, then rethinking, and testing again. Experiential Education at its best.”
 
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Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School is a private, coeducational day and boarding school for grades Pre-K through 12. Centrally located between Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC, and Asheville, NC, we prepare young people for college, career, and a lifetime of leadership and service.