2008 Woodie Awards
Astronomy event features astronaut as speaker, interactive demonstration
EXHIBITION: Students are invited to a festival Saturday which features a NASA astronaut speaking and science experiments.
By: Sylvia Masuda
Issue date: 3/31/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
It is not everyday that an astronaut opts to land in a college instead of the moon.
The seventh annual Onizuka Space Science Day 2005 will take place at the Planetarium and science classrooms Saturday, April 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will feature a NASA astronaut as a guest speaker.
"El Camino has had a seven-year relationship with NASA. It's their connection for us to get an astronaut every year," Robin Dreizler, acting director of outreach and school relations, said.
NASA astronaut Lt. Col. Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke is this year's designated speaker and will present a lecture to the audience, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Fincke has spent several months in space aboard the International Space Station last year, logging over 15 hours of spacewalk experience and also served as a Flight Test Engineer.
He has also as a result has logged over 800 flight hours in a variety of aircrafts, including the F-16 and F-15 aircrafts.
"We've had some fabulous astronauts in the past and I don't doubt that Mr. Fincke will be fabulous as well," Dreizler said.
After Fincke's lecture, students will be invited to choose from about 15 various "breakout sessions" of science experiments and demonstrations presented by faculty.
Biology professor Jessica Padilla will participate in a demonstration called "Candy Science." The demonstration involves dissolving the candy coating of different colored M&Ms and using chromatography, a method of separating elements, to separate the coating's colors.
"Yellow and blue make green. We would dissolve a green M&M, for example, and then separate the green in the coating to make those two colors," Padilla said.
Other presentations include rocket exploration, a Planetarium show and a traditional egg drop competition. Telescopes will also be set up to look at the sun; however, the weather determines whether or not the telescope presentation will be successful.
The seventh annual Onizuka Space Science Day 2005 will take place at the Planetarium and science classrooms Saturday, April 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will feature a NASA astronaut as a guest speaker.
"El Camino has had a seven-year relationship with NASA. It's their connection for us to get an astronaut every year," Robin Dreizler, acting director of outreach and school relations, said.
NASA astronaut Lt. Col. Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke is this year's designated speaker and will present a lecture to the audience, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Fincke has spent several months in space aboard the International Space Station last year, logging over 15 hours of spacewalk experience and also served as a Flight Test Engineer.
He has also as a result has logged over 800 flight hours in a variety of aircrafts, including the F-16 and F-15 aircrafts.
"We've had some fabulous astronauts in the past and I don't doubt that Mr. Fincke will be fabulous as well," Dreizler said.
After Fincke's lecture, students will be invited to choose from about 15 various "breakout sessions" of science experiments and demonstrations presented by faculty.
Biology professor Jessica Padilla will participate in a demonstration called "Candy Science." The demonstration involves dissolving the candy coating of different colored M&Ms and using chromatography, a method of separating elements, to separate the coating's colors.
"Yellow and blue make green. We would dissolve a green M&M, for example, and then separate the green in the coating to make those two colors," Padilla said.
Other presentations include rocket exploration, a Planetarium show and a traditional egg drop competition. Telescopes will also be set up to look at the sun; however, the weather determines whether or not the telescope presentation will be successful.