US Department of Education (US ED)/NASA STEM Challenge Project 2019-20
NASA/US Department of Education STEM Design Challenge Collaboration Phase IV
INSPIRE. ENGAGE. EDUCATE. EMPLOY…the Next Generation of Explorers.
Updates and Important Information for NYS 21st CCLC NASA participants
State and Site Virtual Planning Meeting
: Note: NYS webinar April 17, 2019 and PowerPoint
Face to Face (F2F) Professional Development |
What to do after the Face to Face Professional Development? This link includes REQUIRED ACTION STEPS and RECOMMENDATIONS
NASA and New York State 21st CCLC Timeline (Updated 2/7/20) Note: This timeline serves to provide participating sites with important reminders, dates, and action steps from July 2019 to June 2020 and is subject to change.
Implementation Start Date: October 4, 2019
Video Submission Due Date: January 24, 2020
Statewide Culminating Virtual Event: June 15, 2020 at 1:00 pm via Zoom. Save the Date Flyer
State-Level Media Toolkit:
NASA Fact Sheet 
revised 2/7/20
NASA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Revised 2/7/20
Evaluation Information: 2019-2020 NASA Projects
Note: This link includes information, consent notices/forms, instructions, and student/parent/facilitator surveys to enable and facilitate your site’s participation in the evaluation component of this project.
Note: This mandatory evaluation webinar training provided the sites/facilitators the critical information to complete participation in evaluation activities, usage of the unique identifier numbers for facilitators and students, and timely submission of data collection activities. Once sites were registered with Y4Y, the evaluation webinar training dates were available on August 13, September 18, and October 9 (10AM or 3PM EST). It was important for sites to participate in this evaluation webinar training to understand the role of facilitating evaluation activities at the site to support the documentation and assessment of the program.
Student Release Forms:
Note: It is required by the U.S. Department of Education that all parents/guardians of students fill out a Student Release and Intellectual Property Form to participate in and submit the final 3- to 5-minute video. If the educator/facilitator is also in the video, he/she is also required to sign this form. Students cannot participate in the final video if they have not had a release form signed. This allows the U.S. Department of Education and NASA to use/share the video with the public.
Student/Educator Release and Intellectual Property Form (English)
Estudiante/Educador Liberación de modelo y de propiedad intelectual (Espaňol)
Media Toolkits, Social Media and Hashtags:
Participating Sites (with approved Student Release forms) are encouraged to document and/or share the NASA project from beginning to end. We highly recommend participating sites use the NASA Media Toolkit (local-level) to help inform all stakeholders and community members about site activities. Each of the toolkit documents (including press releases, newsletter updates, and social media posts) are customizable, allowing you to easily adapt them to your specific needs. They help to drive the recognition that your program and students deserve.
The following are hashtags being used for this project:
#NASASTEM #21stCenturySTEM #NYSEDNASA
STEM Challenge Background |
|
What |
A partnership between NASA and the US Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers |
Who |
Sites execute a series of engineering design challenges in the 3rd-8th grades, enabling them to develop solutions to real world science and engineering problems faced by NASA scientists, engineers and astronauts today |
Where |
The collaboration will support an expansion of STEM opportunities for students across the country for up to 25 states |
When |
Fall 2019-Spring 2021. Two sessions available: 2019-2020 School Year and 2020-2021 School Year |
In Phase IV (2019-20), there are over 300 sites across twenty-three states[1] that are participating in this initiative.
March 2019, New York State was selected to participate in this amazing opportunity! There are thirty-four (34) 21st CCLC sites that will offer NASA STEM programs and serve over 1,175 students across the state!
For School Year 2019-2020, 21st CCLC sites will have the opportunity to participate in the following activities:
Engineering Design Challenges:
- Spacecraft Safety: Help design NASA’s next-generation spacecraft! (Grades 6-8)
- Packing Up for the Moon: Design a plant growth chamber that could be used by astronauts to grow vegetables on the moon. (Grades 6-8)
- Parachuting onto Mars: Develop a drag device to slow the descent of a spacecraft or probe while protecting its cargo for successful landing. (Grades 6-8)
- Why Pressure Suits? Design a pressure suit or spacesuit that will protect a high-altitude pilot or astronaut from the low-pressure, near vacuum environment that is experienced in space. (Grades 6-8)
- Let it Glide: Build a shoebox glider to protect the greatest glide slope. (Grades 6-8)
- Mission to Mars: Develop a device to slow down spacecraft landing on Mars (Grades 3-5)
- Safe Travels: Develop devices for astronauts traveling to the Moon or Mars (Grades 3-5)
NYS 21st CCLC programs can email with additional inquiries or questions about this STEM initiative.
If you have a specific question, or comment, or concern, contact the Y4Y NASA Helpdesk. All communications should start with an email to: Y4YNASA@seiservices.com. Please include your site name, location (including New York).
If you are inquiring about evaluation, follow these email instructions: In the subject line of the email please enter Evaluation followed by the topic (e.g., Subject: Evaluation General Question; Evaluation Parent Survey; Evaluation New Facilitator ID; etc.)
The New York State Education Department is looking forward to this adventure with our youth!
[1]Minnesota, Washington, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Wyoming, New York, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Pennsylvania