Citrus College Near Space Balloon Project 2013-2014 Volume 1 | Page 11
Another small activity the team has thought up of involves using a helium-filled balloon. Students will guess how many paper clips a balloon can hold before it starts sinking. After they have made their hypothesis, students will slowly add paper clips to the balloon. Soon, they will see it sink, and either affirm or disaffirm their hypotheses. This last activity that has been planned is expected to last 30 minutes. Students will be supplied with many objects of different mass and density. Prior to the experiment, students will be asked to hypothesize which materials will sink and which will float in water and be able to explain how they concluded their hypotheses. Then, the objects will be placed in a bowl full of water, and the students will have the chance to determine which guesses were right or wrong. Booth Outreach Other outreach events involve the Space Owls representing the Citrus College Cosmic Research Team at middle school science fairs. The team will have flyers about the team to distribute, and the results of some of the research experiments the team will have completed during the year on a presentation. The chart below indicates the events the Space Owls have previously participated in and are promising to participate in again. Any new events will be included in the final report.
Date
November
8.
2013 February.
2014 March.
2014 March.
2014
Location/Host
Goddard
Middle
School La
Fetra AAUW 8th
Grade
Major's
Fair
Type
of
Outreach
Hands
on Hands
on/Booth Hands
On Booth
Target
Population
30
Middle
School
Students 100
Elementary
School
Students 400
Middle
School
Students:
Girls 400
Middle
School
Students
V.
Prior and Current Support
Last year, the team had received financial support from an academic program known as NASA’s National Space Grant Consortium, which allowed Citrus College to work alongside California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (also known as Cal Poly). Cal Poly has had a major influence on Citrus College’s engineering students. Cal Poly’s aerospace and electrical engineering students participated in this project as a part of their senior projects, while the Citrus College students designed the payload that would accompany the high altitude balloon. Members from Citrus College spent the summer and fall semesters planning, designing, and researching a radiation film absorption payload under the guidance of Lucia Riderer, the team’s faculty advisor. To enhance their knowledge about high altitude ballooning, Citrus College students first contacted Bobby Russell from Quest for Star, a non-profit organization, who was recommended by the team’s mentor, Rick Maschek. Bobby was able to generously assist the Citrus College students at his balloon launches and mentored the students on several occasions throughout the year.
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