University’s Annual Fall Space Day
- Paper number
IAC-06-E1.4.05
- Author
Ms. Cindy Mahler, Boeing, United States
- Coauthor
Mrs. Ann Broughton, Purdue University, United States
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Purdue Fall Space Day (PFSD) is sponsored by the School of Aeronautics \& Astronautics and was inaugurated on Saturday November 9, 1996 by the Purdue University chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (Purdue SEDS). Now in its 11th year, Purdue Fall Space Day has grown to accommodate 400 3 – 8 grade students with volunteer support from 150 university students from over 22 majors. Since 1996, over 3000 students have participated in PFSD. Due to sponsorship, PFSD is able to provide an entire day’s worth of space, science, and engineering centered activities for third through eighth graders at no cost to the participants. Purdue Fall Space Day provides students the opportunity to learn about aeronautical and astronautical engineering and space exploration by participating in age-appropriate activity sessions throughout the day. One highlight is the attendance of a Purdue Alumnus Astronaut who starts the day with a presentation and throughout the day interacts with the students giving them first hand information about his/her space flight experience. Past astronauts include John Blaha, Mark Brown, John Casper, Guy Gardner, Greg Harbaugh, Gary Payton, Loren Shriver, Janice Voss, and Don Williams. The students participate in three hands-on activities during the day all related to aerospace engineering. This provides the students an opportunity to see the technical challenges associated with space flight. All activities are accompanied by lesson plans to facilitate the children’s understanding of space technology and exploration. These lesson plans are published both in the student’s handbook and on the web page www.fallspaceday.com. Purdue Fall Space Day has gained recognition across the state of Indiana as an exceptional space-related educational outreach event. Due to its success, PFSD has inspired other universities to start their own Space Days. In the 2006-2007 year, the University of Evansville and Ball State University, both in Indiana, will hold their first annual Space Days modeled after PFSD. Additionally, PFSD has been contacted by the University of Texas in Austin and the University of Illinois for information and assistance in planning their first Space Day event. This high-profile outreach program reflects well on Purdue University and the event’s sponsors and receives significant media coverage. In order to allow other universities across the globe to learn about PFSD and successfully implement their own Space Day, it is important to share the PFSD model, ideas for funding through grant proposals and business sponsorship, and the lessons learned in sustaining PFSD.
- Abstract document