| source: miamiherald.com | |
Teachers defy gravity to promote science |
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''This is total euphoria,'' said Kaplan, a veteran science teacher at Southwest Miami Senior High School. ``I've never felt anything like this in my life.'' A few feet away, Emery Atkinson, an earth science teacher at North Miami Senior High, did back flips and barrel rolls without touching the floor. ''I'm speechless,'' said Atkinson. ``My students are going to love this.'' Despite their gravity-defying antics, the two never left the Earth's atmosphere. Instead, they were on a Boeing 727 that made a series of steep dives, rendering everything inside weightless for about 30 seconds per dip. Kaplan and Atkinson were among nearly two dozen Florida teachers selected to participate in the zero-gravity flight out of Cape Canaveral. The trip was sponsored by Space Florida, an office of the state created to promote and develop Florida's aerospace industry. During the short periods of zero gravity, the teachers soared like Superman, conducted experiments and chased M&Ms down with their mouths -- all in the name of promoting the sciences and engineering in Florida. They will share photographs with their students and describe their experience Tuesday. ''It's going to be such a hoot for them to see me flying around the plane,'' Kaplan said. ``I hope they'll get excited and start thinking about the possibilities for their own lives.'' In parabolic flight, a method used to train astronauts for more than four decades, the plane flies a path that resembles rolling hills. As the aircraft climbs, passengers are pressed against the floor for a half-minute of hypergravity. As it goes over the hump and then dives, they rise off the floor and begin to float. The experience is akin to the free fall of a sky dive, only without the wind resistance. Parabolic flight was recently made available to the public: A company called the Zero Gravity Corporation runs a limited number of commercial flights, charging about $4,000 per person. Space Florida hosts about four parabolic flights for teachers each year, spokeswoman Deb Spicer said. Kaplan, a 31-year educator, won her seat in a raffle at the Florida Association of Science Teachers. Atkinson was selected because of his involvement in the NASA's Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy program. Before the flight, Atkinson let his students vote on what experiments he would conduct in zero gravity. Overwhelmingly, they voted to have their teacher tossed like a ball between two of his colleagues. Early Sunday morning, Atkinson, Kaplan and the other teachers met at the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville. Each was given a navy blue flight suit, a light breakfast and a small pill to help control motion sickness. They sat for a 30-minute pre-flight briefing and then boarded a bus to a small airport nearby. The energy was palpable. ''I'm out of my skin with excitement,'' Kaplan said. ``It doesn't feel real.'' At the airport, the jet, called ''G-Force One,'' was waiting for the teachers. From the outside, it looks like a typical commercial airliner. But inside, most of the seats have been removed and replaced by white padding. During the next hour, the plane did a series of 15 dives, giving the teachers about eight minutes of weightlessness. They experimented with yo-yos, springs and Koosh balls. They watched golf-ball-sized globs of water float across the plane. All the while, they laughed, screamed and cheered like schoolchildren. ''This just proves that teachers are like big kids,'' said Robert Dull, a Pinellas County teacher. ``This is like being on a playground.'' Goofing around aside, the teachers had a serious mission: to promote science education. As part of the program, they will bring pictures and a DVD of their experience back to their classrooms. They'll talk to their students about about gravity and Newton's Laws of Motion, and stress careers in the sciences and engineering. To drive the point home, Atkinson and Kaplan will wear their flight suits to school. ''When they see stuff like this, they start asking questions,'' Atkinson said of his students. ``And when you get this group to start asking questions, that's an amazing thing.'' |
