April 14: The Augusta Preparatory Day School in Augusta, GA invited parents and students to Family Night to engage in learning activities and look at displays about school projects. As part of the prep for the school’s upcoming ARISS radio contact in late summer, ARISS educator Rachel Jones and volunteer John Bobbitt set up and staffed an ARISS table. They exhibited a looping video of ARISS images and some items from the ARISS Radio Kit, i.e., Snap Circuits electronic learning kits and slinkies used to demonstrate radio waves. One hundred families and their children came to the event. Elementary and junior high kids stopping at the booth liked manipulating the Snap Circuits’ child-sized electronic components, such as resistors and capacitors. The youth engaged with the electrical circuit that was laid out to act as a Morse code oscillator and key. Rachel and John led kids in understanding how electrons flowing through wires can power devices. Kids quickly realized the fun of sending Morse code messages. Parents took ARISS leaflets; they and the high school youth asked many questions about the upcoming ARISS contact.
April 17: ARISS Director of Education Kathy Lamont introduced Ozbots to her Belmont Elementary School fourth and fifth graders in Prince William County, VA. They learned to code with the bots and Kathy Tweeted about it, resulting in many readers’ interactions. Last week, students at the school enjoyed manipulating ham radio antennas to listen to ARISS contacts in other states.
April 18: The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and associated groups in Dubai, UAE gave high school students an exciting day with an ARISS radio contact supported by Sultan Al Neyadi, it being the first of several such scheduled ARISS contacts. The space project titled “A Call with Space” is an interactive initiative thanks to a collaboration of the Emirates Literature Foundation with MBRSC to bring space closer to the community. The agency works to encourage space science and research in the region, offering educational programs that inspire future generations at all education levels about exploration and discovery.
April 11: Eleven girls at Estes Park (CO) Elementary School, led by ARISS educator Ravi Davis, enjoy making on-the-air ham radio contacts and working toward passing their ham radio license exam. Ravi, who teaches STEAM science classes, said her girls get excited talking to ham operators around the world. The girls’ quest to achieve the goal of becoming ham operators came from an initiative started by Ravi and the Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club after the school’s 2021 ARISS contact. In a recent post in the Estes Park Trail Gazette, Ravi said, “These students are highly motivated to learn about ham radio and radio science.” The reporter wrote that by studying ham radio, students get introduced to science, engineering, and computer fields, and that radio science is all around us in every life. The story and its great photos of smiling girls is at https://www.eptrail.com/2023/04/11/students-study-for-ham-radio-licenses/.
April 10: ARISS Technical Mentor Charlie Sufana attended the Platinum Coast Amateur Radio Society (PCARS) meeting in Melbourne, FL, presenting a program about ARISS. He highlighted the recent ARISS contact at Stone Magnet Middle School in Melbourne, where he led the school as its ARISS Technical Mentor. His talk explained the types of ARISS contacts and how he’d transported and assembled his portable ham radio station to the school with help from area hams, allowing students to speak with Steve Bowen. Following his talk, he answered questions; some listeners asked about helping a school to write a proposal to possibly be selected for a future ARISS contact. Fifty club members attended the talk and 46 others watched a YouTube of the presentation.
ARISS Upcoming Events
May 1: Council Rock High School South, Holland, PA – ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team