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NASA eClips Helps At-Risk Youth Reach for the Stars

NASA eClips Helps At-Risk Youth Reach for the Stars


On May 5, 2022, educators from the National Institute of Aerospace’s Center for Integrative STEM Education (NIA-CISE) conducted an outreach with the Natasha House C.H.A.M.P.S. (Character, Honesty, Appreciation, Morals, Perseverance, Service) Program for youth. C.H.A.M.P.S. is a youth character development, mentoring, and creative arts healing program designed to enrich homeless and/or at-risk youth with the qualities they need to become successful individuals & entrepreneurs. The 14 learners from preschool to 10th grade learned about stars by watching the student-produced Spotlite video, “Stars”. Participants were introduced to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the work of Dr. Begoña Vila, Instrument Systems Engineer for JWST and the subject of the soon-to-be-released NASA eClips Ask SME video: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert career.

Watch the student-produced Spotlite video, “Stars”: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/spotlite/stars/stars_nasa-spotlite-stars-hcs

Preschool and elementary students moved around the room to simulate the activity in each phase of the life cycle of a Sun-like star and each phase of a massive star. As they acted out each phase, participants collected a colored bead to represent that stage in the life cycle of the star. The beads representing the phases of a Sun-like star were first added to a chenille stem, while beads representing the phases in the life cycle of a massive star were then added to an attached stem. Middle and high school students also learned about star life cycles but created paper beads to represent each phase in the life cycle of a Sun-like star and massive star.

The NASA eClips™ project is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB91A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about NASA eClips™ efforts to increase STEM literacy and inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists: https://science.nasa.gov/science-activation-team/eclips

Video Thumbnail for the
Video Thumbnail for the "NASA Spotlite: Stars" video produced by students from Hampton City Schools, one of the resources shared. The thumbnail shows a young person sitting down in a chair with a starry night sky background.

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Last Updated
Jul 23, 2023
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NASA Science Editorial Team

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