Submission
Join NASA education specialists at Kentucky Speedway to learn hands-on educational lessons and earn professional development hours by studying the parallels between NASA aerospace programs and NASCAR racing.
Professional development sessions will be done online through Adobe Connect. Teachers that participate in the live virtual sessions then have the opportunity to earn additional professional development hours at Kentucky Speedway on Thursday, June 26; Friday, June 27; or Saturday, June 28 and earn a free ticket to that day’s race.
Educators can earn additional hours of professional development through a variety of ways once they’ve participated of the live virtual session:
Two hours – Submit a lesson plan incorporating the activity presented in the live virtual session.
Two hours per shift - Get your hands dirty at Kentucky Speedway on one or all of the dates and do the activity presented in the live virtual session with the public coming to see that night’s race.
Openings to be an “Ambassador of NASA Content” are limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. A maximum of 40 are available for Thursday, 50 for Friday and 50 for Saturday.
Registration and questions about this opportunity should be directed to Marilé Colón Robles at
[email protected].
Begin by exploring solar energy, challenging your students to design an efficient solar oven and discovering how solar energy is currently being used to power a NASCAR track. Increase your understanding of Earth’s Energy Budget and investigate how changes in the atmosphere affect that balance. Then discover additional hands-on activities that allow students to explore, and increase their understanding of, this concept and many other math and science topics that are already part of the curriculum.
Here are other sessions for virtual and on-site training at Kentucky Speedway with a NASA education specialist:
Drag Race to Mars Virtual Session, Tuesday, June 3, 6:30-7:45 p.m. ET
Teachers bridge science and math by designing a capsule to land on Mars, just as NASA engineers have. As the capsule rushes through the atmosphere, it is speeding toward the surface, headed for a crash landing! Students will need to use the drag of the atmosphere to slow the capsule down. Students judge the speed or rate of descent and record measurements of their capsule design as it attempts to safely land the science payload.
Measure Up and Calculate Virtual Session, Monday, June 9, 6:30-7:45 p.m. ET
Through math, teachers help students learn about tire technology and the effects of air pressure. Students compare and contrast a section of tire from the space shuttle, a light truck and a bicycle. Students complete formulas for air pressure, circumference, and the number of revolutions of a tire over a given distance. Students also investigate the concept of center of gravity and determine the point of balance by manipulating the weight distribution of a racecar’s tires.
May the Force Uplift You...Or Not! Virtual Session, Wednesday, June 11, 6:30-7:45 p.m. ET
When you’re traveling at 200 miles an hour, it’s important to understand that faster-moving air creates lower pressure. Air traveling around a curved surface speeds up, creating an area of low pressure. Math teachers explore the physical science of Bernoulli’s Principle by applying mathematics to interpret air pressure and air flow data on objects such as an airplane wing or a racecar spoiler. Students learn to read data generated through flight testing and racing, and interpret experimental data to understand the science of rockets and race cars.