BOSTON GLOBE
June 20, 1999
MAKING SCIENCE COOL
WELLESLEY STUDENTS TELL KIDS ABOUT THEIR ZERO-GRAVITY RIDE
By David L. Chandler,
Globe staff
You can do science and still be cool,'' said Jenny Ross, 19, a slim, blonde,
funkily-stylish Wellesley College sophomore, to a raptly attentive group
of sixth- and seventh-graders at the Lewis Middle School in Roxbury. And
the message was clearly getting through.
Ross and three other Wellesley physics students were presenting the results
of a set of experiments they had carried out on NASA's famous ``vomit comet,''
the converted jetliner used to train astronauts and test equipment in zero-gravity
conditions. The experiments were designed, among other things, to inspire
younger students -- and especially girls -- to consider careers in science.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ``was very supportive
of us,'' Ross said. ``They were excited about presenting women in science,
especially women who don't look nerdy.''
The students agreed that Ross and her friends do not look nerdy. When she
asked the class if she looked like a scientist, she faced a loud chorus
of ``no.'' And the example the kids saw of four young women tumbling and
spinning like tops, in the videotape of their weightless experiments, certainly
made science look like a fun adventure.
Rosie Smith, a 12-year-old Lewis school student, said afterwards that ``it
makes me want to go to college. I didn't before. I thought science was about
writing on a board and stuff, but now I like it.''
That was exactly the hoped-for reaction.
The Wellesley experiments were part of a NASA program to encourage college
students to propose and carry out scientific experiments in zero-gravity
conditions, which the NASA plane can produce for 25 seconds at a time by
following an up-and-down, roller-coaster-like course.
This spring, 47 teams -- six of them from Massachusetts -- were selected
for the program, which culminates in two weeks of training and flights in
Houston, at the airport adjacent to Johnson Space Center that the astronauts
use for their training flights.
Most of the projects involved pure research on scientific, biomedical, or
engineering subjects. But a few, like the Wellesley team's, were focused
on education. They carried out a set of experiments involving how bubbles
in water, a candle flame, and a game of catch are different in weightless
conditions.
The four Wellesley students -- Ross, team captain Ann Sanders, Gretchen
Campbell, and Tyler Wellensiek -- videotaped their experiments both on the
ground and during weightlessness, and are preparing a tape of their experiences
to be shown to students of all ages, but especially aimed at girls in middle
school. That is the stage when research has shown that many girls suddenly
lose interest -- or gain insecurity -- about science and math.
``They're really curious at this time,'' in middle school, before cultural
and gender stereotyping really set in, said Lewis School principal Brenda
Jones. ``If you can grab them now,'' then that interest is more likely to
continue, she said.
Ross, asked by a student how she became interested in science and math,
told of an experience that is all too commonplace: ``I once had a teacher
who told me I couldn't do math because I was a girl,'' she said. But instead
of being deflated, she became defiant: ``I went and did all the math problems
I could. Now, I'm a math major.''
And, along with her teammates, an avid proselytizer. After describing the
project and showing the videotape of their flights, the Wellesley students
spent another hour talking to the middle school girls, answering their questions,
and encouraging them to experiment for themselves with the toys and devices
the team had used in zero-gravity.
It was just one of a half-dozen school visits they made before the end of
the semester. Once they return in the fall, they expect to make additional
presentations -- part of the ``outreach'' that NASA requires as part of
every student proposal.
One of their experiments involved tossing a heavy rubber ball back and forth.
In normal gravity, the person catching the ball may feel a backward push,
but with feet firmly planted on the ground, she wouldn't move. While floating
in the plane, though, as soon as she caught the ball she began flying backwards.
To simulate that experience, they encouraged the sixth- and seventh-graders
to play catch with the same ball they used in flight, but this time doing
it while one of them was standing on a rolling dolly. Just as in weightlessness,
each catch of the ball propelled the catcher backward. It was a little taste
of what the weightless experience might be like, and the girls took turns
for almost an hour trying it out.
Science teacher Tom Lewis said the experience seemed to have just the effect
in awakening a scientific curiosity that the college students had hoped
for. The middle-school pupils were fascinated, asked good questions, and
their faces -- even those of some students who had often had disciplinary
problems -- were alight with enthusiasm, and inspired by the material.
On their videotape from Houston, the students included an interview with
astronaut Pam Melroy, who is a Wellesley graduate. In it, Melroy said that
``Somebody between the age of 5 and 25 -- and it could be one of these four
women from Wellesley -- could be the first person to set foot on Mars. It
gives me chills to think about it.''
Or, it could be one of those kids from the Lewis school.
``It sounds exciting, to go up in space,'' said Jemeela Axell. ``I'd like
to go up in space to see what it's like.''
Some of the students have already taken an interest in science, and this
experience helped to reinforce it. ``I saw lots of constellations from my
house,'' said Tamela Roberts.
``I always wanted to go float on the moon like an astronaut,'' said Rosie
Smith. ``I'm going to dream about it till I do it.''
For more information on the Wellesley team's space program, consult their
Web site:http://www.wellesley.edu/Physics/NASA/KC-135.html
1. JENNY ROSS, a Wellesley College physics student, whirls a gyroscope during
an experiment on angular momentum at Lewis Middle School in Roxbury.
2. SYDNEY FERGUSON, a sixth-grader, prepares to catch a ball while standing
on a teetering board in an experiment conducted by Wellesley student Tyler
Wellensiek (center).
3. Wellesley students Jenny Ross (left) and Gretchen Campbell aboard NASA's
converted jetliner used to train astronauts. / Photo / Courtesy of NASA