1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,440
Well, thanks, Jennifer. I'm visiting a space science academy, which is being held at Ian

2
00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:13,040
Dears Elementary School in Washington, D.C. This is a SEMA school. That stands for Science,

3
00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,960
Engineering, Mathematics, Aerospace Academy. It is an enrichment program that runs on weekends

4
00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,640
and in the summer and targets math, science, and technology. Its partner school is located

5
00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:27,280
in Cleveland, Ohio, Orchard Elementary School. In just a minute, we'll hear from a couple

6
00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,680
of these science campers as they demonstrate an interactive simulation software product

7
00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:36,520
called BoilSim. That's a special software created just for students by the Learning

8
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:41,720
Technologies Project at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Now, if you look

9
00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:46,000
just behind me, you'll see a flight demonstration wind tunnel, which some aeronautical engineering

10
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,920
students from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics student branch at Iowa State

11
00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,200
University have brought to share with these younger students and to serve as mentors to

12
00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,120
the camp. So you can see, the students here at Dears are getting the opportunity to try

13
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:05,600
their hand on a number of technology research tools. Let's take a closer look now at one

14
00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:11,080
of those technologies, BoilSim. This is Alan Simmons, a 7th grade student at Beale Junior

15
00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:19,240
High. Using BoilSim, we are able to use technologies like a NASA researcher. We can perform a series

16
00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:25,560
of computer-based wind tunnel tests on a wing using BoilSim. With this simulation, we can

17
00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:31,840
quickly change the position and shape of the wing and modify the airspeed, altitude, and

18
00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:38,120
angle of attack, and then BoilSim calculates the lift for us. We are quickly learning the

19
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:44,080
factors that influence lifts on an airplane's wing. Here is where we began, at the NASA

20
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:50,600
Connect website. We were able to get set up by downloading and installing our own copy

21
00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:57,240
of BoilSim on our computer. Anyone can download this simulation and use it at school or at

22
00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:04,920
home. Let me show you how we use BoilSim. We start out by learning about the basic aerodynamic

23
00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:12,480
forces that affect lift. Then we test out our own wing and learn how to generate lift.

24
00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:18,320
You can see how much lift we have generated doing this test right here. After we've tested

25
00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,760
and learned about a bunch of different variables that affect lift, we got to work designing

26
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:30,920
our own wing based on the requirements on the NASA Connect website. The last step is

27
00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:36,920
to create graphs of our experimental data and study them to see what things we can learn.

28
00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:40,800
Jennifer, I think you would agree that these campers have given us some interesting highlights

29
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,560
on how they are using technology to conduct experiments. A question for our viewers to

30
00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:51,960
think about is, what is the relationship between scientific inquiry and technology? Let me

31
00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,480
add, Jennifer, that our viewers are invited to try their hand with BoilSim by visiting

32
00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,360
the NASA Connect website. They will also find links to Fid's Corner, where they will design

33
00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,960
and test paper airplane models, to a site about how wind tunnels are being used to improve

34
00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:12,000
NASCAR performance, and to information about NASA Connect online chats. There's also a

35
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,840
career corner that features some of our program partners talking about their jobs. Well, I'm

36
00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:21,160
Shelley Canright reporting from Ann Dears Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Back

37
00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:22,160
to you, Jennifer.

38
00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:22,160