As part of The Pathway School’s STEM program, students embarked on an “out-of-this-world” simulated space mission on their recent trip to Montgomery County Community College’s Challenger Learning Center. This immersive and hands-on experience gave our students the opportunity to learn about more than just astronomy as they worked together to complete a real-world space mission.
Let’s set the scene: students set out on “Operation Comet”, an important space adventure to study a comet that flies across the galaxy. Acting as scientists and engineers, students had to create a plan to intercept this comet, stop it in its track to Earth, and launch a space probe to collect the comet’s data.
During the simulation, Pathway students broke into two groups: Mission Control and Astronauts. The Mission Control team relayed important information to the astronauts to ensure they were safe on their space mission. The astronauts completed a series of tasks in the spaceship simulator and listened to directions sent from Mission Control. Each student had an individual role to play as the group completed assignments and responded to simulated emergencies. From the communications leader, the weather forecaster, ROV leaders, safety directors, and more, all students played an important part in completing the assigned mission like true space-professionals.
Located at Montco’s Pottstown Campus, The Challenger Learning Center is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. The spaced-themed simulations are led by trained Challenger Flight Directors and reinforce science taught in the classroom. The goals of the Challenger Learning Center include introducing students to science-related careers and helping students build skills in critical thinking and collaboration.
This field trip extends beyond learning about STEM and space. The simulation gave our students an interactive environment to practice teamwork, run experiments, communicate with each other, and solve tough problems together. During their space task, Pathway students applied the knowledge they learned in class, completed the lunar challenge, and shared the triumph of their space victory.