DEFYING GRAVITYEMBRACING LIFE IN SPACE

Vol. 8 May 8, 2003 Mount Sinai School of Medicine New York

LIFE SCIENCES SECONDARY SCHOOLLAUNCHES DEFYING GRAVITY WEEK

Life Sciences Secondary School is onManhattan’s Upper East Side

School, DG ProgramCollaborate onCurriculum Initiative

On Thursday February 27,200 students and five teachers fromLife Sciences Secondary Schoolcrowded into the Hatch Auditoriumat Mount Sinai School of Medicine.They were gathered together as thenewest members of the unique part-nership that has made DefyingGravity an educational outreach suc-cess.

The Defying Gravity pro-gram began as a team effort to devel-op perspective-based lesson plans forninth grade science and math stu-dents. Initially derided for itsunconventional approach to learn-ing, the DG program has now passedthrough two phases of developmentto put its lessons to the test in theclassrooms of New York City.

Life Sciences SecondarySchool was the first to implement alarge scale presentation of DG lessonmodules, each of which includes alesson, presentation, lab and sever-al homeworks. The ambitious effortwas led by five teachers, one ofwhom was a member of the originalDG team.

Students returned fromtheir winter break to “DefyingGravity Week.” Three complete DGmodules were delivered by their

Program Director Patrick JJ GGannon, PPhDAssociate Director Nancy KKheck, PPhDThe DG Newsletter is written, edited andproduced by Craig RRothstein, MMAContinued on page 2

DG DDirector SSees PPromise oof Tomorrow iin SStudents oof TToday;

Finds IInspiration iin NNew DDG PPhaseby Patrick Gannon, PhD

On a cold and windyJanuary day we trekked throughthe snow to Life Sciences SecondarySchool for a meeting with PrincipalGenevieve Stanislaus and A.P. forSupervision Sarah Kleinhandler.My assistant and I had made anumber of these sorts of tripsrecently in an effort to recruit sci-ence and math teachers to field-testour stand-alone curriculum mod-ules. This one, however, wouldprove to be very different from therest.

In a brilliant stroke of edu-cational-outreach genius, Ms.Stanislaus proposed to launch thefield-test phase of the DefyingGravity program at her school.Never did I imagine being so

continued on page 2

LSSS students crowd the HatchAuditorium at MSSM

FFrroomm TThhee EEddiittoorrAfter a week-long effort to

bring space biomedicine into theclassroom, Defying Gravity facultyanxiously looked forward to the LifeScience Secondary School assembly tobe held at the Hatch Auditorium atMount Sinai. Pre-lesson homeworkshad been assigned and completed,;lessons had been delivered; labs hadbeen conducted. So far, the teachershad offered positive feedback: themodules were interesting, the lessonswere easy to use and the labs werefully supplied. However, what wasreally on everyone’s minds was how the students would respond.

At the assembly, the studentsdelivered their opinions in the formsof projects, written pieces and speech-es. Here is what a few of them had to say:WWiilllliiaamm:: “What really impressed mewas that there is more to learn aboutspace travel than I first thought.There are still things I need to learnabout space, like 'What do the astro-nauts do for months in space?' and'How do they feel about being in aspaceship with each other for so long?'My opinion about programs like thisis that they are a good way to reachkids and to help them learn there is

continued on page 4

teachers. “Thinking Big” opened stu-

dents’ eyes to the enormity of theuniverse and the complexity of send-ing a crewed mission to Mars.“Smells to Mars” taught the every-day importance of olfaction and howthat sense is lost in the microgravityof space. “Bon-e Voyage” presentedstudents with a hands-on journeyinto the skeleton; how it functions onearth and the changes it undergoesduring space travel.

(One fascinating fact: mostpeople grow about a half an inchevery night as the cartilage discs intheir backs expand during horizon-tal rest. In microgravity, astronautssometimes grow two inches!)

The assembly was begunwith a short presentation from Dr.Patrick Gannon, the principal inves-tigator and program director ofDefying Gravity. Dr. Nathan Kase,Dean Emeritus of MSSM stepped into say a few words. Dr. Gay Holsteinspoke on the tragic loss of the shut-tle Columbia. She had an experi-ment on board that studied theadaptive mechanisms of rats inmicrogravity. Students were gluedto their seats as Dr. Holstein showedpictures of her NASA laboratory,explained rat neural anatomy and

described the thrill of being part offrontier exploration.

Dr. Gannon took the stage totell the history of the DefyingGravity program. It began as asmall team effort and grew into acollaboration among MSSM andmany area high schools.

The third phase of Defying

Gravity, testing the modules in theclassroom, began at LSSS. Schoolssuch as Brooklyn Tech, BayardRustin and Queens Gateway toHealth Sciences are on the fasttrack to continuing the effort.

So far, the results from theweek at LSSS have been extreme-ly encouraging. As the finale tothe assembly at MSSM, studentsand teachers presented ideas,opinions and projects inspired byDG. They were overwhelmingly pos-itive with most students remarkinghow the fascinating science of spacebiomedicine led them to learn andinquire further about the human body,medicine and space.

The five intrepid LSSS teach-ers are to submit assessments of themodules to the DG program. Their edi-torial suggestions will be considered inthe final production.

Ultimately, DG will providelesson plans on the Internet to teachersacross the nation in the hopes ofimproving American science and matheducation. The grand success ofDefying Gravity Week at LSSS is aninspiring moment at the midpointof this novel educational outreachmission.

Defying Gravity Weeka Success at LSSS

from page 1

presumptuous as to request aneffort of this magnitude from sucha busy school faculty. Yet, the timewas right for both the programand the school to try somethingnew and dynamic. Although itwould be a high-risk endeavor, Idid not shy away. In retrospect,I'm decidedly pleased that we gaveMs. Stanislaus' "Defying GravityWeek" a chance.

I looked forward to theventure with no small amount oftrepidation. I imagined that therecent Columbia disaster wouldhave upset people too much to dealwith a space-biomedicine themedcurriculum. It was, however, justthe opposite. The tragedy invigor-ated teachers and students withthe desire to learn as much as pos-sible about the rigors astronauts

must endure. In light of this, Ichanged the subtitle of the programfrom Enduring Life in Space toEmbracing Life in Space in honor ofthe orbiter Columbia and her crew.

Renaming the program wasonly the first step. We then met withthe teaching staff at LSSS to convincethem of the amazing success theDefying Gravity curriculum moduleswould bring to them and their stu-dents. We discussed the finer pointsof each module and how the informa-tion contained therein would meetthe requirements of the New Yorkand National Science EducationStandards.

We explained the compellinglearning incentives that were inte-

grated with the subject material andhow the hands-on, inquiry-based for-mat would allow students to compre-hend what astronauts experiencedduring space travel. Those firstmeetings were extraordinarily pro-ductive. I felt privileged to witnessthe creative and dynamic ability ofthe LSSS staff to integrate new mate-rials into their disciplines and orches-trate the success of a common goal.Currently in the U.S., there is atough climate of educational reform.As the teachers and administratorsat LSSS gathered their efforts for theupcoming Defying Gravity Week, itbecame apparent to me that both theinter-disciplinary approach and theteam effort were representative of acompelling strategy for nationwidescience and math education. This wasour goal from the beginning.

So Defying Gravity Week atLSSS came along at the end ofFebruary, 2003. As I had anticipated,teachers were able to successfully uti-lize the module as stand-alone ele-ments. As such, they

DG Director SeesTomorrow, Today

from page 1HHEERROOEESS

STSSTS--107 Research Only Mission107 Research Only MissionDr. Gannon’s PowerPoint presentationpaid tribute to the crew of the orbiter

Columbia. The shuttle was on a missiondedicated to science research

continued on page 3

Dr. Gannon welcomes students, teachersand staff to the DG assembly at MSSM.

were able to deliver all module com-ponents - the pre-lesson and pre-labhomework, formal lesson plan andlaboratory session - with no furthersupport from us, and with no overtproblems at that. In fact, thingswent so well that teachers and stu-dents were inspired to explore spacebiomedicine even further, as evi-denced by comments delivered atweek's end. Eureka! The teacherswent so far beyond my expectationsas to have their students preparespace biomedicine posters, writtenpieces and oral presentations to bedelivered at the culmination of theweek: an assembly held at MountSinai on February 27th.

The assembly attracted alarge number of students, teachersand Mount Sinai faculty and staff.They filled the Hatch Auditorium tostanding room only capacity to wit-ness the event I called: Look to theFuture in Your Life - Reach for theStars. Attendees were treated to anintroduction by institutional seniorstatesman and longtime educationaloutreach guru Dr. Nathan Kase,Dean Emeritus of Mount SinaiSchool of Medicine. He spoke of therelationship between LSSS andMSSM and how the theme of lookingto the future of education should becommon across the U.S. It felt goodto see Dr. Kase and Ms. Stanislausshoulder to shoulder, watching fromthe side as the presentations contin-ued.

Dr. Gay Holstein describedher experiments on the microanato-my of the brain's balance system,which were lost during theColumbian disaster. Studentslooked amazed to be hearing first-hand from a NASA-MSSM scientistwho had been personally involvedwith the STS-107 space shuttle,which had been on a science-onlymission. Questions from the crowdflowed quickly, thick with curiosity.Dr. Holstein fielded each of themwith a calm and compellingdemeanor until we had to move on.Students were so inspired, it seemedtheir questions would never end.

For my part, I first present-ed what I termed a "quick historylesson," which gave rise to manygroans. These quickly ceased when Iexplained that it was a history ofspace exploration. I spoke of how acommon theme had persistedthrough time that exploration camewith a high risk, but that there wasa need to continue with renewedvigor.

As an example, I reportedthe amazing enthusiasm thatAmerican teachers had displayedafter the Columbia tragedy withregard to NASA's Teacher AstronautProgram. When I asked the crowdthe question posed by NASA, "Doyou know a teacher who is great?"and described how they could nomi-nate a teacher to become an astro-naut, the room boiled over with stu-dents eagerly suggesting names oftheir teachers. It was an inspira-tional moment; one indicative oftheir jubilation.

As I moved to the presenta-tion slide with the web addresswhere they could make such a nomi-nation, the sound of zippers filledthe room as bags were opened andpen and paper brought out.

As a finale, pre-selected stu-dents came to the podium to makeshort presentations on what hadmade the biggest impression onthem during Defying Gravity Week.It was gratifying to hear that theyunderstood complex issues rangingfrom degradation of bone tissue inmicrogravity and the importance ofour chemical senses in everyday lifeon earth and in space to the mind-blowing number of stars like our sunin our galactic neighborhood, letalone the entire universe.

The week's activities andoutcomes have inspired me to recon-sider the mechanisms that I will usefor field-testing the Defying Gravitycurriculum modules over the nextyear. Although this inclusive, inte-grative model might not be right forsome schools, it seems that all indi-cations point to the fact that whenhandled by ambitious and compe-tent educators, it works very wellindeed. I look forward to the futureutilization and reporting-out of whatI will call the "Stanislaus Model" ofcurriculum field-testing.

Dr. Gay HolsteinPresents...

On February 27th, I had theenormous pleasure of speaking withstudents from Life SciencesSecondary School as part of theNSBRI-sponsored educational sym-posium entitled "Defying Gravity -Embracing Life in Space", whichwas held at Mount Sinai School ofMedicine. What a great experience!

I had three goals for thepresentation. The first was to talkabout the importance of conductinglife sciences experiments in themicrogravity environment. This wasa particularly critical subject at thesymposium, because the Columbiashuttle disaster had just occurredand there was a great deal of publicdebate about the need for that typeof research. I emphasized the rele-vance of such studies for the healthof people on Earth, for the health ofastronauts in space, and for the con-

tinual pursuit of new knowledgethat makes our society great.

My second goal was todescribe the process involved indesigning and conducting an experi-ment in space. I taught the studentsabout the prolonged process of mak-ing an experiment flight-ready, andtesting the laboratory facilities atthe primary landing site at KennedySpace Center in Florida and thealternate landing site at DrydenFlight Research Center, associatedwith Edwards Air Force Base in theMojave Desert in California. By lis-tening to the description of this process,

DG Director SeesTomorrow, Today

from page 2

An example of brain tissue from a ratflown on the STS-90

science research shuttle mission.

continued on page 4

invigorating and remarkablyrewarding. The students were curi-ous and optimistic and full of theenergy that makes teenagers a spe-cial challenge and delight. Theyasked so many questions, rangingfrom interest in the specifics of myflight experiments to questionsabout choices I have made in life,that we ran out of time! The youngpeople were clearly engaged in thesymposium, and were interested,articulate, and enthusiastic aboutits content. I feel extremely honoredto have been included in the pro-gram. Thank you!

Dr. HolsteinPresents...

they also learned about my research on brain mechanismsinvolved in learning and maintain-ing balance, and the experimentsthat I have flown and planned for shuttle flights.

Lastly, I offered the studentssome of my own reflections about thecourage and bravery of the STS-107Columbia crew members, and theissues that such a loss raises for

teenagersas theyc o n t e m -plate pur-suing highrisk activi-ties. I feelthat thereare severalvery impor-tant les-sons for

young people to be taken from theColumbia tragedy. I suggested tothem that when they assume any risk (whether it's drugsor smoking or human space flight),they take that risk not just for them-selves, but for all the people whoknow and love them. They mustthink seriously and make responsi-ble choices. I ended by saying,"When the goal is trivial and uselessand momentary, you may decide thatthe risk just isn't worth it. But whenthe goal is valuable and noble and compelling, GO FOR IT!

I found the symposium

continued from page 3

more to space travel than they ever thought.”JJaanneellllee MMoosseess:: “The [Bon-e Voyage]lesson made science understandable.We were shown slides on an overheadprojector. They explained things likebone loss in astronauts in space and why it happens.”NNaannccyy RRaammooss:: For a week our earthscience class has been studying theDefying Gravity curriculum. We stud-ied the effects of space on humananatomy. The fact that there were[overhead transparencies] opposed tojust plain lectures made it a lot moreenjoyable. I would greatly enjoystudying in another program like this,space oriented or otherwise. Takingnotes was a lot easier with the defini-tions and reviews provided by the program. AAssiiff:: “Programs such as this arebound to be a success because theyevoke enthusiasm in this field ofstudy. The learning process is intensi-fied in terms of achievement andunderstanding. Major concepts areexplained with ease, allowing us tocomprehend and apply their mechan-ics. Hopefully this is only the tip ofthe iceberg with all the majoradvances in science and technology.”

I went back to LSSS the fol-lowing week to collect some materialsand take photographs of teachers andtheir classes. What I found wasamazing. Hallways were lined withstudent projects; tables were coveredwith sketches, pictures and writingswith titles such as: “How to Becomean Astronaut,” and “My Space Mission.”

Clearly, both Defying Gravityand the recent shuttle disaster had aprofound effect on students; theirenthusiasm was palpable. The feed-back from teachers was equallyencouraging. They had enjoyed usingthe curriculum modules and tookgreat pride in their students’ initia-tive.

The major collaborationbetween Defying Gravity and LSSShad been a major success. Both teach-ers and students responded in posi-tive fashion to the curriculum mod-ules. Emboldened by this achieve-ment, Defying Gravity now looks for-ward to the next school year, whenmore modules and more collabora-tions are expected to yield more suc-cesses in the classroom and beyond.

The Plaque at the AstronautMemorial at Kennedy Space Center

in Florida.

Lift-off of STS-107, the last missionof the shuttle Columbia.

Dr. Holstein is a research scientist inthe Department of Neurology at MSSM. Her laboratory conducts neu-roanatomical studies of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved inspatial orientation, balance and equilibrium. She began working onNASA-related projects in 1993, participating in NASA's BiospecimenSharing Program. Subsequently, Dr. Holstein began work on her first shut-tle experiment, which flew as part of the STS-90 Neurolab shuttle missionin 1998. STS-107 was her second flight experiment.

Encouraging NewsDefying Gravity Shows

Preliminary Success in NYRegents Testing

Students at the ManhattanCenter for Science and Math whoparticipated in the after-schoolDefying Gravity Beta-Testing effortperformed better on New York StateRegents Examinations in LivingEnvironment and Chemistry thantheir peers who did not volunteerfor the program.

Irma Garceau, AssistantPrincipal for Science at MCSM,reported that in the general popula-tion at the school, the pass rate forLiving Environment was 98%. Forstudents who participated in theDG program, the pass rate was100%. In Chemistry, the generalpopulation pass rate was 53%; the pass rate for DG students was66%.

Regents test score averagesare currently being collected.Preliminary findings indicate amarked increase among DG partic-ipants. Watch for more results inthe Defying Gravity Newsletter.