Out of 12,000 applicants, a group of 7th and 8th grade students at Huntley Project School was the only one in Montana awarded the NASA TechRise Grant for scientific research. This $1,500 grant challenges middle and high school students to design, build and launch experiments on suborbital rockets and balloon flights, according to the NASA website.
Ms. Brandi Norman, a science teacher at Huntley Project School, said six of her STEM students collaborated to write a proposal and submitted it to NASA. The purpose of the experiment they describe is to gain insight into how food can be grown in the microgravity conditions of space. It involves designing a rocket ship, sending it to space, and testing how water moves through soil without the help of gravity. The next step will be to create the spacecraft using a 3D printer.
Norman described the experience so far as exciting, and added, “I love that they are getting an authentic research opportunity at such a young age.” She mentioned her goal every year is to make at least one of her students a “science nerd,” and hopes that this achievement made six.
The students involved mentioned that they love being able to say, “Oh, we have lunch in Mrs. Norman’s room because we have a NASA meeting!”
