Bishop Hall Charter School teacher Scott Trammell was invited to participate in a selective summer teacher workshop called Mars Through Time at NASA Johnson Space Center and The Lunar Planetary Institute, both in Houston, Texas. Trammell was one of only 20 teachers who were selected nationwide to participate in this exclusive workshop.
Mars Through Time is a four-day, high school teacher professional development training session focusing on Mars science and exploration and the nature and process of science. Participants explored the relationship between technology and science using the history of Mars exploration as an example. Participants also learned about and discussed the nature and process of science with each other and invited speakers.
The 20 teachers who attended the workshop were split into five teams. Trammell’s team researched two of the missions that NASA sent to Mars. Their team had the opportunity to work with one of the scientists who helped on the Mars Phoenix Mission which was launched in 2008.
“I applied for this workshop never thinking that I would be selected,” Trammell said. “It was such an honor to represent Bishop Hall and the Thomas County School System. I applied to attend during a night school class at Bishop Hall where my class and I had discussed Mars. I was very surprised that my students were so engaged and interested in learning about Mars and whether it could be inhabitable.”
After Trammell was accepted, he learned that parts of the workshop included in-depth discussions about the Mars Curiosity Rover.
He immediately told his class and they helped him devise very specific questions the class wanted to have answered while he was at NASA.
One of those questions was, “Who designed the tire tread patterns?” The students also wanted to know what tests and data supported the design of the tires and tread pattern of the Curiosity Rover.
Trammell said, “I learned that the Curiosity Rover was very unique because of its on-board ChemCam. The ChemCam is able to shoot a laser at any rock to learn and understand its geology and make up.”
ChemCam is able to distinguish different elements because each chemical element has its own unique “fingerprint.”
Sparks from different elements and rock types also have their own color. Knowing which atoms are present in the target rock tells ChemCam scientists its composition.
“My students understood how important this data would be to a scientist, but in the back of their mind, they questioned the longevity of Curiosity Rover if the Martian environment and terrain were to deteriorate or break the tires,” said Trammell. “If the rover could not move, the mission could be limited, if not cease to exist.”
“During this workshop, I was very excited and proud of my students’ involvement,” Trammell continued. “While I was there, NASA released an article to the press entitled, ‘Wheel Worries: Mars Rover Curiosity Dealing With Damage.’ When this was announced to the workshop, one of NASA instructors for the day made a comment that ‘those students from Georgia were spot on!’ I felt so proud of my kids.”
Trammell is thankful for the experience and the ability to bring back the knowledge gained to the Thomas County School system.
Trammell added, “Now that school has started, my Bishop Hall students will get to benefit again from the workshop. The students will get to address the Chief Researcher on the Curiosity Rover at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA, via Skype. The students already have questions about NASA’s new super rover being sent to Mars in 2020. I’m excited that this could be a way our Thomas County students’ ideas help NASA to think outside the box.”