Cricket Press Grant: Teaching on the Edge!
- School Year: 2016-2017
- Applicants: Kathy Hardesty, Lead Teacher Courtney Jacklin, JackieMakarewicz, Angela Giliberto
- School: Smith
- Subjects: Math, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Teaching on the Edge will engage all students at Smith Elementary School as they learn about the atmosphere by launching a meteorological balloon. Attached to the balloon will be a payload comprised of GoPro cameras, instrumentation and a science experiment. Students will use scientific methods to collect real data from an experiment that goes into the stratosphere. The balloon can travel up to 20 miles high, deep into the stratosphere and will explode after 1.5 hours. A parachute will slow the capsule down back to earth during a 1 hour fall. The GPS tracking device inside the capsule will help recover the payload about 100 miles from the launch base. The recovery of the payload and the scientific data will be documented through video and shared live with at a school wide assembly.