Bonner’s fifth grade team successfully competed in the recent NASA Student Challenge event held on May 20th in Bozeman at Montana State University. They were challenged to complete eight tasks including building and programming a robot that could autonomously navigate a simulated Lava Tube using a distance sensor to navigate corners. They were also challenged to design, build, and test different rocket designs using the Aquapod launcher. They also conducted an experiment growing plants with natural light as well as artificial light. In addition, they researched specialty jobs in the engineering, technology, mathematics, and science fields.
They took all this work to showcase and compete with other teams from various schools and clubs in Bozeman. At the end of the event the judges were impressed with their presentations and awarded them a high points award for their presentation on the Missoula water cycle, their mission patch, plant experiment, and research on roles/jobs at NASA.
Overall, it was a great experience for all of them. Here’s what they had to say:
Caitlin: In my view, the NASA HUB event went really well. We got to show our hard work and dedication. We also got a 12.5/13 on our presentation of our tri fold. It was really fun because we got to do VR and go to the planetarium. We also got nametags, backpacks, water bottles, stickers, and medals. The first mission we did was the rover, it went through the tunnel the first round but we forgot to add to the code so it didn't make it through the second round until we added more code. After that, we did the rocket, we shot it into the air and it survived 1 out of the 3 launches. Then after that, we had our mission flex time where we got to do VR. I would recommend doing the NASA Student Challenge because I learned a lot and if you work hard enough you can also go to Bozeman. Overall, it was just a great experience.
Remy: I think that going was a great experience for me and my team. It taught us valuable lessons like teamwork. It was a lot of hard work but my team members each had an important role to complete and we got it done. If you are a 5th grader wanting to learn about NASA I highly recommend doing the NASA Student Challenge. It is a great opportunity and experience
Nevaeh: The NASA student challenge is a great opportunity to learn teamwork. I got to have an important role and got to show my creativity. It was hard work, but definitely worth it! It’s really fun to go to Bozeman and see MCU’s college. It was a great way to have fun and learn valuable lessons for me and my friends. I recommend the NASA Student Challenge.
Evelyn: I think the NASA student challenge went well. We worked hard and it paid off. We worked for a really long time to go to the HUB event. We struggled a little bit to get along but I think we did a great job. It was a great experience for us to get hands-on. My personal favorite was MO-7 because we got to use our imagination and research to make a paragraph about what we think we'd do if we worked at NASA. There were a lot of activities for us to do at the HUB event and my favorite was the VR. So overall, I really enjoyed the NASA student challenge.
Ashton: I loved the NASA HUB event. It let us dig deeper in our teamwork skills. I really had a good time.
Cora: The NASA challenge trip was very fun and went very well. The first mission objective we did was the rover for about an hour. Then, we did the rocket challenge and the "pringle-astronaut" didn’t break! Next, we did our tri-fold/expo presentation and got a 12.5/13 which is VERY good. Finally, we did our secret mission where we had to build a capsule that would float on water for 1 minute without getting a leak. We did it, we actually built 2 and they both worked. We got mission flex time/lunch, and did the VR which was very interesting, I must say, at the end of the day all the work and time I contributed was definitely worth it.