The International Space Station seen from space shuttle Discovery. Courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Nowadays, educators around the world are coming up with new and innovative ways to inspire the learning of science. The Internet – now becoming increasingly accessible to everyone – has evolved into an essential tool incorporated into students’ education, and the Youtube Space Lab challenge is one such implementation combined with interactive learning.
Youtube Space Lab is backed by Youtube, Lenovo, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Students aged 14-18 from across the globe are encouraged to design an experiment that, if chosen, will be carried out in space by the International Space Station (ISS) and streamed live on Youtube.com, the popular video sharing site. Youtube Space Lab stems from Youtube EDU – an online global classroom with a rich compilation of lecture material from universities and other educators. The competition’s goals are twofold: getting students to actively participate will allow them to apply their knowledge outside of the classroom setting, and their videos will then serve as part of an informative collection to be shared worldwide. The competition began on October 11, 2011 and ends on March 21, 2012, with the regional winners to be announced on February 21. Here’s one submission proposing the possibility of yeast-powered space travel:
More entries can be viewed at the Youtube Space Lab channel.
The competition should prove to be a fulfilling experience for up-and-coming scientists as participants are expected to design their experiments such that they pass the scientific method. They must devise an experiment question that they want to test, and formulate a hypothesis from it. Their methods should direct the astronaut that will be investigating their experiment, and finally they need to predict their results in a creative manner to impress the panel of judges, among which include various scientists, astronauts and other professionals.
Learning about the scientific method is an important part of the science curriculum (Image from xkcd.com)
This is a great opportunity for science enthusiasts and is sure to attract a lot of attention. Let’s prepare to be amazed by the ingenuity of young minds.
Sources:
Colman, Dan. “Introducing YouTube EDU!” Open Culture. Accessed January 28, 2012.
Yeast-Powered Space Travel: YouTube Space Lab entry – Portugal. Youtube video. Accessed January 28, 2012.
Youtube Space Lab Resources – FAQ. Accessed January 28, 2012.
