Aerospace, STEM, and Cyber Education
WAMA Aerospace Education Officer 2021 WAMA Aerospace Education InstructorsDr. Sylvie Giral Kacmarcik, Major, CAP Maj Sylvie Kacmarcik
WAWG Director of Aerospace Education WAMA Aerospace, STEM, & Cyber Education Officer WAWG CyberPatriot Coordinator Sylvie.Kacmarcik@wawg.cap.gov
Green Darner CyberCamp Director & Instructor
http://www.wawg.cap.gov/wing-staff/aerospace-education
All in-person WAMA activities postponed until further notice.
Virtual / online training:
Saturday 8 May 2021, 14:00 to 16:00 PST
NASA Mars 2020 - Perseverance - Areology
NASA Mission Name: Mars 2020Rover Name: PerseveranceMain Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.Launch: July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on a ULA Atlas 541 procured under NASA’s Launch Services ProgramLanding: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, MarsTech Demo: The Mars Helicopter is a 30-day technology demonstration, hitching a ride on the Perseverance rover.
The contribution of Perseverance to NASA’s Mars Exploration Program includes (https://mars.nasa.gov/science/goals/):
- Determining whether life ever existed
- Characterizing the climate
- Characterizing the geology
- Preparing for human exploration
During this session, participants will be learning about the third part of Perseverance's mission which includes the study of the surface materials of Mars. Students will do hands-on activities such as sampling and analyzing using a variety of home supplies and grocery items (available in the candy and cookie aisle).
List of tools to gather prior to the event:
- 1 cutting board and 1 flat plate
- 1 butter knife, 1 tablespoon, and 1 teaspoon
- 1 pestle, or a pastry rolling pin, or a wooden spoon to crush the crackers/cookies
- 1 measuring cup, 2 bowls, and 1 clear tall jar
- 2 small roundish objects (walnut, peanut M&M's, or candy)
- color pencils and a regular writing or drawing pencil
- a ruler and an eraser
- blank papers or your aerospace notebook
List of supplies to gather prior to the event:
- 3 different bite size chocolate bars such as those in the picture at left. The bar should have layers or inclusions inside.
- 1 small pack of crackers or cookies of light color, crush some to obtain about 1 cup of coarse crushed light powder
- 1 small pack of crackers or cookies of dark color, crush some to obtain about 1 cup of coarse crushed dark powder
- a handful of small food such as small nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruits, and/or small candies
- 1 cup of water
Through the WAMA Aerospace Education Track, cadets and senior members will be able to enjoy learning and exploring a variety of AE and STEM topics, as well as progress through their professional development. This track will also help you earn Certificates and Badges.WAMA Aerospace Education Track:
More experienced cadets will have the opportunity to assist, tutor and/or teach as part of the AE track of WAMA which will help them in their progress towards higher STEM badge ratings. AE classes will have a scaffolding structure where more experienced cadets will mentor less experienced ones in addition to doing more challenging activities.
For Senior Members: AEOs duties and Specialty Track Rating progressions require AEOs to participate to activities at group, wing, and region levels. WAMA is considered a Wing level activity. AEOs can participate in many ways:
- Observing: learn new activities or new ways of doing activities and classes.
- Assisting: some activities would benefit from having more than one AEO in the room and we will be grateful for any help offered.
- Instructing: if you have an activity that you would love to share and teach, please contact WAMA’s AEO and we will work on integrating it in our program.
In August 2018, the Cadet Cyber Badge and Cadet STEM Badge were introduced. These new recognition programs will motivate cadets to participate in activities like CyberPatriot, robotics, astronomy, meteorology, drones / UAVs, flight simulators, and more. See Cadet Cyber & STEM Recognition Programs CAPP 60-41 for more information (https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/media/cms/CAPP_6041_F9333F40340B7.pdf).Both the Cadet STEM Badge and Cadet Cyber Badge use a modular format. Recipients obtain a single, basic badge, and affix the appropriate star to denote their level of achievement. A blue star indicates the Basic rating, a silver star indicates the Intermediate rating, and a gold star indicates the Advanced rating. As cadets earn ratings, they may remove the old star and install the new, while keeping the same basic badge.
For summary tables on how to earn the Cadet STEM and CYBER Badges with increasing rating, please consult the WAWG AE webpage.