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Objective: To examine the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary, discovery-oriented teaching unit designed to provide science and health information about HIV from the perspective of viral biology, population statistics and epidemiology. Design: Single group pre- and post-curriculum pilot study. Setting: Fifteen middle and high school classrooms recruited from districts in and around a large, diverse, urban area in the mid-southern USA. Method: Science educators, clinicians, virologists and biologists collaborated to develop a set of five activities intended to increase content knowledge related to HIV, while developing students’ science-related skills in the context of an authentic, relevant example. The activities were piloted with six hundred and twenty-four 12- to 18-year-old students. Multiple-choice pre- and post-tests were used to assess changes in students’ knowledge, and teacher evaluations were used to gauge appropriateness of content, ease of activity implementation and teacher perceptions of student skill development, learning and engagement. Results: Student pre- and post-tests and teacher post-evaluations indicated that the curriculum was effective in increasing content knowledge for students across all age ranges, with 13- to 14-year-old, grade 8 students achieving the greatest knowledge gains. Teacher-reported information also suggested that students were able to apply relevant skills to their interpretation of authentic data related to the incidence and transmission of HIV infection around the world. Conclusion: The developed activities have the potential to provide timely, relevant information to students while strengthening science-related content knowledge and skills as well as health literacy.

The middle school years are a crucial time for cultivating students’ interest in and preparedness for future STEM careers. However, not all middle school children are provided opportunities to engage, learn and achieve in STEM subject areas. Engineering, in particular, is neglected in these grades because it usually is not part of science or mathematics curricula. This study investigates the effectiveness of an engineering-integrated STEM curriculum designed for use in an after-school environment. The inquiry-based activities comprising the unit, Think Like an Astronaut, were intended to introduce students to STEM careers—specifically engineering and aerospace engineering—and enhance their skills and knowledge applicable related to typical middle school science objectives. Results of a field test with a diverse population of 5th grade students in nine schools revealed that Think Like an Astronaut lessons are appropriate for an after-school environment, and may potentially help increase students’ STEM-related content knowledge and skills.

High-quality after-school programs devoted to science have the potential to enhance students' science knowledge and attitudes, which may impact their decisions about pursuing science-related careers. Due to the unique nature of these informal learning environments, an understanding of the relationships among aspects of students' content knowledge acquisition and attitudes toward science may aid in the development of effective science-related interventions. We investigated the impact of a semester-long after-school intervention utilizing an inquiry-based infectious diseases curriculum (designed for use after-school) on 63 urban students' content knowledge and aspects of their attitudes towards science. Content knowledge increased 24.6% from pre- to posttest. Multiple regression analyses indicated suggested that the "self-directed effort" subscale of the Simpson-Troost Attitude Questionnaire - Revised best predicted increases in students' science content knowledge. The construct "science is fun for me" served as a suppressor effect. These findings suggest that future after-school programs focusing on aspects of attitudes toward science most closely associated with gains in content knowledge might improve students' enthusiasm and academic preparedness for additional science coursework by improving student attitudes towards their perceptions of their self-directed effort.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) Education and Public Outreach Program (EPOP) is supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Strategic Education Framework's vision—“to capture the imagination of students … strengthen the nation's future workforce … and [improve] the overall teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines”—through a comprehensive kindergarten through postdoctoral education program [S. O’Keefe, NASA, The New Age of Exploration: NASA's Direction for 2005 and Beyond, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, 2005]. The current NSBRI EPOP is comprised of four programs: kindergarten through undergraduate college (K-16); graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs; and Space Medicine Grand Rounds and Aerospace Medicine Board Meetings, which are held at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The mission of the NSBRI EPOP is to train scientists and teachers, inspire and prepare students to pursue science careers, and promote public engagement in space exploration. This paper focuses on the accomplishments of the K-16 program and references ongoing efforts to strengthen the 21st Century US science workforce.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) Education and Public Outreach Program (EPOP) is supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) new vision for space exploration by educating and inspiring the next generation of students through a seamless pipeline of kindergarten through postdoctoral education programs. NSBRI EPOP initiatives are designed to train scientists and to communicate the significance of NSBRI science, as well as other space exploration science, to schools, families and lay audiences. The NSBRI EPOP team is comprised of eight main partners: Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Binghamton University–State University of New York (BUSUNY), Colorado Consortium for Earth and Space Science Education (CCESSE), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM), Rice University and the University of Texas Medical Branch (RU–UTMB), and Texas A&M University (TAMU). The current kindergarten through undergraduate college (K-16) team, which was funded through an open national competition in 2004, consolidates the past 7 years of K-16 education activities and expands the team's outreach activities to more museums and science centers across the nation. NSBRI also recently expanded its education mission to include doctoral and postdoctoral level programs. This paper describes select K-16 EPOP activities and products developed over the past 7 years, and reports on new activities planned for the next 3 years. The paper also describes plans for a doctoral program and reports on 1st-year outcomes of the new postdoctoral program.

A meal is not a meal unless there’s soup. That's the Russian space program’s concept for space lunches and dinners. NASA has always included a few soups on the menu to provide space crews with some extra menu variety. However, when NASA’s food specialists began working with the Russian food specialists to develop menus for missions to the Mir space station, soups became a priority.

The time has come for humankind to return to the Moon and to start preparing to make the first manned voyages to Mars. NASA's 21st Century Space Policy calls for just those steps, but going to the Moon won't consist of Apollo-style flights (grab some rocks and go). Astronauts will go there to build a permanent base. Eventually, the same is planned to happen on Mars. Making this vision possible will be a new family of space vehicles that combine the best technology of the past with the best of the future. Looking like a Saturn V rocket on the launch pad, the Ares I rocket will launch the Orion capsule with as many as six astronauts to the ISS or four astronauts for flights to the Moon. The Ares V, a much beefier rocket, will carry heavy payloads into orbit. For Moon missions, Ares V will loft the Altair lunar lander and the Earth Departure Stage (EDS) into orbit. After rendezvousing with Orion, the EDS will propel Orion and the lander to the Moon.

It’s time to say more about that “Big Question” mentioned in the introduction. Lavatory facilities were absent in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules. The first lavatory in an American spacecraft did not appear until the Skylab space station was launched in 1973, twenty-two years after Alan B. Shepherd rode the first Mercury capsule into space. Shepherd would have appreciated the lavatory. No provisions for going to the bathroom were made for his flight. The idea was to stuff him into the capsule, light the engines, and pluck him out of the ocean, all in less than an hour. It didn’t work out that way. Technical problems stretched Shepherd’s time on the launch pad to hours, and the coffee he had before suiting up didn’t seem like such a good idea to him after all. Ultimately, Shepherd, the first American astronaut to fly into space, did so in wet pants.

Astronauts are no different than the rest of us. Given a chance, they will graze all day. With hundreds of astronauts and support personnel in the Astronaut Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, someone is always having a birthday or special event. Astronauts are among the world’s most efficient hunters of cake and other snack foods. That shouldn’t be surprising. An astronaut’s day is packed with meetings, training exercises, proficiency flights in training jets, mission simulations, medical tests, and maintaining physical fitness. There is rarely time to sit down and enjoy meals.

Bread, one of the oldest and most popular of all commercially prepared foods, is a big problem for spaceflight. As mentioned before, there is the crumb problem. The crumbs go everywhere in microgravity. But keeping bread fresh and tasty enough for eating is the real challenge.