By STEPHANIE BUNKER
Moapa Valley Progress
The Nellis Airforce Base STARBASE Program came to Moapa last week to inspire local kids in the area of science.
Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade kids from local communities, and a few from Las Vegas, gathered at the Moapa Paiute Education Center to learn how cool science can be during the Center’s Education Week summer program.
STARBASE teamed up with the kids to teach a lot of science and how to have fun with it. Myles Judd, the STARBASE Nellis Director, made sure of that by letting the kids get hands on and experiment for themselves.
Throughout the four day program, the kids learned about matter, Isaac Newton’s first three laws of motion, the metric system, graphs, nanotechnology, and much more.
On Wednesday Judd showed the eager group how to build a rocket out of a straw, paper, and tape. They experimented by launching a 4 milligram rocket. They observed how far it would go if they added more force or changed the angle. They then continued to experiment by using an 8 milligram rocket to see how the weight difference affected the distance travelled.
The kids also had a contest with rockets they had designed themselves to see who’s straw would fly the farthest. Logandale youth Grady Call won the competition as his rocket flew farther than anyone else’s.
After the rocket experiment, Judd gave the kids a taste of what a larger rocket is like by shooting off several different kinds of larger rockets. Education Week participant, Haken Oroeecea loved seeing the rockets shoot hundreds of feet into the air. His favorite rocket was a big shiny red one that they saved to shoot off till the end.
Education week has worked with STARBASE to teach the kids about future careers.
“This program helps the kids to learn team work by working together, planning and sharing,” said Della Frank, educator at the Center. “It also gives them opportunities to ask, ‘What career will this take me to?’”
Jeri Anderson is 10 years old and she said she has been learning, “Tons of science,” while at the program. Although Anderson wants to be a veterinarian she liked learning about physics too.
The STARBASE Program, funded by the Department of Defense, has been around for 20 years and works with 80,000 kids a year nationwide. Nellis Air force Base houses the STARBASE Program in Clark County where they are able to teach 900-1000 kids a year.
Unfortunately funding for program has been cut, which will not allow them to continue. Judd is actively fighting the cut in funding, he is working with Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) to bring it back. Judd says that Heck is one of the top supporters for STARBASE.
