National Engineering Design Challenge with Orlando Science Center

Partnering with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Swampworks (KSC), City of Orlando’s Grand Avenue neighborhood community center (City of Orlando), Florida Recreation & Park Association (FRPA), and the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA), Orlando Science Center (OSC) has created a broad partnership with national reach that generates, implements, and evaluates (1) a series of weekly authentic STEM engagement opportunities focused on space exploration and space science in alignment with ARTEMIS and NASA’s Communication Themes (Humans in Space & Moon to Mars) for underrepresented elementary school students (grades 4 & 5) from underserved communities across the City of Orlando, (2) a new engineering design challenge (EDC) for community center-Science Center teams that can be scaled in Year 3 nationwide, (3) engagement of families during the EDC showcase and KSC and OSC’s Family Science Night, and (4) innovative STEM professional training for City of Orlando’s informal educators to bolster confidence in STEM facilitation.

This work has established a new partnership between OSC and neighboring NASA KSC, increasing the capacity of OSC to leverage and utilize NASA resources for informal education in the region. The EDC has enabled underserved and underrepresented participants to work together to authentically contribute to NASA’s ARTEMIS mission using virtual engineering platforms like TinkerCAD, real-world materials and supplies, and evidence-based engineering design to create a solution to a problem identified by NASA KSC Swampworks that astronauts engaged in the ARTEMIS mission may face as they live in space or head from the Moon to Mars. We are overcoming a recognized barrier to accessing STEM education identified in our community (transportation) by taking expertise and resources into a community center that is a hub for underserved neighborhoods to feature Project-Based, Hands-On Learning within a diverse cultural context using the Science Capital Teaching Approach and Evidence-Based education strategies to meet the needs of our target audience through grassroots informal STEM education.