NASA Brings Excitement of STEM to Teachers in Charlotte, N.C.

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Feb 24, 2012, 11:37 ET

HAMPTON, Va., Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is hosting a series of workshops in Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 28 – March 1, to help answer the question of how to get kids interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

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The NASA STEM Educator Workshop Series is sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. This is the fourth year that NASA has offered the free workshops, which aim to help teachers relate NASA content to their students in an interesting and fun way.

The theme for this year's workshops is, "Showcasing S.T.E.M.S. Set To Explore My Surroundings: Earth, Near Earth, and Beyond!" By using educational resources related to current and future NASA missions, aerospace education specialists will work closely with teachers offering them new approaches to teaching the seemingly difficult or impossible. Close to 300 teachers have already registered to participate. Though most of them are from North Carolina, some are traveling as far away as Colorado and Texas.

The workshops will explore engineering design challenges, problem-based learning activities, distance learning modules, inquiry-based lessons and hands-on projects.

"This year we are offering more than 90 professional workshop sessions, and we are evolving to incorporate more social media tools as part of the event to spread the impact beyond the three days of the workshop and beyond the boundaries of the physical location," said Brandon Hargis, aerospace education specialist at NASA Langley.

The workshops will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 28 - March 1 and will be held at Cochrane Collegiate Academy, 6200 Starhaven Drive, Charlotte, N.C.

Media interested in attending any of the sessions should contact Amy Johnson with NASA Langley at 757-272-9859 or at [email protected].

For more information on NASA's educational programs, visit:

www.nasa.gov/education

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SOURCE NASA