St. Mark Class Hops On A Special U.S. Navy Starship

March 11, 2009
By Alana Folen

Linc Higa (Obi-wan, on left) discusses the properties of air via a live demonstration with St. Mark Lutheran School fifth-graders Haley Pilien (center) and Te’a Veikoso at a recent Starbase-Atlantis lesson. Photo from Victoria Flores.

St. Mark Lutheran fifth-graders have enlisted the U.S. Navy to help them reach for the stars.

Victoria Flores’ class recently joined Starbase-Atlantis, a federally funded outreach managed by the Naval Education and Training Command, to boost their knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

Enlisted personnel and officers mingled with the Kaneohe students during their five-day course at the Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific Training Support Detachment on Ford Island and helped them create model rockets, “fly” airplanes via simulation, do science experiments and work in teams to “save their flight crew from certain disasters.” They also made a restraint system for a raw egg.

“The more I learned about the science aspect for our youths, I thought it would be an ideal program,“Flores explained,“especially since it touches upon areas that are often complicated for them - concepts of Newton’s three laws, flight, how planes fly, etc.

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“The students just enjoyed the entire five days and were very sad when it was over. They said it was the best thing they ever did for a field trip.” They didn’t just hear about science theories, she added: They saw them in action.

Take the principle of mass. They launched balls and weights via rubber-band propulsion to see which went the farthest. They also dropped objects from a great height and observed the descent.

“One thing that stood out to me,” she said,“is that Starbase-Atlantis has an actual flight simulator.After learning about flight they get to pretend they’re pilots and are taught how to operate the throttle and brake. They have to ‘take off’ from Pearl Harbor and successfully land in Honolulu, which everyone did perfectly.

“We visited the Pacific Aviation Museum and actually saw planes, got in one and saw what it’s like, had a 3-D computer to work on and design prototypes. We don’t get to do that in the classroom.”

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Results showed that all students achieved 80 percent or more in the post-test, some scoring 100 percent.

Flores plans to follow up with more effective activities as she starts their lesson on motion.

“I think the military has so much to offer, and they did a fantastic job working with our students.” For more information on Starbase-Atlantis, call 472-7389.