Students take off into space during LPS summer camp

Middle school students from Lawton figuratively took off into space during Lawton Public School’s Space Camp.

Last week in the Life Ready Center’s Big Gym, 702 NW Homestead Drive, around 50 students learned about several different topics related to space. The students could experience for themselves how difficult it can be to get a rocket into space and safe back onto Earth.

Students, for example, were given a budget and a list of materials, and then tasked with designing and building a heat shield that had to withstand high temperatures for three minutes. Lawton Public School’s STEM Coordinator and Teacher Technology Trainer Doris Biegler said this was to simulate the re-entry into the atmosphere that astronauts had to undertake in order to get back to the Earth. An egg, or “egg-stronaut,” was placed inside the capsule to test if it would be protected well enough by the heat shield.

A similar method was implemented when the students built a moon landing rover. As with the heat shield, an “egg-stronaut” was placed inside the rover. The rover was then dropped from around 20 feet, with a plastic bag serving as parachute, to simulate a landing on the moon. Then, the rover was placed on a small ramp to simulate how far the rover would roll after landing.

On Thursday morning, the students went to Fort Sill to launch their self-built model rockets, an activity that Caleb Lebau, 12, enjoyed the most, along with building the rockets.

“I like to learn stuff,” he said.

“Besides keeping them busy, the camp teaches the students a lot of science and teamwork,” Biegler said. “The kids love space. Many had prior knowledge.”

That’s why Biegler also used the camp to talk about the variety of career opportunities with NASA and in aerospace in general. She added that some students were seniors, and that the space camp could encourage some of them to sign up for classes at the Life Ready Center once they were high school students.

Aliza Martin, 12, said she was really into space and that’s why she had signed up for the camp. Avery Nix, 13, said that although he initially signed up because he was bored during summer, it turned out to be fun experience. His favorite activity: the lunar landing.