Educators from the Jefferson Elementary Center work to set up the inflatable Star Lab workshop Thursday in the cafeteria. The lab is on loan from the NASA IV&V Education Resource Center (ERC) out of the Katherine Johnson Space Center in Fairmont and outreach specialists showed educators how to utilize the mobile lab to help students learn science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — Educators from the Jefferson Elementary Center got a chance to learn how to use the Digital Star Lab workshop from the NASA IV&V Education Resource Center (ERC) team out of the Katherine Johnson Space Center in Fairmont on Thursday.

“It’s exciting to see that there’s a group of elementary teachers this large that is looking to improve their teaching practices and taking their time outside of the work day to come in and to get this training,” said Josh Revels, an Education Outreach Specialist at the ERC. “It really shows their dedication to their students and helping them get the same fun learning experience that I had when I was a student.”

Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction Cynthia Oxender said a group of educators got the opportunity in November to train with members of NASA for their Lego kits and were offered the chance to learn how to use the Digital Star Lab workshop.

“We’re the first school in the area to be able to use this brand new piece of equipment that NASA acquired,” Oxender said.

The training session, attended by 24 individuals, focused on learning how to properly use and care for the Star Lab equipment. The lab offers a variety of educational opportunities, including lessons on plate tectonics, geography, weather layers and stars.

Josh Revels, an Education Outreach Specialist from the NASA IV&V Education Resource Center (ERC) out of the Katherine Johnson Space Center in Fairmont, shows educators from the Jefferson Elementary Center Thursday night how to set the projector for the Digital Star Lab on loan to the elementary. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Revels said the ERC boasts a library of over 50 unique science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) kits that educators can borrow for their classrooms.

One of the most popular offerings is the Digital Star Lab workshop, which covers elementary content standards like star brightness and factors influencing it, as well as earth science topics such as plate tectonics. “We use Stellarium and Starry Night as software in order to get the planetarium experience with that content,” Revels said. “We also talk about some of the earth science content standards, like plate tectonics, and we use the Layered Earth software as demonstrations of some of those activities that are capable with our kit.”

Revels said after completing the training, certified teachers can borrow the equipment, allowing them to bring the engaging, hands-on lessons to their students.

Oxender said with the lab in their possession for a week, Jefferson Elementary plans to ensure that “every class, every student” has the opportunity to use the equipment.

“It’s one thing to read in a book, but it’s another thing to visually see this in a unique setting,” Oxender said. “And we’re hoping that this out of this box experience will provide students with fond memory of their education in Wood County Schools.”

A projection of the The Apollo 13 Lunar Module is shown on the ceiling of the Digital Star Lab Thursday at Jefferson Elementary Center. The mobile lab is on loan to the school from the NASA IV&V Education Resource Center (ERC) out of the Katherine Johnson Space Center in Fairmont. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

For more information about the programs and training offered through the NASA IV&V Education Resource Center visit nasaivverc.org.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com