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Greeneville students and ETSU, Hands On! collaborators declare bubbles-in-space project a success

Monday, August 14, 2006

JOHNSON CITY—In a specially designed aircraft alternately climbing to great heights and diving rapidly to diminish the effects of gravity, Amanda Weems and Crystal Duggar, both Greeneville High School teachers; Dr. Gary Henson of East Tennessee State University’s Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geology; and Amanda Bradley of Hands On! Regional Museum worked diligently and watched proudly as a student-created bubble-making machine churned out soapy bubbles while a camera recorded data.

The ground crew consisted of Greeneville seniors Hilary Ailshie, Kelvin Barner, Lindsey Tunnell, Josh Whaley and Cameron Wilson. Because of NASA regulations, only adults are allowed to fly, but the entire group spent 11 days in Houston, touring, learning, preparing and loading their apparatus onto the aircraft.

Students carried out the experiment through all its stages, from hypothesis to research, then to design, and finally, using mathematics and critical thinking, they will interpret their findings.

The apparatus involved, which measures 5 feet by 18 inches, provided an engineering challenge, and the students created 15 prototypes before perfecting their device. Developing just the right soapy liquid also required many trial-and-error mixtures. Finally, the mixture must be sealed inside a container so the liquid does not escape to cover the inside of the airplane, and a small motor must work efficiently to emit puffs of air to create bubbles.

University students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology appreciated the difficulties involved and complimented the Greeneville team on their ingenuity, and a reporter from Channel One interviewed the students for broadcast over the national classroom news program.

When the project data has been analyzed, the Greeneville group will make presentations about their work to local groups, especially elementary schools. This final phase is vital to NASA’s goal of gaining the interest of young students in careers involving math and science.

The students and teachers wrote about their adventures in Houston to share online. Their blog is available at http://blogs.gcschools.net/blogs/ghs/zerogzoomers/.

For further information, contact Henson at (423) 439-6906 or Weems at (423) 234-0242.

East Tennessee State University
Box 70267
Johnson City, TN 37614-1700
(423) 439-1000
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