Orlando Science Center has received a three-year $795,000 grant from NASA that will be used to implement STEM engagement with youth in underserved Orlando communities.
The science center has created Neighborhood Science, which will provide education in after-school programs and community centers. It will begin with a STEM lab in the Grand Avenue Community Center in the Holden Heights area.
“We recognize that to have a substantial impact on the students in this community, we need to engage them in their neighborhoods with an authentic and consistent presence,” JoAnn Newman, president and CEO of the science center, said in a news release.
The Grand Avenue collaboration with the science center and Kennedy Space Center Swampworks will invite youth to suggest solutions to a problem that astronauts on the Artemis mission may face in space as they travel from the moon to Mars. Participants will use virtual engineering platforms such as TinkerCAD, real-world materials and supplies, and evidence-based engineering designs, the science center’s release said.
The challenge could be expanded into a nationwide project in the third year.
The grant for Orlando Science Center was one of three multiyear gifts to educational organizations.
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