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Coral Zanin Middletown Middle School, California

As a teacher, I grab every opportunity I can which I feel will make me a better instructor. I have had many such opportunities, but none so inspiring and unique for both myself and my students as participating in Project LINK with Eureka Scientific, NASA, and the Exploratorium. The particularly useful aspects of the project were, my experience seeing first-hand state-of-the-art research, student opportunities to have their experiments run on board the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO), and the Internet video link for the students at the Exploratorium the evening of the flight.

Having the opportunity to view research and talk to scientists is both unique and special. I will continue to draw on my experiences with Project Link for years to come. From attending the Foster program this Summer (which I feel was necessary for the later flight) to the final "night of the show", Project LINK taught me more than I could have learned in a classroom in a year. I had conversations with top astronomers conducting research and had the opportunity to ask them questions; my interactive experiences were truly memorable. Flying on the KAO itself would have been enough, but Project LINK let me be more than an observer; it allowed me to teach from the stratosphere!

Students should be the focus of whatever educational projects occur and Project LINK definitely made this happen. Amber Mills, a High School Senior, got to experience this once in a lifetime thrill of a Kuiper flight first hand; she will never forget it! My eighth grade students, not just casual observers, came up experiments of their own to run at 41,000 feet.

Many students believed they would see their teacher floating around the main cabin of the Kuiper experiencing micro gravity. Students got the opportunity to prove to themselves that weight did not change in any detectable way at this altitude via an experiment with a spring scale and a pack of bubble gum. Other experiments dealt with pressure, altitude, and temperature changes, such as the "3 minute egg" experiment (which involved boiling an egg aboard the KAO and on the ground). Of all the tests run, I feel the most important was the cosmic ray test. A simple Geiger counter on the ground and another eight miles high, demonstrated how unseen radiation increases as you increase altitude. Students will remember the results of the experiments they instructed their teachers to perform under such special conditions.

Project LINK offered an opportunity to "teach from the stratosphere" which had never been attempted before. Connecting with students via an Internet video conference at 41,000 feet, this connection offered my students more than just a stoic report; it offered them an interactive experience and an incredible adventure. The students described the experience with words like interesting, educational, exciting, and FUN!

I feel both lucky and honored to have been part of such a fantastic project. I know I will never forget my experiences flying in the KAO; I feel they have helped me become a better teacher. Most importantly, however, I feel I have gotten the opportunity to experience a bit of the future. I hope the educational system of tomorrow can offer students such wonderful experiences on a regular basis in order to keep future generations excited about the world they live in and curious about the universe which surrounds them.

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