Manassas Park Middle School Students "Engineer" Space Station

Sixth graders at Manassas Park Middle School got a peak into what life is like for engineers Wednesday during a special visit from Lockheed Martin employees.

 The learning session was part of the observance of National Engineers Week, by Lockheed Martin, a U.S. Government contractor.

 During the visit, students learned important lessons about three distinct engineering roles: Systems, software and testing.

 Students of Manassas Park Middle School teacher Kelly Bailey’s science classes were given the mission of building a 10-cup space station, which mimics assignments Lockheed Martin engineers are given in the real world.

 The mission was a team activity and everyone had a role, Lockheed Martin engineer Gerald “Jerry” Iacangelo told the students during Bailey’s third block class Wednesday.

 Some students had the responsibility of writing the instructions for the robots that would assemble the space station while other students acted as the actual robots.

 The instructions had to be complete and exact so the robot could understand, as robots only do exactly what they are told to do, Iacangelo explained to the students.

 “When you put those roles together, you accomplish a mission,” Iacangelo said.

 The students exchanged ideas on how to accomplish the mission and conducted test builds of the space station  on “Earth” to demonstrate they understood the requirements of the mission they were hired to complete by the customer.

 Students acting as robots were sequestered out in the hallway and were brought in during the final phase of the mission: The actual construction of the 10-cup space station.

 True team effort was demonstrated during this phase, as students assumed their roles to get the mission accomplished.

 Some students acted as engineers, others as astronauts, others as satellites and still others as satellite signals, who lined up and “whispered” the instructions to the robots assembling the station.

 In addition to learning how a satellite- elay system works, each student was able to play the role of different engineers on the project.

 Bailey, who has organized the Lockheed Martin visit for the last seven years, said the projects help the students visualize what it’s like to be an engineer.

 “They have to walk through the steps like an engineer would … a lot of my students kids didn’t even know what an engineer was until the visit,” she said.

 The visits are very important, especially with the push for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics or STEM education, Bailey said.