Middle School Students Interview NASA Scientist
MVA is in the second year of working with NASA and the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program, focusing on recording cloud information. Dr. Caryn Long, Middle School science teacher, has students highly engaged in STEM projects, inspiring interest in a variety of fields within NASA.
One of those scientists inspired Dylan Bova and Carine Hayes, sixth-grade students, who focused on Mrs. Marilé Colón Robles for an assignment in photojournalism class. When Dr. Long shared their project with Mrs. Colón Robles, Project Scientist for GLOBE Clouds, the students were invited to interview the scientist in a virtual setting that GLOBE would share with their audience.
“The photojournalism class created wonderful work, and I was so impressed with the work, I shared a few pieces with Marile,” said Dr. Long. “She liked it so much, she and her team pursued the idea of a scientist and students interviewing each other to be featured on the GLOBE website.”
“I love the fact that while these young women are interested in science, they also focused on me as an entire person and how that affects my work,” said Marile. The students and Dr. Long practiced with Mrs. Colón Robles via Teams in preparation for the filming to get timing and question order down.
Questions that Dylan and Carine asked Mrs. Colón Robles included, “Why did you want to become a NASA scientist? What do you like to do for fun? What advice do you have for students interested in science-based careers? What would you be if you weren’t a scientist?” The group worked well together and had a great interaction. Check out the video here.
