NASA Engages Heritage Middle School Students for Research Project

Heritage Middle School students worked on a project with NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) earlier this year to help calculate carbon in the area. Part of NASA’s GLOBE Trees Challenge, the research took place on the Heritage Trail outside of their school building.

Using an app developed for the GLOBE Trees Challenge, students recorded calculations and made observations about trees in the area to help NASA determine the health of the local ecosystem in a changing climate. Calculations included: measurements of the circumference, descriptions, and heights of surrounding trees.

Students participated in an authentic scientific experience by working in pairs or individually to gather the research to report to the national organization and were able to participate in an authentic scientific experience.

Ms. Aileen Toback, the middle school science teacher leading the students through the project was named an Educational Ambassador for NASA in 2020 and has been working to contribute to their research alongside her students ever since. Over the summer, Ms. Toback and a select group of Hudson Valley high school and college students recently completed summer research projects designed to check the status of the local watershed. 

On Wednesday, March 22nd, Heritage Middle School will be hosting a NASA Night event at NFA Main Campus. Research shows that family engagement leads to greater student success. Students with engaged parents are more likely to earn higher grades, attend school regularly, have better social skills and go on to college. We are very excited to see family engagement come alive in our NASA Night program, and we hope to see you there! There will be a guest speaker from NASA, a planetarium show, Galaxy Slime, rocket building, a planet scavenger hunt and more! A sign-up form for Heritage Middle School students will be available in the coming weeks. 

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!