Aerospace Activities??

[Bexa]

Do any of you have any ideas for what to do for an aerospace activity?? I need to teach something this week.

[arajca]

Look in the AE Resources section of Eservices.

[Eclipse]

Current events alone could kill 30+ minutes a meeting.

Globally the space program is probably more active now then during Apollo.

[Bexa]

Look in the AE Resources section of Eservices.

I have but I didn't find anything that I could teach.

[SarDragon]

Look in the AE Resources section of Eservices.

I have but I didn't find anything that I could teach.

What is the basis for your inability to teach any of those subjects? I checked out a couple of them, and they seem simple enough.

[Fester]

Classroom style lectures are boring.  Do hands on activities.  The AEX books are a great place to start.

[Luis R. Ramos]

Good luck getting the Aerospace book in a week!

He said he has to do an AE lesson this week. Therefore, the best option is a lecture...

[jeders]

Good luck getting the Aerospace book in a week!

He said he has to do an AE lesson this week. Therefore, the best option is a lecture...

The nice thing about hands on activities is that they don't require lecturing out of a book.

[Luis R. Ramos]

Non-response when you are told you have to do a lesson in a week.

It does not help out at all.

I am the Aerospace Ed Officer for my squadron, so I know about the hands-on vs lecture stuff. But he has no time to get the AEX book.

Even IF he orders it requesting special delivery, he still needs time to select the activity, buy stuff, etc.

The best answers were given by Arajca and Sar.

[Eclipse]

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/programs/aerospace-education/curriculum/educational-products

[MSG Mac]

Non-response when you are told you have to do a lesson in a week.

It does not help out at all.

I am the Aerospace Ed Officer for my squadron, so I know about the hands-on vs lecture stuff. But he has no time to get the AEX book.

Even IF he orders it requesting special delivery, he still needs time to select the activity, buy stuff, etc.

The best answers were given by Arajca and Sar.

All CAP publications are downloadable.

[TheSkyHornet]

Non-response when you are told you have to do a lesson in a week.

It does not help out at all.

I am the Aerospace Ed Officer for my squadron, so I know about the hands-on vs lecture stuff. But he has no time to get the AEX book.

Even IF he orders it requesting special delivery, he still needs time to select the activity, buy stuff, etc.

The best answers were given by Arajca and Sar.

All CAP publications are downloadable.

The AEX books need to be ordered; they aren't downloads.

[Holding Pattern]

Non-response when you are told you have to do a lesson in a week.

It does not help out at all.

I am the Aerospace Ed Officer for my squadron, so I know about the hands-on vs lecture stuff. But he has no time to get the AEX book.

Even IF he orders it requesting special delivery, he still needs time to select the activity, buy stuff, etc.

The best answers were given by Arajca and Sar.

All CAP publications are downloadable.

The AEX books need to be ordered; they aren't downloads.

Are you talking about books other than the ones labeled AEX in the downloads?

[Eclipse]

The AEX books need to be ordered; they aren't downloads.

You can see them in the photo above, and they are available in eServices.

[SarDragon]

The AEX books need to be ordered; they aren't downloads.

You can see them in the photo above, and they are available in eServices.

That's correct. I just checked, again. I went there last night, and wasn't very successful getting it to work, but today was fine. The big books can be downloaded one chapter at a time, or in one big combined download (zip file). A:TJoF3 is 28.2 MB.

[jeders]

Non-response when you are told you have to do a lesson in a week.

It does not help out at all.

I am the Aerospace Ed Officer for my squadron, so I know about the hands-on vs lecture stuff. But he has no time to get the AEX book.

Even IF he orders it requesting special delivery, he still needs time to select the activity, buy stuff, etc.

The best answers were given by Arajca and Sar.

All CAP publications are downloadable.

The AEX books need to be ordered; they aren't downloads.

Yes, yes they are. I've done it many times. Even the extra books that come with some of the STEM kits are downloadable.

[GaryVC]

I am trying to find the page on the internet that lists a bunch of CAP AE publications. I can't find it. It was thumbnails, no significant text.

[Eclipse]

The one in the other thread?

That's in eservices under Aerospace Downloads.

[TheSkyHornet]

Learned something new. I stand corrected.

I was looking at the AEM/AEX resources, not the AEO/AEX.

[Fester]

Not only are the AEX books available for download, but I can think of several other activities that can easily be accomplished in one week.  Balsa airplanes are cheap and available at any Hobby store.

[Kayll'b]

Go to the Spacex website, there's plenty there for a presentation. It helps because you are talking about the future and what the cadets are going to be doing. And they're also just doing some really cool things, for example the starship's re-entry in going to be flat, parralel to the earth.

[AdAstra]

Also check out NASA For Educators: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/foreducators

[Spam]

To the OP:

my best advice having worked in aerospace engineering and having taught AE in CAP for three decades is:


1. Stick to existing established curriculum, unless you've amassed professional credentials to write classes yourself. Making it up (if you're not experienced/credentialed in the area) invites error. Embarrassing error.


2. Videos and Power points ain't all that. Hands on demonstrations are MUST HAVES, but only when coupled with the presentation/discussion of the underlying theory. Simply buying balsa gliders (or building and shooting rockets, or flying toy UAVs...) without discussing the principles of flight, is PLAYING WITH TOYS - not AE. Aerospace education consists of presenting material via discussion as well as hands on experiential learning, coupled with knowledge assessment. Just playing with toys equals a (fun) waste of time, but that IS NOT the program of record here in CAP. Annually we get government tax money to provide Aerospace Education - not to fund hobbyist sports. We need to adhere to the program of record.


3. Quality control is a must. Aviation is inherently unforgiving of lack of attention to detail. Rehearse your class/activity, prep before it, and be open to feedback to correct what goes wrong.


4. Use AE educational sources as class material, and use PR briefs and marketing as what they are: show and tell marketing (only). Don't mistake NASA PR, or vendor propaganda as on the SpaceX website, as material for any sort of course of instruction in basic principles. In other words, use the slick videos to augment classes, not as the basis FOR a basic course of AE instruction in aeronautical principles. A perfect example is the above result from reading a slick marketing site, coming away somehow believing that deorbit burns are "flat", and "parralel" (sic) to the earth. A well intentioned but ignorant result of not following the basics of the CAP AE curriculum. (Sorry, Kayll'b... but engineers call it like we see it, no offense intended. Ain't your fault, its ours as SMs and AEOs).


5. Finally, strategy should drive tactics. Your unit is required to have an annual AE plan, which should drive the tactical plan for what this month's scheduled - repeat scheduled - AE class(es) are. If you're only being assigned the job a week out then you may need to punt for this week, and have a serious sit down with your Squadron Commander (i.e. not the cadet but the adult) and fix this. A plan should have people, resources, and objectives assigned to it months or weeks (not days) in advance, with backup options, to be truly effective.


Our nation is the world aerospace leader because of following these guidelines... lets live by them and teach them and not accept half ass work, making things up on the fly and parroting half understood inaccuracies, and playing with toys rather than teaching the fundamentals in a fun, effective hands on way.


R/s
Spam
(on travel this week working at the Nellis CSAR CTF... fun stuff).

[GaryVC]

Yes! Thank you.