New Lesson Plans Available on NASA/4-H Expeditionary Skills Website

Written by Nathan Smith on March 31, 2017. Posted in STEM and STEAM.

Find out what astronaut Victor Glover has to say about self-care and team-care. NASA Education’s STEM on Station and 4-H announce the third learning module release for Expeditionary Skills for Life, a curriculum modeled after the soft skills astronauts work to develop as they prepare to live and work together on the International Space Station. Expeditionary skills include self-care and team-care; cultural competency; leadership and followership; teamwork; and communication. Each skill-focused learning module includes STEM-based activities along with a video message from an astronaut or astronaut trainer explaining how the skill is used at NASA and why it is important to a successful STEM career. The self-care/team-care video features Victor Glover as he shares a personal story.

The release of Expeditionary Skills for Life aligns with the spaceflight of astronaut Peggy Whitson, a former 4-H member. Whitson helped develop the expeditionary skills courses used during astronaut candidate training.

The lesson plans and videos will be used in 4-H clubs and camps throughout the U.S. and are available publicly at www.nasa.gov/education/4H.

The 4-H Youth Development Program is the youth outreach program from the land-grant universities’ Cooperative Extension Services and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Please direct questions about these resources to Kelly McCormick at Kelly.McCormick-1@nasa.gov.

Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith is Director of Technology for the College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University. In that role, he also directs The Adele & Dale Young Education Technology Center (The YETC) located in room 170 of the Education Building on Utah State University's Logan campus. The YETC is a combination student openaccess computer facility, a K12 curriculum materials library, a NASA Educator Resource Center for Utah, and a technology training center. Nathan served eight years (20042012) on the Board of Directors for the Utah Coalition for Education Technology (UCET) He was reelected in 2014 to serve another two year term on the board. A former elementary school teacher, Nathan has taught students every age from young children to senior citizens. He has had the opportunity beginning in 2011 to train international high school teachers from all over the world about technology in education, through the U.S. State