BIG APPLE PARENT DEFYING GRAVITY Bringing space travel research into the classroom By Craig Rothstein      Space travel is the quintessential human exploration story set against the backdrop of a billion stars.  It is also the foundation for a new initiative to improve high school science and math education that combines the exciting hook interplanetary travel in particular the very real space trek to our neighboring planet Mars that is set to take place within the next two decades with the study of human biology and medicine.  Defying Gravity: Embracing Life in Space, an education and outreach program operating out of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is taking the cutting edge science of space travel research and applying it to the everyday curriculum of the American classroom.      Defying Gravity, led by Dr. Patrick Gannon, Assistant professor of Otolaryngology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Dr. Nancy Kheck, Assistant Dean of curriculum at the medical school, focused on developing complete lesson tools to help children do well in ninth- and tenth-grade science and math.  It is inspired by the work of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a consortium of 12 universities and research institutes that coordinates research and countermeasures to the most daunting difficulties facing continued astronaut health during stays on the International Space Station and long trips to Mars.  Aside from mechanical disasters like those that have affected the Apollo and shuttle programs, the health of astronauts living in microgravity, the weightlessness of space, is of concern.  Already we know that astronauts experience a variety of physical disorders after spending significant time in space.  Bones weaken from osteoporosis; fluids redistribute, leaving astronauts with difficulty smelling and tasting; strange radiation, normally shielded by the Earth's atmosphere, attacks unprotected human bodies.  Effects on the cardiovascular system, balance, body orientation and psychology are just some of the other obstacles to keep humans healthy during long-term space travel.  In the face of a possible crewed mission to Mars, one that would last three years, these concerns are becoming evermore important.      One outcome of this research is the earthbound benefits of the research.  For example, astronauts lose bone mass because in microgravity their bones no longer have to support the weight of the body.  Cells that function to create new bone stop working.  NSBRI scientists have already developed some countermeasures to this effect of space travel, which is good news for osteoporosis sufferers here on Earth.     Defying Gravity is the part of this effort-taking place locally at the Mount Sinai Scholl of Medicine (MSSM).  MSSM is home to NSBRI scientist, and school itself is a member of the NSBRI.  The project began in the summer of 2001 with a collaborative effort between Mount Sinai scientist supported by the NSBRI and NYC high school teachers and students from top area schools.  The goal was to create drafts of eight complete curriculum modules utilizing space biomedicine and the fascination inspired by crewed space travel.  Each module was to consist of a lesson plan, pre- and post-lesson homework, guided laboratories with scientist presentations, educational links and PowerPoint presentation meant to enhance the lesson with visually palpable teaching aids.      The modules were beta-tested at Manhattan Center for Science and Math an East Harlem High School, in an effort to extend one of the core elements of Mount Sinai School of Medicine: that of maintaining a comprehensive relationship with the surrounding community.  The modules were delivered by the teachers and scientists who authored them.  At the end of the year, the results spoke for themselves.  The voluntary after-school programs had the lowest attrition of any such program at the school; students, wooed by an opportunity to participate in a novel space biomedicine program, and by hot pizza from a local parlor, kept coming back two Wednesdays a month.  Even more notable was that students in the Defying Gravity program scored higher on standardized Regents tests than their peers who forewent participation in the program.       Buoyed by preliminary success, Defying Gravity went on to field-testing, a phase in which modules were distributed to area schools for teacher use in a "blind" test.  In other words, teachers unfamiliar with the program and tools were given kits for lessons and labs, and asked to teach them as part of the Science Education standards and local New York City Performance Indicators, fit easily into teachers' schedules.     The results were, again, encouraging.  At one participating school, Life Sciences Secondary School, the principal went so far as to collaborate with Dr. Gannon on Defying Gravity Week, a full week of module presentation during which 300 students were exposed to the educational material.  At the end of the week, an assembly of over 200 students was held at Mount Sinai Hatch Auditorium.  Among the speakers were Dr. Nathan Kase, dean emeritus of the medical school, and Dr. Gay Holstein, a scientist at Mount Sinai who works closely with NASA, and who lost an experiment when the doomed shuttle Columbia was destroyed upon re-entry.  Students sat enthralled by the description of the scientific methods employed by Dr. Holstein, who spoke of working with NASA, visiting the shuttle facilities, and of the brave astronauts who lost their lives in noble pursuit of science and exploration.      Currently, Defying Gravity is gearing up for the fall with five new modules to complete the entire set of eight.  As the program looks for more school to participate, from New York all the way to Montana, its directors are anticipating even greater successes.  In light of the recent judicial decision that deemed that both the states and city are failing New York City public school students, this effort takes on a new significance.  Bringing together educators and scientists, and bridging the gap between parents, who watched in awe as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, and children, who will one day witness a similar even on Mars.  Drs. Gannon and Kheck believe they have touched one a key to teaching science to high school students.  To learn more, visit www.defyinggravity.net.