Defying Gravity Week at Life Sciences Secondary School a Success
February 24th marked the first day of Defying Gravity Week at Life Sciences Secondary School in Manhattan.  Over the course of the week, three DG educational modules were presented to students.  Each module included a pre-lesson activity, lesson plan, lesson presentation and laboratory session.  The week was an effort to field test educational tools that had been in development for two years.      The venture was a stunning success.  An assembly was held Thursday, February 27th at the Hatch Auditorium at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  Drs. Patrick Gannon, Nathan Kase and Gay Holstein spoke to the crowd of 200 students, teachers and faculty from LSSS.  Tribute was paid to the seven astronauts who lost their lives in the brave pursuit of knowledge and exploration.        Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s longstanding committment to positive community relations was highlighted by Dr. Kase, Dean Emeritus of the medical school.  Dr. Holstein described two experiments she conducted with the help of NASA, the most recent of which was lost on the tragic Columbia mission.  Her presentation consisted of pictures of her NASA laboratory and the conceptual design of her experiment.  Students were held on the edge of their seats.        Dr. Gannon told of the history of Defying Gravity and described the future goals of the program.  He announced the renaming of Defying Gravity’s subtitle, in honor of the fallen Columbia astronauts, from “Enduring Life in Space” to “Embracing Life in Space.”        Finally, students and teachers stood at the podium and described their experience with the Defying Gravity educational modules.      Defying Gravity Week at LSSS was the first of what we hope are many collaborations with New York City Schools.