The “High Hopes Project” Explained!

View from “near space” – about 30,500 meters (100,000 feet) The “High Hopes Project” is designed to be a model global STEM learning project. But what is it really and how does it work? Who is involved? How can my students and I be involved? Last year we dropped GoPro cameras 45 feet deep in Lake Tahoe and pulled them up to almost 30,500 meters (100,000 feet) attached to a high altitude weather balloon to investigate how that would work. No students were involved in…

A Math Problem, Problem

We have a math problem we need help solving. And the first problem we need help with is what is the exact problem we need to solve. We want to figure out the average speed our balloon travels on its way up to about 30,500 meters or 100,000 feet, either in Kilometers Per Hour (KPH) or Miles Per Hour (MPH). What data do we need to collect and share so you (and we) can solve this problem? Oh, and there is no speedometer on the…

Solar Panel Inquiry: What Will Happen And Why?

Below: Solar panel and Arduino  Note the solar panel and Arduino that will be launched on a “High Hopes” high altitude weather balloon to about 30,500 meters (100,000 feet). The solar panel will be attached to the top of a payload so it is exposed to the sun, much like the payload pictured here.  The Arduino will record how much electricity the solar panel is producing constantly throughout its flight. What will happen to the amount of electricity the solar panel produces as it climbs through…

Balloon Inquiry: What Will Happen and Why?

Note the 4 party balloons that all started out the same size before they were inflated, on their way to 30,500 meters (100,000 feet ) from a balloon flight last year. On our upcoming flight we will inflate 4 of the same size balloons – the first balloon will be inflated to about 1/4 of its capacity (like the yellow balloon in the photo), the second balloon to about 1/2 of its capacity (see the green balloon above), the third to about 3/4 its capacity…

Now You Can Submit High Hopes With Twitter!

When we launch our balloons to 100,000 feet (30,000+ meters) this spring, the world’s high hopes will go with them. Now we’ve made it even easier to submit a “High Hope” using Twitter. Just “Tweet” your “High Hope” for the world, include the hashtag #hhpstem – and we’ll get it and include it in a payload that will take it to near space and then release it to spread around the world. So your “High Hope” will really go high! We suggest however that having…

The “High Hopes” Are Coming In From Around The World – Share Yours!

Steve Spangler of Steve Spangler Science Tweeted out that he shared a “High Hope” – what about you! One aspect of the “High Hopes Project” is to demonstrate that when done well, STEM is as powerful a language arts and math learning strategy as any – maybe the best. In addition it not only includes, but relies on the arts and other parts of the curriculum that have been narrowed out recently to convey what has been learned. We will be collecting and sharing data…

Next Design Challenges For Students

Lots has happened since we last checked in with students at Sparks High School that are designing and engineering several of the payloads we will send up to 100,000 feet (33,000 meters). The students finished one design for releasing the world’s High Hopes. The plan is to solicit the world’s “Hopes” – (you can add your students’  “Hopes” here) print them out on small strips of paper that will biodegrade rapidly, release them at 100,000 feet or higher and then have them spread out over…

Our first design meeting!

We refer to The High Hopes Project as a “model” STEM project. One aspect of that modeling is that we’ve designed it to include as many ways to participate as possible. To do so we have set up (so far) a project web site, this  blog, a Twitter account, a Flickr account, a YouTube Channel, a Wiki and a Gmail account so we have access to tools like Google Forms for archiving and analyzing data. In addition, any class or person can participate in the…

Send Your Students’ (and anyone else’s) High Hopes Up High

Note: If after reading this post you decide to participate submit your “High Hopes” Here.  Doug Taylor and I started the High Hopes Project back in 2010, when we were both teaching 4th grade. Doug had seen this article about MIT students sending a styrofoam cooler attached to a balloon with a camera inside to near space and thought it would be a great way to study the layers of the atmosphere and other topics we were supposed to teach. Besides the science, language arts…

First Chance to Send Up Your “High Hopes”

Note: If after reading this post you decide to participate leave your “High Hopes” Here. We are planning our biggest launch yet during the spring of 2015. To kick off this project, which will be explained in more detail in future posts, we are launching 3 high altitude balloons this Friday from the Great Reno Balloon Race while 900 students are there to launch their own tissue paper balloons. The balloons will make it to about 60,000 feet ( 18,000 meters) and will carry the…