Biology Professor Adrianna Hardage, Physics Professor Elena Kuchina, and STEM lab manager Jenna Ellis represented Virginia Peninsula Community College at a STEM Connect Saturday Community Engagement.
Themed Artemis 1, the Nov. 11 event took place at the Virginia Air and Space Science Center in Hampton, was Artemis I. The hands-on exhibits were related to that space mission, and targeted to fourth- through sixth-graders.
Hardage demonstrated how to use bacteria and other microbes, like fungi, to grow plants in space. Kuchina used objects of different weights, shapes and masses to show differences in acceleration. Ellis helped explain the exhibits to the participants.
“They are trying to do some community building through a STEM lens,” Hardage said of the Air and Space Center.
The center has scheduled three more Community Engagement events for the first half of 2024: Jan 4. 20 (aviation and drones), March 16 (engineering and Women’s History Month), and May 4 (Space Day).
For more information on VPCC, visit www.vpcc.edu.