Urban and Rural 

http://www.nasa.gov/education/urcep 

Space Administration 

LAUNCHING YOUNG MINDS 

via 

-on 

s. 

A can. Educators EP-2004-01-339-HQ Education Focus educators with the tools they need to teach —NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe may obtain additional information or by visiting the NASA NASA Headquarters Education Division Code N Community Enrichment Program National Aeronautics and 

ontent- 

neering, 

ces and 

opment 

s with 

ortuni­ 

n-school 

ssembly 

tives 

re. 

al devel­ 

nformal 

rs . . . Educational Program Grades 5–8 “Our renewed focus on education means not only inspiring our youth but also providing math and science and to improve the country’s scientific literacy—and we have these tools available today.” Interested school systems by writing to the address below URCEP Web site at http://education.nasa.gov/urcep Attn: URCEP Program Manager 

Washington, DC 20546 
Urban and Rural 

Established in 1981 

ources 

SA 

 as com-

activities that supplement the current curri

l 

ises—Education, 

i i

i

Community Enrichment Program 

udents to 

 technol

hematics. 

eness 

es of 

ofessional 

ducators 

k 

(HBCUs), 

ns 

 

ther 

reness of 

rams to 

ns and 

n and 

esources 

school 

The NASA Urban and Rural Community Enrichment Program (URCEP) is a NASA Aerospace Education Services Program designed specifically to serve grades 5–8 in the education community of underrepresented and underserved populations in urban and rural sites. This customized program is planned, coordinated, and implemented in participating schools by the URCEP team, along with school representatives. Using motivating demonstrations and scale models of aeronautical and space hardware, the URCEP specialists explain how basic scientific principles are applied in the exploration of aeronautics and space. Major activities for students include lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on classroom 

culum. Professional development workshops and other activities are 

offered for educators. URCEP delivers unique and interesting activities for educators and middle school students from urban and ruracommunities. These activities provide opportunities to explore NASA’s seven EnterprAeronautics, Biological and Physical Research, Earth Science, Exploration Systems, Space Flight, and Space Science—through real-life application of hands-on and minds-on experiences. Special emphasis is placed on communications, logic, and reasoning skills, and on increasing awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). School administrators and/or distr ct coordinators are asked to select lead teachers from schools in their distr cts. In preparation for the customized program, NASA URCEP specialists train lead educators as a team to conduct interdisciplinary aerospace activities in school distr cts. The lead educators devote several weeks to working with the aerospace program in their schools where they facilitate interdisciplinary teams of teachers in interactions with the principal, faculty, and students. Lead educators also ensure that all preparations are made for implementing the aerospace programs. The NASA URCEP coordinator provides technical and logistical assistance.