Wes Fryer is a middle school STEM and media literacy teacher at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has been an educator for 28 years. In his Introduction to Computer Programming class, Wes' students have learned to code with both Scratch (from MIT) and Minecraft MakeCode (from Microsoft). Students use coding and computational thinking to simulate the construction of a NASA outpost on Mars in Minecraft Education software. They also use Scratch software to create animations depicting the different phases of the Artemis lunar and Mars missions. More details about this "Minecraft Mars" project are available on lessons.wesfryer.com/lessons/minecraft-mars. Wes is a 1992 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, and obtained his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas Tech University in 2012. Links to continue learning and connecting with Wes are available on wesfryer.com/after. Wes serves as the co-sponsor of the middle school "Gaming Club" at Providence Day, and is starting an after-school "Space Club" for upper elementary and middle school students in fall 2024 with his spouse, Shelly. Wes shares additional Space Education related resources on space.wesfryer.com.
Sessions in which Wes Fryer participates
Wednesday 26 June, 2024
Build a Mars Colony In Minecraft with Robots and Code? YES! In our middle school computer programming class, students are using Microsoft MakeCode in Minecraft Education to simulate the robotic 3D printing of buildings and farming greenhouses on Mars. This is the futuristic vision of NASA and ICON (a Texas-based 3D house construction company) for both Moon / lunar exploration and colonization, as well as fut...
Sessions in which Wes Fryer attends
Wednesday 26 June, 2024
Begin SPACE Conference at our Welcome Ceremony with an inspiring message from Barbara Morgan. Barbara Morgan is a NASA astronaut (retired) and educator. She trained with the Challenger crew as the backup for Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe. Later, after teaching public school for 24 years i...
Astronaut Fred Haise is an American legend. He will join us virtually during the lunch hour on day one of SPACE 2024. What an amazing treat for our educators! He will tell his story of Apollo 13 and answer questions live with our conference participants via Zoom.
How often do we look up at the night sky and wonder what we are seeing? What star or constellation is that? Is that a star or a planet? What do we say if a child or student asks these questions of us? Please join us as we will present some basic night sky viewing information and ideas for the elementary and middle school classroom. You do not need to be an expert astronomer to be able to take your students o...
Tired of the same old plant growth lessons? Help spark student interest in agriculture using Space as the hook. When humans go to settle the Moon and Mars, they will have to eat. While some food may be flown in, we will have to learn to cultivate food on other worlds. Help students look at growing crops a whole new way as they use the experimental design process to plan and carry out investigations to cultiv...
Thursday 27 June, 2024
Friday 28 June, 2024
Join us for Mars Day: Colonizing the Red Planet, to discover how to take the work NASA is doing and deliver it right to your students in the form of engineering challenges. During this workshop, you will get ideas for how to implement full scale projects that allow students to work as NASA rocket scientists and engineers. You will also leave with a list of ideas for continued professional developmen...
Pick up lunch at The Center for Space Education and enjoy time at the KSC Visitor Complex. Picnic tables and indoor dining locations are available for seating. The Center for Space Education will be closed from 12:00-1:15 p.m.
RSVP to attend the Galactic Gala on Friday, June 28. The Galactic Gala Reception begins at 6:30 p.m with the Galactic Gala beginning at 7:00 p.m. Join us for a night of dinner, dancing and a celebration of the educators at SPACE with special guest Winston Scott. Attire for the Galactic Gala is formal. All attendees must RSVP yes to attend the Galactic Gala. This RSVP is only for educator attendees to SPACE. If you wish to bring a guest to the Galactic Gala a Galactic G...
