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Gifted\u00a0third through fifth graders\u00a0used hands-on centers to map the rocket’s route to the moon
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Teacher Dayna Locke uses\u00a0the 1969 Apollo era to inspire a new generation of space explorers<\/p>\n
Dayna Locke\u2019s gifted class of third through fifth graders began their journey by studying the history of the Apollo 11 mission before pivoting to the future of lunar travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe studied JFK\u2019s speech, as well as Obama\u2019s speech about the importance of space exploration,” Locke said. “And now, students are diving into more real world application for the Artemis II in preparation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The students rotated through specialized stations, performing tasks ranging from technical rocket analysis to charting the trajectory for the upcoming crewed flight. For fifth grader Nour Mellouki, the lessons brought the solar system to life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows us the sun and how the Earth orbits around it,\u201d Mellouki said.<\/p>\n
![\"Dayna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0401_bn9_students_artemis_launch_2.jpeg\")
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Dayna Locke\u2019s gifted class of third through fifth graders began their journey by studying the history of the Apollo 11 mission before pivoting to the future of lunar travel. (Specrum News\/Fallon Silcox)<\/p>\n
For others, like fifth-grader Micah Skladel, the fascination is personal. Skladel recalled watching a launch near the Kennedy Space Center at age seven.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could feel it in the windows \u2014 the windows were shaking,” Skladel said. “When I saw it go up, it was the coolest thing I\u2019ve ever seen. Ever since then, I\u2019ve wanted to be an astrophysicist or an astronaut.\u201d<\/p>\n
While a classroom cannot replicate the physical power of a shuttle launch, Locke hopes these activities ignite a lifelong passion for science.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir thirst for knowledge is insatiable,” Locke said. “They\u2019re excited because they know in 1969 their parents or grandparents were watching this on TV. Now they get to be in that spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
For these students, the countdown to Artemis II isn’t just about a rocket \u2014 it\u2019s a historic moment they will remember for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014\u00a0As NASA counts down to the historic Artemis II mission, students at Bay Point Elementary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[97493,26539,16924,5711,115,596,1769,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,835],"class_list":["post-214857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-news-shows","tag-app-space","tag-artemis","tag-fallon-silcox","tag-news","tag-pinellas-county","tag-space","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}