Students hop aboard "STEM Shuttle," take trip to space: "Hope they take away an excitement for science"



MILWAUKEE -- Students in Elm Grove on Thursday, April 28th hopped aboard the STEM Shuttle and took a trip to space. The STEM Shuttle is like a science classroom on wheels -- and it makes stops at hundreds of schools.

For a moment, these fourth graders were no longer in Elm Grove. They were in space! St. Mary's Visitation School students learned about the difference in gravity and were able to see how astronauts live.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

The STEM Shuttle is a hands-on activity center where students spend time on board at different work stations that include how to design a space station, working in space, fixing the Hubble Telescope, lessons on lunar and solar eclipses and more.

"I hope they take away an excitement for science," said Kathy Biernat, science teacher at St. Mary's Visitation.

The STEM Shuttle is based in Wausau. The crew is made up of three instructors and the driver. And they meet hundreds of students every week.



The STEM Shuttle mostly travels throughout the state of Wisconsin but it has made stops in other states in the Midwest. Next month it will be heading to Minnesota.

"We each group that comes in, it is a different challenge because the kids have different questions. They have different things they are interested in," said Sandra Smith, instructor on STEM Shuttle.

The group of students from St. Mary's Visitation were fascinated, giving their teachers high hopes for the future.

"This is really interesting," said Tommy Verheyen, a fourth grade student.

The STEM Shuttle will be back in Milwaukee next week.