BOUNTIFUL — The three sixth-graders had gathered in the school auditorium after the lecture, so they could help a NASA education specialist carry his props out to his vehicle.
"After watching that, I thought it would be cool" to get into the fields of science and space, said student Ben Thomas.
Nathan Memmott agreed about becoming a scientist, but "I really wouldn't want to go into space." He said he did not want to spend a long time away from his family.
A career in science and space sounded great to Chandler Newsome, as well. He is interested in chemistry "and building stuff," he said.
The three boys, all residents of North Salt Lake, were wowed by a presentation Friday by NASA education specialist Brian Hawkins. A resident of Seattle, Hawkins spoke before about 200 fifth- and sixth-graders at Adelaide Elementary School, Bountiful.
This was one of the first demonstrations for Utah Space Week, now in its second year of involving elementary students in space activities. Actually, it amounted to a preview, as the formal Space Week observance begins today and continues through Friday.
When he was a teacher living in Alaska, Hawkins told the assembly, one of his students, about 15 years old, told him he was going to be a space shuttle pilot. The former student will be on the next shuttle flight.
The promise that the rising generation can go on to great accomplishments in space was the theme underlying Hawkins' talk.
"We are curious about the possibilities of life 'out there,' " he said. The young generation may answer that question, he added. People may go to Mars during these students' lifetimes, he said, and could discover traces of life.
During his discussion of experimental aerospace vehicles, he demonstrated how a cylinder can fly, if cut correctly. Hawkins compared that with a photo of the X-36 tailless agility research vehicle, whose wings curve like a semicircle.
"That's sweet," said one awed student.
Students also were impressed with videos of life in space, including a glimpse of astronaut Sally Ride chasing floating M&M candies and catching them in her mouth. Then Hawkins allowed students to try on a space harness, which astronauts use to keep from floating around while sleeping in the shuttle or space station, and a mock-up of a spacesuit.
Last year, Utah Space Week was a pilot program involving 25 schools from Davis School District north. This year it has expanded throughout the state, to 47 schools from Bluff, San Juan County, to Vernal, from the Wasatch Front to Logan.
Two astronaut assemblies are scheduled Wednesday at Bountiful High School and Northridge High School. Keynote speaker is Gregory C. Johnson, the Kennedy Space Center astronaut responsible for configuring orbiter switches prior to launch and for strapping astronauts in their seats for take-off.
The Space Week program had worked earlier in Tennessee and Alabama, said Donna Trease, a teacher who handles all sixth-grade science at Oak Hills Elementary, Bountiful.
When a NASA official asked her if she would like to head up a similar effort in Utah, "I just went for it."
She crafted lesson plans for the week, so that teachers could relate many subjects to space. "For example, in spelling we're doing all space-related words, tied in with creative writing," she said.
"This year, at lunch recess we are doing all kinds of projects for the whole school" at Oak Hills, she said.
"One day we are drawing the whole solar system in chalk on the whole blacktop, all the way around the school. One day we are building a space station" model.
Another day, the Utah Amateur Rocket Association will launch rockets at lunch break.
Another day, the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State University, will demonstrate the use of the Global Positioning Satellite system to find exact locations. Members of the Society of Women Engineers will encourage girls to get into scientific fields.
Why bring up space exploration to youngsters?
"Probably within 10 years, 90 percent of the jobs will be related to . . . space or technology," Trease said.
She has another good reason, too.
"Kids have to have fun, and this is a great way to make education fun. . . . It's all science-related."
E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com