Students attending Pleasant Valley Elementary School's reading and math summer camp were in for a very special science class on Tuesday morning, as teacher Malcolm McKinsey held a program based on his trip to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

McKinsey, 54, from Effort, is a sixth-grade science teacher at Pleasant Valley Intermediate School. His interest in space science led him to participate in a program for teachers at the Goddard Space Flight Center, where he got to talk to scientists and engineers about their latest projects.The program took 19 teachers from across the country on a tour of the facility and had them participate in experiments that could be brought back to the classroom.Having gone to the same program two years ago, McKinsey served as a coach for the other teachers.He also got the chance to learn about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was built in Goddard Space Flight Center and is being controlled there as it orbits the moon. The LRO was built in preparation for a mission to once again send humans to the moon.The mission was canceled, but the orbiter was built and launched anyway. It has since sent back a great deal of information on the moon's surface, allowing scientists to create detailed and accurate maps.McKinsey, along with a ninth-grade assistant, Iylana Potts, taught kindergarten to third-graders what he had learned about the orbiter and had them build models of rovers, landers and orbiters. He explained to the students what goes into building spacecraft."We talked about NASA's scientific process that they use for missions. Building the models required the kids to use the same process.They had to think about what the purpose of the spacecraft was and why each part was designed the way it was," McKinsey said.After showing and explaining what they made, the kids got to keep their creations and also received small gifts from NASA.McKinsey held a similar program last week for fourth- through sixth-graders that had the students answering questions at six science stations.They learned about subjects like the Saturn V rocket, Mars, and the phases of the moon.Along with the unique learning experience that the programs brought to the students, McKinsey found that they also emphasized other positive aspects."This not only provides hands-on science, but it's also a great for building communication skills. The enthusiasm of the kids highlights the importance of science in schools," he said.