NASCAR’s Acceleration Nation
Posted on February 22nd, 2015 by Mary Lord
NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing, is speeding into STEM education. Acceleration Nation is a new learning program created in partnership with Scholastic to teach elementary and middle school students about math and science behind the Three D’s of Speed: Drag, Downforce, and Drafting.
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Tags: badges, car, Class Activities, engine, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Internet Resources, Math, NASCAR, online games, Resources for Teachers, Scholastic, STEM education
Americans of Latin descent have made notable contributions to science, engineering, innovation, and education. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 – October 15, 2012, ASEE presents a diverse group of high achievers.
A woman and a Latina, Alba Colon is a leader of a new generation of engineers in a sport — auto racing — long dominated by white men. After a few years in data acquisition, Colon entered racing management, becoming GM Racing’s Chevrolet program manager in 2001 — the only top-ranking female engineer in NASCAR and a key point of contact between drivers, owners, and crew chiefs.
The Science of Speed program, produced for the National Science Foundation (NSF), explains the scientific principles so essential to the NASCAR experience. Through 12 videos ranging in topic from “firesuits” to “friction and heat” and “load transfer,” viewers learn how science and engineering makes sports cars powerful, agile, fast and safe — and how these same principles affect cars on the street.
