SANFORD, Florida—Instead of asking her students to open up a history book or a science journal and simply read about discovery missions past, present, and possibly future, Millennium Middle School teacher Rosemary Shaw asks her students to jump on-board and ride along. Through the Millennium Endeavor Project, Shaw asks her students to follow the paths of three discovery missions featuring a vessel named "Endeavor." The first is Captain James Cook's seagoing vessel named Endeavor, the second is the NASA shuttle Endeavor that has flown into space during present times, and the third is a fictional Millennium Endeavor flying to Mars in the future.

The project is divided into three phases. In Phase One, students research celestial navigation and study the instrumentation by which early explorers guided their travels. This includes studying the cross staff, the quadrant, the sextant, and the astrolabe, which students are required to design and build as part of the project.

In Phase Two, students research the history of NASA and the space transportation system. They learn about the shuttle Endeavor and build model shuttles of their own to examine such concepts as glide and slope. Finally, students learn to do metric conversions on the shuttle payload and examine the implications of mistakes with such calculations.

In Phase Three, students are asked to study Mars and consider how its future may be important to the inhabitants of Earth. Students research terraforming, considering the pros and cons of attempting to transform another planet to resemble Earth. Finally, students are asked to research the possibility of colonizing Mars and to build working models of a possible Mars rover. At the end of each phase of the project, students create a Web site to summarize their course of study and learning.

Shaw notes that students gain valuable technological skills as they take part in a series of activities that help them learn how to effectively use the Internet, e-mail, digital cameras, scanners, and video editing equipment. In one such activity, students learn six steps to Internet research: questioning, gathering information, sorting and sifting, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating. Throughout the project, Shaw says, "students realize that they're using the computer as a tool to solve problems."

"This was the most amazing project I've ever participated in," says Shaw. "Every day something exciting, wonderful, or weird happened. I believe the first event to truly get everyone's attention was when one team of students informed me they were working on a hovercraft for their assignment. I just shook my head and said, 'Yes, right, sure. Be sure to get it in on time.' Then, they brought in a working hovercraft!"

Millennium Middle School is a large urban school with magnet programs in fine arts and communications. The student population of 1,600 includes a large minority base and has Title I status with more than 49 percent qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches. Because many of Millennium's students do not have access to computers at home, the staff tries to give them opportunities to access technology at the school. A computer lab houses 28 computers. Additionally, students have access to scanners, printers, digital cameras, and a digital camcorder.

Shaw, who began her career in education teaching social studies and then math, now serves Millennium as its technology expert, teaching all computer classes, including basic computer and Web design courses. "The opportunity to play on computers all day won out," says Shaw. Her efforts in this arena have received ample recognition. Shaw has been honored with a Golden Apple Award from Time-Warner, Inc. and a TeachNet Technology Grant. Additionally, she has had 35 students receive first place, second place, or honorable mention in five separate national contests.

As testament to the quality output of her students, Shaw reports that the hovercraft built during the Endeavor Project "worked beautifully." She says the school principal even got on and rode it, and "during our school fair, we sold rides on the hovercraft to help raise money for the school."