Facilitated by Fayetteville State University, NC UNITE is seeks to expose students to a wide range of STEM careers to encourage their interest in pursuing college majors and careers. Supported by the Army Educational Outreach Program and Fort Bragg School Services, UNITE is a pre-collegiate summer experience for high school students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM.
Students control a small drone as they explore more about aeronautical technologies.
Watch your head! These drones respond to inputs from a tablet computer that students hold.
Though they can’t go to space yet, students can visit the ISS with the help of VR technology.
VR allows students to participate in space travel within an immersive environment.
Using an Oculus VR headset, students were able to explore all aspects of the ISS.
A NC Space education ambassador talks to students about the logistics of exploration on Mars.
Building the Mars Rover is no easy task. Students are getting hands-on experience with building an electronic vehicle.
Students worked on creating carts from electronics, straws, and cardboard.
Students puzzling together a small cardboard, battery-powered cart.
Turtles or tortoises? A student pets a small turtle (the kind that swims) on its shell.
It’s okay, he doesn’t bite! An instructor shows a student a local tiger salamander.
Students used different types of microscopes to closely examine objects.
Algae from a water source in Clark Park Nature Center as viewed under a microscope.
Students looking at a water sample under high magnification.
To prepare for microscopy, students drop samples of water onto glass slides.
A very small brown snake was found during the group’s outing.
There’s a whole world hiding under fallen logs and old benches if you know where to look. Students look for wildlife under a hoverboard.
A Sea Grant ambassador shows students their findings. Students learned about local flora and fauna during their time at Unite.
Curled tightly in its hiding spot, this snail hid away while students took a long look at its shell.
A student shows a long strip of snakeskin that was found. Snakes shed their skin regularly as they grow.
A freshly caught tadpole lays in a student’s hand. The students caught and released these amphibians as they studied aspects of herpetology.
Students are “fishing” for tadpoles and other small animals in a muddy pond at Clark Park Nature Center. Samples of the water were also taken to look for protists and algae later in the day.
☽