Honeywell and NASA’s Award-Winning FMA Live! Hip-Hop Science Concert Brings Science to Life
Students never knew science could be so much fun! Especially when Brandon Dardis of Liverpool Middle School was thrown at a giant sticky wall and physical education teacher Mrs. LaVigne had a cream pie tossed in her face!
The sticky wall and cream pie brought science to life during a performance of FMA Live!, an award-winning science education program created by Honeywell and NASA. FMA Live! is named for Sir Isaac Newton’s Second Law of Motion (force = mass x acceleration).
“FMA Live! connects science and math with everyday life in a powerful and memorable way,” said Honeywell Syracuse Program Director John McAuliffe. “According to NASA, the first person to walk on Mars is in a middle school or elementary school in the United States today. That could be a Liverpool student!”
More than 1,200 students from Liverpool Middle School, Chestnut Hill Middle School and Soule Road Middle School participated in the FMA Live! performances.
FMA Live! uses original hip-hop music and choreography, cutting-edge video and interactive science demonstrations to teach Newton’s Laws of Motion to middle school students. Launched in 2004, the program has traveled more than 68,600 miles, reaching more than 218,000 students in the U.S. and Canada.
During each FMA Live! performance, students, teachers and school administrators interact with three professional actors on stage to experience all three of Newton’s Laws firsthand through science demonstrations, including the giant sticky wall, extreme wrestling and hot rods. All three of Newton’s Laws are demonstrated simultaneously when a futuristic hover chair collides with a gigantic cream pie.
Today, fewer students than ever before are pursuing science, technology, engineering and math careers, while employment opportunities in these fields are increasing nearly five times faster than all other occupations. FMA Live! is a cornerstone of Honeywell’s commitment to deliver innovative educational programs and help ensure that there is a steady and competitive pipeline of young people interested in science and technical careers.