The documentary follows a group of diverse middle school students and their teacher who is very interested in space as they undertake a massive project - programming a satellite on the space station. There will be many rounds they go through before they reach the final step. The amount of struggles will either make or break the team and sometimes, a small mistake can be the difference between making it and missing it.
I like that the story line talks about this group of kids with diverse backgrounds and different interests yet, they come together as a team and manage to work through a variety of challenges. I also like that it talks about the background of the kids. The footage that is included of the space shuttle taking off and landing on a planet makes it appealing to audiences. I also like that even when they did not qualify for the finals, they were still willing to lend a hand to help the team that made it and they represented their state that way instead of being disappointed or frustrated with the loss.
The camera work are impressive, especially the first person shots, which make the audience walk in the shoes of the characters on-screen. The location of the kids is a middle school in San Jose, CA and some of their homes. I like seeing the house of the teacher's father, which is decorated with NASA memorabilia and engineering things which shows us that he is someone who worked for NASA at some point.
The background music effectively sets the mood. At the beginning it is rather lighthearted as the kids are intrigued and interested by the idea. The music then becomes more tense as they are racing against the deadline to submit their project. After the project is submitted, it becomes celebratory as they have just finished this big project.
The teacher pushes the team no matter what difficulties they find themselves in and guides the team to excel. The teacher's father comes into play as he guides his son in how to bring his team to success. The students have diverse interests and we see how easily distracted they are before they get focused and get busy once they know the task they are up against.
The messages of this film are: 1. Do not give up, even when faced with monumental challenges.2. Try something new, even if it's outside your comfort zone. 3. Don't look at the small picture, look at the big picture. Plus it supports the idea of teamwork and sportsmanship.
My favorite part of the film is when the team gets the news that they did not make it but they still go ahead and give a helping hand to the team that made it. This displays their sportsmanship as they want their state to be the strongest even if they did not make it.
I give this film 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 10 to 18 to adults. It can be a way to introduce coding to young people and it definitely inspires people in realizing that even the hardest obstacles can be overcome with determination. It talks about programming, satellites and a camp that attempts to get their hands to run their program in the International Space Station.
Reviewed by Tom W., KIDS FIRST!
The documentary follows a group of diverse middle school students and their teacher who is very interested in space as they undertake a massive project - programming a satellite on the space station. There will be many rounds they go through before they reach the final step. The amount of struggles will either make or break the team and sometimes, a small mistake can be the difference between making it and missing it.
I like that the story line talks about this group of kids with diverse backgrounds and different interests yet, they come together as a team and manage to work through a variety of challenges. I also like that it talks about the background of the kids. The footage that is included of the space shuttle taking off and landing on a planet makes it appealing to audiences. I also like that even when they did not qualify for the finals, they were still willing to lend a hand to help the team that made it and they represented their state that way instead of being disappointed or frustrated with the loss.
The camera work are impressive, especially the first person shots, which make the audience walk in the shoes of the characters on-screen. The location of the kids is a middle school in San Jose, CA and some of their homes. I like seeing the house of the teacher's father, which is decorated with NASA memorabilia and engineering things which shows us that he is someone who worked for NASA at some point.
The background music effectively sets the mood. At the beginning it is rather lighthearted as the kids are intrigued and interested by the idea. The music then becomes more tense as they are racing against the deadline to submit their project. After the project is submitted, it becomes celebratory as they have just finished this big project.
The teacher pushes the team no matter what difficulties they find themselves in and guides the team to excel. The teacher's father comes into play as he guides his son in how to bring his team to success. The students have diverse interests and we see how easily distracted they are before they get focused and get busy once they know the task they are up against.
The messages of this film are: 1. Do not give up, even when faced with monumental challenges.2. Try something new, even if it's outside your comfort zone. 3. Don't look at the small picture, look at the big picture. Plus it supports the idea of teamwork and sportsmanship.
My favorite part of the film is when the team gets the news that they did not make it but they still go ahead and give a helping hand to the team that made it. This displays their sportsmanship as they want their state to be the strongest even if they did not make it.
I give this film 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 10 to 18 to adults. It can be a way to introduce coding to young people and it definitely inspires people in realizing that even the hardest obstacles can be overcome with determination. It talks about programming, satellites and a camp that attempts to get their hands to run their program in the International Space Station.
Reviewed by Tom W., KIDS FIRST!
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