The future coders of America unite in this revealing look at the serious push to encourage middle-school science students to practically apply their skills in nothing less than writing code that could be used to direct actual satellites to perform important maintenance tasks at the International Space Station. The students featured here, from San Jose, California’s Campbell Middle School, under the tutelage of Robotics expert Tanner Marcoida, compete for the national coding crown with middle schoolers from around the US.
The film focuses on the dreams and scientific aspirations of three kids in particular: Carol, an 11-year-old who wants to be a robotics engineer, Advik, a 10-year-old Indian-American who shows a precocious knack for coding and obsession with everything tech-oriented, and Adrien, an 11-year-old whose ambitions and interest lean toward marine biology and climate change activism.
Marcoida not only sees the chance to shape young minds and share his passion for coding but there’s a serious socioeconomic side to his participation in this program. Most of the kids in the program are from low to middle-income families in the San Jose area, and with the area gentrifying so fast, he knows that without such in-demand skills as they’re learning on his watch, these kids could eventually be priced out of the local neighborhoods they’re growing up in. Along the way, the code-writing kiddos get to meet a real astronaut (Steve Smith) and get to see the technological fruits of their labor being put to practical use by NASA.
In the end, the feel-good message of hope for the future certainly dominates the documentary’s tone throughout. But the average viewer might be inclined to wonder: if the future of the planet is in the hands of code writing robotics students who aspire to colonize Mars, one would hope there are enough young geniuses left on Earth to eventually help eradicate nagging little terrestrial problems like COVID, cancer, and climate change. Zero Gravity is an uplifting work guaranteed to inspire young viewers with an interest in science and technology. Recommended for documentary collections and science classrooms. Aud: C, P.