OSGC Educational Resources Blog

NASA Quest LIMA Challenge for Students in Grades 4-8

In this challenge, students become scientists and propose Antarctic research. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica is the first true-color high-resolution satellite view of the Antarctic continent. Using this view of Antarctica, students must develop a research question and debate the value of studying the chosen feature. Registration is currently open and educational resources are available online.

For more information, visit http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/lima

Next on NOVA: “Voyage to the Mystery Moon”
http://www.pbs.org/nova/titan

Tuesday, April 1 at 8 p.m.
Check your local listings as dates and times may vary.

Chronicling a bold voyage of discovery — the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and its enigmatic moon Titan — NOVA’s “Voyage to the Mystery Moon” delivers striking images of these fascinating planetary bodies nearly a billion miles from Earth. Saturn’s broad rings hold myriad mysteries, and Titan, whose soupy atmosphere is similar to the one that enshrouded our planet billions of years ago, may hold clues to the origins of life.

Here’s what you’ll find on the companion Web site:

Life on a Tiny Moon? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/titan/porco.html
Saturn’s water-spewing moon Enceladus has suddenly become target #1 in the search for life beyond Earth, says astrophysicist Carolyn Porco.

Anatomy of the Rings http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/titan/anatomy.html
Images sent back from Cassini are resolving age-old mysteries about Saturn’s rings.

How to Get an Atmosphere http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/titan/atmosphere.html
Only four planets or moons with solid bodies — Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan — have substantial atmospheres. Why?

Sounds of Titan http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/titan/sounds.html
Hear the first-ever audio recording from one billion miles away, and find out what makes sounds in space different from those on Earth.

Also, Links & Books, the Teacher’s Guide, the program transcript, and more:
http://www.pbs.org/nova/titan

The Educational Materials section of NASA’s Web site offers classroom activities, educator guides, posters and other types of resources that are available for use in the classroom. Materials are listed by type, grade level and subject. The following items are now available for downloading.

International Space Station: National Laboratory Education Concept Development Report

The International Space Station is the largest and most complex space vehicle ever built. Planned for completion in 2010, the space station will provide a home for laboratories equipped with a wide array of resources to develop and test the technologies needed for future generations of space exploration.

This report explores the potential of the space station to engage, inspire, and educate students, teachers, and faculty in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Information about current NASA and non-agency programs aimed to increase STEM achievement is included in the report. Diagrams and detailed information about the station are also included.
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/ISS_Education_Plan.html

2007 NASA Education Highlights

NASA has a tradition of investing in programs and activities that inspire and engage students, educators, families and communities at large in the excitement and discovery of exploration. Read about the innovative ways NASA is creating new activities that spark the interest and imagination of people from all segments of society. Also learn about the education milestones and accomplishments achieved by NASA Education in 2007.
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/2007_NASA_Education_Highlights.html

Additional Video Learning Clips Added

The educational video clips listed below have been added to the Videos section of the NASA Educational Materials site. Click on the link below each list of video clips to access the videos online.

Designed for students in grades 5-12, these video clips from the Universe DVD let the viewer travel billions of years through time. The viewer watches the universe evolve from one primordial mass into the stars and galaxies seen today. These videos are narrated by William Shatner.

Titles in this series:
– Scientists Use Observatories to Learn About the Sun
– The Planets
– A Look Beyond the Planets: Nebulae, Stars, Quasars and Galaxies
– Lifecycle of a Star
– The Evolving Universe
– Is There Life Out There?: NASA’s Search Continues
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/The_Planets.html

Targeting students in grades 5-12, the Liftoff to Learning: Plants in Space video clip series follows a group of students at an elementary school as they participate in an experiment on plant growth with space shuttle astronauts. Identical seed growth pouches are planted with corn and soybean seeds. Some of the seeds are germinated on Earth and others on the space shuttle in Earth orbit. Rather than drawing conclusions on the effects of microgravity on plant growth, viewers are invited to participate in the experiment by growing seeds on Earth as control experiments.

Titles in this series:
– How Plants Grow in Space: The Effects of Gravity and Light
– Tropisms of Plants in Space and on Earth
– Why Scientists Study Plants in Space
– Evaluating Experimental Treatment: Controls of Plants Growing in Space
– Discussion Points About Growing Plants in Space
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/How_Plants_Grow_in_Space.html

The video clips in the NASA’s Destination Tomorrow™: Bringing the Future into Focus series are designed for educators, parents, and students in 9-12 and college. These clips build on the premise that much of NASA’s aeronautical research focuses on increasing today’s knowledge to solve tomorrow’s problems.

Titles in this series:
– Helios, NASA’s Unmanned, Remotely Powered Flying Wing
– The Smart Probe, an Early Cancer Detection Tool
– A Retrospective Look at the Gemini Program
– Alleviating Aircraft Noise: The Quiet Aircraft Technology Program
– Spacesuits and How They Work
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/A_Retrospective_Look.html

Help NASA on the quest for signs of water on the Red Planet.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera now orbiting Mars is helping NASA search for signs of water on Mars. Students are invited to help choose regions of Mars for HiRISE to image. The HiRISE team will pick several suggestions and image them with the camera in the coming months. The participants will represent the first people on Earth to see the resulting image and will have the chance to search for signs of water in the image.

Background information, teacher guides, student activity books and tutorials are available online to help students choose a region. Interested teachers and students are encouraged to register online to receive more information about how to participate.

For more information, visit: http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/hirise/

What is the Great Light Racer Championship?
The GLRC is a technology and science competition designed for parent/child, teacher/students, or RC car hobbyist teams. The teams compete in solving a real NASA lunar exploration problem: building a rover that can operate in a permanently shadowed area of the moon.

Competition rovers consist of an electric RC car, modified to operate using a beam of light as its power source. The teams design, build, and operate the cars. We (Spaceward) provide the race track and the high-power spotlights used to power and race the cars.

Who can play?
The championship is open to three groups: Schools, Families, and Grown-Ups. School and family groups must have a person under the age of 16 controlling the car.  A grown-up can handle the spotlight.

The Spaceward Games in Salt Lake City Utah, will host preliminaries beginning on October 15, 2007.  Please visit Spaceward’s Light-Racer site for details, including rules and registrations.
http://www.spaceward.org/lightRacers.html

A complete curriculum packet for STEM educators and parents including background materials and car construction guidelines can be found here:
http://www.spaceward.org/lightRacers-stem.html

Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduledd to launch on August 8, 2007 with Barbara Morgan, our first Educator Astronaut, aboard! In conjunction with the STS-118 mission, NASA has developed many educational resources you can find at the following website:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stseducation/home/index.html

Teacher Opportunity: Interactive Training-STS-118 Curricular Modules
Learn how to engage your students and teach science in the context of the STS-118 shuttle mission with the first Educator Astronaut spaceflight. Using the Internet and a telephone, immerse yourself in two new NASA classroom activities: the Fit Explorer and the Engineering Design Challenge. These and other activities blend rich themes of energy, microgravity and colonization. One-hour sessions are available July 23-Oct. 15, 2007.
http://www.us-satellite.net/sts118

Engineering Design Challenge Plant Growth Chamber
During the 2007-2008 school year, join NASA’s Engineering Design Challenge to design, analyze, build and assess plant growth chambers as part of a standards-based activity related to the STS-118 space shuttle mission. Growth chambers, much like the space plant chambers students will design and build, are part of the education payload on STS-118. The first Educator Astronaut, Barbara Morgan, and her fellow crewmates will take up two growth chambers along with 10 million basil seeds. These seeds will be exposed to microgravity and brought back to Earth to be used in classrooms throughout the nation.
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/plantgrowth/home/index.html

Physical Fitness Challenge
NASA’s Fit Explorer project is a scientific and physical approach to human health and fitness on Earth and in space. Students will learn about The Vision for Space Exploration and the physical fitness requirements of living and working in space. The participants will use standards-based classroom science activities related to the STS-118 shuttle mission and future extended exploration missions. Students will perform physical activities, including Base Station Walk-Back, Do a Spacewalk, Jump for the Moon, Crew Strength Training and Mission: Control.
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Be_a_Fit_Explorer_Flier.html

Learn more about the crew of STS-118, including Barbara Morgan, the first Educator Astronaut at the following website:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stseducation/home/STS-118_Overview.html

In the latest episode of NOVA’s scienceNOW, you can see a profile of Cynthia Breazeal, a daring engineer who designs robots to communicate and interact the way people do. Read more about Cynthia and her work here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3318/03.html

At NOVA’s scienceNOW Web site, you can watch the entire hour-long episode online. Also, examine the culprits of the Permian extinction, cast your vote for or against the 1918 flu revival, hear Cynthia Breazeal talk about her friendly robots, read ancient papyri, and much more.

http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow

Learn how to engage your students and teach science in the context of the STS-118 shuttle mission with the first Educator Astronaut spaceflight. Using the Internet and a telephone, immerse yourself in two new NASA classroom activities: the Fit Explorer and the Engineering Design Challenge. These and other activities blend rich themes of energy, microgravity and colonization. Educators can take the training from home or work.

You will be provided with the training website address and a toll-free number when the session fills, or no less than one week before the session.

Registration is open until Oct. 15, 2007. For more information, visit: http://www.us-satellite.net/sts118

The National Science Teachers Association, in its latest newsletter to high school educators, lists a plethora of websites offiering free classroom resources for science teachers. The list is extensive so take your time and find the best activities and multimedia for your needs. Visit the NSTA’s list here:
http://science.nsta.org/enewsletter/2007-06/news_stories_high.htm

The National Science Teachers Association, in its latest newsletter to high school educators, lists several excellent and free resources offered by the US government for educational use.

Listings include the National Institutes of Health, NASA, The National Science Foundation, NOAA, The Department of Education, EPA, and USGS. Descriptions of free resources are available through hte links at the following NSTA website:
http://science.nsta.org/enewsletter/2007-06/books_high.htm