Filed under: Cool Science, Educational Materials, Interactive Materials, NASA, Science
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum will launch a new interactive website on July 16, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. (exactly 40 years after the historic launch of the Apollo 11 Moon mission. The website will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, recreating the entire Apollo 11 mission with videos, images, and audio. Visitors can also follow the launch process via Twitter.
Visit the We Choose the Moon website for details: http://www.wechoosethemoon.org
The website will officially open on July 16, 2009
A new NASA online feature describes some of the biggest impacts NASA has had on the aerospace industry. This interactive website allows you to choose research highlights for commercial aviation, helicopters, and military applications.
To learn more, visit the NASA Aeronautics Research Onboard website at http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/nasa_contributions/flash_index.html
Filed under: Aeronautics, Interactive Materials, K-12, Lesson Plans, NASA, Professional Development, STEM, Science, Teacher Development, Workshop | Tags: Math
John Ensworth at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the NASA Science Mission Directorate invite you to attend an upcoming online professional development workshop.
Topic: Enrichment Problems in Space Science XIV: Calculus Problems in Space
In the fourteenth bi-monthly installment of these mission- and inquiry-oriented mathematics problems, Dr. Sten Odenwald will supply background for and lead participants through calculus problems from his “Problems in Space Science” series. The goal of these problems is to teach students about space weather by using mathematics. Each problem begins with real world questions, missions and situations, and applies the necessary mathematics for a solution. Participants may ask questions and work along in this fully interactive Webinar environment. http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov
Date: Friday, May 8, 2009
Time: 3:00 p.m., EST (Greenwich Mean Time -05:00, New York)
Participants must first register for this meeting. There is no cost for this event.
Note: Only the first 120 registrants will be accepted. Register ASAP!
If this meeting is full, you will receive an e-mail that reads:”Your registration for this meeting is denied.” In that case, we ask you to please join us in the next workshop! If you do miss this event, we will send you the link to a video archive of the workshop so you will still be able to benefit from the exercises.
Please join the meeting 10-15 minutes before start to make sure your computer is prepared to run the Webex software. You may also pre-install the Webex plug-in following the instructions at the bottom of this e-mail.
—————————————————–
Where to register for this meeting
—————————————————–
1. Go to https://nasa.webex.com/nasa/j.php?ED=117409567&RG=1&UID=0
2. Register for the meeting.
Once the host approves your request, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with instructions for joining the meeting.
——————————————————-
Closed Captioning is available during the Webinar. A link to this will be provided closer to meeting time.
——————————————————-
For assistance
——————————————————-
1. Go to https://nasa.webex.com/nasa/mc
2. Click “Assistance”.
3. Click “Support”.
——————————————————-
To check the setup of your computer and pre-install the plug-in software, use the following links:
Downloads
WebEx will automatically setup Meeting Manager for Windows the first time you join a meeting. To save time, you can setup prior to the meeting by clicking this link:
https://nasa.webex.com/nasa/meetingcenter/mcsetup.php
The host requests that you check for compatibility of rich media players for Universal Communications Format (UCF) before you join the session. UCF allows you to view multimedia during the session. To check now, click the following link: https://nasa.webex.com/nasa/systemdiagnosis.php
- Meeting Manager for Microsoft® Windows® – MSI Installer
• Meeting Center automatically downloads, installs and configures Meeting Manager for Windows the first time you start or join a meeting. However, you may choose to download and run the Meeting Manager Installer before starting or joining a meeting. You must have administrator privileges on your computer to use this installer.
• Download Meeting Manager Installer for Internet Explorer at the following link https://nasa.webex.com/client/T25L/atmcie.msi
• Download Meeting Manager Installer for Mozilla Firefox and Netscape Navigator at the following link https://nasa.webex.com/client/T25L/atmcns.msi
- Meeting Manager for Mac® OS X (PowerPC)
• Meeting Manager for Mac OS X (PowerPC) is set up automatically the first time you start or join a meeting. The Installer for Mac OS X (PowerPC) can be used to manually install or uninstall Meeting Manager for Mac OS X (PowerPC).
• Download Meeting Manager Installer for Mac OS X (PowerPC) https://nasa.webex.com/client/T25L/mac/powerpc/webexinstaller.hqx
Filed under: Astronomy, Interactive Materials, K-12, NASA, STEM, Science | Tags: Hubble
During NASA’s STS-125 mission, astronauts will make their final trip to the Hubble telescope. New instrucments will be installed and repairs will be performed on the Hubble to keep it functioning until 2014!
Learn more about the mission at NASA’s interactive Hubble website through the following link: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/hubble_servicing/
The website includes a mission timeline, videos, crew profiles, and many high resolution Hubble images.
March means tournament time for college basketball fans, and NASA wants to make sure space exploration fans aren’t left out of the action. So, beginning March 9, the agency kicks off NASA’s 2009 Mission Madness tournament.
This interactive Internet online feature enables you to share your opinion about the agency’s greatest missions. Space fans will be able to view a lineup of 64 missions, learn about their goals, and predict which missions fellow exploration fans will vote for during this bracket-style, single elimination tournament.
The Mission Madness tournament provides key matchups between 16 past, present and future missions in each of four divisions — Nebula, Stellar, Galaxy and Horizon. Round one features 32 predetermined matches. Visitors to the tournament Web site can learn about the missions chosen for the competition, print out a bracket and make predictions. Voting for round one begins March 19, and the first Mission Madness championship winner will be determined on April 8.
Each round consists of two days of online voting. Fans will be able to vote for their favorite missions as many times as they like while polls are open. At the conclusion of each round, the winning missions advance in head-to-head competition, allowing fans to see how their predictions compare to those of other voters.
NASA EDGE, an unscripted, non-traditional video podcast team that highlights all things NASA in a unique and youthful way, created and developed the tournament in an effort to generate new and fresh discussion about NASA’s most historic, successful and inspiring missions.
NASA EDGE hosts Chris Giersch, Blair Allen, Franklin Fitzgerald and special guest Jacky Cortez will be joined by three Mission Madness analysts. Miles O’Brien, former CNN reporter, Melvin Ferebee of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and Keith Cowing of the blog NASA Watch, will provide their opinions about the how early rounds will develop and which missions will remain competitive deep into the tournament.
To be a part of NASA’s 2009 Mission Madness tournament, visit http://www.nasa.gov/missionmadness
To comment about the Mission Madness tournament, visit the NASA EDGE blog at http://blogs.nasa.gov/nasaedge
To learn more about NASA EDGE, visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/nasaedge
Filed under: Astronomy, Educational Materials, Interactive Materials, K-12, NASA, STEM, Science
Solar Week
March 9-13, 2009
http://www.solarweek.org
Once every fall and spring since 2000, Solar Week provides a week of series of web-based educational classroom activities and games geared for upper-elementary, middle and high school students, with a focus on the Sun-Earth connection. Initiated as a means of encouraging girls in the sciences, one of Solar Week’s special strengths is a role model approach, expressed through on-line interaction between (all) students and leading women solar scientists (via interactive message board).
WEEKLONG CURRICULUM AND ACTIVITIES:
Students learn about solar eclipses, sunspots, and solar storms through a series of activities, games, and lessons.
• Monday – The Sun As A Star
• Tuesday – Solar Closeups, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
• Wednesday – The Active Sun
• Thursday – Let’s Observe the Sun Safely
• Friday – Solar Careers, including Women in Science, Research Jobs and Salaries, and Scientist Blogs.
Solar Week is ideal for students studying the solar system, the stars, and astronomy in general. It’s also for kids wondering what it’s like being a scientist, and possible career choices. Participation makes for a fun computer lab activity as well.
WEEK-LONG INTERACTIVE MESSAGE BOARD:
http://www.solarweek.org/CS
Solar Week has an interactive message board, where classrooms can pose questions of leading solar scientists. Want to know what they know about the Sun? (please read the FAQs before posting).
Filed under: Educational Materials, Interactive Materials, K-12, NASA, STEM, Science, Student Opportunities | Tags: Buzz Lightyear, Disney, Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-124
Buzz Lightyear, the Disney / Pixar character that made famous the movie line “To infinity, and beyond!” has been assigned a new mission on the International Space Station. The space ranger from the “Toy Story” movies is joining the crew of the STS-124 space shuttle mission.
The STS-124 space shuttle mission will deliver the next piece of the Japanese “Kibo” laboratory to the station. Kibo is about the size of a large tour bus and will be the station’s largest laboratory. It will feature 10 experiment racks where astronauts will conduct microgravity research that will focus on space medicine, biology, Earth observations, material production, biotechnology and communications research. In celebration of Buzz’s flight, Disney Parks partnered with NASA to create five interactive games with educational activities and special messages from Buzz Lightyear. These will be added to the NASA Kids’ Club Web site throughout the mission.
The games are:
Load the Shuttle
Kids use mathematics and problem-solving to load the space shuttle payload bay with parts and supplies for the International Space Station. Students have to consider weight and space available to solve the challenge.
Mission Matchup
Players match the name of the country with that country’s contribution to spaceflight and technology. As the matches are found, an image of the completed International Space Station is revealed.
I Spy
Everyday objects such as a football helmet, sunglasses and even an ice cream cone are hidden on a space station. All the hidden objects are spin-offs of NASA-developed technology.
Connect It
Players predict how to use the space shuttle’s robotic arm to move and attach the new Japanese module “Kibo” to the International Space Station.
Toys in Space
Players fly Buzz Lightyear around a space station and land him on a variety of toys to reveal videos of astronauts playing with the toys in space. Toys in the game include a yo-yo, a soccer ball, a jump rope and a car on a track.
Buzz Lightyear will stay on the station with the Expedition 17 crew for approximately five months. He is scheduled to fly home with the crew of the STS-126 shuttle mission, targeted for November 2008. These missions are an important step in preparing for the future of spaceflight. NASA is currently working to carry out a long-term plan that will lead to humans’ returning to the moon and beyond.
Follow along by visiting the NASA Kids’ Club site throughout the STS-124 mission to read Buzz’s Mission Logs, download the activity guides, and play the interactive games. Mission log updates will be posted as the mission progresses.
To visit the NASA Kids’ Club, go to http://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub
To learn more about the STS-124 space shuttle mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/sts-124-main.html
Filed under: Educational Materials, Interactive Materials, K-12, STEM, Science, Space Age | Tags: NOVA, Space Race, TV
Next on NOVA: “Astrospies”
http://www.pbs.org/nova/astrospies
Tuesday, February 12 at 8 p.m.
Check your local listings as dates and times may vary. Broadcast in HD where available.
Millions remember the countdowns, launchings, splashdowns, and parades as the U.S. raced the USSR to the moon in the 1960s. But few know that both countries also ran parallel space programs, whose covert goal was to launch military astronauts on spying missions. In this program, NOVA delves into the untold story of this top-secret space race, which might easily have turned into a shooting war in orbit.
Coproduced by investigative journalist James Bamford, acclaimed best-selling author of The Puzzle Palace and Emmy Award-winning producer Scott Willis, “Astrospies” uncovers new clues about the tensest period of the Cold War, when the U.S. and USSR were on the verge of war and desperate for intelligence on each other’s nuclear capabilities.
Here’s what you’ll find online:
Watch the Program Online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/program.html
“Astrospies” will be available to view online starting February 13.
Secret Astronauts: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/profiles.html
Meet eight astronauts from the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program.
The Race Today: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/racetoday.html
Historian Asif Siddiqi discusses the space programs of China, India, and other new players, and their impact.
Space Race Time Line: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/timeline.html
Examine turning points in the heated competition between the U.S. and USSR to dominate space.
Spy Photos: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/photos.html
A surveillance-image specialist examines photos of Iraq, North Korea, and other political hotspots.
Also, a video preview, Links & Books, the Teacher’s Guide, and more:
http://www.pbs.org/nova/astrospies
Filed under: Educational Materials, Higher Education, Interactive Materials, K-12, Lesson Plans, Links to Other Resources, NASA, STEM, Science, Student Opportunities, Teacher Development
It is now even easier to find NASA teaching materials. Apart from the spiffy new appearance of the NASA Education Portal, NASA has added new functionality and organization to the website. Are you looking for grade appropriate science content for your classroom? Just use the checkboxes on the main Educator’s portal to select content relevant to your needs. To find current programs and funding opportunities for both educators and students, please select the “Current Opportunities” links found on the left side of the page within each grade level. Visit the revamped NASA web portal today! http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
Filed under: Astronomy, Contest, Environmental Science, Interactive Materials, K-12, NASA, STEM, Science, Student Opportunities | Tags: classroom activities, Climate Change, Research
ISS EarthKAM Image Competition Entries Due Nov. 28, 2007
Educators and their students are invited to participate in the International Space Station Earth Klimate Analysis Mission Image Competition. Participating classes will create a collaborative investigation about climate change using EarthKAM images.
Each classroom should focus their investigation on a specific topic. The investigation should include background research and supporting images. Schools are encouraged to select a topic that is relevant to their local community.
The entire project must be submitted electronically, no later than Nov. 28, 2007. The EarthKAM team will evaluate the submitted investigations based on content, creativity and overall presentation. Prizes will be awarded for the best projects, and the winning projects will be posted on the EarthKAM Web site.
To learn more, visit: http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/public/about/missions/index.shtml
