Student Flight Mission Challenge – Improving Earthquake Monitoring – NOI Deadline April 16, 2012

Participate in the Flight Mission Challenge to improve earthquake monitoring - Registration Deadline April 16, 2012

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is gaining a better understanding of earth science processes such as earthquakes through airborne science research platforms. Using a specially modified Gulfstream-III jet, NASA engineers and scientists are using radar to collect data on how quakes change the Earth’s surface, which may eventually help scientists forecast earthquakes. NASA hopes to collect baseline data in critical areas in order to improve our understanding of how quakes affect not only the immediate area of the quake, but also the state of stress in the surrounding faults. This will help them improve their forecast models of quake probability and magnitude.

NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory are in process of identifying several new areas to collect baseline data for earthquake studies. Educators, grades 7-9, are invited to engage students in the NASA Student Flight Mission Challenge. Through this challenge, students will have the opportunity to investigate, evaluate, design and present a solution to a real-world problem that will expand our understanding of earthquakes at the global level. Students will form small mission teams to create multimedia presentations that suggest a site for a new earthquake science investigation. The challenge will engage students as practitioners of science through exploration of the airborne science research process that NASA scientists and engineers use to study earth system science. Students will:

– Investigate the science.
– Select a site for earthquake monitoring.
– Prepare a flight plan.
– Develop a multimedia proposal for submittal to NASA.

The challenge can be implemented in a classroom, after-school or other formal and informal teaching environment. One student team proposal can be submitted per educator. Proposals will be reviewed and ranked by NASA staff. Select student teams will receive recognition as earth system science investigators, and up to three teachers will be invited to attend the Airborne Research Experiences for Educators and Students, or AREES, 2012 summer academy.

To submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) for the Student Flight Mission Challenge, visit http://www.aeroi.org.

The deadline to submit an NOI is April 16, 2012.
The deadline to submit a student team’s proposal is May 21, 2012.

To obtain the curriculum materials and to learn the science and pedagogical content knowledge to prepare students for this challenge, enroll in the online course Earth System Science through NASA’s electronic Professional Development Network at http://www.nasaepdn.gatech.edu/nasa_sdc_earthsystemscience.php. The course is free, self-directed and technology and standards-based.

This activity is offered through the Aerospace, Education, Research and Operations Institute in Palmdale, Calif., in partnership with NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and the Teaching From Space program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The G-III aircraft is operated from the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale in collaboration with instrument investigators from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

For more information about the AREES activity, refer to the website at http://www.nasa.gov/education/arees.

Percentage and Volume: Space Food and Nutrition – How Much is Waste? Web Seminar – March 22, 2012

As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences for educators, the NASA Explorer Schools project and project LE&RN are hosting a 60-minute live professional development Web seminar for educators on March 22, 2012, at 8 p.m. EDT. Learn how to guide your students through three mathematical computations to determine usable and unusable portions of foods. Your students determine the mass and volume of a food package before and after repackaging for spaceflight and determine the usable and waste portions of food selected for spaceflight.

For more information and to register online, visit https://digitalmedia.wufoo.com/forms/p7s3w1/.

To learn more about the NASA Explorer Schools project, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.

Email any questions about this opportunity to NASA-Explorer-Schools@mail.nasa.gov.

Free Webinar – Heat, Temperature and Energy: MESSENGER – Cooling with Sunshades – March 21, 2012

As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences for educators, the NASA Explorer Schools project and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a 90-minute Web seminar on March 21, 2012, at 8:15 p.m. EDT. Learn how to use the NASA MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) mission to motivate your students to investigate energy and the electromagnetic spectrum. Discover how students can create their own sunshades and measure the effectiveness of different materials in protecting against sunlight and solar radiant energy.

For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar21.aspx.

To learn more about the NASA Explorer Schools project, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.

Newton’s Laws of Motion: Lunar Nautics Web Seminar – March 19, 2012

As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences for educators, the NASA Explorer Schools project and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a 90-minute Web seminar on March 19, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. EDT. This Web seminar features three lessons for grades 5-8, focusing on a real-world understanding of Newton’s Laws of Motion and addresses common misconceptions associated with the laws. The featured lessons are Rocket Staging: Balloon Staging, Lunar Landing: Swinging Tray and Lunar Base Supply Egg Drop.

For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar20.aspx.

To learn more about the NASA Explorer Schools project, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.

Free Education Webinar Series from the Aerospace Education Services Project – March 2012

The Aerospace Education Services Project is presenting a series of free webinars through May 2012. All webinars can be accessed online. Join aerospace education specialists to learn about activities, lesson plans, educator guides and resources to bring NASA into your classroom.

Food for Thought (Grades 5-8)
March 12, 2012, 3:30 – 5 p.m. EST

Aerospace education Steve Culivan will share “Food for Thought,” a new NASA educator guide designed to explore space food and the nutritional needs of the astronauts that includes a menu of inquiry activities and other resources to address this exciting topic.

Looking at the Sun: NASA’s Missions to the Sun and the 2012 Study of the Venus Transit (Grades K-12)
March 14, 2012, 4:30 – 6 p.m. EST

Aerospace education Rick Varner will discuss the inherent connection between the sun and life on Earth This session is designed to look at NASA’s missions to the study the sun and share sun-Earth activities and resources available for use in the classroom. There will be a particular focus on the Venus Transit taking place June 5-6, 2012, and the Sun-Earth Day activities associated with this event.

Animals in Space (Grades K-5)
March 16, 2012, 10 – 11 a.m. EST

Aerospace education specialist Wil Robertson will instruct teachers on how to use stuffed animals as props in telling the story of the animals that preceded humans in space. The program is geared for teachers in K-5 with a special focus of aligning the topic with the Core Literacy Standards for elementary grades. Web resources will be provided.

Mars Uncovered: Revealing the Geological History of Mars (Grades 5-12)
March 29, 2012, 4 – 5 p.m. EST

Aerospace education specialist Tony Leavitt will share an activity that uses an inquiry-based, critical-thinking approach to studying the surface of Mars like scientists do. This lesson will teach students to examine geologic features of a planetary surface and use relative age-dating techniques to analyze the information and interpret the geologic history.

For more information about the webinars listed above, and to see a full list of webinars taking place through May 2012, visit http://neon.psu.edu/webinars/

New Space Science Educational Materials Available at NASA.gov

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 space science-related items are now available for downloading.

Comet Mystery Boxes – Grades K-8

Introduce students to the physical characteristics of comets by using a tactile learning experience. Using only their hands, students reach into a series of boxes and feel the variety of materials and structures within. Each box contains an object that represents a quality of comets.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Comet_Mystery_Boxes.html

A Dusty Dilemma – Grades 8-10

In this lesson, students learn the concepts of averages, standard deviation from the mean, and error analysis. Students explore the concept of standard deviation from the mean before using data from the Student Dust Counter, an instrument aboard the NASA New Horizons mission to Pluto. This data is used to determine the issues associated with taking data, including error and noise. Questions are deliberately open-ended to encourage exploration.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Dusty_Dilemma.html

Signals and Noise Ratio – Grades 6-8

Students are introduced to the terms “signal” and “noise” in the context of spacecraft communication. This hands-on activity includes an online interactive to explore the Signal-to-Noise Ratio, a fundamental concept in spacecraft communication. The lesson’s pencil-and-paper component addresses relevant topics such as proportions and ratios.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Signals_and_Noise_Ratio.html

Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) Educational Kit – Grades 6-8

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is a spacecraft orbiting the moon. The primary instrument on LRO for analyzing the moon’s radiation environment is the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation, or CRaTER. This educator guide includes lessons to introduce to students to cosmic rays and their effects on humans.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/CRaTER.html

Earth Calling… Activity from New Horizons – Grades 6-8

Some spacecraft return to Earth with valuable data as part of their cargo, but all require some periodic remote communications as they travel. And for those spacecraft that do not return to Earth, the communication system is the only link to the valuable data collected during its journey. In this activity, students simulate spacecraft radio communication concepts, including the speed of light and the time-delay for signals sent to and from spacecraft.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Earth_Calling.html

Star-forming Nebula NGC 3603 Lithograph and In Search of Stellar Evolution Education Activity – Grades 11-12

Some of the heftiest known stars in the universe reside in the nebula NGC 3603, a large gas cloud in the Milky Way galaxy. The image of the nebula is on the first page of the lithograph and background information is on the second page. The lithograph includes a Level One Inquiry activity entitled “In Search of … Stellar Evolution” in which students research how stars form.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Star-forming_Nebula.html

New DIY Podcast Module Available – Micro-g

Teachers, are you looking for a new interactive way to reinforce core concepts?  Try student Podcasting!  Through DIY student Podcasting, your class will use audio and visual materials organized in subject modules to create their own multimedia content about the module concepts.  The Podcasts can then be shared online to create a collaborative multimedia portfolio.  The companion Blog offers support to educators interested in using Podcasting the the classroom.  Try it out!

The newest Do-It-Yourself, or DIY, Podcast module, Micro-g, is live and ready for use.

This module includes four NASA experts explaining microgravity and how to live in it. Nancy Hall is a microgravity researcher on Earth. Mike Fincke is the U.S. astronaut who has spent the most total time in orbit (more than a year). And we have footage of flight engineers Nicole Stott and Bob Thirsk from the International Space Station.

Several video clips and images on the photo index page show microgravity demonstrations on Earth and objects and astronauts floating through the space station.

Other DIY Podcast topic modules are:
– Fitness
– Lab Safety
– Newton’s Laws
– Robots
– Rocket Science
– Solar Arrays
– Spacesuits
– Sports Demo

Students use the video clips, pictures and audio clips to build podcast episodes and other multimedia projects.  A companion blog offers tips and suggestions for incorporating the DIY Podcast into the classroom.

To learn more and to start building podcasts, visit http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/diypodcast/index.html.

What’s New at the NASA Space Place?

Science and technology permeate all our activities from driving a car to cooking to writing poetry. So when we study science and technology, why not incorporate some of those other activities? Why not use interests like art and music to think about and express our understanding of nature? The Space Place has lots of cross-disciplinary opportunities to help make nature unforgettable.

New at spaceplace.nasa.gov
Get the key to the treasure chest! The new “Go with the Flow” game at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ocean-currents/en/ has you playing with salinity and heat, which have opposing effects on vertical water movement. Using heat and salt as tools, as well as horizontal currents and walls, you set up flow patterns that your little submarine can follow in order to reach the key that will open the treasure chest and get the gold.

After playing “Flow,” students are not likely to forget the roles that heat and salinity play on ocean currents. These are important principles to learn in order to understand the potential effects of climate change.

Space Place en español
¡Haz un mapa topográfico! But first, make a clay sculpture of a mountain. This hands-on arts and crafts activity shows how 3-D topography can be represented very accurately on a 2-D map. Using clay (or our recipe for modeling dough), dental floss, paper, pencil, ruler and toothpicks, students make a mountain of any shape, slice it horizontally using dental floss and outline the slices on a piece of paper. It could be an art project or a geography project. Either way, it’s lots of fun, and clearly explains the mystery of topo maps, which many people never understand. Go to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sp/topomap-clay.

Spotlight on Music
Music is science and technology in the service of art. At least that’s one way to look at it. See (and hear) an example at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/violins. Musical instruments are technologies. The most exquisite-sounding instruments represent technological excellence. But what makes the best instrument sound better than the second best instrument? In the case of Stradivarius violins, it’s believed to be the unique density of the wood, which grew only during a certain period of history. Why? Because of a lack of sunspots!

Another example of technology as a delivery mechanism for art is the Golden Records on each of the two Voyager spacecraft, now nearing interstellar space. These records are meant as messages from Earth in the event that intelligent alien beings someday encounter the probes. Students can see some of the photos of Earth and try to guess the identity of some of the sounds on the records at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/voyager-to-stars.

For the classroom
Drumming is a form of music, but it can also be a form of precise verbal communication.

When people figured out how to add meaning to an electromagnetic wave, which is essentially a rhythm, a universe of possibilities opened up. Speaking in Phases is a classroom activity that demonstrates the difference between amplitude modulated (AM), frequency modulated (FM) and phase modulated signals. It’s not as hard as you might think. In this case, all that’s required is something to beat on — like drums or desks — and maybe a metronome or electronic keyboard that can make a steady beat.

Students learn the basics of how information is added to a carrier signal. Then they add their own meaning to the signal and communicate with each other using only the timing of beats. It truly teaches the most basic concept underlying all electronic communication, including radio, TV, phones, satellites and spacecraft far away in deep space. See http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/classroom-activities/#phases.

For out-of-school time
Almost everyone loves to eat. Why not make it even more fun by combining snack preparation with space exploration? The Space Place has several projects you can make, and then eat.

One project is Asteroid Potatoes, spaceplace.nasa.gov/asteroid-potatoes. To cut down on mess, you can make the mashed potatoes ahead of time, and let the kids do the sculpting, baking (with supervision) and eating.

Another creative activity is making edible spacecraft or rockets. Tortillas make a wonderful base. You can even paint them (or paint small, cut-out pieces) with food coloring. Also provide colorful vegetables and fruits of many kinds, olives, cream cheese (for glue), chips and anything else you can think of that’s good to eat. Take pictures before they’re gobbled up. See some examples and recipes at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/tortilla-spacecraft.

Special Days

January is National Whale Watching Month
Some species are endangered. See how satellites can help, and play “Migration Concentration” at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/migration.

Feb. 12, 1809: Charles Darwin’s Birthday
Darwin is known for his theory of the evolution of species. Play with the “Emoticonstructor” and see one way evolution works at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/emoticonstructor.

Feb. 22: Thinking Day
Exercise your brain by going “VecàTouring” at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/vec-touring.

Feb. 25: Quiet Day
Even the most violent events in space make no sound. Make a Sound Cone to hear even very quiet sounds. See how at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sound-cone.