EDUCATION: BASIC INFORMATION

Slooh, Thank You!  A look through a telescope was an important early moment in my scientific education, as it is for many kids, especially today with the high cost of telescopes and so much light pollution in so many places.  One solution is offered by Slooh, which runs a series of automated observatories around the world.  It is a commercial endeavor, but for a modest cost students can engage in live telescope control and receive age-appropriate learning activities.  Slooh isn’t just for students, either.  Check it out at https://www.slooh.com.  Ho, Ho, Ho!

JPL’s Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series is an outstanding educational resource.  One recent lecture was “Shake & Bake: How Spacecraft Are Tested to Handle the Harsh Environment of Space,” mentioned below.  JPL has posted 115 past von Kármán lectures, covering a wide range of topics; for more on the lecture series, see: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jpl-and-the-community/lecture-series.

NASA eClips Summer 2024: (I love this name!)  The NASA eClips program provides “educators with standards-based videos, activities, and lessons to increase STEM literacy, through the lens of NASA.”  They have produced materials for grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Student Productions, and more.  So, if you are a teacher, or a care-giver looking to supplement your charges’ learning, or even someone wanting to get up on the latest NASA science, by all means check this program out!  The eClips website hosts student-produced educational videos created under the Spotlite Design Challenge; for more information about this really cool opportunity, see: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/sdchallenge/home!  See the Summer 2024 eClips Newsletter at: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/downloadNewsletter/25 or in the Archive: Other Stuff section of the A+StW website.. 

Check out NASA’s Explore Flight “Museum in a Box!” For everyone, especially students in grades 5-12: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/museum-in-a-box-combined-lessons-02-09-11.pdf

Check out the JPL STEM Education website: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu!  It has sections aimed at teachers, K-12 students, college students, and getting an internship at JPL.  The “Learn” section has a LOT of really good learning activities for your (grand)children and students, and the “Teach” section has a LOT of resources for K-12 teachers and (grand)parents.  Don’t miss the “Events” section, either.  The JPL team had done a great job in creating wonderful on-line resource for learning at all levels!

NASA Has a First “A” and the mission directorate concerned with “aeronautics” has a number of teacher and learning resources; see: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/resources.

See also: Ferguson, Robert G., 2013, NASA’s First A: Aeronautics from 1958 to 2008, from the NASA History Series, SP-2012-4412.  ISBN 978-1-62683-010-3.  It’s available as a free download at: http://www.nasa.gov/ebooks!

NOTE: The latest monthly NASA Aeronautics STEM Newsletter is posted on the A+StW website’s “Archive: Other Stuff” page, see here.  Sign up to get your own monthly NASA Aeronautics STEM Newsletter here.

NASA STEM RESOURCES

For Teachers: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/foreducators/k-12/index.html; NASA EXPRESS Newsletter:  https://www.nasa.gov/stem/express

For Students: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/express and chat with other students and NASA experts at the NASA STEM Stars page; see: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/nasa-stem-stars/index.html

For the Media: https://www.nasa.gov/news/media/info/index.html

EXPLORING NASA STEM

Join NASA’s Museum and Informal Education Alliance!  For more information, see: https://informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museum/About

NASA has made a major investment in the advancement and promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.  You can check out their offerings at https://www.nasa.gov/stem.   See browsing tabs for students and teachers at different grade levels.

STEM for Educators: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/foreducators/k-12/index.html

The NASA Mars 2020 STEM Toolkit could be a valuable resource for teachers, and for lifelong learners as well.  See: https://go.nasa.gov/mars-stem-toolkit.

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement offerings under their NextGen STEM Program:

Small Steps to Giant Leaps: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/ssgl/index.html

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/commercial_crew/index.html

Moon to Mars: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/moon_to_mars/index.html

STEM on Station: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem_on_station/index.html

NASA Aerospace Education Resources

Join NASA’s Aeronautics for Educators Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nasaaeronauticsforeducators

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Education Resources: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/resources

Leveled Readers: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/resources/leveled-readers 

Museum in a Box: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/resources/museum-in-a-box 

NASA Aeronaut-X STEM for Next Gen: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/aeronaut-x/index.html

STEM Modules for Aeronautics for K-4: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/aero-prek.pdf

STEM Module: Quiet(er) Supersonic Flight: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/stem/X59

STEM Module: “Seeing” Sound (Educator’s Guide): https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/chevrons-educator-guide-v6.pdf

STEM Module: X-57 Electric Airplane: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/stem/X57 

STEM Module: Advanced Air Mobility: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/stem/AAM 

Astronomy Teaching Aids for the Visually Impaired: NASA recently released the digital files for 3-D printing of tactile models of the Chandra data of X-Ray universe, see: https://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/misc/visually_impaired.html.