Month: February 2014

NASA and JAXA are about to launch a new satellite that can see through storms, tracking rain and snow around the globe better than any previous observatory. The Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory is scheduled to lift off from Japan on Feb. 27th.

The GPM mission can be used enhance the NES resources:

  • NES Lesson: Weather and Climate: Satellite Meteorology – Students use authentic data from geostationary satellites to detect and monitor forest fires and biomass burning. Students use the data to monitor the planet and identify urban heat islands.
  • NES Lesson: Electromagnetic Spectrum: Remote Sensing Ices on Mars – Students analyze data collected by Mars spacecraft using three different forms of electromagnetic energy — visible light, infrared, and gamma rays — to investigate the composition and distribution of ices at the high-latitude regions of Mars.
  • NASA Now: Climate Change: Sea Level Rise – Learn about the connection between oceans and global climate change. Find out why NASA measures greenhouse gases and how we detect ocean levels from space.

 

HIAD: Opening New Possibilities for Planetary Exploration

In this NASA Now classroom video, introduced by Danielle Schwan, NES educator at Lake Metroparks in Kirtland, Ohio, Walter Bruce, a thermal engineer at NASA Langley Research Center, explains how a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator, or HIAD, works and he describes some possibilities for future planetary exploration that HIAD presents.

Look for the full-length video on the Virtual Campus website beginning Wednesday, Mar. 5, 2014.

NASA Now Minute

NES Web Seminars for the Week of Feb. 24

NES Web Seminar — Properties of Living Things: Searching for Life on Mars
Audience: 6-8 and Informal Educators
Event Date: Feb. 24, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. EST
For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES4/webseminar26.aspx

NES Web Seminar — Engineering Design Challenge: Spacecraft Structures
Audience: 6-8 and Informal Educators
Event Date: Feb 26, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. EST
For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES4/webseminar11.aspx

NES Video Chat: International Space Station — Experiments in Microgravity

Date: Feb. 20, 2014
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Topic: International Space Station: Experiments in Microgravity

Former NASA astronaut Gregory H. Johnson and Dr. Michael Roberts of the Center for the Advancement of Space In Science, or CASIS, will answer student questions about experiments on board the ISS.

Join this exciting video chat for students by going to the video chat login page 15 minutes prior to the start time and submit your student questions via Twitter, email or chat. Selected questions will be answered during the broadcast.

NES Webinar for Educators: Electromagnetic Spectrum: Remote Sensing Ices on Mars

odyssey-mission-medIn this web seminar for educators of students in grades 9–12, participants will learn how to guide students in using authentic mission data to investigate the composition and distribution of ices at the high latitude regions of Mars. Mar. 20 at 6:30 p.m. EST. For more information and register online visit the NSTA Learning Center.

Get Your Head in the Game

NASA STEM Mania is Coming!

NASA STEM MANIA

Take part in NASA STEM Mania and discover how sports and NASA have a lot in common. NASA STEM Mania combines the passion of sports with the enthusiasm for learning. During each Web seminar in the series, participants learn how to incorporate sports into various aspects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Learn NASA content and how topics such as robotics, Newton’s Laws of Motion, the radiation budget and a host of other topics, integrate into your curriculum.

Attend one or more sessions in this unique educator professional development series.

Target Audience: K-12 Educators
Subject Category: Earth Science, Physical Science, Mathematics
Unit Correlation: Exploring Earth, Engineering and Technology, NASA Missions, Space, and Special Programs
Delivery Dates: Feb. 24 – Mar. 20
Delivery Time: 60 – 90 minutes

NES Professional Development Web Seminars the Week of Feb. 10

Engineering Design: Forces and Motion – Balloon Aerodynamics Challenge
Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. EST
Audience: Grades 6-8 educators

Radiation Biology: Ultraviolet Radiation and Yeast
Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. EST
Audience: Grades 9-12 educators

For more information and to register online visit the NSTA Learning Center.

NES Web Seminars This Week

Engineering Design Challenge: Water Filtration
Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. EST
Audience: Grades 6-8 educators

Chemistry of Water: Mars Exploration-Is There Water on Mars?
Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. EST
Audience: Grades 9-12 educators

Electrolysis of Water: Math and Science @ Work-A Breath of Fresh Air
Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. EST
Audience: Grades 9-12 educators

For more information and to register online visit the NSTA Learning Center.