This seminar has been rescheduled due to problems associated with hurricane Sandy. NSTA will contact everyone who registered for this seminar to let you know the new date and time.
For further information visit the online registration page.
Space Station Cameras Capture Views of Approaching Hurricane Sandy
From an altitude of 254 statute miles, external cameras on the International Space Station captured views of Hurricane Sandy at 11:16 a.m. Eastern time October 29, 2012 as it barreled toward a landfall along the New Jersey coastline. Significant impacts of storm surge and flooding are expected along the eastern seaboard from the Middle Atlantic states to New England. At the time of the flyover, Sandy was located 260 miles south-southeast of New York City, moving north-northwest at 18 miles an hour with winds measured at 90 miles an hour as a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.
Professional Development Web Seminar: Engineering Design Challenge: Water Filtration
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 live professional development Web seminar on Oct. 30, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Get background information about water recycling on the International Space Station, and then see how to incorporate the information into an exciting hands-on, inquiry-based challenge requiring students to solve a problem. Participants will watch a video showing students engaged in the challenge and discuss possible modifications to the challenge to adapt it for different students and classroom situations.
This seminar will be repeated on Feb. 5, 2013.
For more information visit the online registration page.
Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.
Active Region on the Sun Emits Another Flare
The sun emitted a significant solar flare on Oct. 22, 2012, peaking at 11:17 p.m. EDT. The flare came from an active region on the left side of the sun that has been numbered AR 1598, which has already been the source of a number of weaker flares. This flare was classified as an X.1-class flare. This flare did not have an associated Earth-directed coronal mass ejection.
For more information visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3idSmR0ZYk
Professional Development Web Seminar: Meteorology — How Clouds Form
As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences, the NASA Explorer Schools project and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a free 90-minute Web seminar on Oct. 25, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Learn about the relationships between air pressure, temperature, volume and cloud formation. Get an overview of the necessary conditions for cloud formation and then see how to make a cloud in a bottle. Information will be provided about an extension activity, the S’COOL Project, which involves student participation in authentic science.
For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES3/webseminar10.aspx.
To learn more about the NASA Explorer Schools project, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.
NASA's Solar Fleet Peers Into Coronal Cavities
The sun’s atmosphere dances. Giant columns of solar material – made of gas so hot that many of the electrons have been scorched off the atoms, turning it into a form of magnetized matter we call plasma – leap off the sun’s surface, jumping and twisting. Sometimes these prominences of solar material, shoot off, escaping completely into space, other times they fall back down under their own weight.
This information is related to the NASA Explorer Schools lesson, Geometry: Space Math Problems—Solar Storms. To gain access to this lesson, log into the NES Virtual Campus.
To read more about the sun’s coronal cavities, visit the news page.
NASA Statement On Alpha Centauri Planet Discovery
The following is a portion of a statement about the European Southern Observatory’s latest exoplanet discovery from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Associate Administrator, Dr. John Grunsfeld.
“We congratulate the European Southern Observatory team for making this exciting new exoplanet discovery. For astronomers, the search for exoplanets helps us understand our place in the universe and determine whether Earth is unique in supporting life or if it is just one member of a large community of habitable worlds. NASA has several current and future missions that will continue in this search.”
To read the entire statement, visit https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/oct/HQ_12-366_NASA_Statement_Alpha_Centauri.html
For information about the NASA Explorer Schools project, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.
Professional Development Web Seminar: Pythagorean Theorem: Exploring Space Through Math — Lunar Rover
NASA Explorer Schools and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a 90-minute live professional development Web seminar for educators on Oct. 24, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Learn to use the distance formula and the Pythagorean theorem to determine the minimal path and minimal time for a lunar rover to perform tasks on the surface of the moon. Participants should have a basic knowledge of scale factor and application of the Pythagorean theorem. Having access to a calculator is helpful but not necessary for session.
Seminar participants will be given an overview of the lesson and a look at where it fits in the mathematics curriculum, including an alignment to the Common Core Standards for mathematics.
For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES3/webseminar9.aspx.
This seminar will be repeated on Feb. 27, 2013.
For more about the NASA Explorer Schools project, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.
Video Chat for Students: Multiple Teams Make the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle
NASA Explorer Schools is offering students in grades 7-12 an opportunity to ask questions of Nicole Smith, an aerospace engineer on the Orion crew and service module project. Join the video chat on Oct. 24, 2012, from 1 – 2 p.m. EDT to ask Smith questions about the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, America’s new spacecraft for human exploration. She also will address the importance of teamwork and her career as an aerospace engineer.
For more information and to view the video chat, visit https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/nes2/home/nicole-smith-chat.html.
NASA Now: How to Become and be an Astronaut
Learn about the necessary steps to become an astronaut, the job responsibilities of a pilot on the space shuttle and the incredible experience of being in space.
This program is available on the NES Virtual Campus beginning October 17, 2012.
Preview the program at the link below.