Career Information – NES Teachers Corner

NASA Now: Inspiration and Education — Building a Career at NASA

Be sure not to miss the March 6, 2013 episode of NASA Now, introduced by NES educator Erin Warrilow from Dresden Middle School, when three experts who work in very different fields at NASA discuss their jobs, responsibilities and what they enjoy most about their work. They also talk about what inspired them to pursue their careers and offer career advice to students.

Here’s a preview of the program.

NASA Now Minute

Link to the NASA Explorer Schools home page.

WISH: Opportunity for Female High School Students

The Women in STEM High School Aerospace Scholars project offers a one-of-a-kind experience for female high school students to jump-start their future and explore the possibilities of a major or career related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The WISH adventure starts with an online community and culminates with a summer experience at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston during the summer of 2013.

The application deadline is Dec. 28, 2012.

For more information and a link to the application, visit http://www.wish.aerospacescholars.org.

NES Video Chat: Building and Testing Solid Fuel Rocket Motors

Collage of Sam Ortega photo and close-up of ignited solid rocket boosters NASA Explorer Schools invites K-12 students across the United States to chat with NASA civil engineer Sam Ortega, Program Manager of Centennial Challenge. Ortega will answer questions about building and testing solid fuel rocket motors and being a civil engineer at NASA during a live video webchat tomorrow, Tuesday April 19, 2011 at 2 p.m. EDT.

Link to the video chat website.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.

Live Video Chat: Women at NASA

NASA Explorer Schools invites students in grades K-12 from across the U.S. and Department of Defense schools to participate in a live video chat with three outstanding women at NASA. The event takes place on March 29, 2011, at 2 p.m. EDT. Students and teachers can submit questions to Erika Alvarez, Mallory M. Johnston and Monsi C. Roman during this hour-long chat. The women will answer students’ questions about careers in science and engineering.

Go to the chat page on the NASA Explorer Schools Virtual Campus website to participate in the webchat. You do not need to be a participant of the NASA Explorer Schools project to join the chat. To learn more about NES, visit explorerschools.nasa.gov, watch the What Is NES? video and read About NES.

To learn more about the women participating in the webchat, visit the chat Web page.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.

Teacher Uses NES Resources to Stimulate Career Interest

Cindy Dwyer, NASA Explorer Schools teacher with Sayville Public Schools, used NASA educational materials to stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers in her gifted student program. Cindy says, “I teach a gifted student enrichment program in the three elementary schools in my school district. We used the Field Trip to the Moon curriculum from NASA. We also used Google Earth’s moon interface to view photos of the landing sites mentioned in the Navigation team kit and photos from the LCROSS mission. My students find NASA missions fascinating and displayed active engagement throughout this project.”

The school received attention when the project was featured on a local news station. Students were interviewed on their specific roles in the lunar activity.

Read details of Cindy’s experience in NEON. Register, log in, join the NASA Explorer Schools group, and find the On the Moon Educator Guide: On Target forum. The complete story is available there, as well as other educators’ experiences with the On Target activity.

The featured lesson, On Target from On the Moon Educator Guide, may be found in the Teaching Materials section of the NES Virtual Campus.

Video Webchat With Astronaut Ron Garan on Feb. 8

On Feb. 8, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST, a special Digital Learning Network event with astronaut Ron Garan will be held. Garan is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in March of this year. During the special webcast event, Garan will discuss his upcoming mission and answer questions from students. Students across the country will be able to watch the DLiNfo Channel’s webcast, and they will be able to e-mail their questions for Garan to answer during the program.

Join the webcast by following the link in the DLiNfo Channel Webcasts portion of the page at the DLN website.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus.

DLiNFocus: NASA Careers ‘What’s in Your Future?’ Special Event Series

Students and teachers have an opportunity to learn about the wide variety of career choices at NASA — astronauts aren’t the only folks who work at NASA! NASA employees representing various projects and missions will be in the Digital Learning Network studios for a series of webcasts focusing on careers. They will share their academic experiences from elementary school through college and talk about what motivated them to pursue their careers.

Each event will be webcast to allow students from all over the world to watch the interviews. Any student can interact by sending questions via e-mail.

The schedule of events through December is:

— Dec. 1: Marshall Space Flight Center featuring Tristan Curry — Aerospace Engineer.

— Dec. 8: Dryden Flight Research Center featuring Kathleen Stanton — Nurse.

— Dec. 15: Glenn Research Center featuring Mike Foreman — former astronaut and current Chief of External Programs at GRC.

Each hour-long webcast event begins at 2 p.m. EST.

For more information, visit the DLN website at http://dln.nasa.gov and click the Special Events button.

Inquiries about the DLiNFocus series should be directed to Caryn Long.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.