Tag: Education Best Practice
NES Teacher Field Tests Activities for NASA
NASA Explorer Schools educator Cheryl May from Lebanon Middle School in Lebanon, Ky., was one of 13 educators who attended the NASA Explorer Schools’ GAVRT, or Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope, Summer recognition workshop at the Lewis Center in Apple Valley, Calif., from July 17–23, 2011. May, along with the other NES teachers, learned the basics of radio astronomy and how to control the 34-meter Goldstone Radio Telescope through the Internet so students can use the telescope for their own research projects.
Many opportunities were presented to the educators throughout this workshop. May signed on to test lessons and activities from a yet-to-be-published Juno Mission Activities Guide. With the help of teachers like May, and her students, the creators of the guide can determine how accurate and helpful their guide will be in the classroom. One of the lessons, “Interior Inferring,” has students discover the difference between evidence and inference. The students then complete a rubric and send their reviews of the activities back to the creators of the Juno Mission Workbook.
For more information about the NES GAVRT recognition workshop, visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123487334406976.
Link to the NASA Explorer Schools Home Page.
Family Science Night Emphasizes NASA's Continuing Mission
NASA Explorer Schools educator Barbara Dire from Forest Heights Elementary School led her school through another successful NASA Family Science Night. Forest Heights starts each school year with this event to introduce new families to NASA and rekindle the NASA spark. This year they had a Digital Learning Network session with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory located in Pasadena, Calif. The event stressed to the families that NASA still has a mission. Most of the parents thought the last shuttle mission meant the end of NASA. After the DLN session, students had a lot of fun constructing rockets. There were 212 students, parents and teachers present at this very successful NASA Family Science Night.
A Cross-discipline Unit Using Radio Jove

GAVRT Lesson Idea

Request for Universal Time Lesson Plans

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.
Soda Bottle Rocket — Design, Build and Test a Model Rocket

Building and Dropping Mars Landers — Six Minutes of Terror

For pictures and video go to the “Six Minutes of Terror” article in NEON.
Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.
An Idea for a Lunar Rover Project

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.
Barrett Elementary School Wins First Prize in Spaced Out Sports Challenge

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.