Tag: Middle School Students

EarthKAM Summer 2013 Mission

ISS EarthKAMStudents and educators are invited to join NASA for the Sally Ride EarthKAM Summer 2013 Mission from July 9-12, 2013. Guide your students in hands-on research as they program a camera aboard the International Space Station to take pictures of specific locations on Earth. The optional online curriculum at the Sally Ride EarthKAM website is designed for middle school students, but could easily be adapted for other grade levels. All students and educators are invited to participate, including participants in summer and after-school programs.

For more information and to register for the upcoming mission, visit the Sally Ride EarthKAM home page at https://earthkam.ucsd.edu/.

Fly Your Face in Space (EXPIRED)

Smiley face against star field backgroundNASA wants to launch a picture of you on the final space shuttle mission.


After registering at the Face in Space website, you’ll be able to upload an image that will be put on a disc and flown aboard the shuttle Atlantis. After launch, participants will be able to print a commemorative certificate signed by the mission commander. From the Face in Space website you can also check on the mission status, find NASA educational resources, and follow the crew on Twitter or Facebook.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.



2012 OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Video Contest for Grades 3-12 Students

Optimus PrimeNASA has opened registration for the 2012 OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Video Contest. Featuring OPTIMUS PRIME, the leader from the popular TRANSFORMERS brand, the contest highlights spinoffs from NASA technologies that are used on Earth. The goal is to help students understand the benefits of NASA technology to their daily lives.

Each student, or group of students, will submit a three- to five-minute video on a selected NASA spinoff technology listed in NASA’s 2011 “Spinoff” publication. Videos must demonstrate an understanding of the NASA spinoff technology and the associated NASA mission, as well as the commercial application and public benefit associated with the spinoff technology.

Participants must register for the contest by Dec. 15, 2012.

Video entries will be posted on the NASA YouTube channel, and the public will be responsible for the first round of judging. The top five submissions from each of the three grade groups (elementary [3rd-5th], middle [6th-8th] and high school [9th-12th]) will advance for final judging. A NASA panel will select a winning entry from each group. The students submitting the winning entries will be the guests of honor at the OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Contest awards ceremony in May 2013. While there, the winners will receive the OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Contest trophy and have the opportunity to meet NASA VIPs, astronauts and actor Peter Cullen, who voices the character OPTIMUS PRIME.

TRANSFORMERS and OPTIMUS PRIME are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2012 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

For more information, visit https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/releases/2012/12-077.html.

Questions about this contest should be directed to Darryl Mitchell at Darryl.R.Mitchell@nasa.gov.

Spot the International Space Station from your own Backyard

Spot the StationDid you know you may be able see the International Space Station from your home? As the third brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon, the space station is easy to see if you know where and when to look for it.

NASA’s Spot the Station service sends you an email or text message a few hours before the space station passes over your house. The space station looks like a fast-moving plane in the sky, though one with people living and working aboard it more than 200 miles above the ground. It is best viewed on clear nights.

For more information and to sign up for alerts, visit Spot The Station.

This opportunity is a great extension to NASA Now: The Mechanics of Solar Panels. To access this episode of the Emmy Award winning NASA Now series, log into the NES Virtual Campus.

Cassini Scientist for a Day Essay Contest

Cassini

The deadline for the 2012 Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest is now two weeks away. There’s still time for your students to write essays for the contest.


The contest is open to students in grades 5-12. All students who enter will receive a certificate of participation. Winning entries will be posted on NASA’s Cassini website. Winners and their classes will be invited to participate in a teleconference, videoconference, or online discussion with Cassini scientists so the students can ask their space questions to the experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.


Complete contest rules and videos about each of the three possible essay topics can be found on the contest website.

Name That Asteroid Contest (Grades K-12)

Name that Asteroid!Students worldwide have an opportunity to name an asteroid from which an upcoming NASA mission will return samples to Earth. Scheduled to launch in 2016, the mission is called the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx. The competition is open to students under age 18. Each contestant can submit one name, up to 16 characters long. Entries must include a short explanation and rationale for the name. The contest deadline is Dec. 2, 2012.

For contest rules, guidelines, and application visit: http://planetary.org/name.

For more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission, visit: http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu.

RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge to Solve Real NASA-Related Problems

RealWorld-InWorld logoHere’s an exciting opportunity to involve your students in the unique RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge to solve real NASA-related problems.

There are two phases to the RealWorld-InWorld challenge.

RealWorld
The challenge begins in the RealWorld where students in grades 8-12 use the engineering design process to solve one of two problems related to the James Webb Space Telescope. Educator and student RealWorld resources will be available on September 1.

Upon completion of RealWorld registration, teachers and others guiding students through the RealWorld design phase may register to use PTC Creo professional engineering software along with free online training valued at more than $900,000.

InWorld
Twenty selected RealWorld teams are mentored by college engineering students, InWorld, in a virtual world setting. Team leader registration and InWorld resources will be available on September 1.

The InWorld phase begins January 31, 2013 following the completion of the RealWorld phase.

For more information about this exciting challenge, visit the RealWorld-InWorld website.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.

Video Chat TODAY: Starry, Starry Night

Michelle ThallerToday, Dr. Michelle Thaller from Goddard Space Flight Center will answer student questions from 1 – 2 p.m. EDT. Dr. Thaller’s research interests are hot stars, colliding stellar winds, binary star evolution and evolved stellar companions. Don’t miss this opportunity to have your students ask Dr. Thaller about her research and the path that led her to NASA.


Teach About the Sun During Solar Week – March 19-23, 2012

Solar Week March 19-23, 2012Solar Week Spring 2012, March 19-23 is a lively week of online activities and curriculum for students about the sun, including games and lesson plans for the whole week. In addition, there’s a message board where your classroom can submit a question to leading solar scientists.


Every fall and spring since 2000, Solar Week has provided a week-long series of Web-based educational classroom activities and games geared for upper elementary, middle and early high school students with a focus on our dynamic sun and its effects on Earth. Students learn about solar eclipses, sunspots, solar flares and solar storms through a series of activities, games, and lessons. 

Solar Week is ideal for students studying the solar system, the stars, or astronomy in general, and now we feature a day on solar energy. It’s also for kids wondering what it’s like being a scientist, and pondering possible career choices. Participation makes for a fun computer lab activity as well. After doing the activities, students can interact on the bulletin board with leading scientists at the forefront of Sun-Earth research. It’s a great place for any student interested in our nearest star, the sun!

Solar Week is a collaboration between University of California, Berkeley and Rice University.

Note: Teachers, please read the FAQs before your class submits a question to the bulletin board. There you will find information and answers on how to ask a good question and other useful tips.

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