Tag: NASA Education Update

Desert RATS 2010 Webcast

NASA’s Desert RATS, or Research and Technology Studies, will make its 13th trip to the desert this fall for another round of analog testing.

The Desert RATS tests offer a chance for a NASA-led team of engineers, astronauts and scientists from across the country to come together to conduct technology-development research in the Arizona desert. The location offers a good stand in for destinations for future planetary exploration missions. 

This year’s mission includes a variety of activities geared to inspire students to become space explorers and NASA’s future workforce. On Sept. 1, 2010, at 9:45 a.m. PDT, a 30-minute webcast will highlight the upcoming Desert RATS activities as they kick off the two-week testing period. Students can submit questions to be answered live by actual engineers and scientists that created, built and are testing all of the amazing tools, vehicles and technology. Questions for the NASA field test team can be submitted at www.arizonadesertrats.com.

For more information about Desert RATS visit https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/desert_rats.html.

Check out videos of this year’s mission on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/NASAanalogTV



Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge

NASA’s 2nd Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge

NASA is inviting students in grades 5-8 to participate in the 2nd Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge. The challenge uses real-world scenarios that meet science and mathematics content standards. Students can participate in a formal, informal or home-school setting.

Teams of up to six students design a water recycling system for the unique environment of the moon. Teams then test their system on a simulated wastewater stream. Proposals and results are due Feb. 28, 2011.

The winning teams will be announced in May 2011. The top three teams will receive awards. The first place team will receive an expense-paid trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the winning team’s visit to Kennedy, students will gain firsthand knowledge about NASA’s missions, receive behind-the-scenes tours of NASA’s launch facilities, and learn about future aerospace and engineering careers.

For more information and contest rules, please visit http://wlmr.nasa.gov/.

Questions about the challenge should be directed to Jay Garland at jay.l.garland@nasa.gov. 


Update: NASA Explorer Schools Orientation Sessions

NASAExplorerSchools provides free teaching and learning resources that promote student engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It provides opportunities for teachers and students to participate in NASA’s mission of research and discovery through inquiry-based experiences directly related to the work of NASA scientists and engineers. 

If you work in an accredited K-12 education institution in the U.S. or U.S. territory and want to be a part of the NASAExplorerSchools project, sign-up for an orientation session. You will be contacted for orientation prior to the start date scheduled for mid-September.
For more information visit the NES Virtual Campus home page.



NASA Explorer Schools Orientation Sessions

NASAExplorerSchools provides free teaching and learning resources that promote student engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It provides opportunities for teachers and students to participate in NASA’s mission of research and discovery through inquiry-based experiences directly related to the work of NASA scientists and engineers. 

If you work in an accredited K-12 education institution in the U.S. or U.S. territory and want to be a part of the NASAExplorerSchools project, sign-up for an orientation session. You will be contacted for orientation prior to the start date scheduled for the first week of September.
For more information visit the NES Virtual Campus home page


RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge


Artist Conception of the James Webb space telescope in space.The RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge invites high school students to work cooperatively as engineers and scientists to solve real-world problems related to the James Webb Space Telescope.




In Phase 1 of this education initiative, students explore and design solutions to two real-world problems related to the James Webb Space Telescope. For this phase, participants work in teams of three-to-five students.

Final RealWorld project solutions from this first phase of the challenge are due on Dec. 15, 2010.



Teams who complete Phase 1 are then paired with participating college engineering students to begin Phase 2, the InWorld phase of the challenge. Working in a virtual world setting, each newly formed InWorld team uses 21st-century tools to refine designs and create 3-D models of the Webb telescope.



For more information about the challenge, visit https://www.nasarealworldinworld.org/.



Questions about this opportunity should be directed to RWIW@nianet.org.



Cassini Scientist for a Day Contest

Artist's view of Cassini approaching Saturn
The Cassini Scientist for a Day contest challenges students to become NASA scientists studying Saturn. Participants examine three possible observations taken by Cassini and choose the one they think will yield the best scientific results. This choice must then be supported in a 500-word essay. Teaming up is encouraged. Winners will participate in a teleconference with Cassini scientists.
 
The contest is open to all students in the United States from grades 5-12, working alone or in groups of up to four students. The essays will be divided into three groups: grades 5-6, 7-8 and 9-12. All submissions must be students’ original work. Each student can submit only one entry.
 
Deadline for Fall 2010 submissions is noon Pacific time (3 p.m. EDT) on Oct. 27, 2010.
 

If you have questions about this contest, e-mail your inquiries to scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov.

For more information visit the NES Virtual Campus home page.

FlyBy Math Releases New Online Tool


NASA has released an interactive online tool enabling students to simultaneously visualize and manipulate three linked representations of a distance-rate-time problem. The side-by-side tool format features two airplanes (each flying at a constant speed) on merging jet routes, the corresponding distance-vs.-time graphs, and the corresponding linear equations.

Students can manipulate an airplane’s speed and starting position on its route, rotate or shift the associated line on the graph, and change the parameters of the associated equation. As students change one representation, the other representations update accordingly.

The free classroom materials include the tool, student workbooks, assessments, teacher guides, and alignments to grades 5-9 mathematics standards for all 50 states.

The new tool is an addition to FlyBy Math from NASA Smart Skies — distance-rate-time investigations engaging students in the challenges faced by air traffic controllers.

To access the new tool, visit http://www.smartskies.nasa.gov/flyby.

To access all of the Smart Skies mathematics investigations, visit http://www.smartskies.nasa.gov/.

Questions about the Smart Skies website and tools should be directed to smartskies@mail.nasa.gov.