NASA Education “Science WOW!” Message — Sept. 14, 2016

**NEW** NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Seeks Educators and Students for Climate Change Research Initiative
Audience: 9-12 Educators and Graduate Students
Application Deadline: Sept. 19, 2016

The NASA GISS Climate Change Research Initiative is an opportunity for high school educators and graduate students to work directly with NASA scientists in a NASA research project associated with the science related to climate change.

High school STEM educators participating in this yearlong opportunity will become associate researchers at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and STEM education experts. They will integrate NASA education resources and content into their classrooms while improving STEM education within their communities.

For graduate students, this yearlong opportunity will not conflict with the student’s course work and class schedule during the fall and spring. The internship is considered to be a part-time position that supports the graduate student’s major area of study.

All applicants must be U.S. citizens who reside within a 50-mile radius of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, located in New York City.

Applications are due Sept. 19, 2016.

For more information, visit http://www.giss.nasa.gov/edu/ccri/.

Please direct inquiries about the NASA GISS Climate Change Research Initiative to Matthew Pearce at matthew.d.pearce@nasa.gov.

2016 von Kármán Lecture Series — Attend in Person or View Online
Audience: All Educators; Students in Grades 9-12 and Higher Education
Next Lecture Date: Sept. 22, 2016, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)

The Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series, named after the founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and presented by JPL’s Office of Communication and Education, shares the excitement of the space program’s missions, instruments and other technologies.

Lectures take place twice per month, on consecutive Thursdays and Fridays. The Thursday lectures take place in JPL’s Theodore von Kármán Auditorium, and Friday lectures take place at Pasadena City College’s Vosloh Forum. Both start at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT). Admission and parking are free for all lectures. No reservations are required, but seating is limited. The Thursday evening lectures are streamed live for viewing online. Archives of past lectures are also available online.

Next Lecture in the Series:

Revealing Saturn: Cassini Science Highlights and the Grand Finale
Event Date: Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, 2016, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures_archive.php?year=2016&month=9
The Cassini mission’s findings have revolutionized our understanding of Saturn. With its mission winding down, what new puzzles will Cassini solve before it plunges into Saturn’s atmosphere? Cassini Project Scientist Dr. Linda Spilker will present highlights of Cassini’s ambitious inquiry at Saturn and an overview of science observations in the final orbits. Dr. Earl Maize, Cassini program manager, will discuss Cassini’s exciting challenges and the final year of the mission, ultimately flying through a region where no spacecraft has ever flown before.

Questions about this series should be directed to http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/contact_JPL.php.

**NEW** Join STEM@NASA Goddard in Celebrating International Observe the Moon Night!
Audience: All Educators and Students
Event Date: Sept. 28, 2016, 1-1:30 p.m. EDT

Are you ready to look at the moon in an entirely new way? Join NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on Sept. 28, 2016, at 1 p.m. EDT for STEM@NASA Goddard: International Observe the Moon Night. During this 30-minute event, Andrea Jones, education specialist for Planetary Science Institute at NASA Goddard, will share how International Observe the Moon Night encourages appreciation and understanding of our moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration.

The program will stream live on NASA Goddard’s Ustream channel, and participants will be able to submit questions by email and Twitter.

For more information, please contact Erin McKinley at erin.e.mckinley@nasa.gov.

**NEW** Celebrate Solar Week — Fall 2016
Audience: Informal Educators and Students in Grades 5-9
Event Dates: Oct. 17-21, 2016

Solar Week, October 17-21, provides a weeklong series of web-based activities with a focus on the sun-Earth connection. Young people ages 10-14 can learn about solar careers, sunspots, solar eclipses, solar energy and solar storms through a series of cool facts, activities and games.

Solar Week is ideal for young teens or groups wanting to know more about the solar system, the stars or astronomy in general. Many activities are suitable for fun in the computer lab as well. After doing the activities, participants can interact on the bulletin board with leading scientists at the forefront of sun-Earth research. Solar Week is great for learning about our nearest star, the sun.

To learn more and to register to participate, visit http://www.solarweek.org.

Questions about Solar Week may be emailed to solarweek@solarweek.org.

Science Opportunities for Educators of Grades K-12

**NEW** Free Education Webinars From NASA Educator Professional Development
Audience: In-service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal Educators

The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University is presenting a series of free webinars open to all educators. Join NASA education specialists to learn about activities, lesson plans, educator guides and resources that bring NASA into your classroom. Registration is required to participate. To register, simply click on the link provided beneath the webinar description.

Lava Layering: Making and Mapping a Volcano
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 5-8
Event Date: Sept. 14, 2016, at 7 p.m. EDT
The focus of this webinar is interpreting geologic history through volcano formation and excavation. Baking soda, vinegar and play dough are used to model fluid lava flows. Various colors of play dough identify different eruption events. Students will (1) Construct a model of a volcano, (2) Produce lava flows, (3) Observe, draw, record, and interpret the history and stratigraphy of a volcano produced by other students, and (4) Draw connections between Earth and Mars by studying volcanic features on each. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/196508

Seeing Your Students at NASA: STEM Careers Exploration Webquest
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 6-12
Event Date: Sept. 19, 2016, at 6 p.m. EDT
Consider using a webquest in your classroom to engage students in guided inquiry. Students will begin to identify STEM career opportunities that they are interested in while clicking on video links about scientists and engineers who work with environmental issues and problems. The webquest and resources may be used by students working independently or for the whole class to stimulate discussion and collaboration.
Link to the webquest:
https://pmm.pps.eosdis.nasa.gov/education/interactive/stem-careers-exploration
Register online to participate:
https://www.etouches.com/199703

Seeing Your Students at NASA: Rocks From Space and Other Worlds
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 3-8
Event Date: Sept. 20, 2016, at 5 p.m. EDT
Astromaterials scientists at NASA study rocks and “soil” samples from other planetary bodies. Learn how students can use GLOBE materials to study Earth rocks and soils; find out about the Lunar and Meteorite Certification program for educators; and take a tour of the various missions and research NASA has conducted and continues to conduct in our solar system and beyond. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/198916

For a full schedule of upcoming webinars, visit http://www.txstate-epdc.net/events/.

Please direct questions about this series of webinars to Steve Culivan at stephen.p.culivan@nasa.gov.

Free Education Webinar From the GOES-R Education Proving Ground — GOES-R: Countdown to Launch!
Audience: 6-12 Educators
Event Date: Sept. 17, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. EDT

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R series is the next generation of geostationary Earth-observing systems. The GOES-R series satellites will provide continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere. The satellites will collect lightning data and monitor space weather to provide critical atmospheric, hydrologic, oceanic, climatic, solar and space data. The first satellite in the GOES-R series is scheduled to launch in October 2016.

To help educators prepare for the new satellite imagery and data that will be available during the GOES-R era, the GOES-R Education Proving Ground will host a series of education webcasts leading up to launch.

The webinars will take place on the following Saturday mornings at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Sept. 17, 2016: Countdown to Launch!

For more information, including log-in instructions for the webinars, visit http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/education/goesr/.

Please direct questions about this series of webinars to Margaret Mooney at Margaret.Mooney@ssec.wisc.edu.

GLOBE El Niño Field Campaign and Webinar — Using El Niño GLOBE Data for Scientific Research
Audience: K-12 Educators
Next Webinar Date: Sept. 19, 2016, at 8 p.m. EDT

El Niño and La Niña are important phenomena that can impact the climate by causing global flooding and droughts as well as changes in seasonal weather. These interactions around the world are called teleconnections. Because of the importance of this issue, a GLOBE ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) Campaign has been formulated to engage students in determining where and how much El Niño affects local places and to put students in contact with their local environment.

To learn more about the campaign and how to participate, visit http://www.globe.gov/web/el-nino/el-nino-campaign.

To help educators prepare for the El Niño Campaign, GLOBE is hosting a series of free education webinars to discuss the mechanics of the campaign, give updates on data collection, and give participants the opportunity to learn science content from experts.

The final hourlong webinar in the series will take place on the following date at 8 p.m. EDT.

Sept. 19, 2016: El Niño Student Campaign Refresher and Update

For more information, including log-in instructions for the webinars and recordings of previous webinars in the series, visit http://www.globe.gov/web/el-nino/el-nino-campaign/webinars.

Please direct questions about this opportunity and series of webinars to http://www.globe.gov/support/contact.

**NEW** Educator Workshop — Comets Close Up
Audience: Formal and Informal Educators of Grades 6-12
Event Date: Sept. 24, 2016, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. PDT

The Rosetta spacecraft is on a 10-year mission to study the comet “67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko” (C-G) and answer questions about comets. Join lead scientists for the Rosetta mission in an educational workshop that explores hands-on activities and resources for engaging students in the science of comets and small bodies.

In this workshop, Rosetta project scientist Bonnie Buratti and project manager Art Chmielewski will share some of the basic physics of comets and discuss how the Rosetta mission was able to land on one for the first time. Hear about the mission’s latest discoveries, see incredible up-close images of the comet, and get the inside scoop on a second landing on the comet scheduled for Sept. 30, 2016.

The target audience for the workshop is formal and informal educators of grades 6-12, but it is open to all educators.

The event will take place Sept. 24, 2016, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT at the von Kármán Auditorium at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

For more information, directions to the workshop location, and instructions for reserving a spot, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/events/2016/9/24/educator-workshop-comets-close-up.

To learn more about the Rosetta mission, visit http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Please direct questions about this workshop to Andrea Angrum at 818-354-6775.

Science Opportunities for Higher Education and Informal Institutions

Center for Astronomy Education Regional Teaching Exchanges and Workshops — Fall/Winter 2016-2017
Audience: Current and Future College Instructors of Astronomy
Next Event Date: Sept. 17, 2016

NASA’s Center for Astronomy Education, or CAE, announces a series of regional teaching exchanges and workshops for astronomy and space science educators.

Teaching exchanges foster a sense of community among geographically linked current and future college instructors of astronomy. Regional experts from the broader CAE community are ready to provide the opportunity for you to meet your neighbors, expand your instructional repertoire and share your own expertise.

Workshops provide participants with experiences needed to create effective and productive active-learning classroom environments. Workshop leaders model best practices in implementing many different classroom-tested instructional strategies. But more importantly, workshop participants will gain first-hand experience implementing these proven strategies.

Sept. 17, 2016 — Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York
CAE Northeast Regional Teaching Exchange

For more information and to register for the teaching exchanges, visit http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/workshops/index.cfm.

Inquiries about this series of events should be directed to Gina Brissenden at gbrissenden@as.arizona.edu.

CAE is funded through NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Exoplanet Exploration Program.