NASA Education “Science WOW!” Message — Nov. 23, 2016

**NEW** NASA’s Digital Learning Network Event – Science on Station Webcast
Audience: Middle and High School Students and Educators
Event Date: Nov. 28, 2016, 11 – 11:45 a.m. EST

Tune in Nov. 28 and #askDLN questions on the NASA DLiNfo Channel at 11 a.m. EST.

How does a pill dissolve in your body after you swallow it? Connect your middle or high school class with the Digital Learning Network, or DLN, to talk with Dr. Kenneth Savin, a chemist at Eli Lilly and Company studying hard-to-wet surfaces on the International Space Station. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, or CASIS, manages the U.S. National Laboratory and sponsors this experiment.

Savin’s research on the space station evaluates the role of microgravity on wettability and ultimate dissolution rates of drugs to gain a better understanding of fundamental processes. Many active pharmaceutical ingredients and inert substances commonly used in formulating modern-day pharmaceuticals are characterized as hard-to-wet solids. As such, these ingredients represent a challenge to their ultimate pharmaceutical effectiveness as well as their development and manufacturing. In space, the behavior of these hard-to-wet solids may be totally different, so this research can tell us many things about what we must do before traveling away from Earth into deep space.

Please direct questions about this event to DLiNfochannel@gmail.com, ATTN: CASIS Academy Live.

The 45-minute event will be webcast on the NASA DLiNfo Channel on Nov. 28, 2016, at 11 a.m. EST.

For more information about this and other DLN events, visit https://www.nasa.gov/dln.

**NEW** 2017 Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut “Walk to the Moon” Challenge
Audience: All Educators and Students, Home School Parents and After-school Groups
Registration Deadline: Dec. 31, 2016
Challenge Dates: Jan. 12 – April 28, 2017

Mission X encourages children of all ages, as well as people with particular needs, to pursue healthy lifestyles based on the model of training like an astronaut. During six- to nine-week “challenges” each fall and spring, schools and student groups from around the world complete Mission X classroom-based science lessons and physical education activities.

In 2017, Mission X is challenging Fit Explorers around the world to work together to perform activities that will move Astro Charlie the 478 million steps it would take to walk from Earth to the moon! That’s 238,857 miles, or 384,403 kilometers! At an average walking speed, that would take one person about nine years to complete.

The challenge kicks off in January. For full challenge details and to do your part to help reach this out-of-this-world goal, visit http://trainlikeanastronaut.org/wttm. The deadline to register for this challenge is Dec. 31, 2016. You may apply for Team USA at http://trainlikeanastronaut.org/usa_application.

In 2016, Mission X was represented by 30 countries and more than 53,000 participants. The challenge was available in 17 languages.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Nubia Carvajal at nubia.a.carvajal@nasa.gov.

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.

NASA Technology in Your Classroom — BEST GPIM
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades K-12
Event Date: Nov. 29, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. EST
Participants will learn about how “Technology Drives Exploration.” Using the Beginning Engineering Science and Technology, or BEST, curriculum, participants will learn how to use the engineering design process to build a satellite and test green propellant. Participants also will learn about current research at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Register online to participate.
https://www.etouches.com/205661

Teachers Connect: LaRC Centennial Badge Webinar
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School, and Informal Educators of Grades 6-8
Event Date: Nov. 30, 2016, at 4 p.m. EST
This webinar will focus for the first half-hour on clouds and their role in Earth’s “energy budget” and on implementation ideas using GLOBE for different classroom settings as part of the Earth Right Now: LaRC 100th digital badge. We also will talk about student badge implementations, extension ideas and extra resources. The second half-hour will be very similar but centered on the engineering design process using the Drag Race to Mars Engineering Design Challenge as part of the Journey to Mars: LaRC 100th digital badge. This portion of the webinar will focus on forces and motion and math calculations using paper airplanes and testing different materials as part of the Aeronautics: LaRC 100th digital badge. This webinar meets requirements of teacher discussions within the NASA Langley 100th EPDC digital badges. To learn more about the Langley 100th digital badges, log in to https://nasatxstate-epdc.net/ and search for LaRC 100th. Register online to participate.
https://www.etouches.com/207894

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.

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: Jan. 4, 2017

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.

Jan. 4, 2017 — Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas
CAE Tier I Teaching Excellence Workshop — New Methods for Teaching About Exoplanets

Jan. 5, 2017 — Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas
CAE Tier I Teaching Excellence Workshop — New Methods for Teaching in the Flipped Classroom

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.